Welcome to Litsy!

Gearing up for #HauntedShelf in October hosted by @PuddleJumper ! I don‘t ever really have what one would call a proper TBR list or pile, so here are some random possibilities I could consider from my expansive list of titles I‘m vaguely or very interested in. Want to join in the fun? Sign up and enjoy at your pace!

https://forms.gle/wmcY27wyx6awp3EfA

A cozy fantasy about a former royal guard who dreams of running a tea & bookshop with the realm‘s most powerful mage. Magic, romance, books and tea...what could go wrong? Likable characters and quick pacing, but the plot felt thin and conflicts too easily solved. Lacked the depth to pull me in. I wanted to love it—but sometimes, even a cozy fantasy with tea and magic just isn‘t your cup of… well, you know. ☕📚⭐️⭐️💫 (2.5/5)

I only pitched this up because it had tea in the title but it turned out to so cute! I loved it! So cute and adorable.

This is not a cosy fantasy. Setting it in a tea shop does not automatically make it cosy. It flips between trying to be a cosy fantasy and a more traditional fantasy plot.

I was a lot more interested in the dragon mystery and that got a bit hand waved which was frustrating.

⬇️

There‘s dragons and books and magic and tea but somehow I didn‘t vibe with that book. It was too much lovey-dovey and too little suspense in the plot for my liking.

New to me author #OffMyShelf

The tagged was almost painful to read. Overhyped, boring, and disappointing. No character development, no world building, & not really a cozy fantasy. I skimmed most of it & still@knew exactly what was happening.

It‘s off my shelf & onto my PangoBooks bookshop.

But at least this book did finally get me my first #2025OffMyShelf bingo!

#auldlangspine Book 7 is another delightful cozy title. This one has been on my TBR list for a long time so I‘m very glad @Zuhkeeyah included it on the list. It delivered all the cozy fantasy vibes I‘ve come to love from the genre. Kianthe & Reyna just want to live peacefully together selling books & tea in their new shop. Of course that doesn‘t exactly go as planned. I loved both of our MC‘s. Reading as they build a life together was just lovely.

This was a nice way to start 2025. Would I prefer resolution to one/any of the plot lines? Sure. Am I here for tea and book shops run by fantasy lgbtqia couples and including cuddly griffon babies (pups? Cubs?)? Absolutely.
#weeklyfavorites25 @Read4life

Enjoyed this read, it was enjoyable, original, and had great characters. An overall good read

My library only had the second book in this series and it was on a 99p Kindle deal so I had to buy it …

#HauntedShelf book cover hunt

Team #Flerken

Thanks @Eggs for creating this fun play-card & for the tag 📚☺️👍💝.

1- Finished in Sept. yet was mainly an Aug. read.

2- Paper. I fav. the trade-paperback. While for a long time I did not care for hardback, do not seem to mind anymore. Just like the feel and smell of real books. Cannot read digital, aside from short research info. & articles. Cannot focus long. Even on my own work, screen reading is difficult time. Audio is not easy to find.👇

This was such a lovely and whimsical read.

The story was told from two POVs, Reyna's and Kiantha's. Swops back and forth with each new chapter. I had expected that I was going to enjoy Kiantha's POV best, since she is the Mage. Yet, I came to like both characters equally as the story unfolded.

It was nice that Reyna and Kiantha were already in a relationship when the story began, allowing... 👇

I'm into Chapter 28 now, just been wanting to show off how well my upcycled bookmark matches this story 🏷️📙💝.

Not sure where I saved this from. I try to upcycle tags from items I purchase, or fish them from our recycling bin whenever the family tosses out tags. Although, my mom also saves some for craft projects.

#tomesandteareviewedbyanncrystal

Thank you @debinhawaii for creating this fun play-card.

1- It's a long weekend 🥳📚.

2- Been neglecting the garden. My mom and I were able to spend two days this week tackling the more difficult of the to-dos 🌱💝🌞💝. Nice.

3- The tagged book has just rekindled my love for dragons 🐲💝.

4- My state (California) has finally closed the plastic bag loophole 💕🐢🐟🐠🐡🦈💝.

