Royal Rogues & Chocolate Tea
The first time I decided to try flavoured tea was back in 2013. An old friend recommended a decadent salted chocolate amaretti tea blend that sadly, 'till this day, makes me nauseated whenever I think about it. I remember having the same reaction when I read my first romance novel
'What's all this and when do we get to the good stuff?
Don't get me wrong, as you can see, I didn't give up on the tea or the book. I added sugar, I added milk, and then I tried adding both together, but still nothing changed the pungent perfume-y taste. But then ... I realized, it wast the flavour, it was the brand. It wasn't the genre, it was just a bad story (100% applies to life ). Boy did things change after that.
Fast forward to about......oh, a month ago, I picked up 'I Loved A Rogue' by Katherine Ashe, and a brewed a cup of Bigalows' White Chocolate Obsession, with no extras at first, and sat down to read. At first, the discomfort came back and I thought:
why must I always torture myself ?
However, after the first chapter and sip, the blissful, sugary, sweetness hit me. From the novel, and the tea. The strong initial scent unfolded into subtle chocolate-y goodness and with each chapter, well, let's just say I stayed up a little later than usual that night.
The plot wasn't your usual historical romance plot, and there was some frustrating scenes to start. Fair warning, this novel is not for the impatient. Just like the tea, the flavour builds sip by sip. With every page I found my pulse racing, my heart hoping, my brows furrowed in anger, and feeling everything the heroine felt. When things got bad, the string the author wove around my heart tightened. Empathy on point.
Around 3 am sleep took over, and my finally empty cup rolled over on my bed cold. The following morning, when I forced my eyed open at 7, I had a distinct thought:
Worth It.
So here I am, happily satisfied with the ending of the story, and with only a few teabags left in the box that I've already promised to a few friends. I guess all we really do to make things better is a spoonful of sugar.
As usual,
here's to the sweetness.