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Tales of Aedrea #1
Cursed Cocktails
When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into a stiff drink and stir.
After twenty years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren “Bloodbane” has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage's service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.
And a chance at a fresh start.
In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession—a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.
Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.
After twenty years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren “Bloodbane” has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage's service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.
And a chance at a fresh start.
In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession—a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.
Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.
282 pages, ebook
First published February 2, 2023
889 people are currently reading
16093 people want to read
About the author
S.L. Rowland
20 books545 followersS.L. Rowland is a cozy fantasy and LitRPG author known for crafting immersive worlds filled with adventure, heart, and a touch of humor. A lifelong gamer and fantasy enthusiast, he draws inspiration from tabletop RPGs, video games, and the fantastical. When he’s not writing, he enjoys weightlifting, hiking with his Shiba Inu, and enduring the heartbreak of being an Atlanta sports fan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 929 reviews
May 29, 2024
★3 stars
✎𓂃 “There may be a beer for every occasion, but there is a wine for every mood.” AMEN! 🍺🍷🍹
☆What to Expect:
A blood mage Rhoren finds his way to warmer climates when a lifetime of service has taken a toll on his body. He finds himself in Eastborne, where he puts his father’s secret book of cocktail recipes to use by opening the Cursed Cocktails bar with his new bartender friend Kallum. It’s a cozy fantasy with a decent amount of lore, chuckles, and heart. 🧙🐈🦊
☆My Thoughts:
This was 100% Legends and Lattes but with cocktails 😅
My brother is probs the biggest nerd I know–he’s a Potterhead, DND gamemaster, Star Wars/LOTR/any fantasy really geek, a video game aficionado, a treasure trove of endless random facts, and one of the people I’ve looked up to most in my life (and yes I’m writing this knowing he’ll read it and hopefully go “AWHHHHHH” 🤣). I’ve always followed in his footsteps with our similar interests, so knowing we both love to read, this past Christmas I gifted him Legends and Lattes. I had read it the year before and absolutely loved it, and knew he’d feel the same as it felt like the coziest form of DND.
Spoiler, he did! And in return, he lent this one to me.
I found myself straight up giggling throughout the entirety of this book, from the hilarious spellings of various spirits (“rhum, jin, wadka, wuiskey”) to the description of this ingenious food creation called “flatbread” with its myriad meat and vegetable toppings (surprisingly called a “supreme” version 🍕).
I can absolutely see why my brother thought I’d enjoy this book after L&L, but unfortunately in the end, it was a bit too derivative of the other. A minor annoyance of mine, but all of the characters felt the need to wink at each other every two seconds that it felt like they might as well slap an eye patch on their eye and call themselves a pirate. In the end though, the story itself was cute and cozy, so I’ll be interested to see what book two is like!
☆Final Helpful Suggestion for the Author:
This one is courtesy of my brother, but Mr. Rowland: maybe take a deeper look into how a drawn up map looks in a printed version before finalizing it. The key places mentioned in the book are smack dab in the book's ass crack, nearly impossible to locate!!
* ゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜*
Pre-review:
My nerdy brother lent this one to me 🥹🥹🥹 It sounds EXACTLY like Legends and Lattes but I’m not mad!! 🍹
✎𓂃 “There may be a beer for every occasion, but there is a wine for every mood.” AMEN! 🍺🍷🍹
☆What to Expect:
A blood mage Rhoren finds his way to warmer climates when a lifetime of service has taken a toll on his body. He finds himself in Eastborne, where he puts his father’s secret book of cocktail recipes to use by opening the Cursed Cocktails bar with his new bartender friend Kallum. It’s a cozy fantasy with a decent amount of lore, chuckles, and heart. 🧙🐈🦊
☆My Thoughts:
This was 100% Legends and Lattes but with cocktails 😅
My brother is probs the biggest nerd I know–he’s a Potterhead, DND gamemaster, Star Wars/LOTR/any fantasy really geek, a video game aficionado, a treasure trove of endless random facts, and one of the people I’ve looked up to most in my life (and yes I’m writing this knowing he’ll read it and hopefully go “AWHHHHHH” 🤣). I’ve always followed in his footsteps with our similar interests, so knowing we both love to read, this past Christmas I gifted him Legends and Lattes. I had read it the year before and absolutely loved it, and knew he’d feel the same as it felt like the coziest form of DND.
Spoiler, he did! And in return, he lent this one to me.
