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Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.
A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.
Why you should read it: Oh, this is very cute and very good. I love a book where you can tell the author had an absolute blast writing the story, and it's clear this is one of those books. A lovely cast of characters and a beautiful story about building community and defying expectations. Honestly, it just felt so good. A wonderful read.
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A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!
Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.
What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.
Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for—without ending up dead in the water themselves.
Why you should read it: I feel a little weird recommending this book on its own, since it's a second book in a series that really REALLY needs to be read in order. I recommended the first book already, and I definitely suggest reading that one (A Marvelous Light) before diving into this one, but you should absolutely devour both. They're delightful, and I honestly enjoyed the second installment even more than the first. The shipboard mystery shenanigans are so much fun, and the characters are delightful. I even warmed up to Lord Hawthorn by the end, which I'm sure was the author's plan from the start, but I'm still surprised it worked. The romance was lovely and I want to read SO MUCH MORE about Maud Blyth.
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The Scandalous Letters of V and J by Felicia Davin
Paris, 1823. Victor Beauchêne has led a stifling existence, unrecognized for both his cleverness and his gender, except in the pages of his meticulous diary. Abruptly cut off from his family’s fortune, he takes the opportunity to start a new life in a shabby boarding house with his beloved spinster aunt Sophie. There, he stumbles upon two kinds of magic: a pen with eerie powers of persuasion and a reserved, alluring art student named Julien.
Brilliant, unconventional Julien is also Julie, a person whose magical paintings can transform their body or enchant viewers. Haunted by a terrible episode in their past, they’ve come to Paris for artistic success—the ordinary, non-magical kind. Victor, too handsome and far too inquisitive, is a dangerous distraction from their ambitions.
Drawn to each other, Victor and Julie strike up a cautious correspondence of notes slid under doors. It soon unfolds into a passionate romance. Outside the bedroom, their desires clash: Julie wants to distance herself from the world of magic and Victor wants to delve deeper. When the ruthless abuser from Julie’s past resurfaces, he aims to take control of her powers and ruin more lives. Victor and Julie are the only ones who can stop him. Do they trust each other enough to survive the threat to their love and their lives?
The Scandalous Letters of V and J is a historical fantasy romance with two nonbinary main characters, told primarily in letters and diary entries. It is approximately 100,000 words long and sexually explicit.
Why you should read it: What a strange and lovely historical jaunt! I loved the characters in this book, the meandering journey they both take through gender, the yearning and intimacy that run like an undercurrent throughout the entire book. The world building and magic are fascinating. I loved the largely epistolary way the story is told, though it hops back and forth a bit between the letters/journal entries and a more standard third person narrative. All in all, I didn't know what to expect going in, and I enjoyed the experience enormously.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.
A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.
Why you should read it: Oh, this is very cute and very good. I love a book where you can tell the author had an absolute blast writing the story, and it's clear this is one of those books. A lovely cast of characters and a beautiful story about building community and defying expectations. Honestly, it just felt so good. A wonderful read.
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A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!
Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.
What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.
Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for—without ending up dead in the water themselves.
Why you should read it: I feel a little weird recommending this book on its own, since it's a second book in a series that really REALLY needs to be read in order. I recommended the first book already, and I definitely suggest reading that one (A Marvelous Light) before diving into this one, but you should absolutely devour both. They're delightful, and I honestly enjoyed the second installment even more than the first. The shipboard mystery shenanigans are so much fun, and the characters are delightful. I even warmed up to Lord Hawthorn by the end, which I'm sure was the author's plan from the start, but I'm still surprised it worked. The romance was lovely and I want to read SO MUCH MORE about Maud Blyth.
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The Scandalous Letters of V and J by Felicia Davin
Paris, 1823. Victor Beauchêne has led a stifling existence, unrecognized for both his cleverness and his gender, except in the pages of his meticulous diary. Abruptly cut off from his family’s fortune, he takes the opportunity to start a new life in a shabby boarding house with his beloved spinster aunt Sophie. There, he stumbles upon two kinds of magic: a pen with eerie powers of persuasion and a reserved, alluring art student named Julien.
Brilliant, unconventional Julien is also Julie, a person whose magical paintings can transform their body or enchant viewers. Haunted by a terrible episode in their past, they’ve come to Paris for artistic success—the ordinary, non-magical kind. Victor, too handsome and far too inquisitive, is a dangerous distraction from their ambitions.
Drawn to each other, Victor and Julie strike up a cautious correspondence of notes slid under doors. It soon unfolds into a passionate romance. Outside the bedroom, their desires clash: Julie wants to distance herself from the world of magic and Victor wants to delve deeper. When the ruthless abuser from Julie’s past resurfaces, he aims to take control of her powers and ruin more lives. Victor and Julie are the only ones who can stop him. Do they trust each other enough to survive the threat to their love and their lives?
The Scandalous Letters of V and J is a historical fantasy romance with two nonbinary main characters, told primarily in letters and diary entries. It is approximately 100,000 words long and sexually explicit.
Why you should read it: What a strange and lovely historical jaunt! I loved the characters in this book, the meandering journey they both take through gender, the yearning and intimacy that run like an undercurrent throughout the entire book. The world building and magic are fascinating. I loved the largely epistolary way the story is told, though it hops back and forth a bit between the letters/journal entries and a more standard third person narrative. All in all, I didn't know what to expect going in, and I enjoyed the experience enormously.
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