English language
Published Nov. 23, 2022 by Thorne, Rebecca.
All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters... all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen's private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn't so easy.
But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she's thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility-all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams.
What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm's biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women …
All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters... all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen's private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn't so easy.
But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she's thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility-all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams.
What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm's biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other... and the world.
Feels like a fanwork Legends & Lattes. I liked it, will continue the series.
Rebecca Thorne's Can't Spell Treason Without Tea is a cozy sapphic romance fantasy, explicitly in the vein of Travis Baldree's work. The book focuses on the (prexisting, and secret) relationship between a palace guard and a powerful mage. When the queen pushes too far, they treasonously abandon responsibility to set up a combination teashop/bookshop in a small town, like you do. It feels like there's larger stakes here than in similar books, but they're still personal and local ones. I'd also argue that these two are so competent in their own domains that any conflict feels much more about the potential emotional impact than a true worrisome threat.
I appreciated the amount of worldbuilding heft here. I am always a sucker for anything that opens with a fantasy map, and I felt like small bordertown Tawney was interestingly situated both geographically and politically. It's caught between three countries, and has …
Rebecca Thorne's Can't Spell Treason Without Tea is a cozy sapphic romance fantasy, explicitly in the vein of Travis Baldree's work. The book focuses on the (prexisting, and secret) relationship between a palace guard and a powerful mage. When the queen pushes too far, they treasonously abandon responsibility to set up a combination teashop/bookshop in a small town, like you do. It feels like there's larger stakes here than in similar books, but they're still personal and local ones. I'd also argue that these two are so competent in their own domains that any conflict feels much more about the potential emotional impact than a true worrisome threat.
I appreciated the amount of worldbuilding heft here. I am always a sucker for anything that opens with a fantasy map, and I felt like small bordertown Tawney was interestingly situated both geographically and politically. It's caught between three countries, and has two local governers who butt heads over who actually is in charge. It's just got the sense of place that I want out of a fantasy book. The book also has some magic system details that had more depth than I was expecting from this sort of book.
Overall, this was quite the cozy read, and it's definitely the kind of treat my brain needed right now. I'm looking forward to more novels in this series, as it felt like there were quite a few hooks for future complications. I laughed at the in-world explanation for why the biggest of these hooks lands itself in the "quite important but not at all urgent" category, which seems perfect for ongoing fantasy hijinks.
Big recommend to anyone that liked Legends and Lattes or similar stories. This book did really well with balancing the cozy vibes with external threats to the community and everything the characters built, which gave it more depth than L&L, more akin to Bookshops and Bonedust. The world building was interesting enough to me to not fall into generic fantasy.
I loved the emphasis on non-violent outcomes and diversion of fantasy bad character tropes to productive members of a community, which really added to the depth. I hate when a bandit or thief type is just one dimensionally “bad”. I also loved that the romance is healthy with good communication and positive modeling of working through issues.
I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I want to give it 4.5 Stars, but Goodreads doesn't do that, so it gets a 5 instead.
Like many, I found this book via TikTok and the Author herself.
We follow Rayne, who is a loyal palace guard for a mad queen, who doesn't care a bit about Raynes life, but would never let anyone go from her service, out of principles (and spite).
The second main character is Kianthe, the Arcandor, which is the most powerful mage in the world, chosen directly from the Stone of Seeing. She met Rayna during one of her duty visits in the palace and they fell in love.
They flee together and build a new life in a town far away, where they open a book shop that also serves tea. It takes a while, but slowly, the town's people love and welcome the two women and everything could be cozy and …
I want to give it 4.5 Stars, but Goodreads doesn't do that, so it gets a 5 instead.
Like many, I found this book via TikTok and the Author herself.
We follow Rayne, who is a loyal palace guard for a mad queen, who doesn't care a bit about Raynes life, but would never let anyone go from her service, out of principles (and spite).
The second main character is Kianthe, the Arcandor, which is the most powerful mage in the world, chosen directly from the Stone of Seeing. She met Rayna during one of her duty visits in the palace and they fell in love.
They flee together and build a new life in a town far away, where they open a book shop that also serves tea. It takes a while, but slowly, the town's people love and welcome the two women and everything could be cozy and perfect.
But on one hand, there are Dragons, who attack the town frequently and we learn that the people stole three of their eggs decades ago, so Kianthe makes a deal to find them to keep the dragons out of the town.
On the other hand, the queen is very pissed and sends her spies and soldiers, to get Rayna back, who is now considered a traitor.
So, never a busy day for the couple, but they have friends and allies now on their journey to find the eggs and survive the queen't wrath.
The world building was very nice and the characters are very lovable, with all their problems and flaws. I really enjoyed the plot and I'm thankful that the book ends with some kind of closure, even though a lot of the plot arcs are still going strong. Fortunately, "A Pirate's Life for Tea" is only a month away :)
Like many, I found this book via TikTok and the Author herself.
We follow Rayne, who is a loyal palace guard for a mad queen, who doesn't care a bit about Raynes life, but would never let anyone go from her service, out of principles (and spite).
The second main character is Kianthe, the Arcandor, which is the most powerful mage in the world, chosen directly from the Stone of Seeing. She met Rayna during one of her duty visits in the palace and they fell in love.
They flee together and build a new life in a town far away, where they open a book shop that also serves tea. It takes a while, but slowly, the town's people love and welcome the two women and everything could be cozy and perfect.
But on one hand, there are Dragons, who attack the town frequently and we learn that the …
