A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic

This book is very sweet. No pun intended. The premise is a magic-less human baker named Arleta is accepted in an elven baking contest where she competes against people of various species who all have magic, all while nursing a crush on Theo, the handsome elf son of the awful elf who runs the contest.

The main conflict in this book is internal. Arleta continuously doubts herself; she tries to escape the contest multiple times and insists to herself that Theo could never like her. There is almost no external conflict: as far as I could tell, almost no one cares that she doesn’t have magic, and she’s delightfully confident when it comes to baking. I found her VERY personally relatable but also found myself often annoyed with her (which show more I guess makes sense?).

The early chapters didn’t hook me (they felt like a middle grade novel, for some reason) but once Arleta got to the competition, she made some friends and things picked up. What really won me over were some beautifully written scenes and the way the outcome of the competition is handled. Also, the baking descriptions seemed accurate and the book includes recipes. show less

"A human, a dwarf and an elf walk into a bake-off….."

If you're a fan of fantasy like I am, how could you read that sentence and NOT get excited! Arleta is the human in this equation, an exceptional baker who feels a bit "less than" because in this world of magic, she has none. She lost her parents when she was younger and has since kept everybody at arms length, including the Orc couple who live next door. They try to step in and help Arleta, but she's too guarded to let them in. There is a huge baking competition coming up that Arleta would love to enter, but she doesn't because she assumes humans aren't eligible because they have no magic, so when her neighbors enter her, and she gets in, she's excited, but she tries to keep her show more expectations low. When a very attractive elf turns up at her door to escort her to the competition, she decides to give it a go, at least until they realize she's human and kick her out.

Arleta's journey through this book is such a joy to watch. The story is an enjoyable one, the pace is perfect, and the characters are likeable and well written. The world building is phenomenal, and the ending is satisfying. This was a quick read because I really couldn't put it down! I'm looking forward to seeing where this story takes us in the next book in the series.

All in all, I really enjoyed this cozy fantasy and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and J. Penner for the opportunity to read and review A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic.

#NetGalley #AFellowshipofBakersandMagic show less

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

This is my kind of cozy fantasy: a secondary world tribute to the Great British Bake Off, wherein beings like elves, dwarves, and humans are competing for the prize. Lead character Arleta is a human struggling to sell her amazing baked goods, and often facing bigotry because of her magicless nature. She has no confidence whatsoever, and this is one of the book's main flaws: she can't commit to anything and is outright exasperating. She's almost too realistic, and that drags out the plots (especially the romance subplot) in a way that feels forced instead of organic. But when her ADORABLE surrogate dads--the two gay orcs who live next door--submit her as a candidate for the baking bout, she makes show more the cut, and then has to practically be kidnapped into participating by the super-hot elf Theodmon who works on behalf of the tournament.

The book has an awesome vibe. The descriptions of food are amazing--and the book has several recipes at the back! The sense of found family is wonderful, too. Arleta makes two close friends out of fellow contestants, and they have great banter. This isn't a book where you want to think too hard about the worldbuilding because it won't hold up at all, though this book deals with that better than some other cozy fantasies because it completely ignores the issue of ingredient origins. I just wish Arleta hadn't been quite so aggravating, that she had more external conflicts that gave her pause. show less

A true cozy fantasy about a baking competition, friendship, and learning to trust yourself.

Arleta is a magicless human baker in a world where every other species had an inherent form of magic. Despite this, her baking is a little bit magical. When her neighbor enters her in prestigious fantasy version of Bake-Off without her knowledge, she is thrust into an unexpected adventure that just might lead to the love of her life.

This was an enjoyable read with some fun fantasy world building. Surprisingly light on the baking competition elements for something set at a baking competition, but it had a great cast of characters which made up for it. The author does drag out the main pairing getting together for far too long, or I'd probably have show more rated this 4 stars for the cozy feel good vibes alone.

This review is based on an egalley provided by the publisher via Netgalley show less

Such a cute read!

The Plot:
Arleta Starstone is a human baker who lives in Adenashire. Struggling to make ends meet, every week she tries to get a good spot at the market to sell her magic baked goods. And by magic, I mean she uses herbs and spices in her goods that make them taste miles above the rest. Unfortunately, she's a human so nobody sees the value in her sweet treats.
Her orc neighbors know her talent and they secretly enter her into the Elven Baking Battle.
Thus begins the journey of trying new things, making new friends, and meeting a cute new elf.

My Thoughts:
My favorite thing this year is a good, cozy book. Low stakes, low emotions, easy read. This hit the spot just right. Mystic creatures meets British Bake Off in this fun show more baking competition. Arleta is a sweetie with a big heart and she's able to quickly find new friends. She shows viewers that kindness has a place in competition and she teaches herself who she is and how she needs to find happiness.
The only thing thing that was a little off for me was the romance with Theo. I think if we had 50 more pages to intertwine it more with the story, it'd make more sense and feel more like a main plot point rather than a side quest. That relationship had more potential for me and I would have loved to see it explored more.

The end of this book set us up for a series perfectly and I can't wait to read the next one! show less

Honestly, this book troubles me. It's got all these qualities that I loved in other books, and yet really just didn't quite ever sweep me away. I think the characters were just a little too flat, the unfairnesses just a little too random, the originality just a little bit lacking -- specifically, I love GBBO as much as anybody, but I think if you are going to create the equivalent in a romantasy setting, it would be nice if you could make up your own structure? Or even just your own names for the rounds? It bothered me. This is a joyful book, with a lot of sweetness at the center, just not quite the book for me.

Advanced readers copy of the deluxe edition provided by Edelweiss.

Diverting romantasy meets reality Bake Off!

Delightful tale of a young woman who lives to bake (and bakes to live) whose world is turned upside down when her adopted father orcs enter who into the famed Bake Off—the Langheim Baking Battle.
Arleta Starstone’s problem is that this is a magical baking competition. Only elves and persons imbued with magic can enter, can’t they? Arleta is human. Can she even compete?
Arleta’s baked delights are loved by all her taste them in her home town of Adenashire. She adds little touches of her human magic to the mix, a dash of thyme, or a touch of lavender, wild blueberries, bay leaves…
Before she’d been orphaned at sixteen Arleta’s greatest delight was to bake with her mother, herself an show more avid baker, who’d taught Arleta everything she knew from the time she could hold a mixing spoon.
Arleta is fetched to Langheim for the Baking Competition by a very handsome elf. She’ll make friends with some of the competitors—a warm hearted dwarf, and a somewhat shy and rebuffing fennex. She’ll run afoul of some of the judges and competitors who would have her ousted from the Competition.
But just maybe Arleta will find her true love.
A lively read complete with romance, intrigue and lasting friendship.

A Poisoned Pen ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less