I'd love to say I enjoyed this book, but I think there were just a few things in it that were working against it for me. It had an established relationship so I didn't even get to enjoy the longing and pining of building a relationship. For some reason I just felt like I was brought in too late to enjoy the characters or their personality. Like their stories were already told and I didn't really get to see it for myself so I didn't feel much of a connection to them. It was an interesting story, but it just didn't keep my attention sadly.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this audioARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my 1st book by Rebecca Thorne, but will not be my last! This was a fun and touching read and I can't wait to see what happens next in the series!

Thanks NetGalleyand MacmillanAudio this arc

3/5 stars

I was so excited about this, but it got so boring in places I ended up taking way too long to finally finish this. I think the writing just wasn't strong enough for the story. A lot of things just happened, and it was like we all just went oh ok and moved on. This could have been more exciting and still held onto the cozy vibes easily! When Raina was running away from the Queen we should've been on the edge of our seats, but it was so anticlimactic, and it didn't get better for me from there. Maybe cozy fantasy actually isn't my thing? I need less vibes more plot? I'll continue with this series as there are things left unfinished, but I am not holding out hope it'll be much better with stronger writing than this one.

The narration felt so much like a young adult novel than an adult fantasy it really took me out of it. She read some things pretty whiny and some of her pronunciations and accents really threw me. I ended up putting it at 2 times speed for the last quarter to finally finish it

I had high hopes for a cozy fantasy escape with this one. However, I ended up dnf’ing at 30%. I felt the cozy atmosphere was lacking, and the characters felt disappointingly flat. Unfortunately, this one just didn't capture my imagination as I'd hoped.

🎧✨ Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted audio! ✨🎧

Hey book lovers! 📚✨

Get ready to be swept off your feet by Can't Spell Treason Without Tea.

Picture this: Reyna, one of the Queen’s fierce private guards, and Kianthe, the most powerful mage around, are in love and ready to ditch their high-stakes lives for some peace and quiet, so they open a quaint book and tea shop complete with worn wooden floors, plants everywhere, and firelight making everything glow. Total vibes, right?

This cozy tale is filled with mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen who's not taking their departure well. You’ll find yourself rooting for these two as they navigate their new life, solving problems and strengthening their bond over quiet fireside chats and lots of tea. The side characters are quirky and lovable and the plot has just enough excitement (hello, griffins and dragons!) to keep you hooked without disrupting the cozy vibe.

Reyna and Kianthe’s relationship? Absolutely swoon-worthy and full of playful banter that’ll make you smile. Plus, if you’re into audiobooks, Jessica Threet’s narration is a real treat—she brings the characters to life in such a special way.

If you love fantasy but don’t want to get bogged down by heavy world-building, this book is your perfect match. It’s lighthearted and perfect for anyone needing a comforting escape. Trust me, Can't Spell Treason Without Tea is your sapphic daydream turned reality. 🌈📖☕️

#CozyFantasy #SapphicRomance #MustRead #ParksideReads

*Social Media post is scheduled for June 10 on @ParksideReads

🪲 Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. 🪲

If I could describe the book with one quote, it would be this, "You like tea. I like books. Let's open a shop somewhere remote and forget the world exist."

Imagine sitting down by the fireplace on a cold, wintery night; snuggling up with a warm cup of tea, and a good ole book. The aroma of sweet chamomile and wood burning fills your nostrils as you sit there in warmth and complete bliss. Now imagine all that warm and fuzzy feelings in book form. That's the definition of "Can't Spell Treason Without Tea." You have magic, dragons, book shops, lesbian love interests.... plus a hint of treason! What more could you ask for?

You begin the story being introduced to a royal knight named Reyna. Reyna is hardworking and risks her life on a daily basis for a selfish, idiotic queen. One day, after almost losing her life to the enemy, Reyna decides she has had enough and finally takes up on Kianthe's offer to run away. Who is Kianthe, you may ask? She so happens to be the most powerful mage in the queendom, and Reyna's girlfriend. Together, they settle down in an icy, cold town in the middle of nowhere and opens a tea bookshop. However, not everything goes as smoothly as it should. We follow along on Reyna's and Kianthe's journey as they learn how to live with each other and navigate living in a mysterious town that occasionally gets attack by fire breathing dragons, all while trying to be conspicuous and remain in hiding from the murderous queen.

Reading this book is like sipping on a warm cup of tea. I was fully immersed into the story and world building as soon as I turned on the audiobook. I adored the healthy, loving relationship between Reyna and Kianthe, and it was a pleasure to be able to watch them grow more confident with themselves. If you are a fan of "Legend and Lattes," or the cozy fantasy genre with a touch more action, I highly recommend you to pick this book up as your next read!

this books was such fun and cozy read! exactly what i’d hoped for and more, as there was a bit of adventure and relationship aspects that i really enjoyed. I listened to the audiobook provided by netgalley and the publisher, and the narrator does an excellent job differentiating between characters.

