Review: A Tale of Mirth & Magic by Kristen Vale

A Tale of Mirth & Magic
by Kristen Vale

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
A maker of magical jewelry finds her life turned upside down when she ends up on the run with a half-giant in this spicy and cozy fantasy romance—perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and The Spellshop.

Elikki may not have a family, but she has her fierce independence, boundless charm, and enough talent as a jewelry artisan to make a living on the road. Unfortunately for some, she also can’t yet manage to control her chaotic magic. . . and her temper. Sweet, soft Barra lives a quiet life with his mas and three sisters, managing the books for his family’s business. All he wants is to blend in and not make waves—a bit tricky, as a nearly eight-foot-tall purple half-giant.

When Elikki lands in hot water after dealing with a particularly rude customer, Barra finds himself helping her flee the constables. With a bounty on her back—and a severe crush forming on his end—they decide to travel together to the next town. So begins a journey filled with cozy inns, delicious meals, heaps of excellent sex, and a sprinkling of danger. As their adventures bring them closer together and the threat of capture rises they find themselves changing in surprising ways. He’s given up on finding love. She’s always refused to try. But traveling together, they may discover unexpected, powerful romance and stronger self-identities—if the bounty hunters don’t get them first.

My Review

I received a free copy from the publisher through Edelweiss and voluntarily reviewed it.

The cover of this book caught my eye when I saw it on Edelweiss and I was excited to get approved for it. I am going through a stressful time in my life currently and am reading a lot of cozy books, so I figured this would be a good fit for my current mood. And while it was indeed a light and cozy read, it didn’t grip me as much as I wanted.

A Tale of Mirth and Magic follows the story of elf Elikki, a traveling jewelry maker. She’s impulsive, charming and outgoing. She also has trouble forming deep bonds until she meets Barra. Barra is a super sweet half giant. Due to circumstances they end up traveling together for a bit on the run for bounty hunters who are after Elikki broke someone’s wrist.

This book had a very light and cozy vibe, but it fell a bit too much to the whimsical and silly side for me. Which is not a vibe that often works for me and it didn’t work for me here. The plot with the bounty hunters didn’t feel very serious or actually dangerous and it made it hard to care about that part of the story. It al felt a bit silly and ridiculous, the type of plot that works great for a D&D campaign, but not as much for a book. At least in my opinion. There are jokes and made light of how Elikki broke someone’s wrist as if that was a funny “oops I stepped on your toe” type of event instead of a serious injury. Only later we find out there are healers and this is something that can be healed for a price and even so it felt like they made too light of it and the way they joke about it just didn’t sit right with me. Also the way they handled the bounty hunters, just was so whimsical and silly and it just took me out of the story.

I liked the way the two characters got established, they both had a clear personality from the first page, which was nice. I also liked the way they are different and their personalities mix together when they interact. But then when it comes to the romance I didn’t really like their dynamic. Elikki wants to keep things casual and fun, while Barra knows he falls in love easily and mentions this to Elikki. She still decides to ignore that and just go ahead having fun with him and there was something about that dynamic that didn’t sit quite right. Sure Barra never actually says no, but he does talk to her and explains things and she hardly opens up back about her feelings and also doesn’t care about him enough to realize having fun with him could hurt him.

There is some sad backstory for why Elikki has trouble making connections, which did explain her character and action, but I still didn’t really like it. And due to that I had trouble feeling their romance. Barra is an absolutely sweetheart and he is so kind and sweet to Elikki, he gives her everything she desires, upends his life for her and helps her out every time she gets into trouble. I just wish there were a few of those moments from Elikki too were she shows him how much she cares. And when the conflict hits, ofcourse it is Barra who has to reach out and resolve things, even though he was clear about his intentions and feelings from the start and it is Elikki who ran away from the conversation. The sex scenes didn’t quite work for me, again because of the dynamic and the way Elikki seemed to use sex as a way to have fun and not talk about deeper things sometimes.

Despite my troubles with their dynamic, there were also parts I did like. There are some very cute and sweet scenes. I liked when Elikki actually opens up to Barra and tells him about her past. I also liked how Barra supports her and tries to get her to think and consider things and how Elikki changes a bit throughout the book. And how Elikki makes him see he doesn’t have to always blend in and try to make himself invisible.

The world building is very minimal, there are some mentions of various races and magic, but it stays very light. This is mostly a romance set in a fantasy realm. There isn’t any deep or vivid world building. There are some interesting parts that have some depth like the half-giants for example and other larger races and how they didn’t always were able to find an inn or place to stay or shop that could accommodate their. There was also some parts about Elikki’s magic which were interesting. But with all of this I just felt it stayed very light on the details and I wanted more.

To summarize: This is a sweet and cozy fantasy romance book. I like cozy books, but the whimsical silly vibes of this book didn’t quite work for me. The plot felt a bit off with it not feeling as serious or dangerous as I had expected due to silly vibes and way things got resolved. I liked Barra, he’s super sweet and kind. Elikki was an interesting character, but I didn’t warm up as much to her. I didn’t really like the romantic dynamic they had going on with Elikki just being there for some steamy fun while Barra wanted something deeper. Eventually they do build something real, but their dynamic made it hard for me to fully feel their romance. There are some sweet and fun scenes with the two of them and I liked how they bring the best out of the other and encourage each other. The world building is pretty minimal, there are some interesting elements, but it doesn’t really go deeper or come fully alive.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.