Rebecca Thorne
Books: Fantasy | Queer
Tomes & Tea: Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea (2022)
Tomes & Tea
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea (2022)
Reyna
and Kianthe have been dating for years, but because Reyna is one of the
queen’s private guards, they have to keep things secret.
But one night after stopping another assassin, Reyna realizes she has had enough, and is going to take Kianthe up on her repeated offer to run away.
Run away with me, the mage had said, her eyes alight. You like tea. I like books. Let’s open a shop somewhere remote and forget the world exists.
But to leave the queen’s service is treason, and Kianthe is the Arcandor and can’t disappear, no matter how much she wants to.
Reyna hesitated. “Well, if you have money, we can combine our savings and try another route.” A pause. “Do you have anything?” Her face warmed; this felt like none of her business.
Luckily, her partner didn’t seem to care. “Please. I’m the Arcandor.” The words were spoken with a puffed chest and arrogant tone. Then she broke down laughing. “Which, of course, means all my funds are routed through the Magicary. So… no. Did you think I chose you for your looks?”
The differences between the two, although significant, aren’t a hindrance because their strengths and weaknesses offset each other.
“I have a solution,” she said, simply. And she did. Because unlike Kianthe, who’d ignored this problem and hoped it’d go away, Reyna had spent the time scheming.
And also because they’ve been dating long enough to know you have to talk about things.
Interestingly, I’m not certain I’d truly categorize this as a cozy, mostly because I thought the stakes were pretty high, and there is a certain amount of violence, including the death of the assassin at the start of the book. That isn’t a bad thing, simply there was a bit more action than I’d been expecting.
This is self-published, and although it was good, there were one or two spots I thought could have been tightened up, but those are things I hold against traditionally published books and not self-published ones.
The major negative for me was how unfinished the end was. It was not a cliffhanger–but there was a good deal left hanging. And I hate waiting.
Characters: Reyna, Kianthe the Arcandor, Queen Tilaine, Venne, Queen Eren, Visk, Lilac, Sigmund, Nurt, Hansen, Matild, Tarly, Diarn Feo, Gossley, Sasua, Harold, Allayan, Branlen
Cover by Irene Huang
Publisher: self-published
April 2025 | Rating: 8/10