I'm quickly learning cozy fantasy is just not for me. There was nothing necessarily wrong about it, I just find the story and characters lack luster.

**Thank you to NetGalley, publisher, and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Rating: 4.25 ⭐️

This was an excellent cozy fantasy read, and was absolutely wonderful to listen to. If you're into magic, a lot of raspberry jam, a runaway librarian and her talking plant, then this is the book for you! I really enjoyed the character relationships throughout the story, and I really appreciated Kiela's growth. This is a perfect read for those wanting a no-high-stakes fantasy.

*Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC*

A cozy coastal fantasy was *just* what I needed. A bit slow to start, I quickly fell in love with the island and its denizens. That bakery and its cinnamon rolls sounded DIVINE! Caz and Meep were the stars for me, but Kiela definitely grew on me. I also enjoyed the simplicity and natural roots of the magic system. It made it easy to follow and understand why just anyone could cast a spell. I wish we'd gotten a bit more history about the empire and why they banned magic, but it was probably just about control. Regardless, it's a cute read that won't cause you any stress and that's nice every so often.

But I do now need to buy a spider plant and name him Caz, thank you very much.

What more could you ask for in a cozy fantasy?! This book delivered everything I wanted. Some threat, romance, magical creatures, spellcasting, and charming neighbors who add so much charm & flair to the story. I wish I could live there!

The cottagecore vibes were so perfect! It’s the right mix of coziness and small-town feel, but with high enough stakes to keep things exciting. The cute slow-burn romance was just the cherry on top. The story is all about loving books and nature & sharing knowledge. Friends, community, and a bit of magic are all you really need.

Watching Kiela figure out how to survive and thrive was so fun. She’s socially awkward, sometimes stubborn, and constantly worried about committing treason by using forbidden magic to help her new neighbors. Seeing her build relationships and friendships was heartwarming, with many touching moments.

This world is so delightful, with vibrant colors and magical creatures like house plants, unicorns, merhorses, mermaids, spirit bears, winged cats and so much more. The audiobook was a perfect accompaniment, hitting all the right notes. I’d love to see more stories set in this wonderful world!

This book was everything cottage core cozy stands for and I am here for it! I didn’t know that I needed a cozy cottage core read before listening to this one.

✨ Magic elements
✨ fantasy
✨ Hints of romance
✨ Fantastical creatures
✨ A talking spider plant
✨ Gorgeous gentle man
✨ Spell books
✨ librarian
✨ reverse grumpy/sunshine
✨ magical island small town vibes
✨ beach read

If you are in the mood for a cozy summer read with sea horses, mermaids, and delicious cinnamon rolls this is the book for you! I loved it from beginning to end!

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book completely encapsulates Cottage Core vibes! It was just so cozy all around!

The book follows Kiela, an introverted librarian who hasn’t left the library in years, as she is forced to leave the comforts of her books and flee to a safer place. As the library begins to burn, Kiela and her animated plant friend Caz, must find somewhere safe to hide out with as many books as they can carry. So Kiela goes to the only place she feels safe outside the library, her childhood home, where she must overcome a new kind of obstacle, human interaction and a bunch of nosy townspeople.

There was something so funny about Kiela and her delusions that she could figure anything out. She was definitely born with the, “How hard can it be?” attitude and yet she always managed to get the job done! It just goes to show how reading expands a person!

Caz was such a great side character! His banter was funny and his commentary on anything Kiela was doing had me laughing out loud! Not to mention him and Kiela just fit so well as best friends!

And of course there was a bit of romance thrown in! I mean who wouldn’t want a hot neighbor constantly coming over to fix stuff for you?? And he’s like a sea creature whisperer? I mean can he get anymore attractive?! I also just love how into Kiela he was and how she literally had no idea?? Excellent writing all around!

This book is a wonderful palette cleanser, it just felt some comforting! Especially as a standalone, this book is so easy to binge! Durst will have you wanting to move to your own island and start homesteading too! 🏠

Lastly, the magic system is easy to understand while still being quite complex. She left some things up to mystery while providing enough backstory to keep it interesting. I also just feel like the magic was realistic if that makes any sense 😂 like if the real world had magic, this is how it would be!

I have next to nothing back to say about this book! The writing was engaging and funny, both the main characters and side characters had great character development and I genuinely wanted to move to this island and never leave 😂

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The beginning of this book was so retry exciting and I honestly was very engaged for the first 40% of the book but then it got too cozy for my taste and I lost by interest for the story until about 80% in.
I did love Caz and Kiera’s anxiety was really relatable. I also think that although the spells used in the story were not really that powerful still helped the Islanders to achieve what they needed .

This one is a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

🪴Plant Best Friend
🪄Spells & Magic
🧶Cozy Vibes

This book wasn’t my favorite. I think I was expecting more world building and also more information about running the actual spell shop. I felt like it lacked both. I felt the plot was almost ~too low stakes~ for me. I’m sad this wasn’t my fav but SO many people love it so I’d recommend if it interests you, check it out!
Side note, Caz is the best sidekick ever🪴

This one comes out July 9th, and the physical copy has LAVENDER SPRAYED EDGES!!!

Absolutely loved this precious fantasy romance book! As a librarian, a really loved and connected with Kiela! So light and uplifting and I highly recommend it!

A magically sweet story about helping others. Kiela is a librarian who likes her solitary life among the books. Keila is a sweet character who shows great strength, growth, and kindness. She does the ultimate librarian thing and shares the knowledge of the books. There are great characters in this quirky little town that help her along a journey of finding happiness that she didn’t even know she was on. They find kindness in (almost) everyone and show that people can work together.

