3.5⭐️

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder for this arc.

The book opens on a tavern scene with husbands Logan and Pie, and it pretty much immediately becomes apparent that Logan is your typical grumpy warrior of few words. This makes Pie, a bard, the sunshine part of the grumpy/sunshine equation. They are happily married and living in a cozy cottage with a pig named Bacon and two goats named Bastard and Other Bastard (just try and guess which type of animal Logan prefers). Of course, this cannot continue, as Pie has a secret past which forces them to leave their cozy retiree lifestyle.

On the positive side, this was a very cute read with quirky characters and Legends & Lattes vibes at times (mostly because of the DnD themes). I did appreciate that one particular plot line that appeared not long after the beginning of the story was resolved relatively quickly, rather than being dragged out as I’ve seen happen in other books/media.

I also love banter and this book had plenty of it, some of which made me giggle out loud while I was reading. Additionally, as someone who enjoys naming everything (including (or especially) inanimate objects), I really enjoyed Logan’s habit of naming all (and I mean all) animals, even those a bit out of the ordinary.

However, I did find the story itself a bit hard to get into at times. For example, one character’s motives were unclear and a bit hard to follow at some points. I also felt that some plot lines were resolved a bit too quickly at the end.

Overall though, the good points outweighed the rest, and I enjoyed this read.

No one is more disappointed than me when I say I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I was expecting to.

It felt extremely YA, in the sense that all the characters acted like children but they are supposed to be in their 50s. The dialogue is all so juvenile and just really lacking, very "I know you are, but what am I!" The prose itself is pretty solid, otherwise. But every time someone opened their mouth, I just wanted to stop. And they were all just sooo flat.

There is definitely an audience for this book, and I know some people are going to love it. The story has promise, I just wish the characters acted more adult.

This is cosy fantasy at it's very best. Having just read Legends and Lattes I was very much in the chill DnD-esque vibe headspace and this hit the spot perfectly. It's very well written and truly is like a cuddle of a book. I would most definitely read future releases by Rose Black and do hope that there is more to come from this world!

A whimsical, cozy fantasy filled with queer found family, a harrowing adventure, and a grumpy hero at the center of it all.

3.5 stars

Just took a moment to look at that cover! Isn’t it beautiful? And I know, I know… a beautiful cover and a witty title are shallow reasons to want to read a book, but I am a shallow person! And the cover is beautiful!
Anyway, the book is not as beautiful as the cover, but it is still enjoyable and nice, and all in all, I had a really good time with it!

I think that this is the year of necromancers, for me. This is the fourth book (or is this the fifth? There is one that I keep forgetting because I see the necromancer in there more like an “evil” sorcerer than a proper necromancer, I can’t remember clearly, so I think I should go back to that series and read the second volume soon. Ah, the sacrifices one makes for the love of knowledge!! ;P) I’ve read that feature a necromancer as MC or almost MC, and I think that this won the prize for the favorite necromancer. (The evil sorcerer is my real favorite of the lot, but since I don’t know if he counts or not, let’s leave him aside for now!) The countess is amazing.
Sure, I have to say that if she was a man, and the other characters were women, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly, I am aware of this double standard, and I do not like it, but… but she added levity to the story, so even being conscious of this, I enjoyed her (with reserves). And I loved her animals! Bones and Ossymandias are the sweetest ever! And how cool is naming Ossymandias a dog made of bones??

The other characters are pretty standard D&D cliches, but that’s not to say that they are plain or bidimensional or predictable (well, they are a bit, but that’s not the point): they all have a personality and they are unique. Sure, my favorite was the countess, but Logan is a sweet warrior, stubborn, tenacious, and, from time to time, pigheaded, but his heart is in the right place, and I think that he is the character who grows more in the story (with Gary!). And talking about Gary, we have also unicorns in there!! Freddy the Unicorn… again, how cool is that??
Then we have Magpie, who is just perfect for Logan, and Ophelia. She is not my favorite. And mostly is because she keeps Logan accountable for all the bad things that happened to her. And that’s just not fair and not true. Sure, Logan was not really good to her, but if bad things happened to her, especially what happened after she divorced him (and mind me, she was right to divorce him), Logan is not at fault. And this was quite maddending, because this part aside she was an interesting character, and she could have been one of my favorites. But this was just too much to simply close an eye on it.

