I went into the book expecting a cozy romance full of tea, food, some adventure and a romance. What you get, is that plus the main characters are HORNY. This definitely jumped right into the spice before any real romance occurred. Barra is a sweet, overly anxious Cinnamon Roll of a main character. He's been used for novelty and doesn't want to be used again, but he's willing to be flexible about that because he's really lusting after this elf. Ellikki is an elf with abandonment issues and honestly, I didn't love her as a FMC. She's the classic case of someone writing a "strong female character" and instead creating a character that is so stubborn and stupid that you find yourself asking "how did you stay alive long enough to get to this point?" Especially in Elliki's case because she's supposedly been on her own since age 16 but she seems to have the self-preservation skills of that deer you dodged on the highway. The book was fun, it was lighthearted. I will give it a lot of credit for its portrayal of LGBTQ and plus sized characters. I enjoyed the side characters that the two meet on the road and I want a book that is just a bunch of stories set in the Inn.

Favorite Quote: “I thought about the way you screamed my name last time. How much I wanted to hear that again.”🤭

My Thoughts: This was the cutest and coziest fantasy romance I’ve read in a very long time! Elikki is an elf who is on the run after one of her customers makes her angry, and her powers get the best of her. Barra is a half giant that accidentally gets himself roped in with her. I just loved them together. Is it insta lusty/insta lovey? Yes. But when it comes to these two, I didn’t care. Elikki is a hilarious and confident FMC, which I love when it comes to a female lead.

Barra is a new book boyfriend of mine💜🥹He’s such a gentle giant who is very attentive. The biggest cinnamon roll! I loved the descriptions of the food and the places the characters went throughout their journey. I felt like I was with them, eating lemon cake and sipping on tea.

The story as a whole was so much fun! If you love journeys, food, magic, cinnamon roll MMC’s, romance, humor, and spice, I highly recommend this book! It just had everything I loved in a cozy fantasy romance. I can’t wait to have a physical copy on my shelf when this comes out!

Elikki is an elf with magical powers who makes jewelry. Barra is a gentle half giant. Elikki is selling her wares at the market one day when she encounters a jerk of a customer and she defends herself, but now she's on the run. Barra saw it all and now they're on the run together.

This is such a sweet, HOT story. Elikki has endless energy and Barra is such a caring gentleman. The guy even saves a kitten, so you know he's a good guy. This is also about found family and learning what your strengths are. And this is a debut too!!

Thank you to Forever for the copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

A Tale of Mirth and Magic by Kristen Vale
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This cozy fantasy romance had such a promising start. A magical jewelry maker with chaotic powers, a sweet and shy half-giant, a dash of mischief, and the beginning of a fun on-the-run adventure? I was hooked in the first 30%—the setup had a lot of charm and potential!
But as I kept reading, I started to lose interest. The writing sometimes felt like it was trying too hard to explain everything, which pulled me out of the story. Some scenes and transitions were jarring, and I found myself confused at times wondering how we got from point A to B. The spice scenes also felt a bit sudden and didn’t always match the pace or tone.
I didn’t dislike the book—it had heart, and I appreciated the unique character dynamics and cozy feel. It just didn’t fully click for me. Still, I think others might enjoy the cozy-meets-spicy fantasy vibe more than I did!
3 stars from me, mainly because of how much I enjoyed the beginning.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this complimentary ARC.

This was a cute romance that follows Elikki, a curvy 6-foot-tall elf, and Barra, an eight-foot-tall half-giant. We follow the two on their journey as they attempt to outrun bounty hunters, after an encounter Elikki experiences in the market. If you are looking for a fast and light read, where there aren't super high stakes and any conflict (interpersonal or otherwise) is quickly solved, this is the book for you.

Now I love love love, a monster romance. However, I wish that the characters and plot had a bit more depth. While issues weren't dragged out (which is always appreciated), it did feel as though everything was resolved a bit too easily. There were times I wished I could have dug my teeth in deeper, but it just wasn't there. Overall, this was a cute short read, and I would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley, and Grand Central Publishing for this advanced reader copy that I received at a Book Huddle retreat.

I’m not one for a cozy fantasy, but this was one of the best cozy fantasy’s I’ve ever read. It was equal parts light hearted and heartfelt. The characters were well written and complex, while also being surprisingly believable for mythical creatures. I liked the way their relationship evolved over the course of the book too. Everything happened at a reasonable pace. Would read ten more of these.

DNF.

Bleh. This isn't cozy fantasy, it's romantasy, and not even GOOD romantasy. It's awkwardly written with just random sexy talk dropped in in a way that just feels super gross. Uch. No thank you. Not a prude (love ACOTAR etc), but this is just ick. I saw another review that requested "get some plot to go with the sex please," and YES. This needs to go back to the drawing board for an actual story.

This was good but not great. I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book and thought the representation was great. Overall I found this FMC to be insufferable at points and felt so bad for the MMC. It was just one of those relationships where I don't see it being an HEA. I just wished the book slayed as hard as the cover art did.

This is an open door romantacy. I didn’t really connect with the main characters, but it was a fun, quick read. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to love this, because I love cozy fantasies, but I couldn’t get past the first chapter. The writing really needs work!