I found myself straight up giggling throughout the entirety of this book, from the hilarious spellings of various spirits (“rhum, jin, wadka, wuiskey”) to the description of this ingenious food creation called “flatbread” with its myriad meat and vegetable toppings (surprisingly called a “supreme” version 🍕).
I can absolutely see why my brother thought I’d enjoy this book after L&L, but unfortunately in the end, it was a bit too derivative of the other. A minor annoyance of mine, but all of the characters felt the need to wink at each other every two seconds that it felt like they might as well slap an eye patch on their eye and call themselves a pirate. In the end though, the story itself was cute and cozy, so I’ll be interested to see what book two is like!
☆Final Helpful Suggestion for the Author:
This one is courtesy of my brother, but Mr. Rowland: maybe take a deeper look into how a drawn up map looks in a printed version before finalizing it. The key places mentioned in the book are smack dab in the book's ass crack, nearly impossible to locate!!
* ゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜*
Pre-review:
My nerdy brother lent this one to me 🥹🥹🥹 It sounds EXACTLY like Legends and Lattes but I’m not mad!! 🍹
February 20, 2023
TW: racism
So if you read the comments on this review you'll see that SL Rowland has actually responded about the line and oh my gosh we love an author who takes responsibility and learns, this just makes this book all the more wholesome to me now. Also this is a brilliant plus side for ebooks that they're easily edited but I digress. I've adjusted my review and rating because it really was just a tiny thing that held me back from all out love but I really do love this book, it's very inspired by Legends and Lattes which I love but I think it has a much more mature and gently paced tone to it.
Original Review:
I want to stress that other than this one little sentence this book was wonderful and on par with Legends and Lattes
I wanted to love this book and for the most part I did but the dark skinned elves being dark skinned as punishment for some transgression of their ancestors (I think making the elves mortal) was just too much.
I did finish it, everything else was lovely, but I spent the whole book waiting for a hate crime which just undid all the cozy fantasy feelings for me.
I don’t think racism should be completely absent from fantasy, but I don’t think it was handled well in this book and it didn’t add anything to the plot anyway it hurts because I really did love everything else but I can’t shake that one little line, as a reader it hurt.
So if you read the comments on this review you'll see that SL Rowland has actually responded about the line and oh my gosh we love an author who takes responsibility and learns, this just makes this book all the more wholesome to me now. Also this is a brilliant plus side for ebooks that they're easily edited but I digress. I've adjusted my review and rating because it really was just a tiny thing that held me back from all out love but I really do love this book, it's very inspired by Legends and Lattes which I love but I think it has a much more mature and gently paced tone to it.
Original Review:
I want to stress that other than this one little sentence this book was wonderful and on par with Legends and Lattes
I wanted to love this book and for the most part I did but the dark skinned elves being dark skinned as punishment for some transgression of their ancestors (I think making the elves mortal) was just too much.
I did finish it, everything else was lovely, but I spent the whole book waiting for a hate crime which just undid all the cozy fantasy feelings for me.
I don’t think racism should be completely absent from fantasy, but I don’t think it was handled well in this book and it didn’t add anything to the plot anyway it hurts because I really did love everything else but I can’t shake that one little line, as a reader it hurt.
February 4, 2023
If I'm reading cozy fantasy, bad things can happen, but the fundamental promise of the genre, for me, is that I'm reading about pretty good people through a pretty positive lens where I can trust that the bad things that happen will mostly be to grownups, never be hate crimes, and not be too intense. This breaks those genre promises.
▪️a character portrayed as a good, admirable person refers to people who commit suicide due to chronic pain as "taking the coward's way out."
▪️there's a casual reference to children being inappropriately propositioned. Cozy. Restful.
▪️an entire race of elves is portrayed as having dark skin as "a price paid by our ancestors long ago." Maybe the author went into more detail about that, but, at 21.9%, I'm out. It's 2023. We're not doing this. (The other elves were pale and blonde. Of course.)
I received an ARC for my opinion. As a courtesy, I will not star the review until there are at least 10 starred reviews, for balance. I did not like this book, I did not finish this book, and I would not recommend this book... as a cozy fantasy novel.
It's an okay litRPG book, I guess, if my other objections don't bother you. That's just not my thing.
▪️a character portrayed as a good, admirable person refers to people who commit suicide due to chronic pain as "taking the coward's way out."
▪️there's a casual reference to children being inappropriately propositioned. Cozy. Restful.