And since I am speaking about this, there are some other things that I didn’t enjoy so much. Mainly, I love happy endings, and I love characters that are good but… but here they are a tad too good. I mean, there are a lot of people who do shitty things, and sure, they shouldn’t pay forever for them, they deserve some forgiveness and to be happy too, sure, but every time something bad happens (And I mean bad, not just harsh words) and one of the characters is mad with the guilty one, there is always someone that says “yes, it was shitty, but she has reasons, so do not be mad”. And I get it, but if you hurt people (betray them, kill them, etc…) you should be held responsible for your action, and sure, in the end you may deserve forgiveness too, but still you should be held responsible not just excused because you had a hard life or something bad happened to you. This is not an excuse!

So sure, it was not perfect, but it is a nice and sweet book, and I had a really good time with it! It took me a while to really be immersed in the story, but once things started to happen well, I was completely in, and it was really nice going around adventuring with this nice cast of characters!

THIS IS EVERYTHING!

The romance, the adventure, the cast of characters. Every time I think about this book it puts a smile on my face. The character development throughout is just awesome, with our MC growing more understanding of others and discovering the strength that comes from realising others potential and believing in them to use their own strengths.

I loved this! I haven't read many cozy fantasy books yet, but after this beautiful introduction to the genre, I definitely want more! Logan was the perfect main character for this story, and he and Pie were so adorable together. They actually reminded me a little bit of Ed and Stede from Our Flag Means Death. I was also pleasantly surprised by the disability rep! And by the amount of hurt/comfort - my absolute favorite trope <3

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes cozy fantasy, D&D and/or Our Flag Means Death!

Thanks, Netgalley and Publisher for the opportunity to read and review!
Really lovely, cozy fantasy adventure with enough romance that will definitely melt your heart!

What a lovely ride this was! This story was just the cozy adventure that I needed. I love the characters, the queer romance and the overall heartwarming vibe. ☺️💕 This book is the perfect addition to any fall tbr!

Perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes looking for a leisurely pace and a big bear-hug of a book.

Retired adventurer Logan Theaker has settled down with his bard husband and taken up raising pigs and goats. But when his husband Pie vanishes, he’s called to action: retrieve his husband or die trying.

Unfortunately the only help he has is a saucy old necromancer and the ghost of his dead wife. As you can imagine, things don’t go great.

Til Death Do Us Bard has major D&D campaign vibes, with an ultimate end goal of a gruesome treasure, monsters, taverns, spies and assassins, and alternate dimensions with unicorns.

I found the pacing to be more on the leisurely side, though it gains momentum around the 50% mark. Some of the character motivations felt opaque, and I would have liked to explore the “why” behind some decisions, but overall a fun read with a HEA (of course).

Wholesome queernormative world a definite bonus!

Want to be whisked away on a little gay adventure? This is it.

The title was decisive, and the book lived up to the expectations. A queernorm-world is, from time to time, really helpful, an when it's in a fantasy setting, it's even more escapist. The charaters are loveable, the plot is fine, and the writing good. A very cozy read for a rainy day!

3,5 stars.

Very cute and funny with a range of interesting characters and plotline.
Set in a queernorm world we follow the retired adventurer Logan the Bear, who sets out on a new, unexpected adventure to find his husband, Pie, with the help of an old necromancer and other colorful characters.

It had very much Kings of the Wyld vibes, just more gay and not as dark.

The pacing were a bit off for me, but it was still cute.

I like the plot of the story, I found it very interesting. The world Rose built has a DnD feeling. The build up of the characters and the ‘bosses fights’ reminded me of DnD campaigns I played in the past. The author didn’t build a complicated fantastic world, but an easy to understand and follow ground that will transport the reader to another world.

Having said that, I didn’t fully enjoy the book. Maybe I’m not in the right mindset or I need more speedy stories, I don’t know. While reading it, I felt the story was developing so slowly it made me lose interest in it sometimes. I managed to pick it up a few times, but I was struggling at the end. I don’t blame the book, though. There’s a chance it has to do with my immense TBR pile, and that slow world builds give me anxiety at the moment.

I gave this book a 3 star rating because of the slow build and how difficult it was for me to finish it. I still feel I will give it another go in the future. I feel sad I didn’t enjoy the book fully and I’d like to know if my thoughts about the book will change. I genuinely liked the characters and the story, and I feel bad I could not enjoy it more.

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't connect with the characters and the plot was dull. I battled myself to keep reading till I gave up at 20%. 🤧

I was os excited to read this book as it sounds amazing and I'm happy to say that i absolutely loved Til Death Do Us Bard!

It was such a cute and fun read!
It was also really well written and I'm really curious to see what the author writes next.
I really liked Logan and thought he was a great character, I especially loved his relationship with Pie.
The book also had a strong DnD vibe which I was absolutely loving!

I definitely highly recommend this!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

For me, this book didn’t really work. I feel like it had a lot of potential, and I could see what the author was trying to do, but it just didn’t quite get there for me.

