I have been provided with a review copy of Ill-Fated Fortune from NetGalley for an impartial review. I just loved getting to enter this world. I just loved getting to meet these characters and see what they are currently getting themselves into. This book was just a really fun read. I just lost myself in this great story and I didn’t want to put it down. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I like to dabble in cozy mysteries and ones that have magical elements are my favorite. Ill-Fated Fortune checked all the boxes I come to expect with a cozy mystery, and while it was a fun read, it feel a bit short of my expectations.

I didn't really like Felicity as a main character - her actions sometimes leaned too immature. The plot was sometimes too convenient and didn't always make sense progression wise. I did like the side characters.

If you like mystical cozy mysteries, I suggest to give this one a go. I may pick this series up again when the second book is released, just to see if this one was suffering as the first of a series.

Rated 3 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

The Jin family has been blessed with magic baking abilities. For years, Felicity’s mother has baked delicious treats in her bakery. While Felicity has hoped that her own magical abilities would show, she just can’t bake like the Jin women before her.

Until one day, Felicity find success in making fortune cookies. Along with this success, comes the magical ability for Felicity to provide individualized fortunes. Soon, Felicity and her cookies are in demand. But one dark fortune that leads to finding the customer dead in the back alley of the bakery turn Felicity into the primary suspect of the man’s murder. Will her new found magical ability help her bestie clear her name, and solve the case? After all, her fortune is riding on it.

This is such a great start to a promising new cozy series. I’ll be in line for the next entry in the series as soon as it comes out.

Ill-Fated Fortune, the inaugural installment in Jennifer J. Chow's Magical Fortune Cookie series, is a promising start to this new series. Set in Pixie, California, the story introduces Felicity Jin, a fledgling baker with a unique connection to her mother’s bakery. The vivid background establishes the series' foundation, immersing readers in a world filled with delightful treats and intriguing touches of magic. While the pacing may be a touch slow, it serves the purpose of laying the essential groundwork for the series. Chow's narrative skillfully weaves relevant information into the story, creating an interesting plot that unfolds with a mix of charm and suspense. (I received an advance reader copy of this book, and all opinions are my own.) Ill-Fated Fortune is a delightful introduction to a magical culinary world that has left me eager for more.

Ill-fated Fortune follows Felicity and her mom as they run a magic bakery. Felicity never seemed to have her family's baking skills until she discovers she can make fortune cookies and they seem to be a hit around town. When a competitor fortune cookie maker is found killed in Felicity's dumpster the police focus on her. While she navigates her fortune cookie baking and helping keep the bakery going, she also tries to solve a murder with her best friend.

I enjoyed this book! I liked the magical cooking elements and I love any cozy mystery that has to do with food. There was a cast of fun characters and even a pet rabbit. I think the mystery was fun to follow and it took some interesting turns. I loved the small town cozy vibes throughout. I liked the relationship between Felicity and her mom as well as with her best friend. I read this book quickly and it was a fun read. I will be continuing on in this series when more books come out!

I do feel like the investigation went in circles a little bit in the beginning. I also feel like the sleuthing was very convenient and didn't seem very accurate at times. It seemed like people said stuff to them too easily and they were able to get into places easily. For example, they seem to always be going into this factory and I feel like getting into a factory is probably harder then just walking in. This didn't take away from my reading experience too much though.

All in all, this was a fun cozy read about magical food and relationships. Thanks so much to netgalley and St. Martin's Press and Minotaur books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a decent start to a cozy mystery series. There are a lot of characters that no doubt will be recurring in the later books. I also felt like Felicity was an example of a beginner sleuth as she isn't entirely good at it but does improve over the course of the chapters. I would like to see what Whisper the Rabbit looks like on one of the next covers (nice that the animal companion isn't a dog this time haha)

3.5 stars rounded up (when do we get to have half stars please?)

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own.

This was a cute start to a cozy, foodie, mystery series. I loved the main character, Felicity, as she had some struggles throughout this book. It made her a bit more realistic. The friendship between her and Kelvin was special. I am a sucker for foodie mysteries.

The first in the heart-warming and deliciously mysterious Magical Fortune Cookie series from Lefty Award-nominee Jennifer J. Chow.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I enjoyed this book. This book made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I liked the small town setting. I liked that a mother and daughter owned a bakery in this small town. I liked the relationship between the mother and daughter. I liked the friendship between Felicity and Kelvin. I liked the magical bunny that was in this book. I liked the magical fortune cookies. Will I read other books in this series? I enjoyed this book but I’m not going to read other books in the series because I like how this book ended and I feel like it reads really well as a standalone. Not every single book in the world needs to be a series.

Release Date: February 20, 2024

📖📖📖📖

Felicity Jin grew up literally hanging onto Mom’s apron strings in their magical bakery in the quaint town of Pixie, California. Her mother’s enchanted baked goods, bring instant joy to all who consume them. Felicity has always been hesitant in the kitchen after many failed attempts, but a takeout meal gone wrong inspires her to craft some handmade fortune cookies.
They become so popular that Felicity runs out of generic fortunes and starts making her own personalized predictions. When one customer’s ill-fated fortune results in his murder, Felicity’s suspiciously specific fortune has the police focusing on her as the main culprit. Now Felicity must find a way to turn her luck around and get cleared from suspicion.

