Enchanting The Fae Queen: The Queens of Villany 2 by Stephanie Burgis

 

Review: Enchanting the Fae Queen (Queens of Villainy #2)
Stephanie Burgis
Bramble, 2026 (Paperback edition)
304 pages
 

Disclaimer: A softcover advance reader copy (ARC) was provided for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed are independent and reflect an objective assessment of the work as presented in the advance edition.

 

Overview

Enchanting the Fae Queen is the second installment in Stephanie Burgis’s Queens of Villainy series, a sparkling, irreverent romantasy that pairs a notorious fae seductress with the empire’s most morally upstanding general in a collision of opposites that is equal parts comedic, tender, and genuinely dangerous. Queen Lorelei of Balravia—glamorous, calculating, and fiercely protective of her people beneath her glittering exterior—kidnaps General Gerard de Moireul as a tactical maneuver, only to find herself entangled with him in a deadly fae tournament that strips away every carefully maintained mask. Building on the tone and world established in the series opener, Burgis deepens her fictional universe while delivering a romance that earns its emotional payoff through genuine character work rather than relying solely on the charm of its central conceit. Witty, sensory-rich, and warmly human beneath its fantastical surface, this is romantasy that understands the genre’s appeal and executes it with confident, practiced flair.

 

Objective Criteria and Scores (1 = poor, 5 = excellent)

1. Clarity of Core Premise: 5/5

• Evidence: The central romantic and narrative premise is crystal clear from the outset: a morally rigid general and a reputation-armored fae queen are forced into proximity by circumstance and compelled by a high-stakes tournament to confront everything they have hidden from the world and from themselves. The enemies-to-lovers framework is a familiar one, but Burgis executes it with precision, establishing the opposing philosophies of her leads quickly and ensuring that the tension between them is ideological as well as emotional, which gives the romance structural depth beyond surface-level attraction.

2. Organization / Structure: 4/5

• Evidence: At 304 pages, the novel moves efficiently through its three-act structure, with the kidnapping and introductory antagonism giving way to the shared trial of the fae tournament and culminating in a satisfying emotional resolution. The tournament arc serves as an effective pressure cooker, forcing revelation and vulnerability in ways that feel organically earned. The structure is lean and purposeful, though readers seeking extensive world-building or political complexity beyond the central relationship may find the focus tightly contained around the two leads.

3. Depth of Characterization: 4/5

• Evidence: Both Lorelei and Gerard are rendered with considerable interiority that elevates them above their archetype starting points. Lorelei’s glamour as deliberate armor over a deeply strategic and protective intelligence is handled with genuine nuance, and Gerard’s rigid morality is contextualized sympathetically through the trauma of his parents’ execution for treason, giving his rigidity emotional logic rather than making it a mere narrative obstacle. Their development across the novel feels genuinely earned. Secondary characters and the broader court context are present but less developed, which is consistent with the series’ romantic focus.

4. Pacing & Narrative Drive: 4.5/5

• Evidence: Burgis demonstrates strong command of pacing, balancing comedic banter, sensory world-building, and escalating emotional stakes without allowing any single register to dominate for too long. The fae tournament provides effective external urgency that runs parallel to the internal emotional arc, ensuring that neither romance nor plot feels subordinate. The novel’s relatively compact length works in its favor—there is very little that does not serve either character development or plot momentum.

5. Prose Style & Readability: 4.5/5

• Evidence: Burgis writes with a light, confident touch that suits the tone of the series perfectly. The prose is witty without straining for humor, sensory without tipping into excess, and emotionally direct when the narrative calls for vulnerability. The dialogue is sharp and character-specific, with Lorelei and Gerard’s exchanges carrying genuine comedic and dramatic weight. The glitter, rainbow sparkles, and fae excess are rendered with infectious enthusiasm rather than irony, which makes Lorelei’s world genuinely fun to inhabit.

6. Originality & Thematic Depth: 3.5/5

• Evidence: The enemies-to-lovers framework and the morally-grey-woman-meets-rigid-hero pairing are well-established genre conventions, and Enchanting the Fae Queen does not attempt to fundamentally subvert them. Its originality lies in the specific texture of its world, its comedic sensibility, and the particular way it uses the fae tournament to literalize the novel’s central thematic concern: that the performances we construct to survive can eventually become the cages that prevent genuine connection. For readers invested in the genre, this is more than sufficient; for those seeking unconventional narrative architecture, it may feel familiar.