To be honest, it felt like a YA novel, but with 40-something year old characters. Like, storyline, plot wise, it was a bit over the top in a YA sort of way, if that makes sense? Yes, this is a historical fantasy, but it just felt a bit too far fetched, with not enough consequences? And there were a few times that it felt like the characters just did really dumb things to justify a cool scene? I know that sounds a bit harsh, but that’s how I feel and how the book read to me.

I mostly liked the characters, but I found Ophelia’s character to be quite confusing? She’s helping, then she’s not, but now she is, and she blames Logan for her death and hates him. Oh, yes, Ophelia is the ghost of Logan’s ex-wife.

I really wanted to like this book. I liked the premise, I liked the author’s promo, but alas, I did not like the book. As I said, I could see where it was going, but it just fell completely flat for me.

Okay so I started this thinking I'd love it, but actually was pretty boring, had to skip a lot of parts.

this is so sad cause I really wanted to like it :( guess it's not my cup of tea

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder Stoughton for a review copy.

This was such a great cozy read. I loved the pacing and the atmosphere especially in a historical backdrop. The setting added to the exploration of the main relationship.

Logan and Pie's dynamic is fantastic. Logan with a protective nature and Pie's lighthearted nature mesh well together. I enjoyed seeing their personalities whilst they navigate their relationship.

Overall, a fun historical fantasy read with well developed characters and interesting plot.

I went in expecting more 'Legends and Lattes' instead of 'Nettle and Bone' and that was a mistake. This one was definitely a blend of both -- albeit the juggle between light-hearted whimsy and appalling horror (nothing too graphic) did feel jarring at times. I was not prepared to read about a literal pile of dead bodies mere moments after the unicorn discussion, okay? I have no doubt that I would get use to this if I persist with the story -- unfortunately, I did put it down pretty earlier on.

The narrative is heavily quest-based, featuring our party mechanically going from objective A to B then C and so on, which makes sense for this type of story -- and can work well if the readers are willing to be dragged along with the charming cast.

They were not my favourite. Logan was fine. The romance between him and Pine was... fine. The chemistry was ???. It is always difficult to root for an established couple with little to no backstory to hang onto, and especially when their first on-page interaction involves one of them lying to the other. I needed to be invested in them getting back together again and I just wasn't. The supporting cast made it even more difficult to continue reading. The Countess' sexual harassing 'tendency' is not cute -- I was creeped out when it became sort of a running gag? Ophelia's constant verbal abuse on Logan felt... nettlesome after a while. It would have been fine if this was genuine shared banter, and that she had more creative insults -- something other than calling him a barbaric oaf over and over again. I got as far as her mocking him and slapping him for no reason in the middle of an otherwise somber scene and could not take it anymore. Will her character become anything more than grudging ex-wife? I hope so.

Other reviews suggest this one gets better. Ultimately, I went in for a feel-good queer found family cosy fantasy and bowed out early because I was underwhelmed and unsatisfied.

This book was just perfect. It was such a warm, DnD-esque fantasy that hit the same spot as Honour Among Thieves did. I absolutely loved reading this.

I found the DnD-eque plotline so fun to read (would LOVE to read more books like this!) - the way there were all these mini-quests along the way before the final showdown with the big bad monster reminded me so much of the campaign I've played in. Especially with the corrupted King at the centre of it all.

Logan was such a good MC. I loved his character arc of growing to realise he can't protect everyone by pushing them away and that he also deserves a happy ending. I also loved his husband, Pie. The way his character unfurled was just soo satisfying to read. I loved learning about Pie as Logan did, the narration really tightly stuck to Logan in a very effective way. I also just loved their relationship and how much they were a bit like an old married couple whilst also not actually have known each other long enough to have told each other everything by the start of the book. I especially loved the interludes that showed the build-up of their relationship prior to the main events of the book, it was so clever how they always came out points where they expanded upon memories the two have briefly mentioned in the main events.

I loved the SCs and the world-building. It wasn't this massive, intricate political fantasy but the world felt grounded and realistic in its setting. Details like the old Necromance Empire, the Unicorn realm and the new anti-magic laws really fleshed the place out. I can imagine its existence outside of the main plot; it feels real enough to exist beyond it. And then talking about SCs, I absolutely adore the Countess. She is just so fun and feels like the kind of character you'd get someone playing in a DnD campaign. She's got a tragic backstory, she's powerful, she's flirty, she has a skeleton dog called Ossymandias - I love her.

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. I also really hope Rose Black writes more books with this vibe in future (whether about the same characters/world or not).