Michael Barnes
I'm using the genre tag cosy fantasy as its how the book is marked and it certainly has the feel of it. Similar to United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart 1964 Jacobellis v. Ohio when asked to describe his threshold test for obscenity "I know it when I see it".
"Undying loyalty to a sociopathic queen can get pretty old. For Reyna, a palace guard, the final straw comes when a potential assassin holds a knife to her throat and she finds that Queen Tilaine doesn’t care whether she lives or dies. Decades of fealty collapse in an instant, and truthfully ...Reyna doesn’t care either. She’s finally free to escape the palace grounds and never look back, to travel to the ends of the earth and open a tea shop/bookstore. Reyna and her girlfriend, Kianthe, have dreamed of combining their favorite pastimes into a solid income and living a life free from royal obligation and bloodshed. But Reyna isn’t the only half of the couple who will need to escape Tilaine—Kianthe is the Arcandor, the Mage of Ages. Kianthe wants no part of the Queendom, nor any role in the Magicary; she’d rather act on her own to decide what duty she owes the world’s magic. Reyna and Kianthe flee the Queendom in the night and arrive just south of dragon country in a backwoods town named Tawney, meeting charming locals and uncovering an abandoned barn perfect for their tea- and bookshop. As Reyna and Kianthe embrace their independence, they tackle threats of dragons, Queen Tilaine’s spies, and commands from the ancient Stone of Seeing, all while openly and patiently navigating their newly public relationship. Thorne’s novel encompasses all the wonders of fantasy—pet griffons, vengeful dragons, and a bloodthirsty monarch—while capturing the heartwarming moments of a blossoming romance. Side characters, including a nonbinary diarn crushing on a young lord, add to the whimsy as Thorne deftly weaves a closed-door, cozy romantasy.
A sweet fantasy brews little conflict". _Kirus reviews
and if you think that pun above is out of place I can assure you that they are exactly as many puns in this story as you would expect given the word play in the title. I am looking forward to reading more of this world.
I was also enchanted to see in the acknowledgements the honest, grateful thanks Rebecca Thorne expressed to Travis Baldree for this inspiration that this story draws on for his 'Legends & Lattes' and 'Bookshops & Bonesdust' novels and if you enjoyed these then I think you will enjoy reading Rebecca Thorne's Tomes & Tea Cosy fantasies of which this is the first.
I'm using the genre tag cosy fantasy as its how the book is marked and it certainly has the feel of it. Similar to United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart 1964 Jacobellis v. Ohio when asked to describe his threshold test for obscenity "I know it when I see it".
"Undying loyalty to a sociopathic queen can get pretty old. For Reyna, a palace guard, the final straw comes when a potential assassin holds a knife to her throat and she finds that Queen Tilaine doesn’t care whether she lives or dies. Decades of fealty collapse in an instant, and truthfully ...Reyna doesn’t care either. She’s finally free to escape the palace grounds and never look back, to travel to the ends of the earth and open a tea shop/bookstore. Reyna and her girlfriend, Kianthe, have dreamed of combining their favorite pastimes into a solid income and living a life free from royal obligation and bloodshed. But Reyna isn’t the only half of the couple who will need to escape Tilaine—Kianthe is the Arcandor, the Mage of Ages. Kianthe wants no part of the Queendom, nor any role in the Magicary; she’d rather act on her own to decide what duty she owes the world’s magic. Reyna and Kianthe flee the Queendom in the night and arrive just south of dragon country in a backwoods town named Tawney, meeting charming locals and uncovering an abandoned barn perfect for their tea- and bookshop. As Reyna and Kianthe embrace their independence, they tackle threats of dragons, Queen Tilaine’s spies, and commands from the ancient Stone of Seeing, all while openly and patiently navigating their newly public relationship. Thorne’s novel encompasses all the wonders of fantasy—pet griffons, vengeful dragons, and a bloodthirsty monarch—while capturing the heartwarming moments of a blossoming romance. Side characters, including a nonbinary diarn crushing on a young lord, add to the whimsy as Thorne deftly weaves a closed-door, cozy romantasy.
A sweet fantasy brews little conflict". _Kirus reviews
and if you think that pun above is out of place I can assure you that they are exactly as many puns in this story as you would expect given the word play in the title. I am looking forward to reading more of this world.
I was also enchanted to see in the acknowledgements the honest, grateful thanks Rebecca Thorne expressed to Travis Baldree for this inspiration that this story draws on for his 'Legends & Lattes' and 'Bookshops & Bonesdust' novels and if you enjoyed these then I think you will enjoy reading Rebecca Thorne's Tomes & Tea Cosy fantasies of which this is the first.