Can't Spell Treason Without Tea
ISBN: 9781035031016
Description
Reyna and Kianthe dream of opening a friendly bookshop together, serving the very best tea and cakes. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters – all complemented by love and good company. But Reyna is an elite bodyguard to a vengeful queen, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives behind seems... impossible. Yet they flee to Tawney, a town nestled in the icy peaks of dragon country. There, they open the bookshop they’d always wanted.
Reviewed on 27th September 2025
This first book in this cosy fantasy series introduces us to a rebellious young couple fed up of their typical fantasy setting lives and on a mission to set up a tea-and-bookshop.
It's all very nice, quite episodic, alternating viewpoint between the two main characters chapter by chapter, even in places where that felt a bit odd, like we were seeing things from the wrong perspective.
I found it a bit slow, but that's obviously by design. But also a bit patchy - there's not really a strong narrative, it's much more about the atmosphere and the relationships.
I just didn't quite get into it as much as I felt I wanted to, and so while it was good enough, I don't think I feel strongly enough that I want to read the sequels.