▪️an entire race of elves is portrayed as having dark skin as "a price paid by our ancestors long ago." Maybe the author went into more detail about that, but, at 21.9%, I'm out. It's 2023. We're not doing this. (The other elves were pale and blonde. Of course.)
I received an ARC for my opinion. As a courtesy, I will not star the review until there are at least 10 starred reviews, for balance. I did not like this book, I did not finish this book, and I would not recommend this book... as a cozy fantasy novel.
It's an okay litRPG book, I guess, if my other objections don't bother you. That's just not my thing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2023
I really enjoyed this book! The ending felt a bit rushed to me, I would have liked maybe just 20-30 extra pages for the aftermath and for some extra lovey dovey scenes!
August 12, 2023
Ok. So. This book was heavily marketed towards me, right ?, ive been told repeatedly it was in the lineage of Legend and Lattes, with low stakes, cozy vibes, queer rep and fun cocktails.
I can attest the fun cocktails are there. For the rest, sadly, i cant help but feel like someone (and maybe that's me) didnt understand the assignment.
I didnt click with the MC, who's not unpleasant but generally quite bland and just... not very interesting ?
There was virtually no queer rep. There isnt much alchemy between the MC and his love interest, they're basically coworkers with a good relationship, sortof friends even though it feels forced, and then they kiss. Once. Ok, sure, on paper it's rep but come on, just a bit of tension or just A THOUGHT dedicated to being attracted would have helped.
So at this point im into a low stake story, which means the characters have got to be super duper interesting, and im just not interested.
The plot is... absent ? Nothing happens. There is a huge difference between a low stake, cozy plot and one thing happening after the other with zero uncertainty or reason to care offered to the reader.
The mystery ? Not a mystery at all. There is not even a main antagonist or even any antagonist at all. The characters simply do not meet opposition of any kind. It's like listening to your cousin David explaining how he opened a bar, while even less interesting because maybe your cousin would say how he had to replace ingredients when his favourite shop went out of stock for specific stuff.
Even the last chapter, where Rowland decided to include a final battle for some reason, is extremely short : we learn there's an issue and then the MC fixes it with room to spare for some flashbacks.
The thing about "legends and lattes" is that while low stake, it was choke full of opposition. Stuff was constantly happening to the MC, she was always having to deal with issues of some kind, and there were several antagonists, all quite cool. And all the characters had personality.
I realize it's my own fault for coming with big expectations but this book doesnt even respect whatever you learn in creative fiction 101. I have students write more interesting stuff than this, and it makes me really angry because it had so much potential!
Anyways. I didnt dislike it enough to be, like, pissed at it, but it was an incredibly forgettable book.
I can attest the fun cocktails are there. For the rest, sadly, i cant help but feel like someone (and maybe that's me) didnt understand the assignment.
I didnt click with the MC, who's not unpleasant but generally quite bland and just... not very interesting ?
There was virtually no queer rep. There isnt much alchemy between the MC and his love interest, they're basically coworkers with a good relationship, sortof friends even though it feels forced, and then they kiss. Once. Ok, sure, on paper it's rep but come on, just a bit of tension or just A THOUGHT dedicated to being attracted would have helped.
So at this point im into a low stake story, which means the characters have got to be super duper interesting, and im just not interested.
The plot is... absent ? Nothing happens. There is a huge difference between a low stake, cozy plot and one thing happening after the other with zero uncertainty or reason to care offered to the reader.
The mystery ? Not a mystery at all. There is not even a main antagonist or even any antagonist at all. The characters simply do not meet opposition of any kind. It's like listening to your cousin David explaining how he opened a bar, while even less interesting because maybe your cousin would say how he had to replace ingredients when his favourite shop went out of stock for specific stuff.
Even the last chapter, where Rowland decided to include a final battle for some reason, is extremely short : we learn there's an issue and then the MC fixes it with room to spare for some flashbacks.
The thing about "legends and lattes" is that while low stake, it was choke full of opposition. Stuff was constantly happening to the MC, she was always having to deal with issues of some kind, and there were several antagonists, all quite cool. And all the characters had personality.
I realize it's my own fault for coming with big expectations but this book doesnt even respect whatever you learn in creative fiction 101. I have students write more interesting stuff than this, and it makes me really angry because it had so much potential!
Anyways. I didnt dislike it enough to be, like, pissed at it, but it was an incredibly forgettable book.
