Can’t Spell Tea without Treason 🌕🌕🌕🌕/5

“Run away with me. You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?”

Reyna is a palace guard for the spiteful queen Tilaine. She dreams of opening a Book and Tea shop with her girlfriend Kianthe, a powerful mage, the Arcandor of Shepara.
Reyna makes a risky escape. Her and Kianthe flee to the town of Tawney to set up shop, but they are weary of the spies and bandits throughout the kingdom, not to mention the occasional dragon raids!

After hidden secrets are unveiled, they find themselves on a dangerous quest!


What I Liked:
- This is an easy-going, cozy read full of adventure, romance, humor, and friendship.

- The FMC’s add enthusiasm and warmth to the story. Reyna is practical, daring, and easy-going. Kianthe is powerful, anxious and cautious. A perfect pair.

- Dragons and Gryphons! Tell me you aren’t hooked already?!

What Could Have Been Improved

- The confrontation with the queen lacked complexity and could have had more intensity.

Final Thoughts
I absolutely loved this book and definitely reading the next. Highly recommended if you enjoyed Legends and Lattes or want something light and heartwarming.


Thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks @forgereads for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely adorable sapphic cozy fantasy. I loved this more than Legends and Lattes, probably because it was a bookstore instead of a coffee shop, and those are obviously closer to my heart.

This was a highly enjoyable cozy fantasy! I love, love, love both of the main characters! The plot was so creative and fun, the sapphic rep was fantastic and the relationship was s9 realistic and adorable. Dragons, magic, sword fights, bookshops, tea. This one has it all.

This was a fantastic, cozy, romantic fantasy. I loved the easy worldbuilding, the sweet but strong characters, and, of course, lots of books and tea.

So this is a cozy fantasy about a sapphic couple who literally run away and start a bookshop with a tea bar in it together. About a quarter of the way through the book, I got really nervous that it was going to be a carbon copy of one of Travis Baldree's books, complete with finding contractors to carry out the needed renovations of the site they found. Happily, the book went in a different direction and included lots more plot and action, like fire-breathing dragons, spies from an evil queen, and baby griffons.

There's no relationship angst that can't be solved by a good conversation, no magical battle that can't be won, no neighborly conflict that can't be resolved with a good deed - and you know what? That's exactly why you read a cozy fantasy.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

I really enjoy cozy fantasy these days and this book is a perfect example of why. The setting is adorable and feels like coming home. The warm easy writing style and beautiful descriptions also makes everything feel so real.
I did feel this plot had quite a bit more going on than most other cozy fantasy books and I quite enjoyed that. The book was still beautiful and cozy but it had some really good action as well. I also enjoyed the little bits of politics in this as well.
Overall this was an amazing book. I would definitely recommend it to all my cozy fantasy loving friends.

Reyna is the queens guard and Kianthe is a powerful mage. The two are in love. In a spur of the moment decision, Reyna runs away from her position with the queen to be with Kianthe. They are going to start a new life in Tawney and run a tea shop. There were a lot of aspects of the story that I really liked. The adventure, the dragons, the community in Tawney were all lovely. I think the story would have benefited from some editing to tighten it up. It felt as if the story just rambled most of the time, and what I thought was the main focus was not resolved in the story. This is the first book in a series and the author has provided a lot of world building as set up. While the story is marketed as a cozy fantasy, I didn't find this one to have cozy vibes. There is adventure and peril and angst. The ending was unexpected, and seems to be a set up for the next book. I will definitely be picking up the next book to get the conclusion of this story.

Thank you Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book, and I think the world-building and character creation worked great together. I found them to be dynamic and very entertaining to read. I was looking forward to this book and it did not disappoint, I can't wait for it to come out so that I can have a physical copy of it

This was a fun addition to the world of cozy fantasies! This one was basically just girlfriends flirting with eachother for 300 pages. JK there is a nice plotline in this one, and the already established sapphic relationship is very sweet. I do wish the tea/bookshop renovations took longer, since they were done by half way through! The “treason” part of the book was interesting and definitely worked for me, it was juuust enough plot to keep me going, but never stressed me out at any point. Would recommend if you like cozy fantasies!

🌈Queer rep: FF main relationship, secondary nonbinary characters, M/NB couple, mention of a MM couple.

5/5⭐️
Cozy, Sapphic fantasy? Count me in!

