I really enjoyed this book. It’s somewhat of a coming of age story where Lissa is trying to find her place within the family bakery.

What I really liked was the relatable main characters that you could imagine meeting on the street. This is a feel good story about a family that could be any one of us.

I can’t wait to see what Lissa and Kelvin get into in the next book or how that relationship develops.

Thanks NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy for my honest opinion.

An enjoyable read with a connection between mother and daughter. The mystery took different turns, it was sometimes hard to have a sense of who could have done it.
As one who enjoys baking, the thought that your emotions play out in the treats you bake is an interesting concept.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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

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, including puffy pineapple buns and creamy egg tarts, bring instant joy to all who consume them. Felicity has always been hesitant in the kitchen herself 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 want to go to there! I guess reading about it is just as good... Possibly. Anyone have some delicious and enchanted baked treats for me to nom on while I read?

ILL-FATED FORTUNE is the first book in the brand-new Magical Fortune Cookie Mysteries by Jennifer J. Chow. And what a great start it is! Filled with tight-knit family, an adorable bunny, magical bakery items and fortune cookies, and murder, the author brings the story to life. Living and working with her mother at their bakery in Pixie, central California, protagonist Felicity Jin has self-doubts about fitting in. Her mother has the magical ability to bake joy into her pastries (like pineapple buns!), as did her maternal female ancestors. And somehow, that ability seems to have skipped Felicity until now. Aside from being a murder mystery, Ill-Fated Fortune is about family, friends, and discovering yourself. I appreciated the ability to get to know the core characters without being overwhelmed by a huge number of them, as sometimes happens with a first in a new series. Besides Felicity, there’s her sweet and caring mom, her best friend, florist Kelvin, and her maybe magical bunny, Whiskers. There are some side characters who I hope show up as featured characters in future books too, namely Detective Sun.

As “luck” would have it, Felicity’s magical powers finally show up in the form of baking fortune cookies and when her personalized fortune predicts a customer’s death shortly before it occurs, Felicity becomes the primary suspect. With Kelvin as her sidekick, she investigates who might have wanted the Fortune Cookie King dead and how he ended up in the dumpster behind her bakery. The author provides a lot of compelling reasons Felicity needs to get involved and I liked how she (mostly) never did anything rash or ran headlong into danger. As it turns out, there were lots of suspects who had issues with the Fortune Cookie King. The plot was nicely paced between the clues and life at the bakery. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the next in the series!

I’m always happy to find recipes at the back of cozy mysteries, but Ms. Chow goes a step or two further. She’s included Felicity’s recipe for fortune cookies, flower bouquet tips from Kelvin, and a candle craft from her godmother, for the reader to try at home.

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the ARC of this book. all opinions are my own.
Due to the current SMP boycott, I will not post my thoughts on this story until the concerns are addressed. At that time, I will be happy to post my full review.

Felicity and her mom run a family bakery. While her mother is able to transfer her happiness into
her baked goods, Felicity doesn't have the touch. She decides to try her luck with fortune cookies
and seems to have found what works for her. Unfortunately. a customer is killed after eating one of her
fortune cookies, making Felicity a possible suspect. The dead man was an owner of a fortune cookie'
factory that supplied a number of businesses. Felicity along with her friend Kelvin set out to uncover
who wanted the man dead. Enjoyable first book of a new series.
#IllFatedFortune #NetGalley

This book was delightful! I had a great time with Felicity and Kelvin. It was a nice palette cleanser and had a pretty good mystery. It was a little easy to solve but it was fun nonetheless. This is a solid start for this new mystery series.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and Jennifer J. Chow for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

A nice bakery-theme cozy mystery with an interesting premise. The Jin family of bakers have passed down magical baking skills which are activated by the love they put into mixing the ingredients for their specialties. Happy, positive thoughts make Mom’s pastries a delight! Protagonist, Felicity ‘Lissa’ Jin’s magic is beginning; however, it comes and goes as she experiments in making fortune cookies.

When a corpse is discovered in the dumpster behind the bakery; a handwritten fortune is found in the victim’s pocket making Lissa the main suspect. Lissa’s best friend, florist owner, Kelvin, does his best to protect Lissa and her Mom, and help Lissa try to find the real killer. The cast of this story is small which makes the characters easier to remember, but not many suspects to choose from.

My favorite characters were Alma, Lissa’s godmother, who is rather mysterious. Also, I loved the ‘magical’ bunny, Whiskers, who showed up on a moonlit night, and they kept him!

The story has good bones. I thought the pacing could be faster. I’m eager to see character growth in the next story. ILL-FATED FORTUNE was a 3.5 Star read for me; rounded up to 4 Stars.

I honestly read and reviewed an unedited digital copy provided by NetGalley and Minotaur/St. Martins Press. All opinions are my own.

I started reading this book and immediately went oh oh. It opened exactly the same as another I just finished and wasn’t so good. Fortunately I found the book much more enjoyable. I liked the characters, and their philosophy of joy. It also focused on the investigation. Although it did go the circles for a while in the middle. I think the handling of the bad guy is very well done. #Ill-FatedFortune #NetGalley

This is book #1 in a new cozy mystery series. Felicity helped her mom in her magical bakery. She likes following the traditional menu items, but stumbles upon the idea of handmade fortune cookies. They become a very popular item - she can actually predict the future with the fortunes. Unfortunately one of the fortunes comes true when she forecasts their death. So the police look at her as suspect #1.....she has to work hard to clear her name and solve the murder.

