Alfred Bravider is the heir to a wealthy and powerful family of potion dealers. His passion for spell work of all kinds has helped him talk his way into the cottages, lairs, and penthouse apartments of sorcerers who don't usually like visitors—only to lose clients because they don't want to work for his greedy, bureaucratic father.
But Alfred's position has always been in doubt since he was bllinded as a baby by an unfortunate curse. His father isn't sure Alfred can handle running the business when he's gone—but no matter, he's finally found the key to a cure: the daughter of the sorceress who cast the curse.
Livonya Orlestin has never left her tiny village to the far north—never seen a city—never had an adventure. Her uncle always warned her to stay put. After all, her parents had adventures and got themselves killed. But now adventure has appeared at her door. Compared to the local farm boys, Alfred is worldly and clever with stories of treasure hunting and a rare collection of spell books in Braille. Turns out nothing gets Livonya's heart fluttering like a man with a secret archive.
She also wonders why he wants the curse lifted when he's been blind all his life. He's feeling increasingly insulted that his parents are so fixated on curing him. He knows what they really care about—adhering to the status quo. Livonya barely knows what a status quo is, and she wonders…does he need to work for his father at all? How many potion-makers and customers get overlooked by the powerful families? Alfred has never met anyone who barely knows what the rules should be and questions them so freely, but with a girl like this at his side, he might be willing to break them—and deal with the misfits, outsiders, and eccentrics of the magical world.
THE POTION DEALERS is the first book in a cozy-adjacent series that mingles slice of life and magical adventures. It has romance and a touch of spice, but is even more of a found family/team story. This series stands entirely alone but is part of my Hidden Lands series, a magical world dealing with modernization (think Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra) and has some 1960s vibes.
