I wanted to like this cozy romance/mystery/slice of life novel because my brain required a break from the high stakes ones but unfortunately it isn’t my cup of tea.

There’s somehow a lot going on but at the same time nothing happens. It’s very much in the style of "And then thing A happened, followed by thing B and of course the protagonist has to take care about thing C". The writing is very clunky and reminds me of fanfictions that should have profited from a beta reader. In addition to it, the author tries to incorporate modern day views like disapproval of knights bothering a kitchen maid (where no one did something up to the point) etc., which is so odd because the novel itself plays in some fantasy world that has barely enough world building to exist but not enough to prevent it from toppling down if the reader questions too much.

That romance is also one of those romances that have zero chemistry while the reader is supposed to believe that the young lady truly loved her deceased very old husband because he was … kind. I’m sure that love requires a bit more than kindness. 😅

Also, I get major "nice guy" vibes from Fin and from the writing itself as if the author really tried to show us that they are a good, intelligent person by using phrases that just don’t fit here because they are so over the top.