This was cute, cozy and an easy fantasy read for beginners! Barra is a big lovable giant from the get-go, but El is REALLY callous and brash at the beginning and it made it a little difficult to truly feel for her at times. I did get over that feeling as we got further in to the story! The spice in this was done really well and wasn’t overdone or just thrown in there to make a point. I appreciated the variety of characters and the plus size and LGBTQIA+ representation. The banter was fun but the third act breakup did kind of throw me out of things a bit 🥲 overall solid fantasy romance and I would recommend it!

I quite enjoyed this book! I was thinking that I needed to read about some full-figured main characters, and this book popped up among my choices with its two lovely main characters

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of A Tale of Mirth & Magic by Kristen Vale

This was my first monster romance and it was really charming and cute! It’s a cutesy romance between an elf and half giant. Elekka is a very forward and fun elf while Barra is a quiet and shy half giant. He helps her get out of a jam and they end up on the run together.

I really wanted to like this book, but it ultimately felt a little unfinished to me. Barra, the main male character, seemed like such a sweet character but didn’t feel very fleshed out and Elikki felt absent and very shallow. I thought the plot was interesting, but it didn’t seem to move forward with any of the actual story? Something is missing from this and I’m not entirely sure what it is. Also - the sex scene right after Barra got hurt and they just glossed over it? That felt very forced and almost like the injury was an afterthought. 2.5/5

Thank you to the author and publisher for this ARC! I am super interested in seeing what the final published version of this book looks like.

I read 30% of this book during which... pretty much nothing happened. At the very beginning Elikki has an altercation with an awful customer and has to go on the run. Barra follows her. And then they... camp. And flirt. and lust over each other. And walk down the road. And continue lusting after each other.

The writing is robotic and is all tell with no show. And we get *everything*. Barra hands Elikki a sandwich. She chews and eventually swallow. And then she speaks. Every thought and gesture is explained until its painfully obvious.

I honestly don't understand the good reviews and clearly don't get the hype. Cozy and "Nothing happens" are not the same thing.

*Thanks to forever for providing an early copy for review.

3.5. Cozy fantasy romance with a fiery elf and a shy half-giant. It’s short and fun. There’s a road trip, a bounty hunter, and a fair bit of spicy times in a variety of places. Barra is a sweetie and I liked seeing Elikki open up as the book went.
Overall the book would benefit from a bit of “show don’t tell” advice. I don’t need every motivation to be explicitly spelled out on pages. The characters feel very modern despite being fantasy creatures and the worldbuilding doesn’t give you much, so don’t go looking for much fantasy besides a general vibe. This is very much a romance with a hint of magic.

This book is a cozy, historical fantasy novel. The main characters, Elikki - an elf who has a gift for working with metals - and Barra, a lavender-colored half giant who is a gentle bookkeeper, meet in the village of Povon where both are traveling through on business. When a disgruntled character tries to cheat Elikki from a fair price for a bangle, Barra steps in to help the beautiful jewelry designer. Elikki doesn't need his help and banishes her foe on her own, breaking his wrist in the process. We later learn that the customer is related to people in high places and has a bounty put on Elikki. She and Barra escape Povon and travel to further towns while trying to outrun bounty hunters and their own growing feelings that neither want to acknowledge.

I love the idea of this book, and it's cozy atmosphere is perfect for reading while cuddled under a blanket. Unlike some cozy romances on the market, this novel delivers on spice - I would rate it 3.5/5 chili peppers on the spiciness scale. There is also lots of representation in this novel, our FMC is a proud curvy girl, there are several characters that are representing LGBTQIA+, and we get a good look at the anxiety of the main male character. What kept it from being a four or five star rating was the awkwardness between the two main characters. Even though they are supposed to be secretly (and some times not so secretly pining for each other in this novel, I just did not feel any kind of sexual tension between them and the spicy scenes felt awkward for me to read. I had a hard time connecting with either main character. The book is well written and the banter between the characters is fun to read, I just unfortunately couldn't connect with it as I hoped. Readers who enjoy cozy fantasy with the addition of spice will enjoy this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with an eARC of this novel for me to read and give a review on. All opinions are my own.

4.25 stars. The spice was perfect, the consent and level of understanding and conversation between the main characters was much appreciated. Definately a he falls first but I rather enjoyed that. She was outgoing one and he was reserved. Will read more from this author.

This was a very fun read! It reminded me a lot of the Mead Mishaps series by Kimberly Lemming--fantasy road trip with a dash of adventure and lots of steam.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

The gasp I let out when I saw that A Tale of Mirth and Magic was Read Now on Netgalley could be heard by aliens in another universe. I got lightheaded as I downloaded it to my Kindle- that's how excited I was for this release! This is the year of cozy romantasies! I was screeching at the early chapters, having a grand time and feeling lots of mirthful like the title promises. I did lose steam at 70% and was disappointed at the predictability and 3rd act break-up, but I still had a fun time finishing Elikki and Barra's sweet story.

Fans of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming and lovers of sassy heroines will enjoy A Tale of Mirth and Magic!

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!