February 12, 2023
Wow. Just… WOW. I have completely fallen head over heels in love with the cozy fantasy genre in the past year. As soon as I found this book on TikTok I HAD to give it a read. The book cover alone truly caught my eye right away. Every character that I met was so intriguing. I’m looking forward to making the cocktails myself that they had in this book. The last 7% of this story definitely brought me to tears. This is a book I look forward to rereading.
October 23, 2024
Well, I have to start by saying that this book didn’t disappoint!! When I saw this one was part of my batch for this year’s SPFBO I was really happy. Not only was the name very intriguing but also the premise sounded right up my alley. Anyone who knows me in my life outside of reading knows I adore a good cocktail night and trying out new beverages and the camaraderie a drink can bring when you have it in good company. This book had all the makings to be great, and I hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed! I ended up saving it for later in my batch hoping it would live up to what I wanted, and I saw that it had more ratings than many of the others in my batch and they seemed to be very positive. Having now read this I can absolutely see why people like it, and I add my praise too.
This is the story of Rhoren, an older Umbral Elf who has worked his whole life for the realm as part of the guard. He is a bloodmage which means he can control blood and heartbeats of other beings. To use his magic is extremely powerful, but it’s also an incredibly painful process after the magic for him. The toll which bloodmagic takes on the body of the user is extreme, and most go mad or die early. Rhoren is a very rare case who has actually worked long enough and hard enough to earn his retirement.
We follow the story from the stage where Rhoren doesn’t really know what to do next. All of his life since he was small has been about being in the guard and defending the realm, but now he’s left with little purpose. When a cleric suggests that he journey south he decides to take the advice to live in peaceful retirement away from the Guard and see what else the realm he’s always defended has to offer.
There are so many things to enjoy in this book so I’m going to put them in list form below:
1. the cocktail recipes - these are listed out with quantities and recipes, along with taste notes and a description of the look and feel of the drink. I’ve not tried any from the book, but the author offers the recipes from it in a book if you want to try them, and it’s cool to know they actually can work as recipes.
2. Magical creatures and pets - who doesn’t love a pet or a magic creature?! This book has both with a cat and a new creature playing central roles later in the book. I loved the addition of these two, and I really like the sound of the other magical creature who we meet later!
3. The friendship and camaraderie which we see from all the characters in the book. Whilst reading this I said to my husband that it felt reminiscent of Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes book, and actually the author credits Travis as a large inspiration for this story. I was pleasantly surprised that although this feels very similar in style with the found family vibes and the friendship, it’s still a distinct story in its own right, with its own characters and their own journey, and so I really enjoyed my time in this world.
4. The magic of the world - magic is very common with elves, mages, dwarves, behemoths and more a very common occurrence. There’s lots of magical wielders and users across the story and they each felt like fun races we’ve seen before, and fleshed out the world to be believably magical.
5. The kindness - this book falls heavily into the ‘cosy fantasy’ sub genre as the stakes of the story are low and there’s very little major drama. We have some really nice moments where Rhoren is able to help those who are in need in different ways, and he’s a generous and welcoming individual which made reading about his retirement very fun.
Overall, this book delivered exactly what I hoped and when I got to the end I was thrilled to see there’s a sequel already out. I went and bought it immediately and I am also excited to see the author has a LitRPG series out too, which I also hope to try soon! I may have found a new favourite author from this, and for a short and sweet story it still packed a fun punch and I think it’ll be a nice, memorable story for all the right, warm, fuzzy reasons. A perfect read for autumn and winter and one I would highly recommend. I gave this a 4.5/5*s which makes it tied for the top-spot of my semi-finalists this year so far as that’s a 9/10 for #SPFBO!
This is the story of Rhoren, an older Umbral Elf who has worked his whole life for the realm as part of the guard. He is a bloodmage which means he can control blood and heartbeats of other beings. To use his magic is extremely powerful, but it’s also an incredibly painful process after the magic for him. The toll which bloodmagic takes on the body of the user is extreme, and most go mad or die early. Rhoren is a very rare case who has actually worked long enough and hard enough to earn his retirement.
We follow the story from the stage where Rhoren doesn’t really know what to do next. All of his life since he was small has been about being in the guard and defending the realm, but now he’s left with little purpose. When a cleric suggests that he journey south he decides to take the advice to live in peaceful retirement away from the Guard and see what else the realm he’s always defended has to offer.
There are so many things to enjoy in this book so I’m going to put them in list form below:
1. the cocktail recipes - these are listed out with quantities and recipes, along with taste notes and a description of the look and feel of the drink. I’ve not tried any from the book, but the author offers the recipes from it in a book if you want to try them, and it’s cool to know they actually can work as recipes.
