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booksarebetter's review
5.0
For those who love Legends and Lattes, but make it more gay and more cozy with a hint of adventure thrown in. This was an absolute delight and perfect for Valentine's Day. 5 ⭐
ashintheashes's review
5.0
I love this cozy romantic fantasy so much. I can't wait until everyone else gets a chance to read this
konstance's review
4.0
Full review on Konstance Writes.
I had a blast with this book, even though it took a bit of a detour from my cozy fantasy expectations. The action-packed start and Jayce's unexpected backstory threw me a curveball, setting a darker tone than I anticipated from the cover and blurb. Despite that beginning and the jump into the cozy fantasy world, there were good twists and the ending was a solid 4/5 surprise, playing with tropes in a way that made me grin.
When it comes to characters, Jayce and Alexius are an absolute delight! Their unique voices and the way their relationship unfolds had me hooked. For me, the pacing stumbled a bit with a delayed ending, but with side characters like Iris adding charm and wit, it's hard not to love the crew. The world, while not heavily built, exudes a cozy vibe that lets the characters shine.
And let's not forget the spice – tastefully done! Despite a few bumps like distracting formatting issues, the overall experience earned this book a 3.5/5 for me, but easily it jumped to a 4 to places where I can’t half-star because of an unexpected tiny tidbit at the end. The book may not have begun how I expected, but the characters, cozy atmosphere, and that unexpected ending make it a winner!
I had a blast with this book, even though it took a bit of a detour from my cozy fantasy expectations. The action-packed start and Jayce's unexpected backstory threw me a curveball, setting a darker tone than I anticipated from the cover and blurb. Despite that beginning and the jump into the cozy fantasy world, there were good twists and the ending was a solid 4/5 surprise, playing with tropes in a way that made me grin.
When it comes to characters, Jayce and Alexius are an absolute delight! Their unique voices and the way their relationship unfolds had me hooked. For me, the pacing stumbled a bit with a delayed ending, but with side characters like Iris adding charm and wit, it's hard not to love the crew. The world, while not heavily built, exudes a cozy vibe that lets the characters shine.
And let's not forget the spice – tastefully done! Despite a few bumps like distracting formatting issues, the overall experience earned this book a 3.5/5 for me, but easily it jumped to a 4 to places where I can’t half-star because of an unexpected tiny tidbit at the end. The book may not have begun how I expected, but the characters, cozy atmosphere, and that unexpected ending make it a winner!
kevinscorner's review
4.5
Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love is a queer cosy fantasy romance between a former villain’s minion and a knight in shining armor. Jayce was kidnapped as a child and trained as the Dark Lord’s protege and minion in servitude. When he forms an uneasy alliance with captured knight Alexius, he peripherally aids in defeating the Dark Lord. Now, Jayce must rediscover who he is outside of being the Dark Lord’s primary underling.
This was just a remarkably heartwarming and delightful read. There’s just something about a low stakes fantasy that’s like a warm hug, hence the recent fascination with cosy fantasies. Without the big action set pieces or world ending stakes (excluding the opening set-up), the book relies heavily on its central character Jayce and the bonds he forms. And that was indeed done to great effect. I only just wish that the book had been longer.
Jayce follows Alexius to his hometown and just proceeds loving his now mundane life—working in a bookstore, making friends, and figuring out what life he wants to build for himself—all while trying to reconcile the evil things he was forced to do and his feelings of guilt. He was just compellingly likable and impossible not to root for. And of course, Jayce and kindhearted Alexius fall in love. Their romance was as sweet as it was a slowburn even in its inevitability. Alexius just delivers his golden retriever energy and all around goodness and sunshiny-ness despite some quite moments of suggested PTSD.
Of Knight and Books and Falling in Love is a charming and heartwarming queer cosy fantasy romance.
*I received an eARC as part of a book tour.
This was just a remarkably heartwarming and delightful read. There’s just something about a low stakes fantasy that’s like a warm hug, hence the recent fascination with cosy fantasies. Without the big action set pieces or world ending stakes (excluding the opening set-up), the book relies heavily on its central character Jayce and the bonds he forms. And that was indeed done to great effect. I only just wish that the book had been longer.
Jayce follows Alexius to his hometown and just proceeds loving his now mundane life—working in a bookstore, making friends, and figuring out what life he wants to build for himself—all while trying to reconcile the evil things he was forced to do and his feelings of guilt. He was just compellingly likable and impossible not to root for. And of course, Jayce and kindhearted Alexius fall in love. Their romance was as sweet as it was a slowburn even in its inevitability. Alexius just delivers his golden retriever energy and all around goodness and sunshiny-ness despite some quite moments of suggested PTSD.