👇

I am a huge fan of cozy fantasy. This one had a little higher stakes but never lost the cozy vibe. I loved the relationship between Reyna and Kianthe. They had hard conversations that reaffirmed their relationship in important ways.

Also, I want a griffon now.

This was a sweet little cozy, and an enjoyable enough read. The way the main conflict of the book wrapped up, in just a few pages, super easily, left it a bit flat for me though. I did like the world Thorne created, and the characters were very lovable. Just that ending let the book down a little.

A lovely little book about people abandoning their old lives to find peace and happiness in a new city. Also, there is magic and dragons. This is the first book in a new series, and it was a lot of fun to read. The main characters open a book and tea shop in a small town. I was surprised at how successful they are right away.

Liked that this was about a Mage and a Knight. There is something about these two character types that I've always liked coming together as a couple.

While I am only on chapter 16...so far, really interesting.

Love how magic is woven into this story. Kianthe's connection, and the way the power works.

Do wish that it was this easy to open a store.

It is downright tedious in modern day County of Angels (Los Angeles county, CA).👇

I adored this cozy fantasy. Warm, magical, found-family books with minimal angst bring me joy. Add in a bookshop/teashop, griffons and dragons, and you‘ve got the recipe for a practically perfect tale. (and a #bookspinbingo!)

Liked it, not loved it. But that's fine with me. I loved that this book is about an already established relationship and that they show us a healthy way of being together. Also enjoyed Feo and Lord Wylan 😁 But I got a bit annoyed about how smooth opening a new shop works in these books. I work in a small indie bookstore and I can tell you, running a business is not that easy. But maybe it is in Fantasy Land 🙃

Yay! Local bookstore coming through with some fun new finds, including the Witch of the Winter Moon by a local ABQ author and the super fun looking tagged w sprayed pages 😍

Our book for my #RealLifeBookGroup - Weyward - I had to get from Target though 😯

It‘s a lovely book to read, an escapist Sapphic fantasy with occasional moments of mortal peril. I‘m particularly impressed with how Thorne balanced exposition and action (always especially tricky in fantasy). Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/cant-spell-treason-without-tea-rebecca-thor...

Snagged today at my indie bookshop because of @iread2much and their review. 🙂 Plus, I love tea and bookshops, so it felt like a must-have.

I 💜 this book so much, it‘s a true fantasy book but written with such a wonderful emphasis on the development of a healthy relationship between the characters that it was almost frustrating because I want a relationship like that but will never have it.
A former queens guard and the most powerful mage in the world escape to a small town to open a tea and bookshop. 5/5 Dragons, politics, love, and friendships combine like a warm reading blanket

Delightful cozy fantasy set at a tea and book store in a small town surrounded by magic (and dragons). Gives just enough resolution while still setting up a series.

So delightful!

Easing into Monday. ##CatsOfLitsy #Loki ##SamuelLCatson

Welcome to New Leaf Tomes & Tea! This cozy fantasy follows an evil queen‘s bodyguard and a powerful head mage who run away together to a small town to open a tearoom and bookshop. I think you‘d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn‘t *like* this book, but I didn‘t *love* the combination of high stakes and easy resolutions or the flatly evil queen. Still, a pleasant and affirming read I‘d recommend for anyone in the mood for a cozy fantasy!

Side view!!!!!

#ARC #MountARC #NetGalley - meanwhile published

The mage of mages and a queen's guard decide, after years of a secret relationship, to run away together and open a tea/book shop in a small town. So far so Legends&Latte + Bookshops&Bonedust.

The novel finds its feet around 40%, when secondary characters have been introduced and a quest seems to come up.

There is potential for a series and I'm looking forward to it.

Low pick

#CozyFantasy

With a dedication like this, I already love this book!

Absolutely packed house at the Legendarium to meet Rebecca Thorne! 💖 #AuthorEvent

A new cozy fantasy in paperback with pretty blue sprayed edges.

