A review of Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love
Cozy story about the villain's right-hand after the villain has lost and the knight that helped out the hero.
Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love by Rita A. Rubin
Jayce has little memory of life before entering servitude to the Dark Lord, and no hope of ever escaping. Until he meets Alexius, the knight with a heart of gold. He offers Jayce, his enemy, a chance to break free of the Dark Lord's clutches, and Jayce is not about to let such an opportunity pass.
When the war comes to an end, Jayce finds himself finally free, with Alexius's help, and surrounded by a new world of opportunity. And the prospect of a new love. The more time Jayce spends with Alexius, the more he finds himself falling for this knight in shining armour.
Genre: Cozy fantasy
Length: 205 pages
Tropes: queer-normative world, knight-in-shining-armour, enemies to lovers
Representation: bi/pan MC, gay MC, non-binary character
Warnings: none that I can think of
Publish date: 29 Jun, 2023
The book, while enjoyable, deviates from cozy fantasy expectations with a start that confused me a little and occasional pacing issues - however, the pacing definitely cleaned up and started working better for me as the story progressed. And despite basic world-building, the queer-normative setting offers a cozy backdrop to this story that makes it easy to follow along even without all the details.