Of Knight and Books and Falling in Love is a charming and heartwarming queer cosy fantasy romance.
*I received an eARC as part of a book tour.
bardbrojosh's review
4.0
Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for a honest review.
This was a entertaining read. It was interesting exploring the "what happens next" once the heroes beat the big bad evil guy and the difficulties of moving past events that were not your fault / out of your control. The 2 main characters were cute and enjoyed watching them slowly grow closer. The slice of life stuff is handled well, making for a cozy read. My only issue was it felt like the pace was a bit rushed, would of been nice if the book was a bit longer so more development at a bit of a slower of pace could be done, along with more interactions from the side cast.
Overall though i enjoyed my time with this book and will be keeping a eye out for future stories by this author.
This was a entertaining read. It was interesting exploring the "what happens next" once the heroes beat the big bad evil guy and the difficulties of moving past events that were not your fault / out of your control. The 2 main characters were cute and enjoyed watching them slowly grow closer. The slice of life stuff is handled well, making for a cozy read. My only issue was it felt like the pace was a bit rushed, would of been nice if the book was a bit longer so more development at a bit of a slower of pace could be done, along with more interactions from the side cast.
Overall though i enjoyed my time with this book and will be keeping a eye out for future stories by this author.
rainbowbrarian's review
2.0
Big thank you to @pridebooktours for the free ebook and including me in this tour!
I was hooked by the description of the book as “a sweet, slow burn romance and a bookstore with a cat set in a queernormative world!” I signed right up for the tour!
Things I liked about this book: an opinionated bookstore cat, a Black knight with natural hair as the heroic love interest, and the idea of a queernormative world.
To be totally honest, this book wasn’t for me. I think the plot was a little too cliche. The ideas were solid, but weren’t well developed enough. I think this writer could have great promise with a little more workshopping. Jayce and Alexius did have a slow burn romance but it felt mechanical, like they were reading from a script instead of having their feelings actually develop. They both were suffering from PTSD from the war, but it was touched on so briefly and vanished as fast that it felt fake. It was like the author understood that they should have lasting issues from the war, but didn’t really understand them well enough to write them.
The book struggled a bit overall with wanting to be a cozy book while still dealing with some very heavy issues (abuse, PTSD, survivors guilt, the need to atone, and regrets). I think it would have been better to have left those heavy elements out and chosen something more like past failed relationships or a failed business instead of a serious war.
I was hooked by the description of the book as “a sweet, slow burn romance and a bookstore with a cat set in a queernormative world!” I signed right up for the tour!
Things I liked about this book: an opinionated bookstore cat, a Black knight with natural hair as the heroic love interest, and the idea of a queernormative world.
To be totally honest, this book wasn’t for me. I think the plot was a little too cliche. The ideas were solid, but weren’t well developed enough. I think this writer could have great promise with a little more workshopping. Jayce and Alexius did have a slow burn romance but it felt mechanical, like they were reading from a script instead of having their feelings actually develop. They both were suffering from PTSD from the war, but it was touched on so briefly and vanished as fast that it felt fake. It was like the author understood that they should have lasting issues from the war, but didn’t really understand them well enough to write them.
The book struggled a bit overall with wanting to be a cozy book while still dealing with some very heavy issues (abuse, PTSD, survivors guilt, the need to atone, and regrets). I think it would have been better to have left those heavy elements out and chosen something more like past failed relationships or a failed business instead of a serious war.
gloamglozergay's review
3.0
This was kind of an odd read. It was cute, and quick. Individual scenes by themselves were fun. I wasn’t bored. But the setup didn’t match the delivery, and I couldn’t get a handle on the tone.
Basically, “young man is finally set free after spending a lifetime as an abused thought-slave to a cruel overlord who forces him to commit war crimes” is kind of. A heavy starting point? I wouldn’t expect a typical 77-page light romance to represent the gnarliest of mental illnesses or anything, but…… YOU chose THIS premise. And the grabby idea here, to me, is the main character being in full control of himself for the first time in years, and the rollercoaster of experiencing a first love while navigating all that. That’s a legitimately interesting idea, and it seems bizarre to set it up and then explore virtually none of the stuff that makes it interesting. Surely it’s a pretty big shock to suddenly gain all your autonomy, and start a whole new life as an independent adult. To finally have feelings that you’ve never gotten to feel, and fall for the first person who treats you like a human, and then think they don’t love you back. That sounds, dare I say, kind of juicy. How would someone approach that situation? How would they move through their scary, exciting new world?
