Synopsis
Low-stakes magic, crafting cocktails, and discovering the power of who we truly are.
Emma grew up as a Hunter of the Cursed—those charged with eradicating monsters and magic from the Kingdom. She’s revered as one of the King’s most skilled hunters. At least she was—until she discovered she possessed magic herself.
Before anyone else can discover her secret, Emma abandons her post and flees to the far edge of the Kingdom, where she hopes she can settle down and live a quiet life as a bartender, out of the Hunters’ watchful eye.
Fate, however, won’t allow us to run away from who we are so easily.
When Emma is confronted by an exiled fairy and a man who claims to be a scientist (though Emma is convinced he’s a sorcerer), she must evaluate what she believes and the confines of who she’s been allowed to be.
Pulled on a journey that takes her further than she’d ever imagined possible, Emma is led on an adventure to discover where her fate lies and must confront her own biases, hopefully learning a drink recipe or two along the way.
A low-stakes cozy fantasy about cocktails, magic, portals, and finding where we truly belong.
If you enjoyed the themes of leaving it all behind in books like Legends & Lattes, and the fun and low-stakes magic in The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, then this is the book for you.
Review
The Bartender Between Worlds by Herman Steuernagel is a low-stakes cozy fantasy novel that will take you on a journey across worlds as the FMC, Emma, seeks to find a place where she can live and be at peace. It’s going to be quite the journey, but the good news is that she won’t be taking it alone.
The Bartender Between Worlds introduces readers to Emma Corvus, Hunter of the Cursed. She and her friend Liam were pulled off the streets as children, raised by the kingdom, and trained to hunt down monsters and those who wield magic. Emma follows orders as she’s told and rarely questions this wide mandate of hauling in any and all “magic users.” However, all of that changes when she discovers that she herself is now a magic user.
Being able to impact and manipulate alcohol seems pretty innocuous on its face, right? Like, what’s the big deal if you can improve a wine or ale that at one point and time was just swill ready to be poured down the drain? Well, according to the king, no one is allowed to wield or use magic. It’s “too dangerous.” Do we sense that maybe the king is actually hiding something with this mandate? Or could it be that he fears being usurped because he potentially carries no magic of his own?
Quite a few questions to ponder there, right? Well, ponder them you will to the end of this story and beyond, because you’re not going to get any answers this time around. It’s okay though, because The Bartender Between Worlds is still an engaging novel.
So, what does sensible Emma do when she discovers she can manipulate magic herself now? Well, she takes the only sensible course of action anyone would take…she makes her escape and attempts to disappear. While she manages to put some distance between herself and her former fellow Hunters…you just can’t out run one of the best…her friend Liam. But then she gets some unexpected help.
This point in the story is where things are going to really start getting interesting. Emma meets a fairy, and a man who claims he’s a scientist. Uh-huh, sure you are sir. Wait…he has a what?! A box that allowed him to come to Emma’s world and now he’s stuck? But…her magic can potentially help power it and possibly get back home?? Say what?! Well, lead on then because that’s exactly where this story is going.
Prepare to world hop as Emma, Vespa, and Aldrich go in search of first Aldrich’s home, and then a place that will be perfect for all of them to live together.
As you read The Bartender Between Worlds author Steuernagel will proceed to break the story up into five different worlds that our characters will visit. Each world will be familiar, but have distinctive differences. Some of the differences will be immediately noticeable, while others? Not so much, but they will each come with their own surprises that will test the characters.
For readers who will be salivating at the descriptions of some of the drinks in The Bartender Between Worlds, we have some good news – author Steuernagel includes a couple of recipes for you to try as well. So get excited! What’s more there are some lovely sketches of the characters throughout this book as well. The sketches are simplistic, but still beautiful to look at. They bring a nice element of detail to the story that helps take it to another level.
The Bartender Between Worlds is an engaging low-stakes cozy fantasy novel. It’s a low-stakes cozy fantasy because there isn’t really a lot of drama. Things are relatively speaking pretty low-key and calm, especially for the reader. You just get a sense of comfort as you read this story. There will be some drama sprinkled throughout, but nothing high and intense if that is what you are looking for.
When it comes to endings, The Bartender Between Worlds gives readers a relatively comfortable ending that hints at potentially more, but who knows? You could just use your imagination and decide for yourself what will happen next in Emma’s world especially. We wouldn’t mind returning to these characters to see what other “worlds” they explore, but one thing is for sure. The Bartender Between Worlds is an enjoyable story for readers who love books where you leave everything behind to start over and find yourself.
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