The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

The Lost Arts #1

by Ellie Ash

Can a vicious attack thwarted by an unexpected rescue by the hottest Mage Warrior in the world turn into a new beginning for Perian?

Perian’s life is transformed utterly when powerful Mage Warrior Brannal saves him from an attack, then brings him back to the castle and straight to his bed… to recuperate. As Perian heals, desire flares hot between them, and Brannal asks him to stay longer. Perian starts to think this could be the start of something wonderful.

Only it turns out that Perian might be stepping on more toes than he realizes. That angry redhead who doesn’t like him? Second in command of the Mage Warriors. Renny, the little girl hiding in the garden whom he befriended? Her secrets could endanger both of them. And Brannal? He isn’t just the Mage Warrior who rescued Perian—he’s the head of the Mage Warriors.

Perian can’t fight to save his life (literally—Brannal had to do that), he doesn’t have a lick of magic, and he doesn’t have any responsibilities. Could someone as ordinary as him really find a place here with such an extraordinary Mage Warrior?

The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior is a 90K cozy MM fantasy romance with plenty of steam. Told in single POV, it features a HFN for a lonely young man and the powerful Mage Warrior who rescues him—as well as a bossy little girl, an opinionated horse, and meddling friends.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Magic, M M Romance, Cozy, Paranormal, LGBT

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2025

About the author

Ellie has had a life-long love affair with books. She graduated from university with an English Literature Bachelors and Masters—as well as an avid appreciation for MM romance thanks to all the slash fanfiction she read and wrote. Around 2021, she realized that the kind of MM romance she enjoys was now being traditionally and indie published, and she has not looked back.

From devouring ARCs to betaing and editing while writing in her spare time, Ellie was inspired by a reader and writer conference in 2024 to take the plunge and put some of her own stories out in the world. In her spare time, she reads, writes, plays D&D, and pursues other geeky interests.

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF ~30%

This was... off. The pacing here was really weird, I didn't particularly care for either MC, and by 30% there didn't actually seem to be any sort of plot at all. From other reviews it seems that holds for the rest of the book and its basically just a slice of life, which is fine for fanfic, and less fine for an actual novel. Meh on all fronts.

[ancientreader]

I'm not giving a star rating, because "The Lost Art [Etc.]" is pretty obviously written from the heart, by an author who gives the impression of being very young and having cut her teeth on other very young writers' fanfic and on Tumblr.

I originally followed that up with several examples, but whereas I'm happy to snark when I smell profiteering by a hack, in this case it just felt cruel. I'll leave the above, because this is an ARC and I'm supposed to review it. Thanks to GRR and the author, who has potential and should keep working at their craft.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.5 stars ⭐️

“I’m not ‘many people’,” Brannal said simply. “That is entirely obvious,” Perian agreed.

✨ A powerful mage warrior saves your life and nurses you back to health AND wants you to stay in the castle with him? How can you say no? 🏰

Oooh, so this was a fun cozy fantasy!
Although I enjoyed following Perian and Brannal as they figure out how to make a relationship work for them, Perian’s charm and his castle adventures, and they were sexy & sweet and complex, something felt off.

Maybe it was the abundance of inner monologues, the fact that these men really struggle with communicating, or the solo POV.
I’m not quite sure, BUT I did still end up enjoying this fascinating world and the characters, and I’m most definitely invested enough to pick up the next installment and see these two get their HEA.

Perian might not know what was coming, but he knew this was a future he wanted to fight for.

I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review.

CW and NSFW info (spoilers):
- Violence
- Injury caretaking
- Trauma response during sex, unexplained Brannal briefly chokes Perian. Doesn’t actually hurt him, and we get no explanation yet to why it happened.
- Top/bottom
- Rimming
- HFN ending

[Kelsey Rhodes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cannot stand when love interests make decisions for their partners without getting consent. CONSENT is king. Besides this, it felt more like fan fiction or a first draft.

[BookGeek1987 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great potential but sadly lacking in execution. For a debut novel it isn’t bad but it isn’t good either, I think ‘meh’ would be the right was to describe it.

I really enjoy a fantasy book, plus here we had a magic system (elemental based) and warriors who prepare to fight off demons, so in theory I thought this would be a winner. Yet it just didn’t work. Nothing happened, and I mean that. Plot wise our MCs, Perian and Brannal, are in the same position as at the start of the book - living in the castle going about their daily lives. There is no plot happening, we’re just left little clues for the next book as it’s a HFN.