2. Magical creatures and pets - who doesn’t love a pet or a magic creature?! This book has both with a cat and a new creature playing central roles later in the book. I loved the addition of these two, and I really like the sound of the other magical creature who we meet later!
3. The friendship and camaraderie which we see from all the characters in the book. Whilst reading this I said to my husband that it felt reminiscent of Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes book, and actually the author credits Travis as a large inspiration for this story. I was pleasantly surprised that although this feels very similar in style with the found family vibes and the friendship, it’s still a distinct story in its own right, with its own characters and their own journey, and so I really enjoyed my time in this world.
4. The magic of the world - magic is very common with elves, mages, dwarves, behemoths and more a very common occurrence. There’s lots of magical wielders and users across the story and they each felt like fun races we’ve seen before, and fleshed out the world to be believably magical.
5. The kindness - this book falls heavily into the ‘cosy fantasy’ sub genre as the stakes of the story are low and there’s very little major drama. We have some really nice moments where Rhoren is able to help those who are in need in different ways, and he’s a generous and welcoming individual which made reading about his retirement very fun.
Overall, this book delivered exactly what I hoped and when I got to the end I was thrilled to see there’s a sequel already out. I went and bought it immediately and I am also excited to see the author has a LitRPG series out too, which I also hope to try soon! I may have found a new favourite author from this, and for a short and sweet story it still packed a fun punch and I think it’ll be a nice, memorable story for all the right, warm, fuzzy reasons. A perfect read for autumn and winter and one I would highly recommend. I gave this a 4.5/5*s which makes it tied for the top-spot of my semi-finalists this year so far as that’s a 9/10 for #SPFBO!
September 24, 2024
DNF at halfway through.
If you came looking for something similar to Legends & Lattes, you’re going to be disappointed. I really wanted to finish this one to write a proper review but man, I just can’t. There’s too much even in the first quarter of the book that turned me off, with very little promise of getting any better.
This book isn’t low stakes. It’s zero stakes. Nothing’s going on here that makes you want to keep reading; there’s no opposition, no journey to be had, no personality. The “mystery” is neither exciting nor interesting, which is a great segue into Rhoren’s character.
He feels flat, boring, and at times downright condescending. Ah, these city folk, with their silly little mundane lives… They don’t know how lucky they are. I, on the other hand, am the only one who knows of True Suffering, having survived mortal perils their tiny little minds couldn’t even begin to comprehend, etc. Your life can be tough and you can have experienced hardship without having to trivialise and demean the experiences of others.
Not that the “others” we’re introduced to here bring much to the table aside from cardboard cutouts, either. Queer rep? Where’s the queer rep?? And where are the women??? 97% of the characters is a man, all fitting neatly into their little 2D box: the helpful neighbour, the gruff merchant, the well-meaning friend convincing Rhoren to move South, the rich dwarf selling Rhoren the shop… and so on.
The first woman in the book is literally referred to as “a shrew” and is the mean horrid old lady next door. What a creative new archetype. Other female characters are a child that needs saving and the potion lady. All make very brief appearances.
Also, I genuinely had to check if Kallum was actually supposed to be Rhoren’s love interest. There’s no spark, no tension, no interest. I’m at halfway and baby, we haven’t even had an accidental brush of hands or a too-long second of eye contact. Jokes aside, there was no chemistry and Kallum in general didn’t really feel super interesting to me either. He’s just a guy who wants to make his drinks. Fair, but literally what else.
Others have pointed out the race thing in other reviews much better than I could here, but I want to add that right from the bat it made me feel uncomfortable. It was completely unnecessary to have dark-skinned elves being dark-skinned as punishment for something their ancestors did. Racism doesn’t have to be absent from fantasy, but it was handled very poorly.
Lastly: the writing is simple, but unfortunately not in an easy-read way. More in an everything is flat and expressed very literally way. There are explanations at every turn and we’re hand-fed explanations of what’s going on. I can read without the subtitles, thank you.
If you came looking for something similar to Legends & Lattes, you’re going to be disappointed. I really wanted to finish this one to write a proper review but man, I just can’t. There’s too much even in the first quarter of the book that turned me off, with very little promise of getting any better.
This book isn’t low stakes. It’s zero stakes. Nothing’s going on here that makes you want to keep reading; there’s no opposition, no journey to be had, no personality. The “mystery” is neither exciting nor interesting, which is a great segue into Rhoren’s character.
