I’m not sure if “cozy midlife crisis burnout fantasy” is a genre, but across the excellent Legends & Lattes series, Travis Baldree has certainly had enough characters experience it. Fern, the sweary rattkin bookseller from the previous tale, “Bookshops & Bonedust”, has moved across the lands and opened up a shop right next door to the titular Legends & Lattes cafe. She has the help and support of her old friend Viv and the local community. On parchment, it all sounds perfect, but she feels increasingly unfulfilled with the weight of this new life pressing down on her. One drunken night of very much not dealing with things leads to her “accidentally” waking up in the back of the cart of a thousand-year-old elf warrior, Astryx, far away from her friends and rapidly heading in the opposite direction from them, and conveniently, also from her problems. Astryx is a by-the-book bounty hunter, also in her later years, who is escorting a goblin prisoner Zyll to face justice. Some of you may remember Zyll from the short story “Goblins & Greatcoats”, and know she is truly a force of chaos. Both Fern and Astryx have to come to terms with what they actually want to do with their lives on the journey, with Zyll being an effective catalyst. Despite being set in the same world as the book that arguably popularised the whole cosy fantasy genre, this is measurably less cozy than the other two in the series, with a lot more action along the way. The first two books were essentially about running a rather familiar small business in a sword and sorcery world, and this is more of your typical epic road trip adventure. It’s also notably not really a romance either, and not queer, even though we get to see some of Viv and Tandri at the start of the book. However, keeping both of those things in mind, it is still very enjoyable, with echoes of the wonderful work of Terry Pratchett. Highly recommended, even if you’re not currently having a midlife crisis. Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item

If you think you would enjoy a light and humorous fantasy series with a central sapphic romance, and you’ve not yet even checked out the first book “You Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea”, stop reading this review right now and go start there. What sort of person are you? Do you look at the last page of a book before you start reading to make sure there’s a happy ending? Go away! (There is, by the way.) Rogue alchemists have kidnapped Reyna, the Queensguard-turned-Queen, right after her wedding to Kianthe, the most powerful mage in the country. Given that particular set of volatile ingredients, they are certainly going to get a big reaction! (Because alchemy. Never mind.) Worse than that pun, due to their combined fame across the lands, the town of Tawney is now getting a touch too popular as a tourist destination, which is causing problems for everyone around them. There’s one obvious solution, and that’s closing their beloved tea shop for good and moving away. Reyna doesn’t stay kidnapped for very long of course, and as part of the investigation into who exactly was behind it, our pair end up spending a lot of time at the Magicary, home of the Stone of Seeing. With all the focus on the Queendom last time, it’s fun to see Reyna on Kianthe’s home turf here. The tensions between the Mages and the Alchemists are well done with their two wildly different approaches to magic, and the resulting prejudices and misunderstandings. I am on record as enjoying all the previous books in this series, so when Rebecca Thorne said this was the best one yet, it is fair to say that my expectations were suitably raised. I’m glad to say that it delivers on both a fun new adventure, as well as a satisfying end to the series. It wraps up a wide number of things, including the fate of the last missing dragon egg from book one. There is one outstanding unanswered question at the end however, concerning the whereabouts of a particular person, so I am not entirely convinced this is the last we will ever see of Tawney and these wonderful characters. At least, I hope not. It’s always a good feeling when you can recommend a whole completed series, and I can now do so without reservation! Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item

Wylla Sotain is a scavenger, living day by day, and searching for the elusive big score that will allow her to finally repair her ship and drag herself out of poverty in an uncaring galaxy. In this particular future, people wear AI-powered masks to enhance their abilities. Wylla has a battered old MARK I RABBIT, which means her senses are heightened, like the prey animal she is. It seems like her fortunes are about to change when she finds the MARK I HAWK mask—an expensive prototype that should not exist—lying on the face of a dead woman called Sable Veonya. When she puts the mask on, Sable talks to her and remembers being murdered. Now everybody is looking for them, including VisorForge, the corporation that is responsible for the masks, and the other scavengers who want a piece of the action. The book is told in second person perspective, with Sable talking to you, the reader, as if you were Wylla. Harrow the Ninth readers will be quite familiar with this format. Wylla is trans and has been fighting the system her whole life. Sable, on the other hand, now has no body at all. They both accept each other quickly, and a relationship develops between the two of them while they try to track down Sable’s killer, and avoid the authorities. There are so many enjoyable and unique ideas here, and the plot moves very quickly. I do wish this was a full length novel, so the story had a bit more time to breathe, and the romance could develop slightly more naturally over time. As it is though, you can probably read this in one sitting, and get the whole thing downloaded into your brain near-instantaneously. Which, honestly, seems quite fitting. Recommended! Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item

