It's hard to encapsulate the way this book made me feel in a tiny text box that only a few people are going to take the time to read. I first heard about TCATHOE through the author's twitter; I was in the process of reading a story she'd written online, and I was so enamored with her prose and world building that I knew I had to read more of her stuff. I was DELIGHTED to find she had a trad published book coming out in November, and I absolutely ran to join her street team. Once I had the arc on my phone I devoured it, staying up until three AM to finish it despite knowing my toddler would wake me up only a few hours later.

I regret nothing.

Orpheus is one of the loveliest protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of going on a journey with. When you meat him he's about a foot away from rock bottom, and despite having just helped his best friend Lore conquer the country, he doesn't seem to fit into the space he's helped her carve out. What follows is one of the most satisfying redemption arcs you'll ever read. The book is very character driven; you spend much of your time in Orpheus' head, considering the effects his actions have had on the people around him and watching as he comes to startling realizations. The beauty of that is you get a front row seat to every moment he decides to grow, makes a conscious decision to be better. And his budding love with General Labrador Retriever himself, Fenrir Rawkner, is just icing on the cake.

This is going to be the perfect book for anyone who wants to love cozy romance, but finds they often don't have enough plot to hold their interest. It's like...Cozy+. Cozy plus journey, cozy plus action, cozy plus redemption.

Do yourself a favour and preorder now, you'll be glad to have a copy in your hands on release day.

Ich habe mich über das Buch sehr gefreut. Es ist nicht nur fließend zum lesen sondern auch sehr spannend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for giving me the chance to read an arc of this book

Wow. This book was absolutely phenomenal! I poured through the pages and I just couldn’t get enough of these incredible characters! The plot was so unique and so was the world building. To have dragons and it also be a futuristic wasteland was such a cool idea. It was so well written. I usually take a little while to get into fantasy books as I have to learn new words and get used to the kind of setting, but Fiona Fenn’s writing captivated me from the very first page and the characters, especially Orpheus and Fenrir felt like I knew them already.
I absolutely adored those two wonderful guys, and I so enjoyed reading as their relationship developed and blossomed into such a beautiful love story.

I honestly can’t recommend this book enough. It’s definitely in my top five books of 2024

I can’t wait for all my friends to read this 🥹

𝙊𝙧𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙪𝙨, 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚, 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨.
The complete brooding body of internal self-loathing that translates to the sarcastic, prickly exterior that is this man…I didn’t expect to be so utterly CLOCKED by him OKAY. At several stressful/emotional points, he’s doing this little maneuver: “His [Orpheus’] hand slipped into his sleeve, fingernails finding his wrist. He dug in, blunted and painful.”
I—
I used to do this lmao. A lot. In trauma-response I sometimes still do. So to have it written on paper was equal parts unfathomable and validating. I loved reading each and every one of his spirals, because the trains of thought were disgustingly relatable, and I wish I had had my own Fenrir to—with his otherworldly gentleness—pull me out of it.

𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧.
Fenrir is the most handsome Rim-Soldier.
Fenrir is the most delightful Rim-Soldier.
Fenrir is the most cunning Rim-Soldier.
anyways... I’m not sure I’ve loved a character so entirely like this before lmao he is perfection. Secretly smart? Needs bottle-rim glasses to read? Says things like ”I was almost worried something had happened to my angry little flame thrower.”? My hell.

𝙁𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙊𝙧𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙪𝙨’ 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙩.
In summary: this book snapped my attention at the very beginning, violently called me out and thus sucked me in, ripped my heart into bleeding shards while cackling, sneakily pieced it back together with fuckin eye lash glue, cuddled me for a stunningly sappy minute, dangled my soul over a massive purple-fire-filled crack in the planet, then only allowed me to remain in tact after trading all of the tears my body could provide. I survived, but barely.

This book is absolutely legendary.