Can't Spell Treason Without Tea: A heart-warming cosy fantasy - Legends & Lattes but with tea! (Tomes & Tea)

Product Information

and you just invent the concept of libraries in a single conversation (also, does the magic school NOT have libraries already? You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. But it's certainly a sweet and quick read, though one that requires a good cup of tea (and maybe a sweet treat to pair it with! It did unfortunately feel like 3/4 of a book, as it tried to juggle too much, and ended up leaving too many bits of the story unfinished to carry into a sequel, which left me feeling incomplete. you don't have to do this through using pronoun pins or clumsily explaining away the use of gender neutral pronouns as coming from a culture that you tell us literally nothing else about.

What follows is a tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. there were too many smirks and cackles for my personal palate, and my god, the second hand mortification of their cringy flirting /in front of the entire cafe/. I couldn't care for the characters and the plot felt the opposite of cozy fantasy - don't get me started on the surface level romantic interactions between Kianthe and Reyna who, at this point, were just corny and with the chemistry of a toast. i love cozy fantasy, i love regular fantasy, i love lesbian romance, and was sure this would end up as at least a four star read, if not earning a place on my favorites shelf. They're always ensuring the other is okay and talking through their issues, but it doesn't feel like organic conversations people should have.speaking of relationships, i was also disappointed in the fact that kianthe and reyna had a preexisting relationship.

I didn’t know going into it that it was going to be a series but I’m definitely excited to continue.the book can’t decide whether it’s cosy or high-stakes, and though i was intrigued by the premise of a vengeful queen she wasn’t actually present much.

so to sum it all up: definitely not a cozy fantasy, the non-cozy plot doesn't even go anywhere in the nearly 400 pages, the characters are boring, and the worldbuilding is lazy (all in my opinion, of course). Together with their loyal animal companions they start a new life in Tawney, a tiny town filled with lovable people.this book has a really bad case of telling instead of showing, and this was one of the biggest spots that illustrated that. the stakes should be low, the conflict should be mundane (but important to the characters, and by extension, to us), and there should definitely not be multiple near death experiences. totally googly eyed for each other, which is fine, but also feels a little like the early-relationship stage despite having been together for quite some time? It's got a very First Draft of a NaNoWriMo manuscript feel to it, with a lot of darlings that frankly ought to have been killed.

The delicious combination of peril, romance and tea (you can never have enough tea…) was bewitching in the best possible way.

But a near-death experience has her realizing what and who is truly important in life, and what she wants from it - so now she is taking that chance. High stakes and cosy vibes can co-exist, this was simply not one of those times, and if it had been embraced and the book focused more on just those high stakes plots it would have been the to its benefit. After reading Legends and Lattes, I was 'introduced' to the cozy fantasy notion and I couldn't be more pleased about it. It’s easy on the brain with a delightful and deeply entertaining cast of characters that form the warmest found family. the worldbuilding did not seem to be any more fleshed out than "typical vaguely arthurian fantasy setting," and this was especially seen through the unimaginative use of items/concepts from real life.