We had big info dumps periodically throughout the book. Yes we needed explanations of how the magic system worked and past events, but it didn’t feel natural. It was ‘let me tell you about XYZ’.

As this is single POV from Perian, who isn’t the most interesting of characters, we simply listened to his internal monologues, followed him on picnics, exploring the castle and eating meals with Brannal. We also get a lot of ‘telling’ about what they’re doing, instead of actually being there whilst they’re ’doing’ it. Given how atrocious their communication skills are in we seriously needed Brannal’s POV as well.

I actually didn’t like them as a couple. Perian had the spine of a jellyfish, just accepting an apology every single time when Brannal acted like an ass - and there were a few times. Examples:

⭐️Brannal practically kicked Perian out of his rooms the morning after they had sex, despite caring for him for nearly a week after being injured.

⭐️Brannal thought Perian was involved with other men, didn’t talk to him and just sulked like a child.

⭐️Brannal choked Perian during sex, to the point he couldn’t breathe, and ran away afterwards. Yes there’s a CW on a ‘sexual incident’ but seriously, who just chokes someone during sex with no warning and then doesn’t explain at all. Despite no explanation Perian decides to have sex with him again at the end of the book. Just accepting Brannal will talk when he’s ready….

⭐️Brannal, instead of behaving like a leader, allows his second-in-charge (who hates Perian) to ‘capture’ Perian during a training exercise, burning him in the process. Perian gets understandably upset and Brannal berates him and tries to prevent him leaving their rooms. He then cries when he realises Perian is hurt, causing Perian to comfort him. It’s like textbook abusive behaviour (deny the incident was that bad, attack Perian’s viewpoint aggressively, get defensive and turn this around on Perian, realise he’s messed up and tries to justify it) , and he’s meant to be the romantic lead!

I got to the end of the book and was like ‘that was a waste of time’. I’m all for a book that is what a call a slice of life, but tailor your blurb appropriately! I thought I was getting an exciting fantasy plot, and instead I read about picnics….

I sadly got this as an ARC - so felt the need to push through - from gayromancereviews.com. This review is 100% my own thoughts.

[Micaela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not DNF books and that’s the only reason why I read it all; it was definitely a challenge and I am so disappointed. The story shows several problems since the beginning:

-MCs are flat and not properly described, there’s absolutely no reasons why they would want to be together except for the fact that the story is about them. They literally meet and start living together. I personally found Perian extremely insufferable from the beginning, and he doesn’t change a bit with the progression of the story; the guy is not a warrior or has any magical powers, finds himself to have a all-inclusive holiday in a castle where, for some reason, everyone has to point out how special he is (because yeah, he’s not like the other guys, he’s special because he is sensitive) and just proceed to live his best life. Oh and have secret meetings with a random 12 y.o that I found extremely problematic (but he’s special so no one worries because even if they do not know him they can sense he’s such an amazing guy).

-There’s no plot. Literally, nothing happens. The few storylines that pop out are weak and unengaging and the characters do not grow through that.

On a positive note, writing style was overall okay and I am sure the author will do much better in the future!

[Courtney Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A debut I’m happy I took a chance on!

I saw this book recommended in a FB group, saw that there was a prequel through the author newsletter, and took a chance on it. SO good that I immediately joined the author’s group and picked up this book.

Honestly, this had me riveted start to finish. While I am a little wistful that there were so many unresolved issues that I wanted answers to (I didn’t realize this would continue into the next book until I started eyeing the percentage like… guess this isn’t going to wrap up this time), it’s not a cliffhanger or anything. I’m just a curious and impatient person who wants all the answers lolol.

The editing was great, the pacing was fantastic, and there was a good blend of humor and seriousness. This is definitely an author to keep your eye on! Especially recommended if you enjoy Tavia Lark.

[Ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series. Perian is comfortably off, attractive and charming. Brammel is quite delightful too. The story is narrated from Perian's point of view and I like him as much as everyone else. He's very much a Mary Sue, but so likeable and funny!

This fantasy series follows the couple through three books. I have only read the first two. Good plot. proper world building. excellent character depiction. recommend.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

While a little slow in spots, this is a sweet, easy story with interesting characters. There are a lot of unanswered questions - although I’m sure I know a few answers - and I’ll definitely pick up the next book to find out.

