Autumn Tales From Cozy Vales (Cozy Vales Collection #4)
by L.A. Scott, Phillip Sanderson, Rebecca Buchanan, Bonnie Axton, G Clatworthy, K M Jackways, Selina J. Eckert, Kit Muse, ML Dunker, Mary Stephenson Su and Melissa Gunn
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: from Young Adult to Adult
Type of romance: m/f and m/m romances depending on the story
Blurb:
A delightful collection of cozy fantasy stories set in the coziest of worlds!Return to the queendom of Cozy Vales, where autumn is in full swing!
This collection features tales set during the Harvest of Hope holiday. Held on the last weekend of every October, this three-day festival marks the end of fall and the start of winter. A thread of thanks and gratitude runs through the festival. Small gifts (primarily food and drink) are handed out on the eve of the third night, which culminates with bonfires.
Different settlements put their own spin on the holiday, with minor variations being found all across the queendom, but the common thread is always a feeling of hope.
Explore this Cozy Vales holiday through eleven different short stories:
An Ale For Autumn – L.A. Scott
The Stranger in Clovervale – Phillip Sanderson
When the Maire and the Sorcerer Went to See the Queen, and the Unfortunate Adventure That Followed – Rebecca Buchanan
The Autumn Delivery – Bonnie Axton
A Stamping Table – G Clatworthy
The Fusty Spellpatchers – K M Jackways
Moonbells and Maidens – Selina J. Eckert
Cat In The Hay – Kit Muse
The Edge of the World – ML Dunker
The Wizard’s Tower – Mary Stephenson Su
A Batch of Thornberry Syrup – Melissa GunnCozy Vales tales are low on stakes but high on adventure, excitement, mystery, and heartwarming storytelling!
My Review
I got this one as soon as I saw it released. I really enjoyed the previous cozy vales anthologies and was excited for this first autumn themed one. I share my thoughts for each story and a summary of the anthology as a whole at the end.
Ale For Autumn – L.A. Scott
This one sadly didn’t work for me. This is a personal pet peeve, but no is no and I don’t like pushy characters who don’t listen and know they can change someone’s mind. And ofcourse in stories like these that’s always a good thing and actually what the character needs to be pushed outside of their comfort zone. Again personal pet peeve. Either way I did not enjoy this story very much and once we got past the pushy part and they started working together the story felt rushed and over before I really could get into it. The autumn vibes weren’t as strongly and I wasn’t really interested in the making ale storyline. On to the next one.
The Stranger in Clovervale – Phillip Sanderson
This was a fun one. It had the forgotten memory trope which I usually don’t care for, but it thought it was done well here. An ogre wakes up in Clovervale with no memory of who he is or what he can do. The Maire of clovervale takes him in and the town helps him to find out what he used to do. I liked seeing Vagus figure out some things about himself and eventually landing in the place that was right for him. There were some fun scenes and characters along the way. And the accepting nature of the vale was nice to read about. I did feel this one didn’t really have strong autumn vibes, there are some mentions of it being that season as a certain wine for the tavern is almost ready this time of year, but that’s mostly it. I also felt the ending was a bit rushed and I would’ve liked just a bit more to see Vagus getting settled in his new reality.
When the Maire and the Sorcerer Went to See the Queen, and the Unfortunate Adventure
That Followed – Rebecca Buchanan
I was excited for this one. This author has had stories in the all the previous anthologies and I like how each feels like it’s own contained part of a larger story surrounding a floating vale. Each story features a different main character who continues the overarching plot with it’s own part of it. The last one ended on a good resolution, but there was still a question of who was behind the attempt to poison the floating vale and this story delves deeper into that. I enjoyed the glimpse into the culprits and their motives. This one did end rather abruptly and felt like it didn’t wrap this up as nicely as the others, but I assume the next anthology will have the next part and I am curious to see how the adventure continues. Not very strong autumn vibes, but there are a few mentions of the leaves turning autumn colors and the upcoming celebrations.
The Autumn Delivery – Bonnie Axton
This one had super strong autumn vibes, which I enjoyed as that was what I was hoping for in this anthology. This story follows the crew of a ship traveling the rivers in cozy vales and I liked this as I remember reading about that in the travelogue book i think it was and it was fun to get a closer look at the crew on such a boat. They get the request to deliver a mysterious chest without opening it, but there seems to be an almost magical temptation to open it that is almost impossible to resist. This one could be a bit silly at times, but mostly fun and I also liked the strong found family vibes of the crew and how they were there for each other and even apologized. Nice twist at the end when it gets revealed what was up with the chest. This was a fun one.
