Ready to live a life together away from politics Reyna, personal guard to a selfish Queen, and Kianthe, the most powerful mage alive, finally ditch obligation and run away together. All they want to do is run a cozy little bookshop serving tea. Life however, always has a way of showing up at the worst times.
I really enjoyed this book. The author is very clear too that Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree was a big influence to the story. I think what it is is the fact that now we see an emerging sub-genre of books that never really had much of a definition until Baldree opened our eyes: Cozy Fantasy. Can’t Spell Treason Withouth Tea (CSTWT) is a lovely cozy fantasy. I loved both Reyna and Kianthe. They’re relationship was absolutely adorable. They each have very differing personalities and skill sets that made it so refreshing to go back and forth reading from each sides perspective. Both had their own insecurities to deal with as well that made them so easy to connect with. This made the dynamic click and they complimented each other so well.
Every supporting character was also so well written and really added purpose to the narrative. Nothing felt wasted or added in for filler. This is one of those books that feels extremely character driven. Yes there is plot and bigger things happening, but it’s really just getting to enjoy the characters just living their lives that made this book so enjoyable.
The humor was also so spot on through the entire book. I found myself chuckling several times. The characters were witty and for me personally that’s the best kind of humor. Not everything was entirely about humor though. Since Kianthe and Reyna left some pretty big lives behind obviously things would not simply move along quietly for them. There were some very interesting larger events happening through the narrative too. While these events were bigger than just running a bookstore, they didn’t go into the realm of massive plot point that would have taken this book out of it’s genre. I loved the fact that these events clearly paved the way for more stories involving these two characters. I definitely wanted more of them by the time the book was finished.
If you like character driven stories with amusing humor and solid plotting, I highly recommend this book.
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Tome Reader Reviews 
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