[Emily]

DNF pg 48 because theyre about to fuck for the fifth time in 24 hours and I'm bored of them

[Kate Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm conflicted. I think there's some interesting world building happening in the series except it's not fleshed out well enough, it's got potential but there's a LOT of repetition and the names for things are so blah it's like they're placeholders for when the author decides on a better term - Mage Warrior and Warrior - it would have been way less awkward to just call them mages and soldiers or guards. the extra capitals are just weird when no other jobs are like that. including the doctor that as of the end of book two still has no name when every other repeat character does.

The "villains" are wraiths and demons (standard) and.... carnalions. which is the only made up term in the world building and essentially sound like either an incubus or succubus type situation, and would make way more sense to use an existing word for it for a myriad of reasons not the least of which was every time I read it, I was distracted trying to decide if it was pronounced like a combo of carnal and lion or more like chameleon. it seems pretty obvious that perian probably is one and/or a Life Mage.

I do think it's interesting that the world has no bias against poly relationships and seems pretty sex positive, but feels like it goes almost too far that direction for me and turns back around do an ick - particularly that at a dinner with friends where they go into detail about their first times, it's supposed to be really cool of the main character's dad that for his first time at 15/16, he brought his son to a "pleasure house" to learn about all the ways to have sex. like....that's a big ick for me, your parent should not be bringing you to sex workers at any age, much less that age. "oh we live out in the country, there's not a lot of other people my age around so he decided to bring me to the city and take me to a lose my virginity to paid workers" - that's not really a situation a 16 year old can consent to, in my opinion. bc the sex workers couldn't possibly be in a situation that wasn't coercive to them unless they were fully cooked adults and a fully cooked adult shouldn't be having sex with a 16 year old for free much less for money. just no.

incident two is that there's a non consensual choking situation at the end of a sexual encounter between the two main chars that was apparently triggered by some prior trauma. this gets addressed sort of by them taking a brief hiatus from their sex life bc the one who did the choking says he needs to figure it out - this part was when I was like "oh good, they're going to work thru it and he's not ready to discuss until he figures out what the cause was, that feels healthy ' except then they get back to being intimate like no time later and the one convo they have about it, the one who was choked is like "you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but can you tell me what the trigger was so I don't do it again?" and the response is basically "I don't want to talk about it but don't worry about it anymore NBD" which is just... absolutely not. this is not safe for either partner. it's like the author thinks the fact that being respectful of someone's trauma means they don't have to communicate anything about it - recipe for disaster when it triggers violence against your partner

on top of all that, while it's apparently totally cool with everyone that plenty of people including the best friend couple of the main characters often bring others into their relationships, everyone is incredibly slut-shamy towards the main character.

final sex related point is just my personal preference - stories with such a big focus on non-monogomy in the main pairing aren't my thing and there's way too much happening with the best friend couple for me to enjoy it.

in terms of writing, there are interesting pieces but I think this trilogy could have cut out a ton of repetition and a bunch of the sex scenes which were also very repetitive and maybe made one solid interesting book - book 3 has yet to be released and this remains true - but the way it stands, this leaves a lot to be desired

[b00ks_in_nature · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
This is book one of a new series. There is less development of plot and world building than I would expect, but I'm hopeful that comes in future books. This was more of a fantasy slice of life. I just never fully connected with it; I wasn't invested. But there is enough there that I want to give the next book in the series a chance.

[Dr Casey MacKenzie]

DNF @ 13%

There was a lot of telling rather than showing and the pacing is off. Having scanned a few other reviews, I’m glad I decided to quit while I am ahead.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I quite enjoyed this novel. There is a bit of over-explaining feelings and interpretations, but generally it's very well written. I liked the plot quite a lot, and love that it is single point-of-view. Perian is a good main character. The "cozy" plot is generally mild but there's definitely some conflict that carries on into the next novel, which I'll be starting right after I post this review.

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

“He probably was 1/2 a dozen years older than my 22. Not greying yet but fine lines around his eyes.” Dude, why would a 28 year old have grey hair and fine lines?

It just said Perian hasnt had a shower in days and that Brannal helped him with bodily functions. And now Perian is giving a blow job? Yummy. 🥴

The queens mage warriors and 4 of them get into a yelling match and one uses his fire magic cause he’s jealous of a stinky barefoot child? Are we 12?

Brannal? Bra-anal? 🤦‍♀️ DNF CHP 1.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh yes! I really liked this book. the storyline was well done, the characters interesting and the writing was engaging.
I liked that Brannal and Perian really talked with each other - not only as a first option, but they did it.

