#Cozy romantasy

[arielgalloway]

[harpy-ally]

[alriverswrites]

A Touch Unexpected is a romantic love story about Rosalind and Jonathan, true, but it’s also a platonic love story between Rosalind and Valentina ❤️

[betterbooksandthings]

This Will Be Fun by E. B. Asher

This Will Be Fun by E. B. Asher is an absolute delight of a cozy fantasy romance. Saving the kingdom of Mythria from a notorious villain undoubtedly ruined the lives of all adventurers involved. In their young 20s, Galwell the Great led his sister Elowen and her best friend Beatrice to save the world from a great darkness. Along the way, they teamed up with the ex-bandit Clare and were waylaid by the villainous Vandra, but even in their darkest moments, no one imagined Galwell would sacrifice his life to save the world. In the intervening years, Elowen has lived alone in a secluded part of a nightmare forest, Beatrice has lived a boring life as a noble wife before her recent divorce, and Clare has taken up the public mantle of hero to save everyone else from doing the job. They haven’t seen each other in a decade, but when the Queen invites them all to her wedding, they cannot say no. Can the two couples reconcile the things that separated them in the first place? Is it even possible for them to still save the world—especially without the leader that made them so great? Can one really quest through a kingdom without the aid of caffeinated sweet treats? All this and more will be answered in E. B. Asher’s gloriously funny book. I was delighted by so many world-building details in this book. When I tell you the fantasy world feels very Shrek, I mean that as a complement. The faux Starbucks and magic-cast soap operas are so fun. The magic system is straightforward and adds to each character’s arc. I also am a sucker for a second chance romance so when you give me not one, but two I am sold. Elowen and Vandra hooked up in between fights during the party’s first quest. Now that Vandra is a reformed assassin in the employ of the Queen, there is nothing stopping them (other than Elowen’s insecurity and belief she should be alone forever). It is a really well done sapphic enemies-to-lovers relationship where the former villain is a ball of sunshine and the former hero is such a grump. I love them so much. Next up we have Beatrice and Clare who got together the night before Clare joined their adventuring party. Instead of confronting this reality, the two bickered across the realm and broke up after Galwell’s funeral, before they ever had a chance to really be together. I love them all, but Clare is such an adorably sincere himbo and he could never do anything to make me hate him. Sure, he is a bit of a rake with a tendency to overcompensate to make others feel better, but I simply adore him. He brings out the best in Beatrice who, quite frankly, is a powerhouse. She is stubborn because she has to be and she is so deliciously complicated. Her repairing her romantic relationship with Clare and platonic relationship with Elowen brought her sense of purpose back. That is not a character arch we see a lot from thirty-year-old women in fantasy books. Give me more, please. In case I have been coy, I highly recommend This Will Be Fun by E. B. Asher set to release September 10, 2024.

[meridianriver]

Book Review: Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland

Alexandra Rowland has a way of systematically tearing me apart and then putting me back together better than I was before. The bar was very high for me going into Yield Under Great Persuasion, as I knew from the first time I read the blurb exactly what this book would do to me, but from the first gloriously unhinged sentence I immediately knew that this book was something special.

Rowland has really outdone themself with this novel. It’s more than just a cozy romantasy. It’s a strangely sexy therapy session. It’s a pot of your favorite tea and a bubble bath on a fall evening. It’s the entire spectrum of human emotion in 300-some pages. It’s a thesis on “bittersweet”, on “yearning”, on hoping for better, on laughing through tears and smiling in spite of everything. It’s a weighted blanket of a book.

I will never be the same. 5 big, huge, enormous stars.

[nothwell]

The Oak King Holly King audiobook is on wicked sale, thanks to Chirp!

The sale runs from November 28th (today!) to December 26th (aka Boxing Day – a date of some significance to Mr. Grigsby, as readers of Tales from Blackthorn Briar know well).

If you or a friend have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to snag the Oak King Holly King audiobook, this is your chance – grab it today!

Oak King Holly King is a queer romantasy wherein a fearsome fae warrior destined for ritual sacrifice seeks a Victorian clerk fated to save him.

Perfect for readers who enjoy…

fae folklore

Victorian shenanigans

big buff guys who just wanna be soft

sharp little guys who are tired of being kicked around

lush fantasy worlds, liminal spaces, cozy cottagecore vibes, and queer community.

Shrike, the Butcher of Blackthorn, is a legendary warrior of the fae realms. When he wins a tournament in the Court of the Silver Wheel, its queen names him her Oak King - a figurehead destined to die in a ritual duel to invoke the change of seasons. Shrike is determined to survive. Even if it means he must put his heart as well as his life into a mere mortal’s hands.

