I just had to jump into Two for Tea: Welcome to Azathé by CM Nascosta after finishing Shadows & Light (mini review here) because I am now obsessed with shadow creatures. While the dynamic between Harper and Azathé is very different from Jude and Lux, it was every bit as enjoyable. I love every opportunity to explore Cambric Creek through a new lens.
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Two for Tea: Welcome to Azathé by CM Nascosta
🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
(you can find my rating and spice system here)
POV & Tense: Single POV, third limited, past tense
Genre: MF Monster Romance
Tropes/Themes: Witches, Familiars, Shadow Creature, Grief, Depression, Goth Vibes, Matching Shades of Black, All The Tea (over 100 varieties), Demisexuality, F/NB Relationship, Mommy Issues, Voyeurism, Tarot and Divination, Herbal Medicine
Synopsis:
Harper, a witch expelled from the academy and drowning in grief and depression, moves back in with her overbearing mother. Nothing quiets the seething, critical inner voices like sleeping all day. But she turns a corner when she discovers a strange tea shop—and its shadowy owner—in downtown Cambric Creek.
My Review:
This could easily be one of my favorite Cambric Creek novels. It’s an ode to depression and grief, and both issues are handled beautifully. I adore the witchy vibes, and the relationship dynamic between Harper and Azathé is lovely.
Grief and Depression
The main characters in this book are grief and depression. If you’ve ever experienced either, or know someone who has, or even if you’ve never experienced them but want to understand, this is such an amazing and sensitive account. Harper’s father was the one person who understood her, who provided comfort when she was hurting, and who pushed and prodded her when she needed encouragement. His death was a devastating blow, and, understandably, her grief is overwhelming, especially when she already lives with clinical depression. I love all the ways Nascosta describes grief, how it’s messy and inconvenient, and how it never goes away but the open wound does get smaller. It will remain a sensitive place, one that can be poked, and at times be overwhelming, but good things can and will grow around it. Harper’s entire character arc is an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Grief is the wound love leaves on our heart.
Witchy Vibes
I love witchy books, so this is right up my alley. From the bits and pieces we get about Harper’s mother and her poisonous familiar, Ilea, to the vibe of the coven and the hints of change on the horizon, I was glued to this storyline. I loved Holt, another familiar and nemesis of Ilea, and hope to see more of him in future books. Harper’s aesthetic is amazing. I love her Outfit of the Day descriptions and appreciated the time devoted to discussing matching shades of black.
But my favorite, favorite thing is Azathé’s tea shop. It’s a shop of curiosities, filled with old novels and relics, tools of divination, and art, and every moment in the shop was intriguing. I love that the host is a cat and that your tea and food order is determined by divination. But I especially love Azathé, the shadowy owner, who only reveals themself to Harper.
Harper’s eyes would follow where she perceived them to be, convinced she was able to pick out a weight to the shadows, a slightly deeper tone in the darkness, owing to the fact that she was an expert at matching blacks, she thought with pride.
Harper and Azathé
I loved the dynamic between Harper and Azathé. At the start of the book, she’s in such a rough place, and Azathé does nothing but care for her and provides the occasional nudge for her to try something new. I love that it’s Harper who instigates things and that the relationship progresses as she’s ready to handle being in a relationship. Azathé is non-binary and mostly non-corporeal, so I’m using the term ‘Shadow Daddy’ loosely to signify them as the Dominant person in the relationship, and also owing to their physical form when intimate with Harper. There’s a slow build to the relationship, but it’s so worth the wait.
Calling her a good girl was the fastest way to drench her panties, and doing so in combination with freeing her from the arduous task of thinking was her personal catnip.
The Ending
While I love this book to pieces, if I have one complaint, it’s the ending. And I think my main issue is with the table of contents. There are fourteen chapters listed, but the book ends in chapter twelve (which is the literary equivalent of having the rug pulled out from under you). Chapters thirteen and fourteen aren’t chapters but are the blurbs from Hexannacht and Extensions. Happy to have them, but I wish they were labeled accordingly because I went into chapter twelve thinking we had two more chapters to wrap up subplots.
But, the main plot is all wrapped up, we get our HFN ending, and it’s clear there is much more on the horizon for the witches of Cambric Creek. I can’t wait for more.
Two for Tea: Welcome to Azathé by CM Nascosta (Cambric Creek #4)
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I adored this book. It’s beautiful and heartfelt and an amazing addition to the Cambric Creek series. Nascosta describes this as the least sexy book she’s ever written, but I think it’s perfect. There’s just the right amount of spice, and the rest is beautiful and poignant. I can’t wait to see more of Harper, Azathé, Holt, and even Ilea in Hexannacht.
Author Stalking (but not in a creepy way):
C.M. Nascosta is the author of high-heat, fluffy monster romance. You’ll want to check out her incredible backlist.
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More CM Nascosta Reviews:
- Morning Glory Milking Farm and A Blue Ribbon Romance (Violet and Rourke’s story)
- Girls Weekend (Lurielle & Kash and Silva & Tate’s story)
- Hollow (A Sleepy Hollow Retelling, two stories, one modern and one historical)
- A Holly Jolly Mess (A collection of Christmas stories where Cambric Creek’s side characters get the spotlight)
Banner Image Credit: Smoke
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