Highly recommended.
Feature image credit: Pan Macmillan Australia
Hot on the heels of Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea comes A Pirate’s Life For Tea, the second in Rebecca Thorne’s Tomes And Tea series. This instalment takes on a nautical theme, with the protagonists Kianthe and Reyna having time off from their thriving tea shop in the sleepy hamlet of Tawney and ending up as river pirates. While indulging in a state visit to Sheppara, the lovers take the time to continue their quest to find the missing dragon eggs they were charged with in the first book. Trouble is never too far away, however, and they find themselves sailing up and down the river, solving a mystery with a pirate and a constable they picked up along the way.
As cosy romantasy goes, the Tomes And Tea series delivers exactly what fans are looking for: plenty of tea, crocheting and slow-burn, everyday love affairs. These moments are interspersed with action sequences both thrilling and fun as boats are stolen, guards are evaded, and griffons are ridden. Thorne’s flair for humour is still here, carrying the narrative along with just the right amount of zest.
Like all good second novels A Pirate’s Life For Tea expands the world of The Realm. Where Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea showed us politics (and tyranny) of The Queendom, in this book we learn more about the neighbouring land of Sheppara with its system of ruling Diarns. We also learn that perhaps things aren’t as rosy there as the first book seemed to suggest.
The book is at its best when showing the relationship between Kianthe and Reyna. This is a healthy, respectful relationship that is not overshadowed by one lover or the other. Similarly the burgeoning attraction between the pirate and the constable is shown to be a gradual, organic process, although one that is at its core ultimately passionate. The respect the characters have for each other shines through in their banter and their chiding, and we are constantly reminded that the path to love is never smooth.
Where the book could use more work, however, is in the minor world building. The major worldbuilding is great: The different countries with their politics, the system of magic, and the sense of place are fine. It is the sense of time that consistently feels off. The realm as described could be analogous to Europe anywhere between the 15th and 18th centuries, but some of the elements it contains feel much more recent, in a way that can take the reader out of the story. This does not refer to the nature of many of the relationships shown (LGBTQI people have been around as long as there have been people) but rather the language Thorne uses, which feels anachronistic. Kianthe and Reyna constantly refer to each other as their ‘girlfriend,’ whom they are ‘dating.’ These are modern terms which feel out of place. Similarly, the references to their neighbour’s medical ‘clinic’ feel wrong, as did an early requirement for the tea shop to have a ‘positive revenue stream,’ something more expected in a novel by Terry Pratchett.
Anachronisms aside, however, Thorne does a good job of moving the action along, pacing the novel nicely in a way that ensures the action never flags. Kianthe, Reyna, Serina, and Bobbie feel real as people whose joy and troubles we can share along their journeys. The real heart of the book is its emotional core. These are characters who care about each other and the people around them, and that is what ties the book together.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by DC White
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Pan Macmillan Australia
Released: November 2025
RRP: $22.99
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