The Nameless Restaurant (Hidden Dishes #1) by Tao Wong narrated by Emily Woo Zeller My Rating: 4 stars Genre: Cozy Fantasy Age Category: Adult Type of romance: no romance Blurb: There is a restaurant in Toronto. Its entrance is announced only by a simple, unadorned wooden door, varnished to a beautiful shine but without paint, hidden beside dumpsters and a fire escape. There is no sign, no indication of what lies behind the door. If you do manage to find the restaurant, the décor is dated and worn. Homey, if one were to be generous. The service is atrocious, the […]

Coffee, Milk & Spider Silk (Embervein Emporia #1) by Coyote J.M. Edwards My Rating: 4 stars Genre: Cozy Fantasy Age Category: Adult Type of romance: no romance Blurb: What should a battle-worn 11-foot tall drider do when she’s retiring from the Ember Guard and looking for a big change? Open a cafe, of course! Unfortunately, Gwen’s skills are highly specialized—she can contain a magical anomaly to protect the innocent without blinking, but taking inventory and tracking profits makes her sweat bullets. It’s not long before she wonders if patrolling the streets of Embervein wasn’t a safer bet. Help comes in […]

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong My Rating: 4 stars Genre: Cozy Fantasy Age Category: Adult Type of romance: no romance Blurb: A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna. Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells “small” fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences… Even if […]

Intara’s Guide to Cozy Vales: A Cozy Fantasy Travelogue by L.A. Scott My Rating: 4 stars Genre: Cozy Fantasy Age Category: Adult Type of romance: no romance Blurb: “Find the Heart of the Vale.” I am Intara, Court Counselor of His Majesty, King Roderick of Urbeir, and those six words introduced me to the queendom of Cozy Vales. King Roderick ordered me to obtain samples of a magical chocolate drink known as Heart of the Vale, rumored to have healing properties. But he also sought to know how the queendom had prospered for over six hundred years without experiencing a […]