I absolutely loved this cozy fantasy. The characters, plot, and worldbuilding were very well developed. They immediately sucked me in, and made me fall in love with this story. I especially loved the characters Kiela and Caz, and the cozy atmosphere of Kiela’s cottage. I will definitely recommend this audiobook to anyone and everyone.

A lovely cozy fantasy perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and Can't Spell Treason Without Tea. Lots of nesting, bookish, garden, cooking, and shopkeeper scenes.

I really wanted to like this book, but I found it to be boring. This was my first cozy fantasy read, and I don’t think it’s for me. I loved the idea of it all and it was very cozy, but it was extremely low stakes which just made me bored. Just simply not for me!

I DNFed this because I just could not get into the story. I wanted to enjoy this but I could not. The narrator was good

This is such a cute, cozy book! It's the perfect book to curl up with if you're needing a break from something heavier or just want to feel like you're being given a warm hug. While some elements of the story are a little convenient, working out for Kiela in a way that seems a little improbable, overall the story wrapped up and flowed well.

I really enjoyed this book, but I think I would have preferred to read the physical copy or e-book to the audiobook. I tend to prefer audio, but the narrator for this one tried to display strong emotion, but ultimately ended up sounding like she was going to cry constantly. This affected my overall listening experience, but not enough to affect how much I loved this story. I think this is one I'm going to be adding to my physical shelves for a reread!

Thank you to NetGalley for this early release!

This was everything my cottagecore fantasy heart needed and just a little bit more.
Kiela is first and foremost a librarian. When she and her talking plant companion Caz have to flee the library they save as many books as they can and board a boat to the small village where she grew up. While there she learns how to be part of a community again and does what she can to help the people she grows to love.
This definitely felt like a debut novel, in the sense that all the ideas were there and I loved every second of it but some things were repeated a few too many times and could have used some ironing out. However, it's still a 5 star and I HOPE she turns it into a series! I could read so much more in this world

Big thanks to Netgalley and Sarah Beth Durst for the audioARC in exchange for a review.

There's an escaped librarian, tragic past, magic, and talking plants. The background storyline is finding your roots, going home, connecting to your past, finding yourself. And of course, finding love.

This turned out to not be my typical read. The description was adult, romantacy, and cozy , but it was more rom-com, middle grade romance, with a huge helping of cozy. It all works out in the end.

The narrator was decent and the characters were well played.

I would call this a good read for the young folks starting out in romantacy, very clean and safe.

4 stars

this book gives the cozy fantasy with highish stakes and a slight small town childhood “friends to lovers!

i loved the cozy feels of this book! i loved the descriptiveness of the town and landscapes!

however, i did not like the lack of detail in the characters. i feel like there was nowhere near enough description in the characters and would have loved to actually be able to picture the characters and not just “he has big muscles” or “the blue hair.” i also feel like it needed just a little bit more editing.

as always, thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for approving me for the audiobook ARC!

୨⎯ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒔 ⎯୧
rating: 3.75
plot: 4
characters: 3.5
writing: 4
romance: 3.75
spice: 0.75
narration: 4

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

°•*⁀➷ what to expect
cosy fantasy
found family
illegal magic
sentient plant
isolated island

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

°•*⁀➷ the plot
this cozy fantasy starts with the magic library being in a crisis and burned and our FMC Kiela and her sentient plant friend Caz grabbing as many books as they can and hauling out of there to her old hometown/island to save the books and escape the disasters. there she has to hide her spell books and spells and try to stay safe since magic and spells and everything of the sort is illegal to use. the world building is very confusing if you think about it, especially when certain characters come into play. we don't have a lot of information of the city or their politics and it's just all around confusing to sort out.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the characters
𝜗𝜚 kiela: a solid character she doesn't have anyone but her plant Caz and is all alone on this island starting new at her old house with no one to go to and among meeting the islanders and becoming friends with them, she starts opening up more. she wasn't all that interesting to me, but I enjoyed her willingness to help the island and the people.

𝜗𝜚 caz: let's be honest this spider plant stole the show, he was my favorite character and thing about this book. he was created from illegal magic and had fond feelings of his creator and thought of Kiela as his family and friend and was so cute and funny!

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the romance
the romance was cute and simple, I did wish for more sparks and chemistry between the two but regardless it was really cute. a man of few words but many actions, he reminded me of Luke from Gilmore Girls.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the narration
the narrator did an absolutely great job narrating the book and bringing the characters to life and giving each one a unique voice.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

ᯓ ᡣ𐭩 do i recommend? — yes!

This book is exactly what I wanted but didn’t get from Legends and Lattes. It’s whimsical and heartfelt with a ton of little magical creatures throughout. There were stakes, but the story never felt anything besides bright.

I liked: the awkward main characters, the audiobook narrator, the magical atmosphere, Kiela’s best friend is a talking plant, and the forging of a community

I didn’t like: almost every aspect I enjoyed is underdeveloped. I didn’t feel the romance, the political intrigue doesn’t go deep enough, what happened with Kiela’s parents is never explained, and there weren’t enough memories shown on page to feel anything about Kiela connecting to her roots. I think that anything marketed as “cozy fantasy” tends to end up with these issues.

All that being said, I did adore this book. The atmosphere, descriptions of magic, and Kiela making jam and healing an island made this a perfect light read. I just wanted more emotional payoff from the romance and found family. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!