He feels flat, boring, and at times downright condescending. Ah, these city folk, with their silly little mundane lives… They don’t know how lucky they are. I, on the other hand, am the only one who knows of True Suffering, having survived mortal perils their tiny little minds couldn’t even begin to comprehend, etc. Your life can be tough and you can have experienced hardship without having to trivialise and demean the experiences of others.
Not that the “others” we’re introduced to here bring much to the table aside from cardboard cutouts, either. Queer rep? Where’s the queer rep?? And where are the women??? 97% of the characters is a man, all fitting neatly into their little 2D box: the helpful neighbour, the gruff merchant, the well-meaning friend convincing Rhoren to move South, the rich dwarf selling Rhoren the shop… and so on.
The first woman in the book is literally referred to as “a shrew” and is the mean horrid old lady next door. What a creative new archetype. Other female characters are a child that needs saving and the potion lady. All make very brief appearances.
Also, I genuinely had to check if Kallum was actually supposed to be Rhoren’s love interest. There’s no spark, no tension, no interest. I’m at halfway and baby, we haven’t even had an accidental brush of hands or a too-long second of eye contact. Jokes aside, there was no chemistry and Kallum in general didn’t really feel super interesting to me either. He’s just a guy who wants to make his drinks. Fair, but literally what else.
Others have pointed out the race thing in other reviews much better than I could here, but I want to add that right from the bat it made me feel uncomfortable. It was completely unnecessary to have dark-skinned elves being dark-skinned as punishment for something their ancestors did. Racism doesn’t have to be absent from fantasy, but it was handled very poorly.
Lastly: the writing is simple, but unfortunately not in an easy-read way. More in an everything is flat and expressed very literally way. There are explanations at every turn and we’re hand-fed explanations of what’s going on. I can read without the subtitles, thank you.
September 24, 2023
4.25*
This was such a lovely cosy fantasy, the perfect vacation read. While not the deepest character development or worldbuildin and with quite a see-through mystery (especially given the back of the cover😅), it was sufficient and very easy on my brain energy, which was nice. It simply made me feel good and warmed my heart. Exactly what cosy fantasy is meant to do.
As a side note, this book is well suited to readers who like their romances less steamy.
This was such a lovely cosy fantasy, the perfect vacation read. While not the deepest character development or worldbuildin and with quite a see-through mystery (especially given the back of the cover😅), it was sufficient and very easy on my brain energy, which was nice. It simply made me feel good and warmed my heart. Exactly what cosy fantasy is meant to do.
As a side note, this book is well suited to readers who like their romances less steamy.
March 13, 2023
delighted to see my cozy fantasy shelf growing, with many of them proving queer reads as well!
February 10, 2023
Adorable! I needed a light read and this was perfect mlm great fantasy world with Rhoren a bloodmage who just want to retire to a new life and not have chronic pain plague him as much. He fulfilled his fathers fantasy and forms fast friends with a local barkeep.
April 2, 2023
I didn't think I'd be this invested but here I am sobbing at the end of the book. Cosy fantasy for the win! This was so lovely.
January 22, 2024
This was everything I didn't know I wanted in a cozy story. This story was so wholesome and given Rowhan's dramatic background...it was really intriguing and fun watching him grow to claim his life and individuality. I am SO used to slice of life's having super big dramatic scenes and such...so to experience a story where the main character moves to a welcoming and wholesome community that is opposite from the harsher and demanding circumstances in his former position as a bloodmage felt....so good. The sense of community was so strong and gaahh I love when a story can portray that. Especially in a fantasy setting akin to D&D. That being said, I really liked that the MC is a dark elf and how that was handled in a way to emphasize Rowhan's positive transition into a more welcoming and warm community. I know the original lore of dark elves and I am happy that everyone is on board with dumping the "inherently evil" aspect.
I highly suggest this one. The 5 stars is rounded up from a 4.5
I highly suggest this one. The 5 stars is rounded up from a 4.5
October 3, 2024
S.L. Rowland, I present this question to you: where is the conflict? Nothing happens. An elf who has done nothing to connect with the reader opens a bar because his dad had a book documenting drinks...and that is it. This falls into all the traps of cosy fantasy whereby the focus on cosy trumps good storytelling and intrigue. It is just so boring. Boring with a capital B. Where Legends and Lattes made up for the low stakes through likeable characters and their relationships with one another, Cursed Cocktails tries to ride the former's success, but with none of the charm. A one star simply because it managed to envoke a reading slump, this is akin to watching paint dry very, very slowly.