A fantastic read. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a really enjoyable read! I loved the bakery setting, the magical elements, and the mystery. Whiskers might have been my favorite and I look forward to getting to see more of the enigmatic and mysterious Alma. I would have liked to have seen more of a balance in the relationship between Kelvin and Felicity, because it felt like he was always dropping everything to do and be everything for her, but there wasn’t much give back. I wished there was a bit of humor sprinkled into the story to make it a bit lighter, as that’s what I’ve come to expect with cozy mysteries.

Still, I really enjoyed it and even my 9-year old son was interested in it after reading a bit of it over my shoulder. He was enamored of the idea of magical fortune cookies. It was PG enough that if he wants to read it, I will let him, which is nice too. It’s a good, clean, wholesome mystery.

Now, I really need some fortune cookies! Good thing the book comes with a recipe for making them at the end!

#IllFatedFortune #NetGalley is the first in a new series featuring Felicity Jin.
Felicity and her mom work in the family bakery, where her mom creates delicious treats.
Her mother is able to transfer joy into her baked goods, but it seems Felicity is lacking that ability, until a fortune cookie creation brings sudden death to a resident.
Was it a fluke accident or does she have the same abilities as her mom?
Felicity is determined to find the answers with the help of her best friend.
I enjoyed the story, but I wish there would have been more characters involved. The story revolves around the 3 main characters, but the addition of others would have brought the book to life.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book, this has a lot of potential to be a great series.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

This mystery was very well thought out. The plot twist was perfectly done. I really enjoyed the food aspect of the story. I finished this book in a day and really enjoyed it.

An excellent start to a new series. Felicity Jin may have taken years to find her magical touch with baking, but when it came, it came with complications. Were her personalized fortunes for the fortune cookies fate or simply luck. They do seem to be magical, especially in that she isn't even aware of what she's written. At first, they seem to be lucky. A man she's predicted would find fortune stumbles and finds $50. Another scratches off a winning lottery ticket after being told she'd be lucky. But, it's the ill-fated one that leaves Felicity shaken. An oddly worded fortune slip is found in a dead man's pocket, one that is spooky in that it is close to predicting the cause of death. That puts Felicity at the top of the suspect list and she is determined to prove her innocence, not to mention figure out what is behind her magical personalized fortunes. Needless to say, she is not Detective Sun's favorite person.

I thoroughly enjoyed this new series. The author didn't make the mistake of introducing us to a flood of new characters but kept it basically to three main characters and some that may or may not make subsequent appearances. Felicity, of course, is the focus. She begins the story rather hesitant, having never found her place in the Jim family. And, there is magic, even if it's never fully explained at this point, even if only the magic of putting your love of baking into each individual treat. Felicity finds her niche with fortune cookies. Her mom is well known for her wonderful sweet treats, all made with a dose of the "special ingredient". The third cog in the wheel is best friend since childhood Kelvin, who runs the flower shop practically next door. He's the type who sees the good in everyone, even those who might be suspects, but backs Felicity 150%. I'll be curious to see if their relationship remains "best-friends" or eventually evolves into something else. One customer, Sally, stood out, so hopefully she'll be a regular and give Felicity, who seems to have few friends other than Kelvin, another friend to bounce ideas off of. They're all quite likable and I look forward to getting to know them better.

The plot moves along relatively smoothly although Felicity's worries about her "magic" ability with fortunes means she's lost in her mind occasionally, so to speak. She's spunky, that's for sure, and doesn't hesitate to rush into where danger might lurk. I give her kudos for having backup most of the time, however, backup that proves helpful. As for the cultural aspects, her heritage, while Felicity does reveal she was often shunned and even bullied as a child due to not looking like everyone else, she has hardly let that hold her back. I did want to slap one of the local cops, however, for attitude, albeit not directly toward Felicity. Even worse, against Detective Sun who we learn lost her own mother nearly a decade before and seems to respect Felicity's bond with her own. And, oh, there's an adorable rabbit called Whiskers who may or may not be magical. Rabbits are rather like that.

As for the mystery, I did have an inkling of whodunit but wasn't quite sure until the big reveal, so it kept my attention. Who knew making fortune cookies could be so cut-throat? I should also note that I was astonished at the description of how factory made cookies were made as opposed to Felicity's family's personalized, hands-on touch....okay.....of magic. Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress - #StMartin'sPaperbacks for introducing me to Felicity and this delightful new series. I look forward to keeping up with Felicity's growth as both a sleuth and baker, not to mention person, as the series goes along.

A new cozy series with a Magical Baker!


Felicity Jin has been working in their magical bakery in Pixie, California since she was a child. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have any magic herself, so it’s the cash register for her.
Her mom’s pineapple buns are legendary and bring happiness to those that are lucky enough to get one.


When Felicity tries her hand at making fortune cookies, she finds her magic. The writing inside seems to magically appear and soon she is making tons. But one customer’s fortune may have resulted in his murder!


Obviously, the police are highly suspicious of the baker, and she’s going to have to pull out all of the luck she can find to get her out of this!

With engaging characters, and delicious sounding treats, this is sure to be a winner!

Netgalley/ St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur February 20, 2024

Kindle Copy for Review from Net Galley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

On this new cozy series, we meet Felicity who grew up helping in her mother’s magical bakery shop. She is hesitant about trying new ideas until one day when something goes wrong where she ends up conjuring up handmade fortune cookies.

They become so popular that she ends up predicting their fortune. But reality strikes when one of the cookies forecast their death and the police look at her as a suspect. Will she be able to solve a murder to save her own fortune?

An exciting new cozy series to enjoy.