Can’t Spell Treason without Tea is a cozy, sapphic fantasy. By no means does cozy translate to boring or simplistic. Rebecca Thorne weaves an intriguing plot together with excellent storytelling to create a book that captured my full attention from the first page. I couldn’t put it down and loved every minute of it. While the healthy sapphic relationship is central to the story, CSTWT is not a romance. We learn in the opening scene that the relationship between Reyna and Kianthe is already well established and secure. I loved the Griffins and all of the supporting characters, especially Matild, and only wish I could have read more about them. Hopefully we will get more of them in the next book.

This version includes a new bonus one shot story at the end, “Meet and Greet”. I loved it and am so glad it was added for this trad release.

Thorne’s story left me eager to read the next book in the series. I’m glad I won’t have to wait long for A Pirates Life for Tea.

Thank you NetGalley and Bramble for sending an early copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. I’ve now purchased my own special edition physical copy and cannot wait for it to arrive.

These books are just brilliant, and it is so nice to see this series get a beautiful print run! This is a great cozy fantasy story with a fun central romance, some interesting side characters and a little more plot than some. If you struggled with Legends and Lattes, and want a little more action with the same vibe, this is a great pick.

We’ve all dreamed of running away from our frustrating jobs, but for Reyna and Kianthe, such thinking is downright treasonous.

Rebecca Thorne would be the first to admit this book was initially inspired by Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes. It’s a (mostly) cozy romance in a fantasy setting about two women who open up a shop, grow to be part of the local community, and have pasts that eventually catch up to them. On the surface, that sounds like the same story, but it really isn’t; think of it more as a familiar framework to hang something new on.

Reyna is great at her job as a royal guard, but does not particularly enjoy dispatching the increasingly frequent assassins who threaten the throne. It is not, however, a role you can easily leave with your head still attached, as the Queen frequently demonstrates.

Kianthe is the Arcandor; the most powerful mage in all the land. She’s a magical troubleshooter, called in to deal with big (and frequently fiery) problems. But there’s a lot of stifling politics around the role, and many layers of ineffectual men trying to tell her what to do.

The two have also been secretly dating for years, and have a shared dream of running far away together to open a tea shop that sells books. Or, perhaps, a bookshop that serves tea. An incident at the palace makes their dreams suddenly a lot more real, and they end up incognito as small business owners in a forgotten corner of the world. There is just the small matter of Reyna committing treason against the Queendom, and Kianthe hiding from the Magicary, but I’m sure that won’t come back to bite them later (it will).

It’s worth keeping in mind that this is not quite as cozy or small scale as Legends & Lattes is. There is an underlying dragon-shaped mystery about their new town, which leads them into more adventure, and indeed more mortal peril, than you might anticipate. The two of them don’t always make the best decisions, particularly in terms of self-care and self-preservation. But this is an established relationship, and they are both supportive of each other throughout, which is certainly refreshing.

“Tomes & Tea” is planned as a four book series, and books two and three are already written. So, it will not be too long until we find out what is next for our couple, and I personally can’t wait. In fact, since the first two books were originally self-published before being picked up by Tor, I don’t actually have to wait; those two are currently available in ebook form. The physical books look very nice however, and I suspect I will pick those up for my shelves as they are released.

A fun tale, recognisable in some ways, but still very entertaining. Another sapphic shopkeeping success!

Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.

Thank to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of Rebecca Thorne's "Can't Spell Treason Without Tea" in exchange for my honest review.

This book tried to be too many things and missed the mark for a cosy fantasy. What is most unfortunate is that it was compared to Travis Baldree's debut novel "Legends and Lattes" which ticked all the boxes for the genre.

Warning: review contains spoilers.

Firstly the romance - Reyna and Kianthe are already in a relationship when we are introduced to them so we lose out on the slow kindling relationship building arc. Their romance was very verbal and physical - there was too much PDA which made me and the supporting characters feeling like we should leave the room. It also didn't feel real, I didn't believe in their chemistry.

Secondly, there was wayyyyy to much at stake for this to be labelled a "cozy fantasy". We have:
- A unhinged Queen with no emotional empathy who orders beheadings left right and centre.
- A character on the run; Reyna abandons her position as a royal guard to run away with Kianthe - her happiness now depends on not being found by the Queen so she is constantly on the watch. But the unhinged Queen won't let her get away easily.
- Kianthe is an all powerful mage who also abandons her duties to be with Reyna. She ends up battling a whole bunch of dragons and then promising to help the dragons find some lost eggs (set up for book two)

Third and most importantly, they built the bookstore/cafe far too quickly. They managed to source a location, fix it up using magic, and draw in customers within the first couple of chapters.

All in all I think the bones of the novel were good but it shouldn't have been set up as a cosy fantasy. It needs to be stripped of a few elements in order to make for a more engaging read.