October 14, 2023
oh to be a gay wizard opening a bar with my also very gay human friend
Read
April 4, 2024DNF
abandonei esse livro porque percebi que não estava com vontade de ler ele, e isso estava afetando em todas as minhas outras leituras! É isso, quando não estamos afim de ler um livro não precisa forçar.
abandonei esse livro porque percebi que não estava com vontade de ler ele, e isso estava afetando em todas as minhas outras leituras! É isso, quando não estamos afim de ler um livro não precisa forçar.
July 10, 2024
If you looked up "cozy fantasy" in the dictionary, this is what you would find. Or at least it should be. A low-stakes, low-angst story about two somewhat older men finding or following their passions and opening a bar together in a fantasy world. They make drinks and they pick out furniture and they buy a magical freezer for their ice and they try to figure out a mysterious rodent problem and they just do all these sorta normal things. And they're just kind to each other and supportive of each other, and they make each other blush just by giving genuine compliments. And it really does have just cozy vibes all-around. This story was a warm fire, and I was just basking in its glow.
I was really touched by the time I finished. This wasn't a perfect world, there were still people struggling, the main character himself had a sort of magic-based disability with chronic pain, but the story was just this lovely ideal of settling down, following a dream, helping people, finding friends and community and love, and people supporting each other.
The audiobook narration by Eric Jason Martin was great. He had a nice voice that suited the cozy vibes and sounded natural.
I don't really feel like I need to say more. If you want what I described above, just read it. It's a lovely book!
*Rating: 4.5 Stars // Read Date: 2024 // Format: Audiobook*
Recommended For:
Anyone who likes cozy fantasy, low stakes, low angst, kind characters, and quietly touching stories.
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
I was really touched by the time I finished. This wasn't a perfect world, there were still people struggling, the main character himself had a sort of magic-based disability with chronic pain, but the story was just this lovely ideal of settling down, following a dream, helping people, finding friends and community and love, and people supporting each other.
The audiobook narration by Eric Jason Martin was great. He had a nice voice that suited the cozy vibes and sounded natural.
I don't really feel like I need to say more. If you want what I described above, just read it. It's a lovely book!
*Rating: 4.5 Stars // Read Date: 2024 // Format: Audiobook*
Recommended For:
Anyone who likes cozy fantasy, low stakes, low angst, kind characters, and quietly touching stories.
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
April 9, 2023
*read for free with Kindle Unlimited *
This one got me from the first page, the atmosphere and people felt so real to me.. I wanted to walk the streets and sit in the tavern 🍺 even though I don't drink, just to soak everything in.
The romance is slight but it had me smiling, especially after everything Rhoren had been through.
It's slower paced than Legends and Lattes but it was never boring. Not a big plot but it still felt like a lot happened.
I hope there will be more books in this world. I don't want to say goodbye to these guys.
The final battle scenes had me gripping my tablet and reading as fast as I could without my eyes skipping over things.
I wanted to adopt a certain animal that came into the story:)
Nothing I disliked about this one <3
This one got me from the first page, the atmosphere and people felt so real to me.. I wanted to walk the streets and sit in the tavern 🍺 even though I don't drink, just to soak everything in.
The romance is slight but it had me smiling, especially after everything Rhoren had been through.
It's slower paced than Legends and Lattes but it was never boring. Not a big plot but it still felt like a lot happened.
I hope there will be more books in this world. I don't want to say goodbye to these guys.
The final battle scenes had me gripping my tablet and reading as fast as I could without my eyes skipping over things.
I wanted to adopt a certain animal that came into the story:)
Nothing I disliked about this one <3
February 3, 2023
A cozy fantasy perfect for a snowy night
A story of finding happiness. This is i think my new favorite genre! I like low stakes, slice of life stories set in fantasy settings. This one is well written, has several drink recipes you could also make, and a satisfying ending. The title makes perfect sense with the book. Overall, a nice, solid cozy story with rich relationships. I'll definitely look for more by this author, and hope that they write more slice of life stories like this in the future.
A story of finding happiness. This is i think my new favorite genre! I like low stakes, slice of life stories set in fantasy settings. This one is well written, has several drink recipes you could also make, and a satisfying ending. The title makes perfect sense with the book. Overall, a nice, solid cozy story with rich relationships. I'll definitely look for more by this author, and hope that they write more slice of life stories like this in the future.
