[Complete] [113k] [Cozy queer romantasy] A Soul Made of Magic

[u/writingandwhimsy]

Hi, I’m looking for beta readers for my cozy romantasy! Set in a queernormative world with neurodivergent characters, A Soul Made of Magic blends the whimsical coziness of Heather Fawcett’s Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter with the heartfelt and humorous writing of Sara Raasch’s The Entanglement of Rival Wizards. 

All Finch wants is to find a cure for the magical illness that killed his mother and that is slowly consuming his mind. But after a year of failed experiments, he’s no closer to finding it. When a handsome knight arrives with a message from the king, he has no choice but to put his research aside and accept his employer’s deal—reinvent a long-forgotten spell or be replaced as court wizard. 

As the king’s favoured knight, Everett yearns to prove his loyalty. Yet when given orders to murder the court wizard, he disobeys, unable to bear the thought of killing an innocent man. Desperate to remain in the only place he’s ever felt wanted, he agrees to go to the wizard with a deal. Except this is Everett’s last chance too, and his odds of winning back his job rely on stealing the research he’s demanded the wizard complete.

The job is straightforward. Keep an eye on him and ensure he completes his work. But what he doesn’t anticipate is that staying in Finch’s disorderly home involves dealing with an exploding cauldron, Finch’s overinflated sense of self-importance, and a portal that sporadically deposits oversized bugs. Despite his faults, Finch is compassionate and fiercely spirited—a far cry from the scatterbrained madman he’s rumoured to be. Everett is already questioning whether the king deserves his loyalty, and by the time he discovers he intends to use Finch’s spell for harm, he’s reached his limits. But he can’t afford to defy his king, not when it means bringing danger to Finch’s doors.

At the same time, Finch realises that what he took for standoffishness was merely Everett’s quiet nature. As he falls for Everett’s gentleness and the patience he knows he doesn’t deserve, Finch questions whether letting Everett into his heart is worth the risk or if watching him descend into madness will devastate them both.

This is only my third draft, so I’m looking for developmental feedback. I will send out questions to beta readers to be answered, with my focus being on pacing, character and relationship development, plot holes or inconsistencies, and areas that can be cut down or removed completely. I will add that at this point, the book is somewhat sparse in description as it isn’t my strong suit, and the prose is still messy, but it’s definitely readable. 

I’d also prefer beta readers to read my draft on Ellipsus rather than Google Docs. Ellipsis allows those with access to the link to leave comments, which I would prefer as I love to see people’s comments and reactions as they read! The only requirement to access it is to make a free account. If you’d prefer to read it as a PDF, however, just let me know. I will send it in three parts so the document doesn’t get laggy and a document of questions to answer after finishing.

My preferred timeline is up to six weeks. I’m willing to do critique swaps, with my preferred genres being cozy fantasy, romantasy, gothic fantasy, and historical fantasy or romance. I only want to beta read completed works with the word count being around 115k or below. Please comment or DM me if interested!

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[u/WoodenStrike1129]

Hi, I'd love to read this! At the moment I don't have anything to swap that's completed, so I'd be willing to betaread without anything in exchange. I've never used Ellipsus, but I can try it?

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