I absolutely adored this novel! The vibes were so fun, it felt like the Great British Bake-off blended with DnD, and all of the characters were so loveable - a light-hearted and tender cozy fantasy. I really liked how Arleta's confidence grew as the story progressed, and the narrative between her and Theo was interesting and dynamic. This had a lovely found family feel and the importance of having a support network and people who you can call home was a strong theme throughout.

I've seen reviews saying this story has been done before and to that I say, "Sure but never by J. Penner!" I adore any story that involves baking and found family and a competition! I found this to be quite the delightful entry into the cozy fantasy genre and I think anyone looking for a sweet palette cleanser will be pleasantly charmed by this one!

Cozy fantasy has been taking booktok by storm and this was… fine? This book was very cute and relatively well written, sadly it was also literally nothing new. I enjoyed the story in the way I enjoy a lullaby. Three and a half stars and a cautious recommendation

I absolutely devoured The Fellowship of Bakers and Magic! I picked it up last night, and before I knew it, I had finished it by this morning—I just couldn’t put it down. I’ve always loved a cozy read and am still relatively new to fantasy (currently deep in my fairies and elves era), but add food to the mix, and I’m all in. I went in with an open mind, and this book completely won me over. The story was enchanting, the characters felt so real, and every element just worked perfectly. And I especially love when a culinary-theme cozy includes recipes, which I will be trying.

One thing I really appreciated is that it was kept clean. I’m not someone who alludes to spiciness in books, so it was refreshing to fully enjoy the story without that element. It’s one of those books that sticks with you, the kind you keep coming back to, and I can’t wait to dive into more of this author’s work!

This book was a let down.

I was so enchanted by the premise. But then.

Sigh. Let's get into it.

SUMMARY:
Arleta Starstone is a baker living in the small village of Adenashire. She makes her meager living by selling her baked goods at the local market. She has two other names: Negative Nancy and Debbie Downer. Anyway, one day her Gay Orc Dad(love him) enters her into a baking competition in Elf Country aka Langheim - without her knowledge. She is accepted!...What a travesty. This is the worst thing that ever happened to her, apparently.

Goodness.

Informing her of her acceptance is Theo. Theo is an elf who for some reason is just immediately in love with Arleta, and she him. Like, right off the bat. After some complaining and escape attempts from Arleta, Theo manages to get her to go to the Baking Battle. We meet more fun side characters, we do surprisingly little baking to be honest, we get a happily ever after the end.

MY THOUGHTS:
Yo what are these characters. They have little to no personality or depth. Every single thing about them/the world is told directly to us. Not an ounce of subtext in this book.

For example: The main conflict of this book is that Arleta is a human with no magic, and is therefore horribly discriminated against. At least, that is what Arleta tells us. Literally not even once does anyone else seem to care. Like, the market owner is supposed to be super racist against humans. But like he seems to only be upset with her because she is consistently TWO HOURS late to set up her booth. Daily. Like, yeah, I would be mad too.

Theo and Arleta have zero chemistry. Which makes sense, because Theo has the personality of a Live Laugh Love sign. Kind, basic, boring. Also for a romance novel I felt like he was hardly in the book??? Maybe just because he doesn't do a lot when he is there. IDK.

Make Taenya the love interest she and Arleta had way more chemistry lol.

We stan the side characters, who were at least fun. Still entirely one-dimensional, but like at least they had some charm.

THE GOSH DANG ROSEMARY.

Honestly at times this book kinda read like a children's book. The writing was bland and simple. Very little worldbuilding, which was disappointing to me as I was rather interested in the setting. Like, this felt like a YA novel that was more on the 12-14 side than the 17-21 side, ya know?

The sentence structure was weird and confusing at times. It felt choppy and disjointed; sometimes it was hard to know who was talking/thinking about what. The pacing was strange. Despite there being a clear endpoint in the finale of the Baking Battle, it never really felt like we were making progress. Then that endpoint is not the endpoint, because we still have 15% left in the book.

Let this book end omg why is this a slow burn what even is the conflict keeping them apart GOD.

FINAL OPINION:
This made me sad, man. I was so hyped. A fantasy baking competition??? Love, obsessed. But in the end the Baking Battle was somehow hardly used. Each challenge lasted 1-2 pages, and then it was back to the boring romance and contrived conflict. I am so interested in the setting that I am tempted to check out the other books in the series, but I don't think I will after slogging through this book. Who knows.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me an advanced copy of the deluxe edition of this book.

A delightful cozy fantasy romance, where a human baker is entered into a baking competition in hopes of wining the prize money to allow her to open her own bakery. Along the way she slowly comed out of her shell while facing challenges, making friends and even falling in like, maybe even love.

Let us talk about "A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic" by J. Penner.

I'm all for a cozy fantasy read and when you combine my other loves, such as baking, baking competitions, and a whimsical journey, you have a sweet, sugary treat to devour.

Set in the world were all creatures, except for humans, can wield magic, our skeptical female main character Arleta just wants to get through her day, selling her delicious baked goods in order to save money to buy her own bakery in town. What she doesn't expect is her found family entering her into a baking competition without her knowing, resulting in an unexpected visitor upon her doorstep.

From the small town of Adenashire, through the forests toward Langheim, Arleta Starstone and the charming elf Theo, encounter wonderful characters, munching on delicious treats, and experimenting with unique flavors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy for review.

✨ Found Family
✨ Magical creatures
✨ World building
✨ Competitions
✨ He falls first

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🫑
Series: Book 1 of 4

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7306448845
Fable: https://fable.co/review/cc5d92ac-e990-4425-82b8-c99e2e4cce6b/share

It has been quite awhile since I last reviewed an ARC and I’m so glad that this was my foray back into reviewing! This is an incredibly sweet tale of a baker who has let her fears and insecurities get the better of her.

Arleta is an average human, not special like the other races who all have access to magic. She’s not feisty or a warrior. Her parents died when she was a small child, so she is alone in the world. She’s just a baker, trying to make a way for herself in her small town.


But what she doesn’t understand is that she isn’t alone. Even when she tries to freeze them out, the people around her see her and choose her. Even the most perfect and beautiful of them, her soon to be elven friends.

I loved this book for the cozy vibes, chosen family and intentional diversity. There is room for improvement in storytelling, but for a first foray into publishing I think J Penner has done an excellent job. I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

This was cute - unfortunately it wasn’t cute *enough*. Arelta’s self-doubt was so much that it actually detracted from all the other plot points. I was much more invested in the side characters than her. Poor Theo.

I think the main issue I have with the book is it is too short, which really hurts the pacing and what are supposed to be emotional moments. The baking competition doesn't start until over a third of the way through the book. I don't think the end of the book was earned, because I don't think enough time to given to the parts involved with it. This might sound vague, but I don't want to spoil anything.

I did like Arleta learning her own self worth and I liked Theo and their relationship, even if I think the back half could have been balanced better if there had been more to it. But again, that's a problem the book being not very long. I appreciated Arelta, Doli, and Jez's friendship.

Overall, I'm sure this book will work better for other people, but for me, I was kind of disappointed.