February 3, 2023
Honestly, this filled the hole left in my heart from Legends and Lattes. I appreciate the author's voice and story of an unsure main character finding himself & a new life with friends and colorful drinks. Probably going to be one of my favorite books of the year and I cannot wait for it to be released as a physical book!
April 26, 2023
I am turning into a real fan of these cozy fantasy novels. This book, inspired by “ legends and lattes“ is another excellent entry into this genre. It had a really interesting storyline, good character development, and laid the groundwork for a rich and detailed world. I am looking forward to a sequel!
January 3, 2024
Nothing ever happens. There are no conflicts. No one is mean to anyone. The little mystery is solved early and it’s cute. The climax at the end is a complete left pocket surprise and has no consequences for anyone. The romance, as it were, is dry as saltines and has the sexual chemistry of Lysol. Sometimes you’re in the mood for a book like that, if so, pull this one down.
March 28, 2023
I’ve been getting really into cozy fantasy lately so this seemed like the perfect next read and I definitely enjoyed it! I thought the beginning was a little slow, but I eventually got into the flow of the story. This was strongly a character driven story and Rhoren was a great main character. The relationship between Rhoren and Kallum was really fun to read. This was just a really great extremely low angst story!
March 24, 2024
Wie Legends & Lattes mit deutlich mehr und besserem World Building
October 23, 2023
one star, zero stars - there is an argument to be made that perhaps I just don’t like the cozy fantasy genre, but I absolutely loathe this book. the way it regards race (yes, racism is present and discussed in the book) and queer relationships is frankly appalling. this book was written by a seemingly straight white man with a high regard for military status and it shows.
August 2, 2023
i very much enjoyed this. it's very similar to Legends and latte's with the same relaxed vibe and found family concept. it's easy to bond with the characters and be invested in their lives.
I preferred legends and latte's, but i definetly also really enjoyed this book.
I preferred legends and latte's, but i definetly also really enjoyed this book.
March 15, 2023
I actually did not finish the book. It was a DNF for me. I just could not get over the fact that it was the same as Legends and Lattes.
June 4, 2025
The author advertises this as cozy fantasy, and it is definitely that.
Rhoren, a blood mage, has to deal with the consequences of using his magic and the chronic pain it has left him with. It was interesting to have a main character struggling with such issues, and Callum and Rhoren’s relationship was heartwarming with their scene in chapter 31.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this book was for me because it was almost too cozy. It felt like things were resolved too easily, and Rhoren was able to establish connections and strong friendships with little to no setbacks or complications. I hate to say it, but there weren’t enough problems to keep me engaged. Additionally, I wasn’t majorly attached to any of the characters.
However, considering that the majority of my complaints is just a mark of the genre, I acknowledge that I am being a little unfair. For what the book advertised, it delivered. That’s why I rated it three stars.
Rhoren, a blood mage, has to deal with the consequences of using his magic and the chronic pain it has left him with. It was interesting to have a main character struggling with such issues, and Callum and Rhoren’s relationship was heartwarming with their scene in chapter 31.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this book was for me because it was almost too cozy. It felt like things were resolved too easily, and Rhoren was able to establish connections and strong friendships with little to no setbacks or complications. I hate to say it, but there weren’t enough problems to keep me engaged. Additionally, I wasn’t majorly attached to any of the characters.
However, considering that the majority of my complaints is just a mark of the genre, I acknowledge that I am being a little unfair. For what the book advertised, it delivered. That’s why I rated it three stars.
August 6, 2024
Super cozy and sweet. I really did like the audiobook and the low stakes -- it made it easy to multi-task to. I just... wasn't in love with it and I think some of that falls on me, not the book since I'm not a fan of alcohol and cocktails, so all the recipes bored me. Which I mean, obviously???? I should have known this going in because of the name???? But I wanted a cozy to listen to, so I gave it a go.
Ergo, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because I'm sure the actual intended audience will enjoy it more. I'm not sure if I'm going to listen to the next book or not.
Ergo, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because I'm sure the actual intended audience will enjoy it more. I'm not sure if I'm going to listen to the next book or not.
July 24, 2025
if you want a gay Legends and Lattes but make it a bar look no further!! this is a solid story, good characters, nice world, the writing was fine. there is nothing wrong with this story so i'm giving it 3 stars but i don't really care for cozy books typically and while this is enjoyable it's not my cup of whisky. happy to be checking out more indies and spfbo recs!
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