I am so excited about this new series!! @jenjchow creates such a wonderful and cozy environment. While the heroine, Felicity, is flawed at first she finds her inner strength at the end with her bunny and bestie. I can’t wait for more Pixie and more Detective Sun (who I think is felicity’s half sibling via father).

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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I generally like culinary mysteries, but I found it hard to get into the story. I was not crazy about the main character, she was very whiny. (can’t stand a whiner) This book is first in a new series and I probably won’t be in a rush to read the next one. Just not my cup of tea.

While I loved the concept of this story—a specialty bakery with magic!—I unfortunately felt like the execution fell flat for me. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and felt more like I was being dragged through the mystery and emotions of the story rather than investigating eagerly and feeling with the characters.
Lissa felt more annoying and whiny than anything, especially when it came to her magic powers. She focused on those (whether they were there or not) so much throughout the story that everything else seemed shoved to the back burner, making me as a reader feel very disconnected.
This is sadly one series I probably won’t be continuing.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc of this magic realism mystery. For me this is rounded up from 3.5 stars.

Felicity Jin's family legacy is being able to bake their happiness into their signature pastry. Mom keeps Gold Bakery afloat with pineapple buns and egg custards among other things. Felicity hasn't evidenced any ability in this arena and the young woman's role in life is a bit shaky until she finally discovers her pastry: the fortune cookie. Even more awesome in her eyes is that she seems able to write fortunes that come true. This joy lasts until the fortune cookie king is found dead in the dumpster behind the bakery with a grim handwritten fortune. Naturally Detective Sun makes Felicity the prime suspect (also probably worth mentioning, in Pixie, CA, the Jins and Felicity's bff, the florist, Kelvin work in the predominately Asian part of town and Sun is from nearby Fresno).

Trying to clear her name and given that her worry over being the prime suspect is affecting her magic, Felicity starts poking around, leading her to a Chinese restaurant and some Asian markets (all of which she wants to try to set up her cookies with) and to the dreary factory, Smiley Fortunes, owned by the self-crowned cookie king. She finds no end of people with motives, especially since his cookies suck and he was a nasty boss. However, convincing Detective Sun of this isn't easy.

Woven into this is another victim of his crappy cookies, a bride to be whose bachelorette party ended up with severe food poisoning to the extent her wedding had to be moved and she's suing, starts arranging her wedding do -over with Kelvin (which brings him even more fully into the mystery).

The mystery itself wasn't bad. There were enough suspects though a few more might have worked out better. We don't really get a good feel for Detective Sun though. I really liked Kelvin. Felicity isn't bad either, though she does tend to whine a bit.

On the negative side, I think the 'oh is my magic gone' scenes are a bit repetitive (there seems to be quite a few of them at least) and I was a little confused at the killer's motivation (or at least why didn't they turn to the cops as some of what Cookie King was doing was sketchy to say the least).

I would, however, read another one so that says something for the series.

As a side note, not taken into consideration in the review, I'm not sure what was wrong with my arc but hopefully when this releases into the wild, Minotaur has this fixed. About four chapters in my e-copy had issues. It would repeat one page and then the following page was missing (so instead of it going pg 1-2-3 I'd get two page 1s no 2 and right on to 3). That was annoying but that's not the author's fault.

Ill-Fated Fortune by Jennifer J. Chow is the debut of A Magical Fortune Cookie series. I wanted to like this story, but I was unable to get into it. I found the characters to be flat and I was not a fan of Felicity (she is a whiner especially about getting up early). The plot was predictable with inconsistencies and repetitive details (such as Felicity not being able to bake, not having the family gift, she not like getting up early). I thought the fortune cookies were too simple for a bakery (just plain fortune cookies—did not use a high end vanilla or even dip half the fortune cookie in tempered chocolate). I was baffled as to why Felicity shaped the fortune cookies on the rim of a mug (I know it is a small detail, but it seemed odd considering the items on hand in a bakery). I also thought her fortunes were pitiful (she could have gone online and found fortunes to print). I know I sound nitpicky, but the little details can make a story realistic, entertaining, and interesting. I thought the magical element was lacking (I like the idea). The mystery was simple. Felicity and her friend, Kelvin investigate the whodunit clumsily. The guilty party can be identified easily and early. The resolution was anticlimactic. The story has a feel-good ending, but it took forever to get there.

I love a culinary mystery. I loved the recipe and notes at the end of the book. It took me awhile to get into the story. Lots of little twists of possible suspects. This was the first in the series and I probably won’t rush to read the next one. It just didn’t grab my attention to read it very quickly.