Wren Lofthouse, a London clerk, has long ago resigned himself to a life of tedium and given up his fanciful dreams. When a medieval-looking brute arrives at his office to murmur of destiny, he’s inclined to think his old enemies are playing an elaborate prank. Still, he can’t help feeling intrigued by the bizarre-yet-handsome stranger and his fantastical ramblings, whose presence stirs up emotions Wren has tried to lock away in the withered husk of his heart.

As Shrike whisks Wren away to a world of Wild Hunts and arcane rites, Wren is freed from the repression of Victorian society. But both the fae and mortal realms prove treacherous to their growing bond. Wren and Shrike must fight side-by-side to see who will claim victory - Oak King or Holly King.

[ohifonlyx33]

Ladies and gentlemen of tumblr (but mostly ladies, let's face it), I'm so excited to introduce you to my good friend's new first book

What Comes Of Attending The Commoners Ball.

Cinderella meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this cozy fantasy romance from debut author Elisabeth Aimee Brown. Preorder your copy and prepare to whirl away into a whimsical story of glittering gaslamps, frisky Folk, and huggable hogs.

— * — * — * —

I hope you guys will go check her out on instagram @elisabethaimeebrown and follow her for updates and spread this post like crazy.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215353471

[bookishlyvintage]

are you team long or short chapters?

[beauvandalen]

COVER REVEAL

Meet TO WIELD THE DARKEST NIGHT my cozydark romantasy book about a trans man apothecary who falls for his dashing cursed knight - OUT OCTOBER 31ST.🌙🌸🏳️‍⚧️🖤

Art by the amazing mynqzo / Typography by the awesome Bukovero

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

The Honey Witch by Sydney J Shields Rating: 4/5

Imagine if you took Bridgerton, made it gay, and then added magic. Does that sound good? Coz that's what The Honey Witch was and it was lovely. 

This was just calm and sweet, even for a haters-to-lovers romance. The characters in the main romance were so cute, slowly letting their guard down around one another and getting closer and then growing together. It was beautiful. 

I also just loved the magic system. Shields doesn't immediately explain everything so it was nice to guess at how things worked and then slowly find out whether I was right or not. And the setting on Innisfree felt so lively and beautiful - I wanna spend a summer there. 

If you want a light-hearted fantasy with lots of magic and a laidback vibe, this might be right up your alley.

[arielgalloway]

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, The Nymphaeum (1878)

I alight upon the town of Morningbell, whose sprouting I have beheld for many a journey of this world as it spins through the Sea Above.

They—the Morningbell-ringers, the house dwellers—leave the town walls now, in twos and threes, some even in fours. Not hunting, no. Another sort of mischief altogether on their minds, though carnal still, like the hunters. 

Flowers are downed and fires are lit. They are unfoolish with the valley. They know where to step around the deep falls. Traps and ankle-breakers are for lost wanderers. They feed each other berries, chins dribbling red and violet, down their gown-fronts.

Ah, but that will leave a spot! Best to throw our dresses off, right over our heads. So they seem to think. And then the others follow, skirts up and over. Many pairs of breasts under the moon, swaying. Quaking legs below leap over fires and lovers. Bottoms covered in knickers, though for many not for long. The men sprawl below, lapping it all up with their eyeballs.

Yes, Midsummer, or close to. The animal remembers now. The bell-ringers behind the wall keep themselves laced up for so long. The young can never wait out that last spin of the moon, and so they rub and rub again, with this and that lover. Each day for one wink of the moon’s eye.

As they do rub, some deep thing in me lurches, wishing to surface. Like a boy at the bottom of a well, longing for the light above. But memory is not a thing for great big stags, and the ladies’ gyring only stirs my mammal puzzlement. It will take more than this to rear me up on two legs once again.

But why not watch them, nonetheless? 

Aren’t they beautiful, like little bowls of cream at a picnic?

[franticvampirereads]

This was so much fun to read!! It’s one of those books that doesn’t take itself too seriously and you can just have an absolute blast reading it. I loved that Cinnamon didn’t want to be the adventure-having-main-character and she ended up being the reluctant adventure-having-main-character! And she made a bunch of new friends in all the demons she set free. And I loved that Fallon was so smitten the second he met Cinnamon. Seriously, this book is cozy and fun and absolutely hilarious! It’s a perfect summer read. That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon is getting a solid four and a half stars!

[alriverswrites]

Some tropes & traits you can expect to find in A Touch Unexpected 😉

[itmeblog]

*borrows a cozy romantasy book*

*is immediately dismayed by how much it romances and how little it cozies*

I just want low stakes fantasy... *and* now that I've finally put it into words, it just occurred to me that that exists outside the romance category. IM FREE!

[maryannaugerbooks]

Join the Cozy Cave 🍄 discord server to gush about dark romance and fantasy books, graphic novels, cozy games, otome games, adventure games & fantasy/historical shows

[meridianriver]

Lyford can take Tam hot to go!

Read Yield Under Great Persuasion by @ariaste to find out what Chappell Roan is going on and on about!