Tea You at the Altar - Tomes & Tea #3

Tea You at the Altar is the third book in the beloved cozy fantasy series by Rebecca Thorne. Due out 4th March 2025 from Macmillan on their Tor/Bramble imprint is 336 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a lovely, immersive, well written cozy fantasy with F/F romance. A former royal mercenary (stabbing and slashing a specialty) and a high ranking magic user who's also a reluctant diplomat just want to be together, to have a cozy bookstore with a big fireplace, tea and baked goods, maybe a few little dragons (!?) and nothing is going to stand in their way if they have anything to say about it. They got most of their wish list in book one and now they're on a mission to save their hard-won independence and their town, with maybe a little treasonous sedition thrown in.

It's full of magic and world building and if the characters are maybe a tiny bit tropey, well, that's why readers *love* cozy fantasy. Inevitable comparisons will be drawn between this series and Travis Baldree's wonderful Legends & Lattes, and while it's true they share a niche genre, this series is not at all derivative and readers who enjoyed L&L will likely enjoy this one as well. 

It's full of warmth and humor and the author is unapologetically LGBTQIA+ friendly, here's a quote: 

"To the people who gave me one-star reviews because the first book "had lesbians." I doubled the lesbians in this one. Just for you."

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 11 hours 41 minutes and is capably read by series narrator Jessica Threet. She has a well modulated voice and does a fine job of the disparate fantasy accents. Her voice is a tiny bit sharp to actually fade into neutrality during the read, but it's not at all intrusive and there aren't any accents that come across as patently fake or forced. Sound and production quality are very high throughout the read. 

Four and a half stars for both the book and audiobook. Highly recommended for fans of cozy fantasy. There -are- some violent scenes with battle descriptions. There is some light sexual content/PDAs, but nothing NSFW. With three books out now, it would be an excellent choice for a series binge or buddy read. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.