Another case of “LeannReadsBooks didn’t read the synopsis.” Ha! The cover of Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea looked like a cozy mystery, and it was only once I was a few chapters into this audiobook did I realize that it was a “cozy fantasy.”

This would be perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes or Bookshops and Bonedust.

The sapphic romance between Reyna and Kianthe was so sweet - seriously relationship goals. The fact that talking out issues is brought up multiple times is such a good lesson.

This really was a cozy read and made me want to curl up next to a fire with a cup of tea and a good book.

2.75 Stars

Big thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for providing me with the ARC of this book for my honest review.

Thoughts:

Sadly, this is one of those reads where I wanted to like it more than I did. I was all in for a cozy/sapphic romance/fantasy story, and was let down by how little of the romance, the cozy and the fantasy there was in it for me personally. It was a very slow start and my interest only peaked half way through, but was let down again. The characters are lovely, but I kept looking for more complexity and dynamics in them than we were given. Maybe this is a case of wrong book and wrong time, but it just didn’t meet the expectations I had for it while reading the summary.

Paperback/Hardcover/Audiobook/E-book:

Audiobook

Pace:

Slow

Cover thoughts:

Adorable!

POV: (single or multi)

multi

Triggers:

Injury, Violence, Death, Some Swearing, Fire, Harassment, etc.

I recently finished the audiobook for Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by @rebeccathornewrites. I enjoyed it so much that I just had to pick up this trophy to add to my collection. 😉 If you know what I mean.

Reasons I ❤️:
📖 Cozy fantasy, although with slightly higher stakes
☕ Bookstore/tearoom combo. Lord knows I want to open up one of these myself.
🫖 An established romance. It's not that I don't love watching couples come together...I do. But I also love the familiarity shared between an established couple. The sharing of space, little everyday moments, and communicating without needing words.
✨ The magic system.
🫖Dragons and griffins. They're both badass.
☕ Side characters that I am invested in and want to see more of.
📖 The narrator was amazing!

A special thank you to @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the audio arc of this book to review.

Well, I loved this cozy fantasy, including Jessica Threet's excellent narration. Kianthe and Reyna are adorable and I really liked that their relationship was already established. Pining is fine, but it's nice to see a couple working through living together and building a life together instead of just falling love. I loved all the side characters in Tawney as well. The stakes are sometimes high, but other than the queen, most people are pretty nice or at least understandable when you get to know them. The struggles of renovating the tea/bookshop and setting up trade routes and establishing a customer base are all worthwhile moments in this tale. I can't wait to read the next installment and see what happens with the dragon eggs and the relationships between other citizens of Tawney.

Unfortunately this book did not work for me. I want to like cozy fantasy, and have enjoyed some cozy books in the past, but something here didn’t land.

Let’s start with the positives.

I liked the set up and the setting. I really thought I was going to like this story when we start with a Queen’s guard who wants to quit and open a tea shop. We get to see a glimpse into her life and why she is ready to move on.

I also liked that our two protagonists have been in a relationship for a few years before the start of the book. I always love seeing the later stages of relationships beyond just meeting and falling in love.

However, I didn’t really connect with our main characters, and I wasn’t really rooting for them. Their scenes felt cheesy and unrealistic. The story also kept telling us that they were good at communicating, but then their conflicts were due to miscommunication.

We also didn’t spend much time with the tea shop and bookshop. I wish we got to see them setting it up and operating it! It was started and run mostly off page. And our main characters were able to convince a local gang, who used to use the location as a headquarters, that it was a front for their operations in a single conversation!

Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this book. I think it will work for a lot of people, and I would still recommend giving it a try to anyone looking for a cozy palate cleanser.

This story is amazing! I adored these characters and their relationship. Such a great cozy listen!

The narrator did an amazing job bringing this story to life!

I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a cozy fantasy - it's political system is a little high-octane for that. The reader is given no time to adjust as they are thrown into a world of way too many important characters and systems to keep track of. Unfortunately, this novel did not live up to the hype...

This is the perfect cozy fantasy for fans of Legends and Lattes. I really enjoyed this audiobook, and the story is full of mystery, fantasy and lots of tea! The ending left on a cliffhanger, and I am excited to follow these characters in the next book of this series. If you are fans of dragons, bookstores and romance with no spice, this is the perfect book for you.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea is out now.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to review Can't Spell Treason without Tea. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m a little delayed in posting my review, but thank you Macmillan Audio for providing an ALC via Netgalley! This review will cover both the story and the audiobook narration.

NOVEL
⭐4/5

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea involves Reyna, a member of the queen’s guard, and Kianthe, the most powerful mage on the continent, leaving (mostly) behind their lives to open a bookstore in a tiny, idyllic town. If you love cozy fantasies, then this is definitely appealing.