Without much difficulty, it turns out. Alexius and Jayce have one conversation about PTSD. Sometimes there is talk of Guilt, for the things Jayce did while mind-controlled. There’s a lot of timeskipping that makes the slow-burn feel abridged and the chemistry feel more told than shown. Jayce adjusts to everything pretty seamlessly, Alexius trusts him perfectly, and there is very little conflict. It surprised me to read the acknowledgments and find that this author typically writes high-stakes romance - this reads like it was written by someone who wanted the aesthetic of an angsty backstory, but none of the work. I’m interested to try their other books.
Other things: the writing gets the job done, although could have done with more copy editing. Also, I respect that the world is just a backdrop for the love story in this case, but the level of idgaf energy in the worldbuilding is off the charts to the point where it’s actively funny. Why was Joséphine even present.
Overall: I don’t think it would have been too hard to script doctor this and turn it into the light, cute, low-stakes read it was allegedly meant to be. The romantic scenes, in and of themselves, are good - they’re SO sincere, and soppy and sweet and adorable. Alternately, it could have been fleshed out and turned into something more interesting. But neither thing happened, and it just kind of feels like a big waffle.
Basically, “young man is finally set free after spending a lifetime as an abused thought-slave to a cruel overlord who forces him to commit war crimes” is kind of. A heavy starting point? I wouldn’t expect a typical 77-page light romance to represent the gnarliest of mental illnesses or anything, but…… YOU chose THIS premise. And the grabby idea here, to me, is the main character being in full control of himself for the first time in years, and the rollercoaster of experiencing a first love while navigating all that. That’s a legitimately interesting idea, and it seems bizarre to set it up and then explore virtually none of the stuff that makes it interesting. Surely it’s a pretty big shock to suddenly gain all your autonomy, and start a whole new life as an independent adult. To finally have feelings that you’ve never gotten to feel, and fall for the first person who treats you like a human, and then think they don’t love you back. That sounds, dare I say, kind of juicy. How would someone approach that situation? How would they move through their scary, exciting new world?
Without much difficulty, it turns out. Alexius and Jayce have one conversation about PTSD. Sometimes there is talk of Guilt, for the things Jayce did while mind-controlled. There’s a lot of timeskipping that makes the slow-burn feel abridged and the chemistry feel more told than shown. Jayce adjusts to everything pretty seamlessly, Alexius trusts him perfectly, and there is very little conflict. It surprised me to read the acknowledgments and find that this author typically writes high-stakes romance - this reads like it was written by someone who wanted the aesthetic of an angsty backstory, but none of the work. I’m interested to try their other books.
Other things: the writing gets the job done, although could have done with more copy editing. Also, I respect that the world is just a backdrop for the love story in this case, but the level of idgaf energy in the worldbuilding is off the charts to the point where it’s actively funny. Why was Joséphine even present.
Overall: I don’t think it would have been too hard to script doctor this and turn it into the light, cute, low-stakes read it was allegedly meant to be. The romantic scenes, in and of themselves, are good - they’re SO sincere, and soppy and sweet and adorable. Alternately, it could have been fleshed out and turned into something more interesting. But neither thing happened, and it just kind of feels like a big waffle.
ruth_miranda's review
2.0
Sadly, I am clearly not the right audience for this book. I jumped in at the lure of the slow burn romance between the protagonists, but the writing style left me balking and unsure. Most of the time, I felt like I was reading a first draft in need of severe editing, which was a bit jarring for me. I also couldn't care for the characters as they came out very cardboardy and uninteresting. Maybe that has to do with how juvenile and immature I found the writing style - which I guess was purposeful? though it didn't work for me. I think that with a round of editing where perhaps the sex and the swearing were cut, this book could be marketed for Middle Graders and YA audiences, which I feel would be a far more appropriate audience for this story.
Or maybe I'm too old and jaded for the magic of its innocence and failed to understand it, I don't know.
I received an ARC from the author and the opinions stated are my own.
Or maybe I'm too old and jaded for the magic of its innocence and failed to understand it, I don't know.
I received an ARC from the author and the opinions stated are my own.
helllucifer's review
5.0
**ARC provided by the author, all words are mine**
Well, this was a really good read!! I do wish it was about 100 pages longer, because I want to know more about the world, Jayce's past, and of course more of Alexius and Jayce together! But I did still enjoy this novella, and I am adopting Jayce.
Well, this was a really good read!! I do wish it was about 100 pages longer, because I want to know more about the world, Jayce's past
Spoiler
especially under the Dark Lord, and maybe some more trauma exploration
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