A review by onthesamepage
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Tropes:
fake relationship, rivals to lovers, only one bed, first time

Steam level: 🌶

Alex clicked his tongue. “No doubt they’re searching for the weapon in efficient fashion—unlike you, who showed more interest in hanky-panky.” 
Upon hearing this phrase, Alice’s inner dictionary opened its pages excitedly. “What does hanky-panky mean?” she whispered to Daniel. 
“Witchcraft,” he whispered back. 

I couldn't help but feel that there was something missing while I was reading this. I've enjoyed the previous two installments in this series. The writing is either going to work for you, or you're going to absolutely hate it. It's quirky and frequently breaks the fourth wall, not necessarily by directing commentary at the reader, but by reminding the reader that there is an author behind the words. I felt that a lot here, especially, and it distracted me from the book itself. 

Seeing this, her heart clutched the book to its, er, heart with happiness. 

And then they continued on with their search for the weapon like exemplary professionals kissed. 

Sometimes this is funny, sometimes it isn't, but if you just read these quotes and winced, this series is probably not for you.

The book didn't fully grab me anyway, writing aside. The two main characters aren't pointed out to be neurodivergent, but they do read like it. Both have been trained to not show any emotion. They're professionals whose idea of fun is reading a good book (which I can absolutely get behind). When they're thrust into the hectic life of pirates while working undercover, it makes sense for them to struggle with what that entails. But I think there was too much time spent on pirate shenanigans, and too little time spent on helping me form a connection with the characters, or on developing the romance. We do learn fairly quickly that Alice and Daniel have had a crush on each other for over a year, but I didn't feel like they spent a lot of time communicating. I was told that they have an emotional connection, but rarely allowed to actually see it. The moments I did get to glimpse them were my favourite parts of the story. It happened more towards the end, but it made the middle part a bit of a slog.

There were POV scenes from both characters, but not evenly split. I think it was about 80-20 in Alice's favour, which was a shame because I liked what I did get to see of Daniel. I also really appreciated the cameos by the main characters from the previous two books. 

All in all, I would recommend this series, and I had a good time with it.
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