Captured Cauldron

Ambrose Beake's one social outing of the year is the country's three-day Potion Convention — until he's kidnapped by an underground crime syndicate demanding he brew an impossible illusion potion. Guild protocol is clear: agree to the work, then stall for as long as possible.

Above ground, his boyfriend Eli and best friend Dawn plot a rescue, joined by a journalist eager to investigate the syndicate — and to ignite a few sparks with Dawn along the way. As Ambrose delays the brew, he uncovers something in the syndicate far stranger than a routine kidnapping.

"A Captured Cauldron: Rules for Compulsory Brews" is the second book in R.K. Ashwick's Side Quest Row series, a cozy fantasy line praised for its found-family warmth, banter, and real stakes beneath the comfort-read surface.