A Stamping Table – G Clatworthy
This story is another that basically is a continuation of another story in a previous anthology, the second winter one I believe in this case. It was fun to read about Ig again, but it felt like nothign much really had happened romance wise since the gift exchange almost a year earlier in the other anthology. This one has a new adventure were Ig helps a friend and then there is a bit at the end where he is back home. I liked the story and the helping the friend part gets resolved, but the plot line with the romance still continues and makes very little progress here. Not much autumn vibes here either, but I still mostly enjoyed this one. I liked the stamping table plot line and the twist there and how Ig resolves it.
The Fusty Spellpatchers – K M Jackways
This was a fun one. I liked reading about the main character and the spellpacthing was interesting, they restore artifacts were the magic no longer works. There is a bit of a mystery as an artifact the main character was working on gets stolen. It was fun to see that play out. This one also has some autumn vibes toward the end with the autumn leaves and the guild dinner, although I would’ve liked a bit more of the autumn vibes earlier in the story as well. I liked this one and look forward to reading more of the author.
Moonbells and Maidens – Selina J. Eckert
This was a fun one. Same main character as in one of the previous stories in another anthology by the same author and it was fun to follow her and read more of her story. She’s now trying different things after realizing working with plants isn’t her calling and I liked seeing her trying to find her own way. There are some brief references to the first story, but this one works well on it’s own as well. This one had a lot of autumn vibes and I liked that, from the food to the colors and the festival. The focus is on the Moonbell festival and I liked reading about this festival that only takes place in this vale.
Cat In The Hay – Kit Muse
This one felt pretty short and I thought it was well done how the story felt still complete and wrapped things up at a nice place, while still leaving me excited for more. This was a cute story about a half gob who participates in a hay throwing event during the Haying Festival and discovers a cat in his pile of hay instead. I liked reading this one and seeing the main character find a solution for the cat and himself. There was a bit of autumn vibes with the haying festival, but besides the hay throwing event there isn’t as much about the festival. There is a free story by the author that follows the same characters and I look forward to reading that one soon.
The Edge of the World – ML Dunker
This one follows a crew of sailors who explore the seas and when their ship gets taken by pirates they get dropped off at cozy vales were they find a warm welcome. I liked the premise of this story and it was fun to see cozy vales from an outside perspective, but I felt a lot of the story felt a bit rushed once they land in cozy vales. It then got wrapped up relatively quickly and while it was a good wrap up I would’ve liked a bit more time to see the story develop, get to know the characters and see how they spend their time in cozy vales. This one has hardly any autumn vibes, the harvest festival gets mentioned briefly and that’s it.
The Wizard’s Tower – Mary Stephenson Su
I liked this one. This was a fun story about an elf living on the beach next to a Wizard’s tower and the lady who comes to visit to claim her inheritance now that the wizard is dead. There is a magical spell she has to cast to claim the inheritance. As the rooms are full the elf invites her to stay with him. I liked seeing these two interact and seeing how she ended up completing the spell and what happened was such a fun twist. This one also had some autumn vibes with the festival, which the elf hated, but Penny loved and she ate some pumpkin turnovers and a giant pumpkin judging contest and other festivities are mentioned too. I hope there will be more stories about these characters as this was a fun one.
A Batch of Thornberry Syrup – Melissa Gunn
This was a fun one about a family run inn and them making thornberry syrup. The main character dreams of another life and might get an opportunity for that. The story was fun and I liked the squirrel like pet. Had some cozy vibes and some slight autumn vibes with references to the season and the making of the thornberry syrup. This one did feel a bit incomplete and like the start of a larger story and I wonder if there will be more about these characters.
To summarize: I had a great time reading this anthology. I struggled a bit getting into it as the first story didn’t quite work for me, but once I got past it I had a great time. My enjoyment of the stories did vary per story with some being more enjoyable than others. These stories all take place in cozy vales and have cozy vibes. All stories take place during autumn and close to the autumn festival, some stories really lean very strongly into the autumn vibes and others only briefly mention it. I was looking forward to the autumn vibes and enjoyed that some of the stories really leaned into that and was a bit sad some stories didn’t do as much with the autumn them. A bunch of these stories are continuations of some sort of previous stories in other cozy vales anthologies. You can enjoy this anthology as standalone without having read any of the other anthologies, but it depends a bit on the story how well this works as some I felt were better read in order. All in all a fun cozy fantasy seasonal read.
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