This series was recommended to me to go with my Fantasy Novels Perfect for Tea Lovers list, and I was so happy to find it available from Hoopla, especially as most of the author’s other books are Amazon exclusives and I don’t read on Amazon.

A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair. Read by Natalie Naudus. Casey Blair/Podium Audio, 2023. ISBN 979-8989912131. Listened to audiobook on Hoopla.

Tea Set and Match by Casey Blair. Read by Natalie Naudus. Casey Blair/Podium Audio, 2024. ISBN 979-8991458832. Listened to audiobook on Hoopla.

Royal Tea Service by Casey Blair. Read by Natalie Naudus. Casey Blair/Podium Audio, 2024. ISBN 979-8991458849. Listened to audiobook on Hoopla.

In A Coup of Tea, Princess Miyara of Istalam is expected to find a specific way to serve her kingdom, as all four of her older sisters have before her. But when she can’t find a way to do so that feels right for her, she runs away to the other side of the kingdom – the side that borders the magical disaster zone. It’s incredibly difficult for someone who grew up in the palace insulated both from the regular life skills she needs to survive and from normal people skills to learn to take care of herself and make friends – but she is determined not to be hauled back to the palace. At least her finely honed sense of taste is good for a job working at a local tea shop, where she’s hired on condition of training as a revered tea master in an unbelievably short amount of time. Her ally in this is Lorwyn, a prickly witch of the Gaellani, the largest group that made it out of the Cataclysm, but whose people and especially magic skills are distrusted in the wider kingdom.

The more Miyara learns of her new city, the more injustices she sees and the more determined she becomes to find a way to expose the wrongdoers – without exposing herself to the family she knows is likely trying to track her down. While she doesn’t have the power of a princess, she builds a core of friends with different skills around her, all of which she’ll need to complete her plan. Miyara also finds a study buddy in the handsome potter she meets at the bookstore. I really appreciated here the variety of the friend group, including immigrants, nobles, gay, trans, and nonbinary, and disabled people, all with varied skin tones. This might make it sound serious, but there are plenty of awkward mishaps, jokes, and delicious food to keep the story balanced. And of course there is a lot of tea throughout, complete with talk of the different flavors, brewing times, and water temperatures needed for different types, making this one of the most detailed tea-focused books I’ve read.

All of this is a great blend for cozy, but that’s not to say that the world-building is neglected, with multiple cultures, most of them with their own distinct magic systems, as well as the traditions of royalty that Miyara was trying to escape, and a religion based in honoring the spirits of the three elements – earth, water, and air/fire. Those in turn echo in each of the books of the trilogy, where Miyara’s personal growth is focused on one of these aspects, even as the scope of the larger plot widens with each book. The romance stays at a very low spice level throughout, though with open talk of when the couple might be ready for more. Also, not to be too spoilery – but baby dragon shenanagins are involved. I enjoyed this series immensely, gobbling up the audiobooks one after the other without my usual break to catch up on podcasts in between, and snapped up the ebook omnibus for later rereading.