Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea very much matches the label on the front cover “cozy fantasy steeped in love”. It’s not exactly a romance though, since the main couple is already established at the start, and they actually seem to have a healthy communication dynamic (which it feels like most standard romances must avoid). Unless the love is actually the couple everyone knows are into each other but they refuse to admit it themselves, or maybe it’s the young teenage first love thing that gets going towards the end. It is most definitely nearly fan-fic of Legends & Lattes (the author gives credit in the afterward) except that it’s not set in the same world or use the same characters; the plot though is definitely recognizable, or at least the main thread. That means it’s definitely fantasy, with a mage who rides a griffon, a palace guard and her childhood bestie, a self-absorbed unlikable queen, a dragon cameo, and a group of villagers with bandit problem. There’s also the shop itself; Reina’s got the tea and baking, and Kianthe has books, both for loan and sale, as well as potentially a side gig with spelled plants. This seems a tad convoluted; I mean, it’s fine to have multiple interests, but how exactly does one become a master tea blender/brewer and master baker when you’ve spent your whole life being trained and then working as an elite palace guard? It makes sense that the mage would have to study a lot, and that’s way easier if you like books, and the plant thing works sort of the with the nature-based magic Kianthe wields, but put all together in the same place, and it’s a little bit unfocused. Then again, running away from your important city jobs to open a shop in the middle of nowhere small town that caters to your own interests just has to work because it does.
This is an entertaining read, but it feels like it’s trying to do too much at once. There’s the question of what will happen if/when Reyna and Kianthe’s respective previous lives catch up to them, who/what is behind the bandit problem, what about the missing dragon eggs, the political/personal tension between local nobility, will Gossley stay at the tea shop or become a blacksmith, what’s little Ponder going to grow up, and then there’s that teaser in the epilogue with dread pirate Seine….
Besides the distinct impression of series set up (I’d be ok with a series), there could be just a little more sparkle to the writing. It took me a little while to get into this and I think part of that had to do with the kind of generic prose. Again, it’s not bad, but it’s just not quite to the level of fun that it maybe could be.