This was a cute read that I think will be enjoyed by those who like light fantasy novels a la The Princess Bride or Rainbow Rowell’s Simon Snow series’. That said, I had a hard time connecting with the writing like I wanted to. I found myself skimming to the relatively predictable conclusion, and I worried the ending was a bit of a cop out. But— still enjoyable!

This book has 3 different point of views recounting lives after their big adventure. I did appreciate how this story reflects and follows what happens AFTER these great tales you usually read about. That was a touch I enjoyed and I hope is brought out more in other works.

I will be looking into this author’s future works and recommending! I will say personally I wish the book was written in their first POV for each character rather than 3rd POV, personal preference of mine. The book and characters was still interesting and fun enough to continue reading!

I will say this does have some darker and heavier moments as well which I didn’t initially expect off the cover and description but it all made sense as they deal with the fall outs and life a decade after.

The cover is also beautifully done and makes me want to buy a copy for my shelf!

Thank you to E.B. Asher, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

I will definitely be rereading this book in the near future, and will definitely be buying a copy once it comes out in September.

This book was magical, whimsical, and put simply: a fairytale.

I loved this book very much, I finished it in 2 days and could not put it down. It’s a cozy romantasy about how 4 individuals who grew apart 10 years ago learn to love each other, both in friendship and in love.

I simply loved the plot of this book. As for the title, I’ve been walking around my house saying “This will be fun” every time someone tries to do something that may not turn out well.

This book was very fun. It had valiant characters, hilarious banter, and a fairytale setting. It had 4 characters who go on a quest, relive their glory, and reclaim their selves. There were so many confessions, both of love and regret.

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who grew up loving fairytales or epics. This is a read I’ll be thinking about for a while. This book is also perfect for anyone trying to get into fantasy!

This Will Be Fun releases September 10th, 2024!! Put this on your TBR’s! This will not be a book you regret reading.

I think my problems with this book can be best summarized through a specific example: the messaging tapestry. Early on, there are two important scenes where Elowen has to communicate through a "messaging tapestry," which is, presumably, supposed to fulfill the function of a computer or phone. Except, it is barely described. We don't know what it looks like, how big it is, how it functions. Is it floppy and woven like a real tapestry? If so, how do you send messages on it? Do you type them or write them or think thoughts in its direction? I couldn't picture how this world worked, and it was frustrating me. However, suddenly, a quarter of the way through the book, the messaging tapestry disappears and is never mentioned again, since it is no longer relevant to the plot.

The world, the story, and its stakes all seemed, to me, to lack cohesion. If we exist in a lighthearted, cozy world, why did the villain just kill an entire village of people? Once you introduce this type of violence, why do we then immediately return to wacky Fantasy Vegas antics? The book could have still had a satisfying narrative arc if the characters needed to process their grief to move forward, but, instead, this pivotal character is brought back to life, seemingly fine with it, and everyone can instead continue to employ their questionable coping mechanisms. It did not help that the writing was, at points, incomprehensible. "Beatrice, who'd done exactly what he wished he could not have predicted." Excuse me??? What on earth are you talking about?

I can see how someone would enjoy this book if they loved the characters since their interactions are at the heart of the story. I loved Vandra and ended up liking Clare. However, if you strongly dislike at least one of the protagonists, it can result in a pretty insufferable reading experience. They all have pretty self-serving motives, which isn't helped by the tendency to "tell" rather than "show." What do you MEAN Beatrice is selfless? You can't just tell me that, a third of the chapters are from her perspective and she is obsessed with herself!

I'm mad because the premise sounded interesting, Vandra deserved better, and the ending made everything feel pointless.

Book Stats:

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️(2/5)

Tropes: Second Chance, HAE, found family

Publisher: Avon Books

*Thank you so much to Avon Books for sending me a copy of this book early in exchange for a honest review-it means alot that you trust little old me!*

Summary:

Ever wonder what happens AFTER the heroes win? After the happily ever after? after the curtains close on a quest? Well, after the death of Galwell the leader of the group passes away, Clare, Beatrice and Elowen have retreated to different parts of society. But when the queen's wedding forces them and their past relationship's together, the great heroes must figure out have to save the queen's fiancée, while also having to confront the past.

Review:

Where to even begin? If you like any type of fantasy, I think you will enjoy this book. It's lighthearted, hilariously funny, and have some great character growth. Even if you don't like fantasy but like romance, you may also want to check this book out. I would call it fantasy, but with some major realism.

This is such a interesting concept for a book. What truly happens to the heroes after they finish this epic journey that 90% of the true fantasy book takes place? Where else have you heard of a book picking up 10 years after these heroes complete their great quest?

The worldbuilding in this book was great. The authors pull the reader in and explain exactly where the characters are and why. The authors also do a amazing job of bringing modern technology into this fantasy world. Seriously, they way they handle that stuff is quite literally freaking genius. It didn't break the immersion but pulled me harder into the book.

