Category: Romantasy

A Tale of Mirth and Magic by Kristen Vale

On By TracyIn First Person Narrative, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Romantasy, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

A Tale of Mirth & MagicA Tale of Mirth & Magic by Kristen Vale

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: August 5, 2025

Elikki, a feisty jewelry making elf with chaotic magic and commitment issues. Barra, a sweet half-giant who instantly falls hard for the emotionally distant Elikki. He should forget about her, but when trouble comes for her and she is forced flee, he can’t let her go alone.

I so wanted to love this book – it sounded amazing in theory, but in reality, it is a Dual POV, first person narrative with an instalust trope and not much more. To be fair, I don’t care for FPN, and I hate dual POV – it makes for a confusing read and pulls me out of the story with each change of view – so consider me bias. I also felt like this book was just too formulaic and the author was just checking off boxes; Magic – Check, Diversity Representation – Check, Spicy Love Scenes – Check, Miscommunication – Check, Happy Ending – Check. This book was just not my cuppa – I might have liked it more if it was written in the third person, but I doubt it.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

On By TracyIn Audiobook, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Spellshop #2

Release Date: July 15, 2025

With her love of languages Terlu Perna decided that working at the Great Library of Alyssium would be the perfect job for her, so she moved far from her family to the capital of Alyssium and began working. But she never realized how lonely the job would be, so she cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant to be her companion. But only sorcerers were allowed to do magic and despite the support of the head librarian, she was found guilty and the judge decided to make an example of her – Terlu was turned into a statue to be displayed in the Great Library to warn others of the penalty of doing magic.

Terlu believed this was the end of her story, but to her surprise, she wakes one day on a nearly deserted island that is home to an enchanted greenhouse and Yarrow, the grumpy gardener who had asked the government for a sorcerer to help him save the greenhouse, which seemed to be losing its magic. Terlu wants to help, but after learning she was a statue for six years and finally being set free, she is terrified of attempting to doing anything that might see her punished again. But how can she let this wonderful place die or refuse to help the man who set her free and has stolen her heart?

This is a very sweet, heartwarming, cozy fantasy story about second chances, healing and love. Terlu and Yarrow are wonderful, loving, supportive characters who both get a second chance at life. The story has magic, dragons, talking plants, spells that don’t go as planned, a sea serpent, a ghost, found family, reunions, a slow-burn kisses only romance, surprising revelations and a very happy ending. The narrator of the audiobook edition did a wonderful job of giving each character a distinct voice and kept an even cadence throughout the story. My only qualm with the reading was that the narrator occasionally changed the pronunciation of Yarrow’s name, hopefully that will be edited before the book is released. Overall, this was a very sweet story and one I would happily recommend. This is the second book in the series, but I didn’t read the first book and had no problem following this story.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *