[QCrit] ADULT Romantic Fantasy - LOVE POTION (112K | First Attempt)

Hiya! I'm so glad I discovered this community! I've been struggling to hear anything back at all from agents. I think I made the mistake of starting off with querying my dream agents as I hadn't been aware of that recommendation and was too excited about sharing to think critically about what I was doing. I learned of this community in trying to figure out why I might not be getting any hooks, and so am hopeful I can get some perspective from others. This novel is very dear to me, and has been well-loved by my beta readers (friends and then for partiality, their friends who don't know me). Query below, and first 300 words following it if curious. Thank you SO MUCH to any who takes the time to read and even provide feedback!

QUERY (might adjust beginning to personalize if info available; otherwise this is the default)

A witch and a saint must fake a romance to uncover a deadly conspiracy within the Church — until their pretend love becomes dangerously real. My romantic fantasy, LOVE POTION (112,000 words), explores faith, power, and desire through the story of a witch and a saint forced into a partnership. LOVE POTION is a cozy yet intricately woven romantic fantasy for adult readers who love heart with their high stakes. I aimed to pair the banter and romantic tension of Bridgerton with the lush worldbuilding and character-driven depth found in Serpent & Dove and This Woven Kingdom.

Circe Lathan is a struggling witch and contract alchemist desperate for a job — any job — when contracted by the powerful Michelangeli dukedom to brew a love potion for Novigen’s most revered holy figure: Saint Cedric Lancaster. Circe takes the offer out of necessity, not belief — but Cedric sees through the scheme immediately. Saints are immune to most potions, after all, and he’s no fool. Cedric knows exactly what the Michelangelis are plotting, but he has his own reasons for letting their scheme unfold. A false romance is the perfect cover to investigate and root out the corruption festering within the Church he’s sworn to protect. When Circe learns the full truth, she becomes his unlikely ally. Unfortunately, Cedric’s perception of immunity didn’t protect him from Circe’s sharp tongue, her distracting charm, or the sabotage that replaced her potion with something far more potent. When he begins to feel the effects of a brew no saint should, the two must uncover who tampered with it before it unravels them both. As Circe and Cedric work to uncover the ever-complicating conspiracy rotting Novigen’s holy order, the line between duty and desire blurs as their pretend affection turns dangerously real.

[Personal BIO] LOVE POTION is my debut novel, and is a standalone novel with series potential set in a world of saints, witches, and political machinations. I aim to bring a fresh voice to fantasy romance — one that treats political tension and emotional intimacy with the same weight. I want to offer something new without losing what readers love about the genre, by taking tropes and building them anew. (I also want it to be as fun of a read for my readers as it was for me to write it.)

Thank you for your time and consideration. I’d be delighted to send the full manuscript at your request. For now, I’ve [action requested]. Thank you so much, [name]!

FIRST WORDS (~300 words):
Another day, another chance to stave off ruin.

These days, living meant draining my dwindling savings faster than I could replace them. Even with a crumbling apartment in the 9th Corridor — one window, one room, and barely enough space to turn around — I was running out of time.

The window had its use, though. It was enough for the scrawny pigeons the Ninth Coven used to send messages, the kind you could swat out of the air with a broom if you were feeling bold; other more established Covens sent along beautiful, majestic birds they raised themselves, but with the 9th, we were lucky we could afford any birds at all, least of all a pigeon. Today, like every other day, I watched the skies for one of those sorry birds, willing it to appear with a scrap of hope tied to its leg.

But the sky stayed empty, and my stomach churned with that too-familiar feeling: failure. I wrapped my arms tightly around my legs, closing in on myself, letting my back rest against my rickety bed.

The 9th Coven wasn’t great, but it was the only one that would take a witch from the South with no academy credentials, no spire sponsorship, and no impressive lineage to flaunt. All I had was Odyssia’s old cauldron, my shaky grasp of Xolipsis runes from her tattered grimoire, and Xol’s flame I could conjure from the hollows of my palms; it wasn’t much, but it was mine. And it gave me a chance to keep it all just a little longer, through odd jobs here and there.

Taking a deep breath, I cupped my hands and summoned the flame. It bloomed warm and golden in my hands, steadying the jittery edges of my thoughts. Being much better at maintaining the flame now, I kept its warm light going as I stood up and rummaged through my drawers, looking for one of Musia’s discarded candles. 

PS: If you've read this far, I have a quick question - I have a young adult version of this, too, without smut, which comes in at around 107k words. Should I try to get an agent for the YA version instead? Or is that perhaps a later journey?