The Tea Demon by Cornelia Grey
The Tea Demon was light and funny, something that caught me unaware but pleasantly surprised. The sci-fi/futuristic story of a dashing Captain of a pirate spaceshift/galleon hiring a intergalactic thief to retrieve a prized possession seemed somewhat old. I was of course expecting for the dashing captain, Jonathan, to be an imposing and dominant character, and of course for the thief, Eric, to be a somewhat submissive character, a level below the captain in the “romance” hierarchy.
I was completely wrong, from the first encounter, and the stolen kiss, a kiss that is “imposed” to a blushing Jonathan from a daring Eric, the relationship between Jonathan and Eric is on the same level, if not even unbalanced on Eric’s side, that seems more experience and streetwise of Jonathan. The wondrous adventure is almost a kid play, and the notorious Tea Demon is no one else that a buddy friend to Eric.
This is a short novella, and there should be a lot still to say about Jonathan, explaining for example his instability and his dependency from… tea! Again the author turned something that could have been dark and gothic, in funny and light.
I really enjoyed this pair, and I hope the author will decide to visit them again.
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