Tea Set and Match

Tea Princess Chronicles, Book 2

De: Casey Blair

Narrado por: Natalie Naudus

Miyara saved the city of Sayorsen and the dragons.

She was happy with the place she'd made for herself. But every action triggers consequences.

Her older sister comes to drag her back to the palace and the meaningless life she hated. The tea guild won't support her unless she succeeds on her own in their chosen challenge: a tea tournament and the international politics and unrest that come along with it. To top it all off, the border protecting the remaining world from the magical disaster zone is suddenly failing.

The path she'd thought was clear is twistier than ever, but armed with her trusty tea set, Miyara will fight to keep it.

Tea Set and Match is the second book of the Tea Princess Chronicles, a cozy fantasy series full of magic tea, baby dragons, friendship, and lifting people up even when the odds seem impossible.

©2022 Casey Blair (P)2024 Podium Audio

Narrator is great!

I really liked the first book, it was different and interesting which kept my attention. This one I skipped over a good bit and did not even finish it. I was disappointed

Another great one, deeper than it sounds

I bought Book 2 before I was done with Book 1 and I was not disappointed. This book has a lot of Miyara finding herself and figuring out her way in the world. There were several lines in the book that were so thought-provoking that I paused the book to ponder them. (Mostly they were about how she could serve others while not losing herself, something that many of us can learn from.) You'll definitely want to have read the first book, as I think that this would be hard to jump into as a standalone.

growing characters

all the characters have grown in this part of the series, their challenges and tribulations have evolved as well and it is very welcomed. can't wait to see what happens next.

still good, but first better

definitely a cute and cozy world, but I felt like this book spent too much time inside of miara's head and not enough time actually exploring the world and doing anything fun. the tea competition took a big backstage and was honestly barely a part of the story. the Cataclysm, That is definitely the most unique thing about the world, was barely explored at all.. 3.5-4

Familiar sweetness to the first book but less character development.

The first book had a clear and satisfying character arc for the heroine. I like the inclusion. I like the tea ceremony superpowers of empathy and unity. I liked the slow burn romance and cozy descriptions.

The second book plays off these same themes but focuses more on the politics. While I agree with sentiment behind the progressive values being centered. It is overpowering the story and fantasy. I felt at times like the dialogue was a dense, social justice essay and it took me out of the magic of the story. I was surprised to hear the word “gentrification” used in this fantasy world. I suppose there’s no rule that fantasy worlds need to be from a historical era. I like stories told from a modern perspective but the terminology felt out of place in a world of monarchy. The story can speak to these issues without needing to spell it out like a college course. A good book will show the reader not tell.

Cozy and Clever

I really enjoyed both the first book and this one as well. I enjoyed the nuanced approach the story takes with helping characters discover who they are and where they belong. I love that there's no black and white in terms of the characters' actions for the most part. Everyone understands that there are reasons behind the other character's actions even if they don't fully agree with them and work to find ways to better communicate and get along. Overall the book just has a really warm feel to it.

I love this cozy fantasy series! And it has such beautiful imagery!

Ohhhh. Wow. I love this cozy series. Tea Set and Match starts when Miyara finds out that inorder for the Tea Guild to accept her into their ranks she's gonna hafta enter the finals in a world Tea competition. A competition she knows little to nothing about. And she's gonna hafta win if she doesn’t wanna lose her provisional Tea Master title! But Miyara is a fighter and will accept the challenge as it's laid out... what she doesn’t expect is to uncover a terrorist plot, when faced with the first in a series of three challenges! So not only does she hafta win she has'ta find a way to stop the attack or at least mitigate it!
Grab the book, better yet get the boxed set to find out what Miyara does. Oh and the fanale of the competition, such beautiful imagery!

Here's a quote that tickled me:

"...with Glynis leading the way looking not even slightly whelmed."

Not Much Action

I enjoyed the first book in this series. There were interesting characters, lots of excitement and adventure. Dragons, magic, suspense... a brave woman who learns to make her own way and to stand up for what is right and just in the world.
But the second book had very little action. The characters mostly stood around talking to each other and reasoning through the politics of social justice. The main character spent a lot of time in deep thought over how to proceed with her romantic relationship. I ended up skipping ahead several times, just to find out how things ended. I don't know if I'll read the third book at all.

Bizarrely Preachy

Loved the first book but I cancelled my preorder of the third after listening to this. I'm a progressive but I surely found it off-putting to get lectured about pronouns when listening to my fantasy novel.

Loved the first book

I should have read reviews to clue me in that I would not like the second book. Refunding the third.