The character growth in this book is written really well. All 3 of our main characters go thru some real hardships that they still have to face/come to terms with in order to move on. It nice to see those struggles presented especially in the fantasy novel(I feel like we don't always see that).

This book also has great LGBTQ Rep.

The banter and the chemistry these characters have is so good. Like, had me kicking and screaming like the teenage girl I am and throwing my kindle across the room. The found family trope is also so so cute!

This book gives me 80's fantasy movie vibes. It's just a really fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and E. B. Asher for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“This Will Be Fun” is quite the appropriate title. This was indeed a fun romp, discovering what happens AFTER the heroes slay the villain and restore order to the realm. What’s life like when you’re, well a bit washed up?

This book moves slowwwww for a quest - not a whole lot of excitement happens, but we get to see our main characters reconnect ten years later and discover who they are outside of their identities from the past.

The climax was a bit, well, anticlimactic, but I loved the redemption of Beatrice in the end, and how they all got to share in the glory equally, without any of the hurt and resentment of the past.

This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher (who consists of three authors) is a cozy, yet adventurous, fantasy following The Four: a group of four friends who are designated as heroes after saving the realm of Mythria 10 years ago. The book is set 10 years after that and follows the three surviving heroes as they reunite to complete one more quest. Readers get a deep look at the lives of the heroes, including how their previous quest has impacted them over the years, and follow them as they work towards saving the kingdom again.

When I saw this on NetGalley I was immediately interested. It is an adventurous cozy fantasy with the main focus being on the characters and their development. This results in some of the resolution of adventure/quest-related conflicts being quiet brief in length (I would have preferred it to be a bit longer). Also of note, the book had some spicy moments and there was LGBTQIA+ rep, which I appreciated. Overall a fun read that I think many will enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and authors for granting me an eBook ARC. This Will Be Fun is expected to be published on September 10, 2024.

I was given an advanced copy in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion I am giving voluntarily. I actually loved this, romcom fantasy with quest is all I can give you if the blurb doesn’t make sense. Sometimes it goes off on a tangent about a past event but it’s necessary since there isn’t a book about before this is strictly about what happens to hero’s after. It is a sslllooowwww burn so be warned, also there is spice but it wasn’t good. If you want to read this based on the vibes, you’re gonna love this. If you’re expecting fantasy with high stakes action you will be disappointed. I was a little disappointed it had three pov’s but in some cases it’s necessary since it’s about individual experiences with grief and dealing with fame.

A true "rom-quest" to adventure into. The characters are delightful and have enough depth to pull you in . The premise of the book is a quest completed but gone horribly wrong by losing a loved member of their team. We then come back to the story 10 years later to venture on the journey of healing. And of course a new quest! Can the team forgive themselves and each other and find a way back together? The second half of the book is where it picked up for me and more of the action ensued. It was the ending that I loved the best! Just when you thought it was a happy ever after the writers put the cherry on top! Pick this book up, it will be fun!

In "This Will Be Fun" by E.B. Asher, the once-renowned heroes of the realm (Mythria)—Beatrice, Elowen, and Clare—are summoned to the queen's wedding after a decade of estrangement, each bearing the scars of their past adventures. After arrival at their destination, they are asked to go together on a quest, despite their well-known avoidance of each other. While grappling with unresolved romantic tensions and the lingering guilt from their last quest, they must confront returning dark forces threatening the peace of the realm.
I found this story delightful. It pulled me right in and while it slowed a bit in the middle of the book, it ended in a way I enjoyed. It answers the question of what happens after the heroes save the world. Hint: It’s not all happy ever after.
The characters were each very interesting and funny, and I enjoyed the multi-POV storytelling so I could understand each of their motivations. I would absolutely read a sequel to this book and would hope to see the heroes on a quest again, though I would hate to see the realm threatened for a 3rd time in their lifetimes.

Big thanks to E.B. Asher, Avon, and Netgalley for the chance to read this book ahead of publication!

Can confirm, this was indeed fun. I saw some people compare this to Shrek, and I was like “say less, I’m in!” And I can see where they’re coming from in terms of the world building — it felt satirical in the way that Shrek is by including period-appropriate versions of things like Discord and Uber. But that’s where the similarities end, I think. I enjoyed the second-chance romances and friendships; however I think there was too large a focus on Clare and Beatrice hooking up again. Their romance overshadowed the quest, which I was hoping would be the bigger emphasis as the story progressed. In fact, I think the first half of the book was paced extremely slowly and I even struggled a bit to get past the 30-40% mark. Once the quest began, I was golden. Up until then, I was fighting for my life.
That said, Clare’s character development was top tier and I really enjoyed seeing how he grew as a person over the course of the story and found his way back to being himself. This was a character-driven story, and I think I was maybe expecting it to be more plot-driven, which is where the disconnect is happening for me.
Overall, I enjoyed this silly, cozy fantasy and will be recommending!

