Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the chance to read the e-arc of This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher.

This read was, alas, not that fun. And it was certainly did not give off promised Princess Bride or Emily Henry type vibes. Alas again. In the words of side character Hugh on or about page 232, “Bit of a bummer, isn’t it?”

This was the tale of a trio of adults, post hero-ing, who suffered a horrible loss, behaved badly towards each other and got stuck in their respective angst for ten years. It takes the better part of 200 plus pages for the action of the story to start helping our anti-heroes see their way back to each other, and another hundred pages to also flub their way through a kidnapping rescue and a “quest” to stop a re-occurring evil. Add some miscommunication, some grudges, some hook up drama, some inner turmoil and some reconciliations, and that’s the story. All in a “fantasy’ world where approximations of Starbucks, Uber and serial soap operas (and texting via magic!) are in use. On the plus side, the last third of the book reads much quicker, and the ending also wrapped up pretty neatly. Although, one particular element I saw coming kind of ruined the whole point of getting the wounded band back together one more time for me.

It took reading the acknowledgments to gain a better understanding as to why Elowen, Beatrice and Clare feel like separate characters in the same story to me… (Asher is the pen name for 3 separate romance authors.) If there is a sequel, it won’t be on my tbr pile. 2/5 stars

Magical Realms, Friendship, Fantasy, and a chance to finally have what you always wanted.

A lie. A secret. A kidnapping. It's time for an adventure filled with heroes, villians, second chances, sapphic romance all intertwined. Who will find love? Who will find redemption?

A sinfully sweet story with some heat but be warned as the content warnings might make this a challenge for some readers - divorce, grief, past loss of siblings, kidnapping and violence.

⭐️3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with an ARC of This Will Be Fun!

This book is a cozy fantasy the follows a group of ex-friends as they embark on a quest to save their queendom. This Will Be Fun has many laughable moments and will also pull at your heartstrings from time-to-time.

Personally, I enjoyed that it was an easy read with little world building and no complex magic system— not every fantasy book needs this. Instead this book is rich in lessons about navigating strained relationships and also hilights the not so glamorous reality of dealing with grief.

At times, the pacing of this book felt off and made the sections drag a bit. I also didn’t love the mention of so many contemporary items in a book that was set in a postmodern era.

This Will Be Fun is a romantasy about four friends who once saved their kingdom, but found living with the aftermath of their fame difficult. Asked now to reunite ten years later this is the story of how they learn to forgive the mistakes of the past and move forward. The second chance/slow burn romances are well explored and the HEA wonderful.. The fantasy quest elements are explained well enough to follow while still leaving room for the readers imagination.

The premise of this book sounded very fun but in reality it fell a little flat. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the idea of the setting. Unfortunately I found the world building lacking and the characters self-pitying and unlikeable. I didn’t feel invested or even particularly interested in the storyline. The nods to popular culture are reminiscent of Shrek, so this may be a good book for lovers of that franchise!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC provided in exchange for my honest review.

HELLO??? This is going down as a favorite book of all time. I don't think I've enjoyed a book this much in a long time.

This was in fact not fun. While the premise sounds so fun- every character in this book is severely traumatized and it is so sad to watch them struggle with the reality around them. Unfortunately, this was a hard no for me.

This Will Be Fun was a fun read. It was likened to "The Princess Bride and People We Meet on Vacation". It's an enjoyable romantacy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, this cover is GORGEOUS! It’s was initially drew me in, so huge props to the artist.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge disappointment. I really wanted to like it and I tried to get into it, but just couldn’t. I had to force myself to read it because the story dragged on with nothing of substance happening. Every chapter felt repetitive with characters I didn’t care about. I would much rather have a story about their initial quest!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Despite my best efforts, I was just not able to get into this book. Different POV just hashed out the same things over and over. Very little happens and I just couldn’t get behind any of the characters. They just weren’t likable. This really lacked substance and cohesion, unfortunately. The cover, however, is fantastic!

This Will Be Fun was a highly anticipated read for me as I adore both Legends and Lattes and Shrek. However; I ended up "not finishing" this book at the 57% mark as there were too many side things happening with the characters and not enough focus on the actual plot. As someone who's a fan of sexual scenes, I found the ones placed in "This Will Be Fun" to be unnecessary and wanted more of a focus on the quest itself, not characters running off to qualm their desires.

Unfortunately this one was a miss for me and after picking it up for almost a month, I decided to DNF at about 60%. The story just seemed to drag on and I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. I kept waiting for SOMETHING to happen, but each of the characters kept referring back to the big awful thing that happened in their past without really moving forward. I rarely leave a book unfinished but this one just wasn’t for me.

A cozy book about friendship. I tried getting out of my normal realm of what I gravitate to and this just wasn’t the book for me but could easily be for others.

I wanted to like this one since Jodi Picoult said it was like Princess Bride. I just found myself struggling go get into it the whole book. Thanks for the review copy.

⭐️: 3

⚔️ fantasy
⚔️ heroes and villains
⚔️ “rom-quest”
⚔️ second chance
⚔️ sapphic romance

Fantasy is not my typical genre of choice, but the synopsis of this book caught my eye and I decided to give it a try. It was a medieval fantasy with hints of magic that felt very realistic and dare-I-say, modern day.

