I know, I know, the titles in this series are… not great, but at least the stories are cute.

In Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne, we once again follow Reyna and Kianthe as they run their tea shop and prepare for their wedding. However, it’s not all straightforward: their new friends, the baby dragons, are committing various acts of mischief around the town, Kianthe’s parents are arriving unexpectedly, and Reyna has been asked to help with a political task. The local rulers have decided that enough is enough, and the unstable and harmful Queen Tilane needs to be removed from her seat of power. It’s a lot to be dealing with, especially as the wedding approaches and their guests flood into town. The two women start to wonder if they’ll ever get to see their ceremony at all.

As the third installment in this series, it’s like visiting old friends at this point. I enjoyed being back in the cute little town of Tawney, enjoying seeing the familiar characters again, and most especially enjoying being back in the tea shop, New Leaf Tomes and Tea. It’s so charming and cozy and I know I would be a regular customer if it were a real place. Best of all, there are dragons in the town now, so it really is paradise.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the return of the Dastardly Pirate Dreggs, who was my favorite character in the second book. They are such a fun person, and we get to see more of their soft side in this book as they interact with Tessa, the visiting princess. Their dynamic is really delightful and wholesome. As for Tessa herself, she’s a fun new addition, involved in the plot to overthrow the awful current queen, which is long overdue. It’s nice to see such a cozy story still bringing in some drama and action to address a problem in their world—especially a problem as dangerous as this particular ruler.

I also liked how all this ended up. There are some obstacles to overcome, of course, some twists that the characters didn’t expect, but it all culminates in a fun scene at Kianthe and Reyna’s wedding ceremony. It’s full of spectacle and melodrama that perfectly suits the overall tone of this series and is a pretty satisfying ending. It will definitely result in some changes for the two protagonists, so it’ll be interesting to see how things are in book four. I do, though, really love how loyal and communicative Reyna and Kianthe are with each other, even as they face all these struggles. It’s nice to see a couple working as a team, even when they don’t fully agree with each other. They have such a nice relationship overall, and it’s refreshing.

In the end, Tea You at the Altar is both more of the same and also a departure from the rest of the series. It still brings the usual cozy vibes and goofiness, but also has some significant shifts in power and in character arc trajectories. Still, overall, these books are really my palate cleansers/junk food books—you don’t have to think too hard about them, and while there’s plenty of whimsy and entertainment, there isn’t much substance. I don’t mean that negatively; sometimes you just need a sweet little book to give you a break from life, and these are excellent for that. And once again, the audiobook (narrated by Jessica Threet) was a delight.

Tea You at the Altar will be published on March 4th, 2025!