Wren
No matter how far you travel, you can always find a little piece of home inside a bookstore.
Such a sweet and comforting story, exactly what a cozy fantasy should be. It did take me a moment to warm up to Tandy, the MC, because at the very beginning she came across as a bit of a “woe is me” poor rich girl. But once I’ve got a clearer impression of what her royal lifestyle looked like, it became very easy to empathize. That amount of moving around, participating in ceremonies, and smiling at random strangers is truly no way to live for a bookish introvert. No wonder she was so happy to catch a break!
I loved Tandy’s stay in the bookshop and how it helped her progress, in small believable steps, from a people pleaser to someone willing to stand up for her boundaries. The sisterly bond she developed with Sasha was so sweet, easily my favorite part of the book. And then of course there was Bash the cleptomaniac cursed pirate. That romance was so cute. I kind of like how it started in this very on the nose, kinda stereotypical fashion, with Bash sauntering in like your bog-standard sexy, snarky bad boy, and Tandy being all appalled and attracted. But then they progressed from there into something much deeper and gentler, and the confession scene late in the book was made of feels. SO MANY FEELS. It’s my favorite. 🥰
The one thing I disliked about the book was how repetitive the storyline with the princes showing up to try and break Tandy’s curse got. There were seven of them, and they were certainly all unique characters. I actually liked a couple of the ones who showed up way later in the book the most. But because Tandy was confined to a single small bookstore, consistently interacted with a fairly small cast of characters, and her main storyline was rather introspective in nature, the further I got into the story the harder it was not to react to each prince appearing with an, “Oh great, another predictable disruption.” Especially given that it was pretty clear that none of their kisses would work to break the curse.
Oh, and one more gripe: the illusive cat! There wasn’t enough of the lovely illusive cat. You give me a magical cat with tentacles and you don’t have it actively present on at least every other page? SHAME. /hj
No matter how far you travel, you can always find a little piece of home inside a bookstore.
Such a sweet and comforting story, exactly what a cozy fantasy should be. It did take me a moment to warm up to Tandy, the MC, because at the very beginning she came across as a bit of a “woe is me” poor rich girl. But once I’ve got a clearer impression of what her royal lifestyle looked like, it became very easy to empathize. That amount of moving around, participating in ceremonies, and smiling at random strangers is truly no way to live for a bookish introvert. No wonder she was so happy to catch a break!
I loved Tandy’s stay in the bookshop and how it helped her progress, in small believable steps, from a people pleaser to someone willing to stand up for her boundaries. The sisterly bond she developed with Sasha was so sweet, easily my favorite part of the book. And then of course there was Bash the cleptomaniac cursed pirate. That romance was so cute. I kind of like how it started in this very on the nose, kinda stereotypical fashion, with Bash sauntering in like your bog-standard sexy, snarky bad boy, and Tandy being all appalled and attracted. But then they progressed from there into something much deeper and gentler, and the confession scene late in the book was made of feels. SO MANY FEELS. It’s my favorite. 🥰
The one thing I disliked about the book was how repetitive the storyline with the princes showing up to try and break Tandy’s curse got. There were seven of them, and they were certainly all unique characters. I actually liked a couple of the ones who showed up way later in the book the most. But because Tandy was confined to a single small bookstore, consistently interacted with a fairly small cast of characters, and her main storyline was rather introspective in nature, the further I got into the story the harder it was not to react to each prince appearing with an, “Oh great, another predictable disruption.” Especially given that it was pretty clear that none of their kisses would work to break the curse.
Oh, and one more gripe: the illusive cat! There wasn’t enough of the lovely illusive cat. You give me a magical cat with tentacles and you don’t have it actively present on at least every other page? SHAME. /hj