However, those who are expecting a fully cozy story like Legends & Lattes may feel a little misled with CSTWT. While the bookshop/tea aspect is very cozy, there are a ton of high stakes that extend far beyond the small town (specific examples can be found on my GR review). Some issues were also resolved in convenient & cozy ways, which proved a little anticlimactic after building tension. (But who knows, maybe those resolutions will become un-cozy in the next book?) I enjoy both cozy and high-stakes stories, but readers expecting solely cozy might be disappointed.

I enjoyed the character building, and this definitely is great if you like character-driven stories. It was refreshing to see the leads already in an established relationship, so we got to see their growth without the burden of a “will they, won't they.” Reyna & Kianthe discover each other & themselves, learning that their identity is what they make of it, not the expectations placed on them by others. Our main couple also had banter that made me chuckle, and they have wonderful communication methods with each other to solve any interpersonal issues that may arise. The small town has many residents, and I enjoyed seeing them all open up as well.

Not all characters had as much growth though. The antagonists in particular were very one-dimensional and quite predictable, leading again to that anti-climatic feeling.

I like the magic system and classification! It was a very fun and unique separation of all the types of magic and how they’re approached and ranked.

CSTWT employed many mysteries, yet nearly all of them were left unsolved! While it definitely makes a great segue for the next novel, especially when considering the epilogue, it felt unsatisfying and a bit of a tease to not have at least one point resolved or not brushed off.

Another plot gripe I have is the time skip. I’m generally not a fan, especially when I wanted to see some of the scenes that were skipped over.

Overall, this was a very fun read, and I couldn’t put it down once I started! The inspiration from Legends & Lattes is definitely there, and I love the trend of cozy sapphic couples. Between the story and the narration, this small town romance had me hooked from the beginning. If you like a mix of cozy and high-stakes mixed in with character driven stories, then this would be the book for you.

(Character rep: Sapphic MCs, NB SCs)

NARRATION
⭐5/5

Jessica Threet is a FANTASTIC narrator, and I am absolutely a new fan. Her narration truly enhanced the immersion and breathed more life into an already charming story. Threet completely committed to the characters, showcasing all of their highs and lows.

I really enjoyed the voices she used in particular for the two main characters, Reyna and Kianthe, as the drastic accent change helped differentiate between the two. It was also very easy to tell where new sections and chapters began. Threet’s diction is always clear with a bright tone, and her background in theater is most definitely used to her advantage.

As a fan of cozy fantasies, I really enjoyed this one! I loved the world building, and how the plot progressed. I also loved the added romance because that’s something I personally longed for when reading Legends & Lattes. The only reason why this wasn’t a five star read was because it’s being marketed as a cozy fantasy which usually means a high fantasy with low stakes, and yet this book had a lot of high stakes. There were a lot of tense action moments, and even moments where the characters were in trouble. I was hoping for something a lot more cozy with lower stakes, BUT it was still an enjoyable read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook to me in exchange for an honest review.

"Can't Spell Treason without Tea" is the first book in the Tomes and Tea series by Rebecca Thorne. It is a fantasy with mystery and romance. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it if you like fantasy and don't mind sapphic romance. There is no spice other than kissing.

There is magic and griffins and dragons! There's a queen's guard named Reina, and the Arkandor, the most powerful mage of the age named Keanth. But they are really just two lovely women in love who want to run a shop with books and tea.

The big mystery is not resolved. I guess that will be in the next book or two.

Characters - 5/5
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 4/5
Pacing - 5/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 5/5
Narration - 4/5 by Jessica Threet
Cover - 4/5
Overall - 4.5.. rounding down to 4.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Rebecca Thorne for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Firstly, I want to thank NetGalley and MacMillan audio for providing me with an audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I found this book to be delightful! It’s got all the coziness of Legends & Lattes, with a bit more high stakes. While I love romances where you see the characters meet and get to know each other, I liked that Reyna and Kianthe’s romance was already established. You could see from the start that they both cared deeply for the other person, and that they were invested in what happened to each other. It made the stakes feel a bit more important. The banter and conversations between them was really sweet, as well. While the end kind of felt convenient (even for a cozy fantasy), and maybe wasn’t my favorite, I still really enjoyed my time in this world with these characters.

I'm obsessed with Reyna and Kianthe, I love cozy fantasy and sapphic stories so I knew I was pretty sure I was going to love this, but I'll admit I was a little skeptical about how it would read since the main characters were already together and it was a low stakes cozy fantasy. I am thrilled to say I'm obsessed with this book. The relationship between Reyna and Kianthe, watching them grow together and take the next step in their relationship made for a cozy swoonworthy romance, and the story had just enough stakes to not make it anxiety inducing but enough to keep it interesting. It's an incredibly hard balance to strike, but Thorne does it masterfully.
I listened to the audiobook, which was a masterpiece in general, but Reyna's accent was a work of art.