#bookmail

CAN‘T SPELL TREASON WITHOUT TEA offers up some excellent bookstore scenes, a wealth of teas, and a bunch of interesting friendships, all in a world that accepts all forms of queerness. I enjoyed its cozier aspects very much, but I was less enamoured of the overarching magic-and-treason plot until pretty far in. That (highly subjective) imbalance kept the book in like-not-love territory for me, but I still plan to pick up the sequel. #gaymay

I‘m still plugging away at CAN‘T SPELL TREASON WITHOUT TEA, this time with an hibiscus-chicory blend I really want to finish so I can clear some space in my tea cupboard.

As of 60%, I‘m pretty sure the book‘s gonna stay in like-not-love territory. It feels divided between its cozy aspirations and a more sword & sorcery impulse. Still, it‘s always nice to read something that includes multiple scenes in a bookstore! #gaymay

I finally get to read something on my new-to-me Kindle, but my ARC doesn‘t have the cover attached so I‘ll still refer to my iPad from time to time. Gotta soak up the cozy bookstore vibes.

I‘m enjoying the book as of 20%, but I haven‘t totally clicked with it yet. Fingers crossed that happens this afternoon, possibly over another salted caramel chai latte. #gaymay

I‘m now a two-ereader person. My old Kobo was tablet-style, so I could load books from multiple retailers via apps. Ever since it died and I switched to a Clara 2E, I‘ve had to read old Kindle purchases and ARCs on my iPad. (You CAN load ARCs onto Kobos, but the DRM makes it a frustrating process.) I considered thrifting a $15 Kindle this weekend, but when I told my mum about it she offered me her old Paperwhite instead! It‘ll make life easier.

Thank you @Soubhiville for sending me this cool book and helping to add more “cozy” to my reading life.
The tagline is perfect:
“You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?“
You are the sweetest, my friend!🤗
#LitsyLove

This self published fantasy popped up on a list, probably from book riot, for “if you liked Legends & Lattes”.

Cozy fantasy is a fun new genre. My bookclub‘s theme for the month is COZY, so this was the perfect fit.

A mage and a palace guard decide to runaway together and open a tea shop/ bookstore. Both are shirking duties and that will lead to trouble, but their love and dream calls stronger. #treasonandtea

Igor refused to wake up for a pic.

When you love a book so much you get a tattoo from it with permission from the author :) can‘t spell treason without tea is an lgbtq romance that is so cute and well written I loved every single second of it. If you want a cozy romance with touch her and you die mages and queens guard you should give this a try

I‘m so enjoying this new-to-me cozy fantasy genre. What do you get if you mix a former Queen‘s guard, the land‘s most powerful Mage, small town vibes, romance and tea is a cozy book shop? This gem! If you like Travis Baldree‘s Legends & Lattes, you will have a ball with this one too! #BookspinBingo #popsugar #bookriotreadharderchallenge @TheAromaofBooks

#Tea ☕️🫖 #HumbleHarvest 🍂☕️🧣🍁🥧🕯🍎

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

Oh my gosh I loved this book so much!! If you‘re a fan of Legends & Lattes, you‘ll probably enjoy it.

Guardswoman Reyna has finally reached the end of her patience with her abusive queen and escapes the castle, running away to the north with her girlfriend, Kianthe, to open a tea and book store where they both could get some much-needed rest.
They just didn‘t count on dragons, feuding lordlings, and the queen‘s spies.

I spent a lovely day in Talequah, Ok hanging out with a friend. Stopped into Too Fond of Books bookstore. It was lovely. Picked up the tagged book because of if blurb: "You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?" ???

I wanted to like this, but it felt so similar to Legends and Lattes that I was having deja vu. I also found the romance cloying (I don‘t like mushy stuff very much). This book will surely work better for others!

This was such a cozy fantasy 🤗 Inspired by Legends & Lattes, this story touches on every booklover's dream: to run away and start a bookstore/tea shop. Reyna, tired of putting her life at risk every day as the Queen's guard, escapes with her girlfriend, the most powerful mage in the land, to an out of the way town to start their dream shop. It isn't long before their old lives find them, but with the support of new friends they face it together.

I want a bookstore with a magic girlfriend and a griffin. Is that too much to ask?

I am REALLY glad that I spent some time at the park earlier this week because it has gotten super cold again! 😱 I'm working tomorrow, do today has been spent cuddled in bed with tea and books! (and all three kitties! 😹) It's been very cozy! 💕📚