It’s cold outside my friends. Let’s snuggle up under the covers with a cup of something warm and this lovely cozy fantasy. I think I’d be a simple chocolate brownie, super sweet and delightfully squishy.
Tao is a traveling fortune teller, drifting from village to village in a wagon pulled by her trusty mule Laohu. It’s a solitary life made less lonely when a small fortune causes a former thief and an ex-mercenary to join her in her travels as they search for a lost child. Soon a baker with dreams of adventure and a probably magical cat join the group that is fast becoming the type of found family we all dream of. As Tao relaxes her guard with her new friends, the pull of her past becomes harder to ignore.
Tao tells only small fortunes as she knows that big fortunes come with big consequences. We get clues from the beginning that Tao has learned many hard lessons in her life. Even sticking to small fortunes is not completely safe as she still must leave each village quickly before her fortunes start coming true. It is an immigrant story as well, as Tao was born in the neighboring country of Shinara but came to Eshtera as a youngster and so no longer speaks her original language. It’s soon clear that the two countries may be heading for a conflict. But that is not a problem our little band has to solve.
They just want to figure out their purpose in this world. Sometimes your purpose is just being happy with what you have right in this moment and the friends who you have to share it with. This book was so sweet. I loved it and think you would all enjoy it.