What a great book! It definitely had the low stakes I wanted. There was still some danger and murder which kind of take away from the “cozy” aspect but I was fine with that since I’m an avid fantasy reader. The FMCs are so sweet together. I absolutely love their relationship. It was great as a dual pov. The rep in this book was awesome as well! I love the Queendom too (even if the Queen is a piece of work). The situation is wonderful. I love the book shop and plant concept was so unique. I’m really excited I preordered this book even with getting the ARC! Excited for more books by this author! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

3.5 stars

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea was a cute and cozy read. I do feel like the stakes were rather high for a cozy fantasy, so that threw me off a bit. I do think this being labeled as “Legends & Lattes but with tea” does make sense, but I wish it was as tightened up as L&L. Things would happen and then just be resolved, but we it was all very surface level. I also thought some of the characters were a little one dimensional. This was really fun, but I think it being compared to Legends & Lattes made my expectations very high.

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!

The audiobook is a great way to experience the book. as Jessica Threet really brings it all to life!

I did not love this audiobook. The story was not as cozy as I expected, having much more action than is usual with the cozy fantasies I've read. I did not connect to the main characters or their love story as much as I would have hoped. I did very much appreciate the LGBTQIA+ representation with nonbinary characters as well. I would recommend this with some reservations to readers of cozy fantasies.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this audio ARC!

This audiobook is perfect! I loved this novel back when it was self-published, but getting a chance to read the revised version via audio was a wonderful experience. This narrator was 100% the correct choice. This remains one of my favorite cozy adjacent queer fantasies, and I will highly recommend it to all my friends. Can't wait for the next book!

This was such a cute fantasy! I enjoyed it thoroughly! Kianthe and Reyna are amazing characters! The narrator for the audiobook was AMAZING! I loved that they distinguished the voices for each character! I would not say this is cozy for me because there was stressful situations throughout and high stakes but I still completely enjoyed it. Very minimal world building, but it was great!

I'm a tea drinker who loves cozy fantasy romance. I really enjoyed Legends and Lattes so this seemed like a great similarity. I unfortunately dnfed this at 20%. I wasn't connecting with any characters. Usually I become a main character and find myself drawn into the stories, but this I was just listening to a story. I was bored. It felt very forced in every scenario and everything resolved nice and quick to the point things might as well naught have happened at all. Even the setting didn't stir a longing to be there. I could tell if I had forced myself to finish, it would get a very low rating so to save myself and the average rating I opted to dnf instead.

Thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Tor Publishing for the e-ARC/audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rebecca Thorne throws you right into this story! From page/chapter one, you are thrust into this magical adventure, and I found myself very invested right away. Cheers to Jessica Threet for being an amazing narrator, giving life, personality, and emotion to each word of each character. She gave each character their own voice and attitude and it flowed flawlessly.

This cozy fantasy is maybe not as low stakes as L&L but I enjoyed it! I thought it was fun to be on the run with Reyna and experiencing magic with Kianthe. AND THEY HAVE A GRIFFIN SO THAT"S COOL. There are moments of shock, moments of "uh oh" and moments that made me laugh and smile....what more could you want from a cozy fantasy? The sapphic romance was also very well done and felt very real: arguments settled like adults, being able to be empathetic while allowing the other to feel their emotions (no gas light etc etc). Thorne also did a good job having two individual characters who are very different, being able to grow together without losing their indepednence/ autonomy. It was very refreshing romance.

Dragons, a murderous queen, a bookstore, and warm tea? Can I buy a ticket to Tawney?
I loved it! Definitely will read #2! Perfect if you're looking for an easy read full of love, mystery, adventure, dragons, and tea!

*review posted on Goodreads and Bookstagram*

I wanted to love this. I truly did, but I had to dnf. All contrivance and no cozy. Life’s too short and there are too many books.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC!

This was an anticipated release this year for me and I was really excited to be approved for this ARC with the release month so close. I had heard so many good things from people about this book and I was ready for something cozy after the intense reads I've had so far.

This was a bit of a let down if I'm being honest. Which is a shame because I was so excited for it.

First off, my ARC was the audio book version, which the narrator did a GREAT job. 10/10 with the voice acting. She did fantastic.

Now with the story, this one felt a bit young and silly. A lot of things were built up but then nothing happened with it. The biggest thing was the queen being a tyrant, not much was done with that plot. It felt like it was built up for nothing. A lot of the fights between the girlfriends were all solved without anything lingering, which just didn't feel realistic. The characters also felt a bit flat and one sided to me. If you're a very casual reader then this book would be perfect for you. Just a cute cozy romantasy.

I saw a review that compared this to fanfiction of Legends and Lattes (which I adore) and I can see it.

Again, I liked this book, but it did feel very young for my preferences.

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 Kianthe, 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 Kianthe 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 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.

Review of “Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea” written by Rebecca Thorne and narrated by Jessica Threet.

Audio Arriving May 7/2024

Disclaimer: Please note that I received an Audio ARC of this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

“Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea” kicks off with a bang, pulling me in right from the start with its exciting story. While I was hooked by the adventure, I was hoping for a bit more cozy fantasy vibes and less focus on action. Despite this, it’s still a fun read that keeps you entertained.

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Did not finish at 19%.

I received this audiobook as an advanced reader copy and I was disappointed to not like it.

I've been following the author on TikTok and it's been interesting to her about her journey. I didn't like the cover she chose, so I kept putting off reading the book. But, then I saw that there was an audiobook ARC and I thought, "yay... I can listen".

Sadly, I am SO BORED. And my eyes are tired from rolling them.

This starts off with pretty high stakes with one of the main characters getting stabbed and kinda held as a hostage. The queen, her employer, doesn't stand up for our brave (but stupid) heroine and the heroine is so butt hurt she decides to run away with her mage lover to start a bookstore and a teashop. Here are some of my endless issues with this book just from this first scene.

1. The heroine is supposedly a badass guard to the queen and somehow she not only doesn't avoid being stabbed by an amateur, she also gets held hostage by another amateur!? Not a great start for a badass.

2. The heroine gets butt hurt over her queen not giving a crap about her being held hostage. Uh. I wouldn't expect ANY one to express concern like it seems like she's looking for from an "evil" queen. Who is going to say, "oh, you're holding my guard hostage. What can I do to save her?" No. You're going to pretend you don't give a crap and then make sure that someone is creeping up to take that person out. Also, you trust your guard to deal with an assailant cause THAT'S HER JOB!

Then, our brave heroine runs away and gets attacked by bandits (which we don't get shown, just told) and she gets hurt some more.

---
There were so many other eyerolling things,

3. they get a deed to a property with absolutely no issues . It takes a 5-min convo and "there you go. you're the new owners".
4. they claim a space that supposedly was the bandits' and no one bats an eye nor do they have any issues renovating in 30 min time with magic.
5. the author is setting this in a semi-medieval setting but is inconsistent in using modern or older terms. for instance, they are "girlfriends" and have been "dating".. Or they are hiring "contractors".

There are more things that annoyed me but other reviewers captured that stuff better than me.

5 ⭐️

One of my favourite books! I loved that the narrator did different voices for the characters, and how she added emotion into the words.

Legends & Lattes but with tea was a very positive way to market this book. Perhaps, without the comparison I would have enjoyed it more? There are aspects that I would recommend this to others on the basis of, such as the light romance piece, or having a smaller amount of world-building compared to some fantasies, but I don't see this one as something I will be raving about or suggesting unconditionally.