What a cool book. If I hadn’t read the description, I would’ve picked it up anyways because look how awesome the cover is.

A whimsical and witty take on a cozy fantasy, with two second-chance romances, reminiscent of The Princess Bride, Shrek, with a touch of Ella Enchanted. I would put this story as more romantic comedy forward with fantasy elements and plenty of yearning. The world is a feudal system with modern convivences, slang, and uncomplicated light magic. In concept, this story was fun and humorous, but at times the plot was repetitive and seemed to have an identity crisis- building up a quest but focusing on the relationships instead. The ending felt like a rush to resolve some plot points that were never actual fleshed-out in the first place.
I loved the quirkiness of modern elements reframed for a fantasy world and the characters are likable, but I struggled with the circular nature of their development and interactions. The lack of a decisive plot to move the story forward resulted in me taking much longer than normal to read this one. There is a group of people that will absolutely love this book, and I see a potential for a cult following, but I am unsure if it will appeal to the fantasy genre at large.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

This was a fun, lighthearted read that personifies the genre of cozy romantasy. I enjoyed the light romance, the character growth, and the overall setting. But, the anachronisms were a bit much. By the time I got to elevators powered by runes I was rolling my eyes. I think there were better ways to introduce modern concepts without it being tongue-in-cheek. That being said, I did still enjoy the rest of the story, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy romantasy! 3.5 ⭐️

The good:
Anachronistic fantasy realm setting, which I've found annoying in other stories was better done here- a little cutesy with the "definitely not an uber" carriage service and "definitely not starbucks" coffee chains, but not overly proud of itself about them.
The book advertises itself as a cozy romantasy, and that's absolutely what it is - it was easy to read, the romantic tension was pretty much the only tension in it, and the relationships were well developed with a long history that was fun to learn about.

The bad
Deus ex machina robs our heroes of the final conflict and make it more or less such that we shouldn't have had a conflict in the first place, rendering the plot pretty pointless.
Everything was a little too easy for the questers, including admitting to ten-year-old lies and mistakes that destroyed their relationships initially.

Overall, definitely light, enjoyable second-chance romance reading, but not going to scratch the itch if you're looking for a compelling adventure story as well. I'll be recommending it to a few of my friends who really like this type of cozy read! Thanks to NetGalley for the advance access!

Some parts of this are absolutely brilliant and some parts are...not. This had such potential and it was that potential that kept me reading through the entire thing, but having actually read the entire thing I can confidently say that this book has major structural problems. The first 40% of the book was completely superfluous, enough that it made me want to scream because it was just people being miserable for pages and pages and pages. The other major problem with this was the three person/two love stories format. I realize that they had three authors and the three authors shared equally, but this would have been _so_ much better if it had moved Elowen's story to another book and just focused on Beatrice and Clare. As it was, just as soon as you got anywhere with Claretrice, you went to Elowen and Vandra and all the momentum of the story was completely lost. This is an Avon book; it is customary to have each couple have their own book, so I have no idea why they tried to cram so much into this book. Overall, it's utterly depressing to contemplate how much better this book could have been with some future planning. Oh well. *sigh*

vibes: Shrek (but with some angst and lots of romance), Dungeons & Dragons, second chances all around, "we were doing so good and then reality happened'

Heat level: 5/10

The basics:

The heroic Four--Galwell the Great, his sister Elowen, their childhood friend Beatrice, and mercenary-turned-friend Clare Grandhart--are on the brink of saving the kingdom. And then they do... at the cost of Galwell's life. Ten years later, Elowen, Beatrice, and Clare haven't spoken since the funeral. But now, they're all obligated to attend the queen's wedding. Clare and Beatrice, whose tension-filled bickering turned to loathing after Galwell died, are begrudgingly on the same path. And Elowen is roped into going when the queen hires Vandra, an assassin she had a thing with on the last quest, into bringing her to the wedding. When all four crash into each other--compelled to save the day one more time--they have to deal with allllll the unresolved feelings. Romance! Adventure! Friendship! Pet eagles! YES.

The review:

Dude! This was so fun!

I was a little skeptical about whether or not this would actually be a romance. Short answer: yes it is, and you get two for the price of one. Two second chance romances for the price of one at that, which is always great for someone like me.

I didn't shelve this as a book with a secondary romance because for all intents and purposes, Clare and Beatrice's romance and Vandra and Elowen's romance really get almost equal time. They both have issues, they both have heat, they both have grand love confessions. The only thing that makes Clare and Beatrice a little more prominent is that there are three POVs in this book--Clare, Beatrice, and Elowen. Vandra doesn't have a POV, and while I get that she wasn't a part of the original Four... I would've liked it! She's on the page as much as the other three, and I loved her and her relationship with Elowen.

