Cursed Cocktails

Tales of Aedrea

By: S.L. Rowland

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into a stiff drink and stir.

After 20 years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren “Bloodbane” has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage's service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.

And a chance at a fresh start.

In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession—a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.

Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.

Welcome to the enchanting world of Tales of Aedrea, where small-scale stories, low-stakes adventure, and cozy fantasy come to life within an epic, high-fantasy realm.

©2023 S.L. Rowland (P)2023 S.L. Rowland

Eastborne Sour sounds pretty good right now.

A fun jaunt to the Eastborne seaside! The detail and the characters made me really want to actually see some of these places! The drinks sounded pretty amazing as well! I keep wondering if the Tiberian Monk's Herbal Elixir is supposed to be based off of Frangelico or wormwood absinthe (for all I know it could be just be the fantasy version of dandelion wine)? Truth be told I actually thought it was going to go in a different direction with conflict involving the the spirit fox. So it was an interesting surprise to see where it went with its largest conflict during the end. I have a feeling that Fate's Fortune adventurers or Dobbin will pop up in the next of the series. I'll be excited to see!

Rowland delivers another amazing story!

I have to say first off I love all of his novels. This does take a change of pace from his LITRPG stories. You won’t be getting any statistics here though you will get some great drink recipes. There is still magic and intrigue enough to satisfy. This is much more relaxed though and gives you the story of a retiring blood mage and his finding happiness in the opening of a bar to make the drinks recipes left him by his father. Finding love and friendship and purpose in life after adventuring. One day I would love to hear the battles of the 20 years in service. For now I am quite happy to hear of the days after. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Puts you in the Cozy Spirit

S.L. Rowland does it again. This story had me hooked from the first paragraph and the last sentence had me excited for me. Cursed Cocktails has been my guide into the Cozy Fantasy genre and now I don't want to leave. The characters are written in a way that I found myself feeling like I had met them in real life. (Kallum's beard has me jealous by the description alone) I do have to provide one warning to those that are wanting to read this book. You will end up pausing to make the cocktails, I ended up making everyone and loving them. If you have to pick one book to get this year, choose this one. You will get transported to a world of magic, friendship, and of course cocktails.

Enjoy!

Excellent and so cute

cozy and cute. whole heartedly recommend to any fan of Ledgends and lattes who might be looking for something similar. it's alike in many ways but is doing its own thing. I loved it to bits

Cute

Low key fun and easy to listen to. Characters are lovely and you definitely cheer them on.

I just love cozies and Rhoren the MC.

There's something about a touted cozy that draws me in like a moth to a bright light on a warm night, and Cursed Cocktails is no different!!! I loved the book and enjoyed it for all it's coziness! The MC, Rhoren is fantastic and not afraid of jumping right into a new project, OK, maybe a little afraid 😀. So if you're into Cozy Fantasies, Curses, or new recipes for Cocktails (I'll admit you may hafta take liberties with some of the ingredients) then this book is for you. Go grab the book or better yet the audiobook so you can enjoy listening to Eric Jason Martin.

so cozy, so cute, so gay

I was pleasantly surprised how emotionally attached to this story I got as it progressed. I need more!

Great cozy fantasy listen

This is a great listen if you've read Legends and Lattes and are looking for another cozy fantasy read. We follow Rhoren, a former blood mage who struggles with purpose after leaving the guard and no longer fighting behemoths in the frozen north. He ends up in the south, learning to live in the coast, and trying to find a purpose now that he's retired.

The story gets a bit saccharine at times, with Rhoren befriending orphans and solving problems by throwing his unspent wages on them, but that's par for the course for this genre. Low stakes and befriending everyone is to be expected. It never gets into eyerolling territory, but I wouldn't mind one or two more actual points of conflict in the story.

Narration is fantastic. It's always a gamble picking up indie books on audio, but this one sounds great. You can easily tell who's talking vs narration, and there aren't too many flourishes or exaggerated emotions in there. It's incredibly listenable.

Absolutely loved it! Sooooo cozy!

If you are looking for a fantastic cozy fantasy this is it! Delicious cocktails, low stakes, all set in a fantasy world. What more can you want! I only hope Rowland does more of these! Oh and narrator was fantastic as well!

nice book

if you liked lagends and lattes you will like this one. they are different enough from each other but are both good . the narrator is good