That being said, I didn’t love this book. I typically don’t mind when a story starts somewhere in the middle and the plot is filled in as you continue to read, but I found myself lost a few too many times. I would have much preferred to know the history of the characters and their decade earlier quest, up front. It almost felt like picking up the second book in a series with never having read the first.

I would still recommend this book to fantasy readers, as they may enjoy this more than I did.

♥︎ Thank you NetGalley, Avon and E.B. Asher for the ARC of This Will Be Fun.

Cute, cozy romantasy but I was really pulled out of the story by all the modern day stuff. I also wanted more from the world building - a lot didn't make sense to me. In a world that magically has all this technology, why are they still riding horses or fighting with swords? It felt like they were trying to capture the magic of Shrek, and it just fell flat to me.

This is a cozy fantasy that is also so much fun that you can definitely tell the author had a lot of fun writing. The characters and plot were a bit chaotic at times but overall it is a lighthearted, humorous novel.

I had so much fun with this~ I enjoyed the writing and the development of the characters. This author just made my must read list.

This one is a bit ridiculous but also a bit fun.

It follows 3 of the 4 heroes from years ago. After saving the world 10 years ago, they each went their own way. They are summoned back to the castle to celebrate the queen’s marriage. They are then put to the task to save the realm again.

This book is a weird mix of past and present. It’s old times, but with hints of current too (i.e words that are so clearly current - road trip - and having a coffee place that is Starbucks). I feel like you very much need to suspend all disbelief to buy into this one.

And in terms of the characters. I was intrigued by them, but also not fully invested. I felt like there were times they felt very immature in how they interacted/behaved. This made me not fully root for them.

Overall, this one is a pretty quick read. I definitely skimmed some as I read because there were times when I felt like chapters could have been edited down.

Thx Avon for an early copy.

Friends that quest together, don’t always stick together. After saving the realm and losing their fearless leader, Galwell the Great, the group splits apart in a flurry of misunderstandings, grief and hurt.

Beatrice decided to settle for a safe, secure, and quiet existence in the lap of luxury that she never had before by marrying into nobility, despite never really caring for the man in question. After years of detached, loveless marriage and her husband having plenty of dialances , her husband divorces her leaving her with nothing once again.

Clare stepped into the spotlight trying to fill the gaps of his questmates’ disinterest in heroes and live up to the role of “Clare Bravehart”. He lives the empty life of celebrity, where everyone knows of him but no one knows him finding peace but loneliness in anonymity .

Elowen lives in isolation, a location quest-worthy to visit, to prevent her magic of picking up others' emotions from deceiving her again. The only socialization she gets is the weekly heart healing sessions (therapy) and the anonymous internet chat after the latest installment of a soap style conjuring performance (TV).

Vandra, as the assassin tasked with waylaying the heroes on the original quest, hasn’t exactly had a place in the spotlight the others have had. But she moved forward, gaining more prestige and recognition for her quiet work in the shadows never quite forgetting the feeling of being with Elowen and in the orbit of the group during the first quest.

Each lives in a world shaped by their own unhealthy coping mechanisms for 10 years, until Queen Thessia wants the three heroes to come to her marriage. Their begrudging reunion gives them the opportunity to heal old wounds and determine the person each wants to be on the other side of this trip across the realm. Of course, the complex interpersonal relationships are even more complicated by the lingering feelings between Clare & Beatrice and Elowen & Vandra. Both couples were brought together during the original quest, but left the promising future behind for survival in the present, until it has stolen too many years.

Once more on a quest for the good of the realm, they have the opportunity to right the wrongs from the past.

******************************************************************************************************
I thought the premise of a medieval fantasy style “let's bring the band back together” story was going to be so captivating and compelling, and unfortunately it ended up feeling a little flat for me.

I had such a hard time getting to grips with the world and cast of characters, I ended up having to write notes for the first 5-6 chapters to keep all the details straight. What doesn’t help is that the story is written in 3rd person from 3 character’s POV. This style choice made it really hard to keep track of whose POV was being shared in the chapter. Then I also had to keep track of details of the background for a unique (not in a good way) world. This world is supposed to be “medieval” but with the twist that magic allows for further cultural development and expansion. So there are brew (coffee) chains, conjurings (TV, video chat, etc), and other clashing elements to a more traditional medieval fantasy setting. I think if you are just getting into fantasy, this type of world is very easy to adjust to, but as a seasoned fantasy reader, the “modern” elements felt disjointed.

One other thing to note, the first 50-60% of this story is character driven. You spend a lot of time in the characters’ heads battling inner demons, poor decisions, and ruminating on the past. As someone that prefers a plot driven story, this focus on personal development made the first half of the book a hard slog to get through to get to the quest focused plot. But, if you enjoy character driven plots, these aspects were well written and well thought out.

Spoiler Thoughts:

The one thing I will say, the role of Galwell the Great in this story was hard to figure out. Since the prequel was in his POV, it felt like he was never really gone. I was waiting for some kind of reveal that he wasn’t really dead or something of the like. So in the conclusion when Beatrice was able to bring him forward in time, it felt a little bit too convenient and expected. Not to rewrite the story, but I have qualms about the feasibility and structure of bringing Galwell back, especially at that point in the story.

In general, this is a fantasy book that relies on the “because magic” logic a little too heavily, has an unequal balance between character development and plot, and therefore struggles with pacing and length, in my opinion.