7. Inclusivity & Cultural Representation: 3.5/5

• Evidence: The novel operates within a secondary fantasy world that does not map directly onto historical cultural frameworks, giving it a degree of flexibility in terms of representation. The central focus on two main characters limits the scope for broader inclusivity, though the series as a whole—centered on Queens of Villainy as a concept—suggests an investment in centering women’s agency, complexity, and power across its installments. Further diversity in secondary characters and community representation in future entries would strengthen this dimension.

8. Standalone Cohesion & Series Prospects: 4/5

• Evidence: Enchanting the Fae Queen functions well as a standalone romance—the central relationship has a complete and satisfying arc that does not require familiarity with the first installment. Readers new to the series will find all necessary context provided naturally within the narrative. At the same time, the consistency of tone, world, and thematic focus across the series suggests strong ongoing prospects, with the Queens of Villainy framework offering Burgis a flexible template for pairing further morally complex women with their unexpected counterparts.

Assessment Summary

Enchanting the Fae Queen is a confident, joyful, and emotionally satisfying second installment that demonstrates Stephanie Burgis firing on all cylinders within her chosen genre. The novel’s greatest strengths are its effortlessly readable prose, its well-calibrated balance of humor and genuine emotional stakes, and the depth it brings to two characters who could easily have remained archetypes. Lorelei and Gerard’s journey from mutual antagonism to hard-won understanding is handled with the craft of a writer who understands that the best romantic tension is always ideological as well as interpersonal. Where the novel stays within familiar genre boundaries, it does so with such skill and warmth that the familiarity rarely feels like a limitation. For fans of romantasy, and particularly for readers who enjoy their fantasy romance with wit, glitter, and genuine heart, this is an essential and thoroughly entertaining read.

 

Bibliographic Note

Enchanting the Fae Queen (Queens of Villainy #2). Stephanie Burgis. Bramble, 2026 (Paperback edition). 304 pages. Language: English. ISBN: 9781250359612.

 

ARC Disclosure

A softcover advance reader copy was provided for the purposes of this review. The edition reviewed may differ in minor respects from the final published version in terms of formatting, copyediting, or ancillary materials. All opinions expressed are the reviewer’s own and have not been influenced by the provision of the advance copy.

 

How I would describe this book: 

Short-form

• “She kidnapped the empire’s greatest hero. She did not expect to fall for him. Neither did we.”
• “Glitter, danger, and a fae queen who is so much more than her sparkling reputation. Enchanting the Fae Queen is the romantasy we didn’t know we needed.”
• “Opposites attract—but in a deadly fae tournament, the stakes are a little higher than most love stories.”
• “She dazzles. He disapproves. The chemistry is catastrophic.”
• “Behind every glamorous mask is a woman with secrets. Behind every rigid moral code is a heart waiting to break. Burgis captures both perfectly.”
• “For readers who like their romance sparkling, their fae dangerous, and their heroes completely unprepared for what hits them.”

Long-form 

• “Stephanie Burgis has built something rare in Enchanting the Fae Queen: a romantasy that earns its emotional payoff through genuine character depth rather than pure charm. Queen Lorelei is one of the genre’s most delightful recent heroines—ferociously intelligent, fiercely protective, and armored in glitter against a world that would underestimate her at every turn. Paired with the rigidly virtuous Gerard de Moireul in the crucible of a deadly fae tournament, the result is a novel that is funny, tender, and surprisingly moving.”
• “Irreverent, sexy, and sharply observed, Enchanting the Fae Queen delivers everything fans loved about the Queens of Villainy series and then some. Burgis writes romantic tension with the precision of a surgeon and the flair of a magician—readers will tear through this in a single sitting and immediately want the next installment.”
• “The Queens of Villainy series continues to prove that the best fantasy romance centers women who are complicated, capable, and completely unwilling to be underestimated. Burgis is doing something genuinely exciting in this genre, and Enchanting the Fae Queen is her most accomplished work yet.”

For book clubs and reader community use

• “A rich discussion text for exploring the tension between public persona and private self, the social and emotional cost of performing virtue or glamour as survival strategies, and the question of what genuine trust looks like when both parties have compelling reasons to maintain their walls.”
• “Enchanting the Fae Queen invites readers to consider how well-matched opposites can be—and whether the qualities that seem most incompatible on the surface might actually reflect two people protecting the same things from different directions.”

Edition and sourcing statement 

• Based on a softcover advance reader copy provided prior to the Bramble paperback publication date of January 27, 2026. Tone, pacing, and series continuity are consistent with the Queens of Villainy framework established in the first installment. Minor differences between the ARC and final published edition may exist.

 Aggregate and Overall Rating

• Mean score across objective criteria (eight categories): 4.1/5
• Rounded overall rating: 4.1 out of 5 

Rating: ★★★★ 4.1 / 5

 - Prairie Fox 🦊📖