Review: Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

 

I had been hearing so many good things about this series and so I jumped on the hype train. I love cozy fantasies thanks to Legends and Lattes. Going into this I didn't know much about it being indie pubbed first and the inspiration being Legends and Lattes.

I also love that the published copies have blue sprayed edges and the other two books in the series also have the same. In this instalment, we follow two women. One is a former queensguard and one of the most important person in the world, the Mage of Ages. They are a couple and they decide to open a bookshop with a cafe that does tea.

Kianthe has wanted this dream ever since she realized that becoming the mage is just a way to use her and not have any friends or freedoms. Reyna is the former queensguard who has been trained her whole life to be a guard and it is a family job. Reyna decides that she has had enough of being a guard when the evil and merciless Queen does not stop a would be assassin from holding a blade against Reyna's neck. 

Kianthe and Reyna go to the edge of the Queendom next to Dragon Country and they find the perfect place to open their bookshop. This is where the similarities to Legends and Lattes come in, but it doesn't go full into detail about the barn renovation which is what I wanted. I mentioned it to my husband that it was HGTV in a book. 

This book has more plot than just being a bookstore tea shop. There is missing dragon eggs, dragon attacks, Queen and Arcandor rivalry. 

I ended up giving this a 3 out of 5 because I was over the length. This was longer than it needed to be. Usually when I read a book I am interested in, when I put it down I remember where I stopped. When I would pick this back up, I had to try to remember where I left off. That told me at the very beginning that it was forgettable and not holding my attention.

I also hated some of the decisions that Kianthe and Reyna made. I did not understand why they did not fight against Queen Tilaine and her wishes. Also the epilogue was about the character that will be the main one in the second book. There was also a one shot that should have been the prologue to this story because it would have given more information and background instead of just throwing these characters at us.

I will be picking up the second book when my library gets a copy.