Review: Books, Iced Coffee & a Side of Dragons by Amanda Lovelace

Posted August 26, 2026 by Lola in Fantasy, Review, Romance / 3 Comments

Books, Iced Coffee & a Side of Dragons
written by Amanda Lovelace
illustrated by Raquel Travé

My Rating: 4 stars

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

Blurb:
A struggling bookstore, a budding new romance, and a mischievous coven of dragons, what could possibly go wrong? Find out in this sugary sweet debut graphic novel from USA Today bestselling author and your favorite cozy witch, Amanda Lovelace!

Welcome to Sea Witch Cove!

Lucinda (call her Luci!) is the owner of Little Lighthouse Books, an adorable bookstore in a defunct lighthouse in her small Jersey Shore town. Everything in her life would be perfect if only Aster, the trans woman who runs the coffee shop next door, would notice her. But with a little bit of luck–and the help of Dandelion, the tiny, curious wind dragon that Aster helps her rescue–this might be the summer that Aster and Luci finally find love.

Amanda Lovelace’s debut graphic novel—brought to shimmering life by illustrator Raquel Trave—Books, Iced Coffee & a Side of Dragons is the perfect time capsule of sapphic summertime sweetness.

My Review

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

The cover for this one caught my eye on Netgalley and this one sounded so fun I knew I wanted to read it. Books, Iced Coffee & a Side of Dragons is exactly what the title promises it’s a sweet cozy fantasy romance story about a girl who runs a book store and she falls in love with a girl who runs a coffee stand and there are dragons. It was such a sweet and cute summer-y read and I enjoyed reading this one.

I had to get used to the style of this book a bit. The chapters, if you can call them that, are very short, only a page or two. Which means this book reads like very short scenes before skipping to the next one. It could feel a bit jarring and it took me some time to get used to it. I would’ve liked some longer scenes or more transitions, but I got used to the style after a while and could better enjoy the book then.

I had a great time reading this one. It was a fun one to briefly pick up an read a few pages in between doing other things. I liked reading about the characters. The romance did develop very quickly and I wouldn’t have minded a bit more there about why they fell for the other, but this book mostly just focusses on the cute scenes of them getting together and then dating afterwards. And these two were just so sweet and cute together and I liked reading about them. The dragons are fantastic too, each of them are so cute and I liked seeing them pop up and how they are part of the story. There are some fun side characters too like George and the employee who works at the bookstore.

The story mostly focusses on some slice of life type scenes with them running their stores and going on dates and spending time together. It does touch upon some more heavy topics now and then, with it being mentioned one of the characters has PCOS and that being shown in a few scenes and a dead relative being mentioned. There’s also a bit of a dangerous situation going on later on and how the characters deal with that. Most of the story and tone stays pretty light and it has an uplifting and hopeful tone.

With graphic novels I always find the art style an important part of the experience and the artstyle was great here. I really liked how cute and cozy the style was and especially the dragons and facial expressions were so well done. The art really adds to the story and I liked looking at the pretty art while reading this one. I feel like the artstyle also helps a bit with the scene transitions and setting the stage and does some heavy lifting in that regard.

To summarize: I had a great time reading this one, it’s a very cute and sweet cozy fantasy romance story involving books, coffee and dragons. The short scenes could feel a bit jarring at first, but I did get used to it the more I read. The romances progress quite quickly and I wouldn’t have minded a bit more time before they got together, but I also didn’t mind too much as I enjoyed reading about them together. They make for a very cute couple and there are plenty of sweet scenes. The artstyle is great and fit the story perfectly. I liked how the art added to the story and it carries a lot of weight in telling the story as well. All in all I had a great time reading this one and can recommend it if you’re looking for a fun, sweet and summer-y cozy fantasy graphic novel.