That quick critique aside: point is, as a romance reader you get a lot of different things, and it's great. You get Vandra cheerfully offering to consensually kidnap the introverted, awkward Elowen, and Elowen being unable to resist because like... Yeah dude. Vandra is just hot like that. You get Clare and Beatrice's unresolved "one night stand turned questmates falling in love turned people who aren't over each other but haven't been able to deal with their feelings ever since the big bad thing happened". Unresolved horniness! Intense feeling! It's all the type of shit a romance reader will gobble up.

However, the world is also a really great part of everything. It's very much fantasy by way of Shrek. Some of our characters speak to "heart healers", who can help them analyze their feelings. One watches "shadow plays", and boy is she into fandom. A heroine who once helped saved the world is kind of a messy bitch fresh off a divorce nowadays.

It's all very tongue in cheek and snarky, but in a very WHOLE FEELINGS way. You can tell these authors fully love this kind of setting, things like The Princess Bride and Dungeons & Dragons. Fondness and emotion is a huge part of the story. So yeah, while there are antics, you never lost that sense of like... cuddly softness. I mean, Clare literally has extended inner monologues about how much he loves his pet eagle. It's the cutest thing.

Often, cuteness is used to dodge a need for plot and character development in recently published romance novels. Here, that's not the case at all. You can tell that a lot of love was put into differentiating these characters, sending up archetypes while also subverting them. These aren't perfect people. They fuck up sometimes. It's actually quite refreshing to me that Beatrice and Elowen in particular are kind of... poorly adjusted ladies in their early thirties who need to work on their shit. Appreciate that representation. But beyond that, survivor's guilt and PTSD somehow fit so nicely into what is ultimately a really funny and really sweet fantasy romance novel? My God, we really can have it all.

I feel like there was a great balance between like... quest plot, relationship plot (both romantic and platonic, no bond is neglected) and funny little sidebars and quotes that had me bookmarking pages for later. Balancing between saving the world, kissing, and a character saving the day by autographing swords kind of creates a great palate-cleansing blend.

The Sex:

You only get two sex scenes in this book, one for each couple, and while they're explicit they're still a light touch in that sense. However, I found both of them sexy, and there's a ton of chemistry and tension in both romances. You get "questmates with benefits" on one side, and "man doggedly pursuing woman who pretends she doesn't give a shit" on the other. We all win.

I loved settling into this world for a romp. You get a strong voice here, great characters, romcom antics, and yeah, a lot of heart. I'd love to read another book in the same world--and hell, I'd love to see a miniseries made out of this one. It's just a really good time without being stakes-less, and that's not always easy to find. Go on the quest, I'd say.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found the book's premise to be intriguing. I adore reading science fiction and fantasy novels, and this one seemed like it might be enjoyable. The narrative, characters, and writing style were all appealing to me.

As contained reading, I did not enjoy it very much. The ending was abrupt, and it made no sense to the storyline. I felt like it was very rushed to the rest of the book. I loved the concept for the book, but was not executed very well. It started out fun but felt receptive in nature.

I hate to be one of the few to write a negative review, but this book was not very good. I wish I could have dnf it. This book took me longer to finish than it should've because I had to keep pushing myself to keep going. Overall a good, but not great, read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A group of four, leader Galwell, sister Elowen, her best friend Beatrice and ex-bandit Clare, had joined forces
to save Mythria ten years ago. While successful, it ended with Galwell's death. Since then the three have not
spoken or kept in touch. Called to attend the queen's wedding, the queen's betrothed has been kidnapped and Mythria
is again threatened. As the three venture forth to the rescue, discovering what drove them apart will aid in accomplishing their mission.
Character driven story with magic.
#ThisWillbeFun #Avon #HarperVoyagerV#NetGalley

This book was cozy and fun, and goofy in the best way.

We follow 3 former heros after a tragic end to their first quest. The horrible ending of their realm renowned quest tore what used to be a very tight group apart. Fast forward 10 years and the reader gets to follow along how these old friends, now estranged, regroup, and learn who they are all over again.

Following 3 different POVs, this book is refreshing in each individual persona. How they each have dealt the with the results of the first quest and have revelations along the way in this new story is fulfilling to watch.

The magic system in this book is so silly, I found myself giggling more than once. This is a supposed middle ages story, but there are magics that give it a modern play. There are so many nods to pop culture and modern technology but built around magic as it could be considered in a far off time, and then connecting those two things was so fun.

I found the characters to be endearing and heartfelt, likeable but flawed.

If you want a silly Romcom/fantasy with lots of modern twists mashup, this is definitely a read for you.

Overall: recommend!