“Bury my bones in the midnight soil. Plant them shallow and water them deep. And in my place will grow a feral rose.” This book is told from the perspectives of María in 1532, Charlotte in 1827, and Alice in a much more familiar 2019. All three are swept away from their mundane lives by equally enigmatic women, and find themselves with no pulse, an unquenchable thirst, and remarkably less patience with the ways of men. Three feral roses with rather sharp thorns. We see the most of María through the years, learning how to be a vampire without any form of instruction, and constantly reinventing herself as she travels across the world and the centuries. Some of her victims deserve it. Some. Alice at least has the benefit of already knowing what a vampire is from pop culture, as well as having ready access to the internet, but even she is entirely unprepared for what is happening to her. As the reader, we become increasingly complicit in the crimes of our vampire trio, urging them on at first, until we realise perhaps too late that things are getting a bit out of hand. Even Alice, who is the closest to still being a good person here, is still ripping out throats with gay abandon. So, varying degrees of villainy all round, but they are always entertaining. Eventually, the stories begin to overlap, and there is a very satisfying payoff for all the backstory. This is a wonderfully written modern take on the vampire genre, and along with “Hungerstone” by Kat Dunn, we’re definitely having a great year for sapphic exsanguination. Highly recommended for all blood types! Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item

Dr. Saffy Walden, MThau, PhD, works at Chetwood Academy as the Director of Magic. Alongside the endless marking, meetings, and general bureaucracy that comes with her administrator position at the school, she still gets to do a fair bit of teaching to the sixth form. Which comes with the usual hormone-fuelled dramas, of course, but also the small matter of trying to keep the students from getting possessed and/or opening portals to hell dimensions. Teenagers do not always make the best decisions, but then, sometimes neither do the adults. Further complicating things are the Marshalls, led by Laura Kenning. The Marshalls are essentially magical cops, an ancient order who are there to protect humanity from the demons (and, if somewhat unspoken, from the staff and students too). Laura has a deep distrust of Dr Walden, and the feeling is distinctly mutual—if only Laura wasn’t quite so attractive. The world of The Incandescent is well developed, exploring a lot of the day-to-day operation of the school before things inevitably go sideways in the second half. The story did not go at all in the directions I expected, although one of the villains may as well have been twirling a moustache throughout their introduction. There is a pleasant romance subplot, although it’s not the main focus of the story. There are several delightful and imaginative touches to this world, which is very similar to our own but with magic woven through it. For example, you have one has to be very careful not to refer to everyday objects as “you” on campus, because this will create an opening for evil forces to take up residence. As a result, the number of people swearing at the photocopier has left it with a demon inside that demands tribute before it will properly function. While I was reading this, I soon got the feeling that the author has some first-hand experience in academia, and indeed she does; Emily Tesh teaches Latin and Ancient Greek to school kids in Hertfordshire. Applying that real-world experience to a magic school is genius, and grounds this story in a tangible realism that makes the fantastical elements work so well. It’s also enjoyable to have a book with an older, highly competent female protagonist, if not without her flaws. I highly recommend this book to both academics and magicians alike. Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item

I very much enjoyed the two previous books in this cozy sapphic fantasy series by Rebecca Thorne, “Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea”, and “A Pirate’s Life for Tea”. Reyna is a former guard to the ruthless Queen Tilaine, and Kianthe is the all-powerful Mage of Ages. They have settled down together in the town of Tawney, where they run a small, unassuming tea shop away from the pressures of the world. Of course, life is never that simple, and over the years they have searched for missing dragon eggs, raised a baby griffin, sailed with pirates, and generally tackled injustice wherever they found it. Perhaps most importantly, they have encouraged all the people around them to become the best versions of themselves. Now they have a whole supportive community, which is very useful when you have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. In this, the third book of four, they are trying to entrap and overthrow the aforementioned Queen, using their own very real wedding as bait. Not to mention working out who is going to rule in her absence. But did I mention a wedding? That alone seems like a pretty stressful thing to plan and pull off! Trying to do both at the same time results in the sort of shenanigans you might imagine. Most of the characters from the other books are here, as well as some new ones including Tessalyn the long lost heir to the throne, her expertly-named protector James, and Kianthe’s rather disapproving parents. This series began as a reaction to the popularity of “Legends & Lattes” by Travis Baldree, but it has continued to grow away from that initial inspiration and certainly has found its own voice. The warm and loving tone was exactly what I needed, as well as the positive vibes and mutual understanding of the two main protagonists. This is my favourite book of the series so far, and I’m told by the author that the fourth and final book is even better, so I have a lot to look forward to. An extended excerpt of that one is included as a bonus chapter at the end. Go read the whole series! Thanks to Tor for the early review copy. Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item

This is one of those books where I feel my lacklustre words are not even worthy of talking about it. It tells the story of two close sisters, Ysabel and Esther, who live in a small human town on the very edge of the faerie world. Esther has fallen in love with Rin, a being who takes on a different form every time we meet them. The sisters like to sing together, and it’s Esther’s songs that have captivated Rin. However, the farmer who lives next door has other opinions on who she should marry. There is a fascinating description of magic here, visualised as untamed grammar that flows in the river between the two worlds, that people in the town carefully harvest and pass down to those who wield it: “That is the nature of grammar—it is always tense, like an instrument, aching for release, longing to transform present into past into future, is into was into will.” I feel it is best not to talk too much about the plot, but it does touch on misogyny and murder, so keep that in mind. The main tale is not very long at all and is ideally read in a single sitting. There is an additional short story “John Hollowback and the Witch” included too, which is an inventive fairy tale and also well worth your time. Amal’s clever and imaginative writing style really feels like nothing I’ve encountered before, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. Recommended! Thanks to Tor for the early review copy. Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store! View full news item