I thought Ill-Fated Fortune was a lot of fun. Cozy mysteries with a cooking/ baking element are my favorite kinds and this one did not disappoint. I loved the relationship between Felicity and her mother, as well as her friendship with Kevin.
When Felicity finally discovers the recipe that awakens her magical ability to put feelings into food she is soo excited! She has wanted to be a part of her mother's bakery for as long as she can remember, and this makes her feel like she finally belongs. But when a rude dude walks in for one of her new Fortune cookies and later ends up dead in a dumpster behind her building ... well Felicity is definitely a suspect.
And while she is trying to solve the murder to keep herself out of jail, basically everything she does makes her seem more guilty. This just makes Felicity more determined to figure out who dun it, and in the process of questioning witnesses, digging in the trash, and doing some spying she actually starts to make connections in selling her cookies and hopefully making more money for the Bakery. I also really enjoyed the sense of community, and how everyone rallies together when things aren't looking so good. There were a lot of options for who the killer could be and I enjoyed trying to put the clues together alongside Felicity.

I think Ill-Fated Fortune is a great first book in this series, and I will definitely be picking up the next book!


And as an added benefit there is a recipe for fortune cookies in the back!

I was disappointed by this novel written by Lefty Award-nominee, Jennifer J. Chow. The premise sounded promising, but the execution was lacking. The characters were flat, the plot was predictable and full of holes and inconsistencies, and the writing was bland and repetitive. The magical element was interesting but felt forced and inconsistent, and the killer was obvious too early and easily.

⭐⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars

“Remember, there’s no magic without love, care, and joy in the baking process.”

Ill-Fated Fortune, first in the Magical Fortune Cookie series, was a charming culinary cozy mystery mixed with a dose of magical realism. Felicity Jin and her mother ran a bakery in small town Pixie, baking handcrafted traditional treats like egg tarts and pineapple buns side by side. Infusing the pastries with the magic of positive emotions as they baked, they brought joy to those who consumed them. Felicity added fortune cookies to their baking but an ill-fated fortune in one of the cookies precisely predicted a rival fortune cookie maker's untimely demise.

“There was something beautiful about us putting out treats together side by side in the oven. It was like they were meant to be near each other. As though Mom and I were meant be together, to support one another, always.”

I loved the way baking established the foundation for this story by creating memories, finding joy and sharing in family traditions. The bond between Felicity and her mother was beautifully heartfelt, endearing, supportive and loving. I loved how Felicity's mother helped her find her magic, both in her baking and in her unexpectedly accurate fortune cookie predictions.

Kelvin, the owner of the flower shop next door, added the perfect balance to Felicity as her best friend, loyal and protective. Their relationship was a "will they, won't they" situation and I'm curious to see how it unfolds throughout the series.

“You’ve never been at ease with yourself just as you are. When will you find your own joy and not bake it for others?”

Wonderful themes evolved throughout the story like the importance of embracing one's heritage and finding a place to belong. The issue of destiny and fate rose to the forefront, asking the question of how much control anyone can have over the future course of events. I loved how magical realism was incorporated into the story, especially with the way Whiskers, the seemingly charmed rabbit, came into the picture.

While there were many twists and turns woven into the plot, the final resolution wasn't difficult to figure out and I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying. However, I loved the extra little goodies at the end, especially the fortune cookie recipe and the floral tips. Overall, I enjoyed reading this story and I look forward to the next installment.

“It’s as simple as a recipe. You only need to follow the right steps to create a beautiful life.”

* Special thanks to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Quotes subject to change at time of publication. Available February 20, 2024. *

When a man is killed after eating one of Felicity Jin's delicious and charmed fortune cookies, she finds herself a murder suspect and a target at the same time! It's a mystery full of twists and turns, with a little paranormal, that I enjoyed.

The supporting characters were lovable and the relationship between Jin and her family and friends was
relatable and sweet. An overall good start to a fun series!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Ill-Fated Fortune is the nicely done first book in Jennifer Chow’s Magical Fortune Cookie cozy mystery series. This series has a wonderful set up – Felicity Jin and her mother work together in a magical bakery. Well, the bakery itself isn’t magical but Felicity and her mother both have magical powers that they use to bake goods that make people happy. While I love the magical part of the story (including a magical bunny!) what I really loved about this book is Felicity herself. While she is close to her mother and loves working in the bakery, she doubts herself at time and is just starting to come into her own as she discovers her magic through baking fortune cookies. It is fun reading as Felicity grows throughout the course of this book and will be fun to read and watch as she grows more in future books in the series. The mystery is also well done – a rival fortune cookie maker is found dead behind the factory and Felicity is a chief suspect because she predicted his death in a fortune cookie fortune. This gives her a legitimate excuse to investigate the murder (with the help of her best friend Kelvin) – there are just the right number of suspects to keep readers guessing as to who the killer is. All in all a great first book in what looks to be a good series.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

This first mystery in the Magical Fortune Cookie series was an enjoyable series debut. Sleuth Felicity Jin (also known as Alissa), a baker in her family's magical bake shop in Pixie, California, near Fresno.

While the book started a bit slowly for me, it soon picked up. I really liked the main character (Alissa), as well as her mother and her best friend, florist Kelvin.

I think this series shows a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to reading new installments in the series.

One gripe I had, though not a major one, is that there were so few suspects to consider. Enjoyable nonetheless.