I also loved the secondary characterst and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book

[Cynthia M Brow · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior is the first book in The Lost Arts series. This is the story of Perian and Brannal. I loved the characters and world building in the story. I love that Perian and Brannal have to work through things and and not just have everything go perfect from the start. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

[noa A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I genuinely have no idea what this book was trying to be.

It's supposedly a fantasy novel. There are people with powers, but apparently not everyone has them? At least I think that's how it works. Honestly, I have no clue, because the author never bothered to explain the worldbuilding.

Is this a modern setting? There's a nightclub with music. Or is it some medieval fantasy world because there's a castle, men with long hair (one of the ugliest hairstyles imaginable), people carrying swords, and apparently no modern plumbing or showers? The book never makes that clear either.

And the plot... I made it to around 20%, maybe a little more. By that point, the main characters had slept together twice and exchanged about half a conversation.

That's it.

Their first time was also right after one of the protagonists had spent a week completely immobile and lying in his own waste, which was absolutely disgusting. So there wasn't much of a plot, and the romance wasn't exactly appealing either.

And finally, I've saved the most annoying part for last: what's with the genderless characters??? It's a fantasy novel, but that doesn't mean you have to go overboard.

And why are these characters always the nice ones with all the life wisdom? In reality, they're weird people with brightly colored hair and a tendency to walk into schools with automatic weapons.

Absolutely unbearable that this crap gets shoved into everything.

Anyway, I'm done. Terrible book, and I definitely do not recommend it.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.5 stars

The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior is the first book in Ellie Ash’s The Lost Art series. Ash sets up some interesting world elements here, with Mage Warriors who can control the various elements. We get a few scenes where we see them use their skills and there are some fun moments where Brennal uses his considerable abilities to aid in the bedroom antics. We also learn that most of the what the Mage Warriors deal with is fighting against various types of demons and there is mention of a past demon attack that killed many people, as well as a sense of people fearing demon attacks. However, while I think the framework is nice here, there isn’t a ton of depth to the world building, more of just the basic overview.

Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.

[Sandy Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I had loved this book as much as I thought I would! So much of it is really good, but, then it began hinting at things that just don’t work for me, which made me continually so unsettled I couldn’t enjoy what I had been enjoying anymore. And one MC did something truly awful and then didn’t make it okay. 😡

BUT! Seriously, much of this is so fun and delightful, a chance rescue from vicious assault and possible sexual assault leading to healing and developing wonderful strong chemistry and an unexpected potential future neither MC had been looking for but now want more than anything. Ooooh, I ate it UP.

Perian is living his best life and dancing and enjoying himself when he’s viciously attacked outside a pub...and rescued by a powerful mage. Swept away to Brannal’s quarters in the castle to heal, Perian spends several days getting better...and then...Perian and Brannal give in to what’s been simmering between them. But a delightful...um...I mean...unfortunate misunderstanding ensues, and Perian leaves, only to have someone run back and bring him back...the push-pull at first was terrific, and then Perian and Brannal start talking like grownups and I just adored these two together!

Perian winds up staying with Brannal—who turns out to be THE mage of all castle mages!—to get to know him, and explores the castle and makes an unusual friend, a relationship that causes much consternation and shenanigans due to unavoidable misunderstandings. But again, communication FTW! And the romantic tension keeps ratcheting up despite these two living together from jump, and I loved all that.

Brannal introduces Perian to people in the castle, including some self-defense lessons with mage warriors (warriors who have magic abilities) and warriors (same without magic abilities, the queen has both under her command). And the secondary characters are well drawn and intriguing, with Nisal as well as Perian’s unusual picnic lunch friend being a particular favorites. So many good ones! And one antagonist who’s a really good enemy to both Perian and this relationship. Loved it. There’s royalty and mage rivalry and all kinds of Good Stuff in here.

Perian’s new friend, who also has an unusual...friend...also leads in strange ways to a marvelous horse, with terrific Perian and Brannal riding together scenes, and I am HERE for all the horse stuff. The horse’s name is hilarious and I won’t spoil it.

