If you’ve ever craved a fantasy that wraps around you like your favorite blanket while still keeping you genuinely invested, Brigands & Breadknives is the book I didn’t know I was waiting for. Travis Baldree has crafted something rare: a story that feels dangerous and cozy all at once, where the threat of a blade in the dark somehow coexists with moments so tender they caught me off guard.

This isn’t fantasy that shouts for your attention; it earns it. The magic here lies in how effortlessly Baldree made me care. These characters don’t just occupy the page; they burrowed into my chest with their messy loyalties, their fumbling attempts at connection, their quiet bravery in deciding who they want to become. I found myself laughing at their banter one moment and holding my breath the next, not because of some manufactured cliffhanger, but because I was genuinely invested in whether they’d be okay.

The world unfolds like a secret being shared over a good meal: rich, textured, full of flavor, revealed in perfectly chosen details rather than info-dumps. I could practically smell the tavern air and feel the weight of a well-worn pack. Baldree has this gift for making small moments glow: a shared task, an unspoken understanding, a gesture that says everything. Suddenly I realized I’d been completely transported without ever noticing the journey.

What sets this apart is its emotional honesty. There’s real danger here, real stakes, but they’re personal in a way that hit deeper than world-ending threats. The pacing gave me room to breathe with the characters, to live in their world rather than just sprint through it. And when the story does build tension, it’s the kind that comes from caring desperately about what happens to people who’ve started to feel like friends.

By the final page, I didn’t just feel satisfied.. I felt changed, the way I do after spending time with people who remind me what matters. This is fantasy that trusts you to find the extraordinary in the intimate, and it rewards that trust beautifully.

If you want a book that’s both an escape and a homecoming, that proves stories don’t need to roar to leave their mark, Brigands & Breadknives is waiting for you.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Travis Baldree, you have my heart.

Thank goodness that's over 😬 I honestly would've DNFed if I didn't want the sparkly winter readalong badge so badly!

I like what this book wants to be, but in practice the idea was very sloppily executed and hard to enjoy. There is so much info dumping via dialogue, an inordinate amount of annoying anachronisms and inaccuracies that point to poor editing, and very hollow-feeling connections between both of our romantic pairings. Frankly, this would have been a stronger story if it had been a romance between Anna and Maryam - the number of side characters and plots going on meant that the depth I like to see in a romance just didn't have enough time to develop for either of their individual stories.

The holiday stuff is nice, don't get me wrong, and it's so lovely to see a book incorporate traditions and occasions from multiple religions and I want to seek out more of that for myself in the future. The rest of this just didn't do it for me though 😅