Kind of obviously “in the mode of” Legends and Lattes, the cozy gay fantasy about tea shops and coffee shops and badass chicks with magic and/or weapons, but a delightful distraction from being home in bed sick nonethelesss.

I really wanted to love this, but it just wasn’t for me. I have enjoyed other books in this vein, but this one just bored me. I felt like the action didn’t happen fast enough, and when it did happen, it wasn’t enough to keep me invested. I just didn’t love it.

4.5
Reyna decides to run away from her job as a queen's guard and Kianthe from her position as a powerful mage to open up a tea and book shop in a little village. Of course this is a problem because Reyna is committing treason by leaving and the village they choose, while idyllic, is frequently attacked by dragons. It seems like someone stole some dragon eggs and the dragons want them back.

I really loved seeing a couple already in love and a few years into their relationship, not just falling in love. Reyna and Kianthe have the absolute sweetest relationship full of puns and banter but also a deep understanding of one another. Of course they draw a lovely found family to them while working at their tea and book store, including a grumpy teenager, the blacksmith, and his wife the midwife.

I was originally worried that this might be too similar to Legends and Lattes. However, while certainly inspired by it, this book certainly stands on its own. I appreciated the higher stakes (DRAGONS) and the more developed romance. There is a bit of a mystery as well, which is interesting and the epilogue will leave you excited for book two!

Genre: cozy fantasy

Reyna grew up knowing she’d be on the Queen’s Guard. Everything she ever did was earned towards becoming the best. When she catches the eye of Kainthe, a powerful mage, it takes time for them to 1) admit feelings and then 2) have the courage to run away together. A close glimpse with death send Reyna fleeing and Kianthe chasing after her, but also provides the perfect opportunity for the women to chase their other dream: setting up a tea and book shop, complete with perfect puns. But there are dragons circling and magic is afoot, and Reyna and Kainthe have to fight for the perfect life they want while hiding in case the Queen gets word her favorite guard has deserted.

Curl up with a cup of tea and the audiobook of this delightful cozy novel. I’ve said before that cozy fantasy doesn’t quite *hit* for me. I need a little more angst from somewhere in my fantasy novels, whether it’s plot, romance or character growth, or you know, external pressure from the world being about to end. One thing I liked about this more than Legends & Lattes is that not only is the story sapphic (that was too), it features human women (ok one is a mage). I like very much that Reyna and Kianthe are women and not orcs or other magical creatures, because the representation feels more genuine.

And let’s be honest, aren’t we all looking to get away from the stress of reality and start a new life in the mountains with our partners while curating tea and reading books? Like, that’s what bookstagram is all about, yes? This is also the first cozy fantasy I’ve read where I’ve felt there’s enough plot thread for me to confidently say I’ll pick up the sequel, because the mood for a gentle magical book does sometimes arise.

Did not finish. I found the use of DSM language in a fantasy book to be very jarring and couldn't get into the story. It was an interesting enough premise but I couldn't suspend disbelief.

5 ⭐️

‘Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea’ Was one of my favourite books of 2023. While it isn’t exactly a cozy fantasy, it does incorporate many cozy fantasy themes, such as running away from a stressful life, settling down, and opening a book/tea store.
I loved that the stakes weren’t too high, but also interesting enough to make me want to keep reading. I really liked the world that was created and I fell right into this book.
The two main characters, Reyna and Kianthe, were really cute and I loved their relationship. Tawney was an interesting town filled with people I wish I could've gotten to know more. I’m definitely picking up the second book.

Thank you to Netgally and Tor Publishing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a review.

Overall I enjoyed this book, I finished the main story in a day and was engrossed the whole time. I have to say that at the top because I’m about to complain a lot. The Legends & Lattes inspiration is obvious but not overwhelming; it’s clearly its own story. Which is partly the problem with the book - there’s too much going on and it’s mostly high stakes drama rather than cozy issues with the town and tea/book shop. Actually, there’s almost a lack of cozy issues? Everyone in town loves them, the shop runs smoothly, and so on. It’s unnervingly perfect. Give me a few more supply chain issues and put off the dragons for the sequel.

Honestly, it’s a surface level book. You’re meant to read and enjoy and not think too hard about how any of it works, because if you do it falls apart. How did Reyna and Kianthe keep a secret relationship going that long in a castle full of spies? How is a small town in the middle of nowhere this well supplied? Why does everyone have spare time during the day to hang out at a tea shop? Just put all that aside and enjoy some puns.