It was going SO WELL! But...unfortunately this is one of those sex positive worlds that for me becomes sex negative. To be clear, there is NO OM action/drama in this book, the MCs are with only each other, but, the author is hinting at future encounters, opening and keeping that door open, in ways that made me anxious for too long and were just not my thing, ruining some of the romance dynamic for me. Brannal seemed more like he’d want to be only with Perian, but at the same time, also seemed open to Perian playing with their good friends, and Perian seemed open to whatever so long as they talked about it. Which is great! Positive! Just...not my kind of romance, I far prefer MCs who want only each other. Again, nothing happens in this book, but, it could go there in the next, and I’m not here for it. An entire dinner with the open-to-others close friends at the end turned into one long conversation about sex, like everything was all about sex, including talking about everyone’s first times (Brannal’s made a lot of conflict fall into place though!) and it just...squicked me out, and made me uncomfortable and wary of what might happen. And it was already an incestuous friend group, which blech. (I also guess there are no STIs in this world...? Safe sex did not come up, but, that’s typical in romantasy. Still, Perian’s story of his first time and how his father did the “sex talk” by sending him to a brothel to learn about sex was just...way too much for me. Just icky.)

But what really ruined the book for me was the aforementioned thing Brannal does that puts Perian at risk. Yes, he felt awful about it all, once he realized what had truly happened. And it should have been a strong relationship development beat. But Brannal’s excuse for why he’d set it up at all, and without Perian’s consent, was dreadful, and then...he did NOTHING to ensure it would never happen in the future. There were NO consequences, leaving unspoken permission for it to happen again. I was so, SO angry. I wanted Perian to leave and go home. F this situation.

Overall I had such a good time, but, the hints at future sexplorations and the lack of any consequences or restraints on the antagonist left me reeling with unhappiness and I can’t even give this potentially great read 3 stars, only 2. Sigh. I don’t know if I’ll try the author again. I’ll have to research reviews first.

But! If you are far more sex positive than I, and less petty/more willing to forgive, this book is otherwise hugely entertaining, great connections between the MCs and other characters, an addictive world (if less developed than it could be, actually. Who is taking care of Perian’s home? Is he ever going back? Does he need to? Why didn’t he ride a horse to town, how did he even get here? How big is this kingdom? Is it the only kingdom? Are we in the mountains, plains, both..I could go on. Hmmm) then definitely give it a chance! There is a LOT here to enjoy.

HFN that is left in a good place but clearly there’s a lot of work to do. Protector/rescued hero swept off his feet, to lovers, powerful mage, castle/royalty backdrop. No OM action, some misunderstandings around OM drama that really isn’t (and that was fun!), hints at future action with others; unknown what might play out. Recommended for those less squeamish than I; I mostly had a really great time! Just...ugh. Me.

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

oh honey no...

I should have looked at more of the reviews before I read this. While it's not terrible, I wouldn't say it's good either. there were kernels of intriguing tidbits in this but it was buried under all the smut.

So. Much. Smut.
An unnecessary amount of smut...

I can see now what some said about this feeling like fanfic but there was absolutely no plot. I have read fanfics with better plot than this. I will definitely not be continuing this series!

[Amanda]

DNF at 21%. The writing shows potential, but there is no building of any tension in the relationship or plot. Small pockets of awkward info-dumping surrounded by long slice-of-life moments. It’s 50 pages in and the MCs are already living together, but I’m not feeling any heat between them. It’s giving less cozy and more boring, unfortunately.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much sex, not enough action or plot. I'm reading the next because I have nothing else on my TBR, but that will probably be it if some plot doesn't develop. Maybe the author likes to read books where absolutely nothing happens but sex breakfast picnic reading but oh my God that is not what I read books for lol. Plot! Need it!

[Kristin Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

BORING!!!

Oh my god was this story boring. Great characters, good premise, HORRIBLE execution. Had to skip entire chapters cuz the story died off never to be picked up again. Such a disappointment.

[Anne]

With a title like that, I thought that ths MCs wouldn't fall into bed from the start. But I was wrong and read just 12%.
I'm sorry but it is not what I'm looking for.

[Dreamcatcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

1,5 stars

DNF @ 7%

[P Leslie]

DNF I seriously have no words for this one, let’s leave it at that.

[Hillary Schommer · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf 43%
struggled to find the plot and neither character was interesting to me. I'm all for quickly tumbling into bed in a story, but it feels like that's all the characters do.

[Trefoil]

dnf 10% I don't know what it is..the writing or what , but something is off

[notachance]

DNF 21% - Weird title given the seduction is totally insta. There’s no conflict, no danger, no tension, no mystery.