Can't Spell Treason Without Tea

Tomes & Tea, Book 1

By: Rebecca Thorne

Narrated by: Jessica Threet

“The sapphic romance is brought to the forefront through Jessica Threet’s emotional depth and compelling lilt.”—Booklist

In the tradition of Legends & Lattes, comes a cozy fantasy steeped in sapphic romance about one of the Queen’s private guards and a powerful mage who want to open a bookshop and live happily ever after…if only the world would let them.

All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters… all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen’s private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn’t so easy.

But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she’s thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility–all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams.

What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other… and the world.

A Macmillan Audio production from Bramble Books.

©2023 Rebecca Thorne (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Cute, cozy, flirty and with stakes.

Legends and Lates but with more emotional fluency and higher stakes. Narrator disnt just read it, she PERFORMED it.

A fantastic Cozy Saphic book

I adored this book. I've been struggling to find a good book recently and this one was definetly my cup of tea. I devoured it. Definetly a fantastic cozy read.

Cozy Fantasy at its best!

This book is so well crafted. The characters are lovable and unique. It is easy for the reader to become invested in their lives and their funny quirks. Way better than Legends and Lattes!

Very sweet!

I have been in some not so good relationships in the past and this reminds me just how worth it , it is to wait for someone who treats you well. Very sweet, realistic, good friendship between the leads and not just romance.

Tried to be Legends and Lattes

This book is a cute comfy finding your place book. Tried to bring the same feel as Legends and Lattes. Didn’t quite get there. Characters are kind of flat, no character growth, predicable outcomes. But a nice cozy happy ending read for those looking for that feel.

Great characters, and wonderful voice work!

This is such a cute story, with a pleasantly surprising amount of plot and intrigue that I wasn’t expecting! I love the way the main relationship is written, and the naturalness of pretty much all the dialogue. I also appreciated that al the characters in the story feel like real people with their own histories, without weighing down the plot. The worldbuilding is subtle enough to allow for natural discovery by the reader, and when exposition is given, it feels interesting and earned. The voice actor is also wonderful, and brings the already-individualized personalities of the main and side characters to life!

All in all, an enjoyable, cozy read that I’ll definitely be revisiting!

A Cozy Cup of Tea

A wonderful, punny, and well steeped romantic story! Absolutely love the pace of the story and a mix of cozy with a bit of adventure!

Cozy and Adventurous

I loved this book so thoroughly. I think what really got me hooked was the fact that it wasn’t the beginning of a love story, when you meet the main characters, they’re already in love. They’re choosing to make their life happen and it’s really a beautiful story.
Pre ordered the next book already 💙

Cozy escape from execution and facing dragons.

A suprisingly aggressively delightful and cozy fantasy story of a lesbian mage and guard escape to a small town. I was just thinking of my favorite lesbian couple and realized that too often we only see the path to them getting together rather than spending their time together, and that too bad because then you miss really good chemistry that the couple have in this story. Just enough tension and charm to keep reader engage while being cozy. Also huge prop to the narrator for doing an awesome job as well as the author of course for the writing.

why was this so hard to follow?

"Run away with me. You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?"

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea | Rebecca Thorne
⭐⭐⭐

Reyna (a queen's guard) abandons her post and runs away with her girlfriend Kianthe (a powerful mage) to the small town of Tawney where they open a tea shop. They have to deal with bandits, dragon attacks, secret identities, and competing ownership of the town.

This was a really slow start for me and I ended up having to switch to audio, which did help. But, I struggled immensely with keeping the characters straight, not just the two MCd, but the side characters too.

I think it's time for me to accept that cozy fantasy isn't really my genre. I wanted more excitement. The dragon attack scene was fun, but short, that sorta thing. A lot of the time I was just bored during the book.
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