Bingo 3: TBR
I recently saw book four in the tetralogy at an airport bookstore, and realized that I still had book 3 on my TBR shelf (literally, physical book on actual shelf). Tea You at the Altar is book 3 of the Tomes and Tea series, and like the two previous volumes is a cozy romantasy. Kind of fitting actually, since I’m pretty sure I picked up book 1 in an airport as well.
This time, the story is less about the tea and bookshop, and the antics of the folks in the village of Tawney. It’s more about Reina and Kianthe facing the consequences of something from book one involving how they escape the clutches of Queen Tilaine, while at the same time watching their baby dragons growing up (#TeamPillBug by the way) and surviving planning and then going through their wedding day. The general stresses of wedding planning are involved, but we also get to see Reina meet Kianthe’s parents (and we find out who Kianthe’s love of puns comes from), as well as meet Kianthe’s childhood bestie. The politics involved a long lost heir to the throne of the Queendom, a possible coup, and also solving a murder mystery. If that’s not enough, there is also Reina (and one or two other folks) having a bit of a crisis of faith.
In spite of everything going on, it all mostly works together, although it feels a little odd that the most exciting part of the novel is not in fact the coup, nor is it the wedding. It’s game night, or what ends up being Kianthe’s bachelorette party. Apparently Reina has been resisting allowing game night because the game in question, Cocoa and Capitalism (think D&D meets Monopoly), is both eternal as well as brutal. I have to admit I also kind of like the approach to relationships; one big peeve I have with a lot of romance stories is that so much drama is avoidable with good communication. Reina actually advises a new-ish couple on this, and it’s such a welcome contrast to the tropes of classic romance fantasy.
Being cozy, there’s no major disaster in the end, and things turn out the way the heroes hope, but there is definitely still adventures ahead, and an epilogue that feels like someone’s trying too hard to set up as suspenseful “cliffhanger”. This is cozy; even if I do want to know what’s going to happen, it’s obviously not real danger. There is one little twist that I didn’t quite see coming involving the missing heir’s missing second parent, but other than that, this is mostly harmless cozy entertainment.