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A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic is a delightful cozy fantasy! I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I think the premise was perfect for this genre. If you like lighthearted fantasy and are familiar with the Great British Baking Show you will likely love this book. Arleta Starstone is a master baker living in a sleepy shire. Her only stumbling block for achieving her dreams of opening her own bakery someday is that she is a magicless human trying to make her way in a world full of magical beings. When her next-door neighbor secretly enters her in the kingdom's Baking Battle, Arleta is shocked to learn she's been issued an invitation to compete. But she is equally certain she'll be disqualified when the judges learn she is a magicless human.
The premise of a baking competition for much of the story, lends a familiarity to this fantastical setting where the other competitors are elves, dwarves and halflings, making this a perfect fit for a cozy fantasy. The stakes are still high for Arleta to succeed in order to fulfill her greatest dream. But during the baking scenes, hearing how she feels most at home while mixing up delicious pastries, cakes or cookies is relatable for anyone who either loves baking or loves watching baking on TV (which is totally me). I also loved the friends Arleta makes along the way and her love interest in the story, Theo. The worldbuilding is fun as well. Instead of baking in a tent, they are baking in a castle in a city of elves. I don't want to give too much away, but I truly loved all the fantastical beings depicted in the story and suspect there will be more books in the series from these secondary characters' point of view.
Some may be a bit turned off by Theo's instant enamorment of Arleta. But this is believably explained later in the book, in my opinion. Often in this trope one character already has a crush on the other for some reason. So, I wasn't surprised by this for Fellowship. I did get a little frustrated with Arleta towards the end of the story at her stubborn inability to accept Theo's affections, even when he continues to help her after the Baking Battle. But other than that, I found this novel to be as strong in its writing and characterization as "The Spellshop" by Sarah Beth Durst or T. Kingfisher's "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking." I look forward to reading more books by J. Penner set in Adenashire. She is one of my new favorite cozy fantasy authors.
The premise of a baking competition for much of the story, lends a familiarity to this fantastical setting where the other competitors are elves, dwarves and halflings, making this a perfect fit for a cozy fantasy. The stakes are still high for Arleta to succeed in order to fulfill her greatest dream. But during the baking scenes, hearing how she feels most at home while mixing up delicious pastries, cakes or cookies is relatable for anyone who either loves baking or loves watching baking on TV (which is totally me). I also loved the friends Arleta makes along the way and her love interest in the story, Theo. The worldbuilding is fun as well. Instead of baking in a tent, they are baking in a castle in a city of elves. I don't want to give too much away, but I truly loved all the fantastical beings depicted in the story and suspect there will be more books in the series from these secondary characters' point of view.
Some may be a bit turned off by Theo's instant enamorment of Arleta. But this is believably explained later in the book, in my opinion. Often in this trope one character already has a crush on the other for some reason. So, I wasn't surprised by this for Fellowship. I did get a little frustrated with Arleta towards the end of the story at her stubborn inability to accept Theo's affections, even when he continues to help her after the Baking Battle. But other than that, I found this novel to be as strong in its writing and characterization as "The Spellshop" by Sarah Beth Durst or T. Kingfisher's "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking." I look forward to reading more books by J. Penner set in Adenashire. She is one of my new favorite cozy fantasy authors.
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