Arleta Starstone adores baking, but she’ll admit that she’s just scraping by selling her wares thanks to the fact that she’s magicless. When her neighbor enters her in the Langheim Baking Battle, Arleta doesn’t plan on actually going. But between her neighbors and the elf who comes to tell her she’s been selected, Arleta finds herself convinced. Armed with only her baking skills, Arleta will take on the competition, find some new friends, and even maybe fall in love.
I really wanted to like this more than I did. The concept is great, and it’s an interesting world. But Arleta was a frustrating main character for me, and it took me forever to get into the story. I think the reader is supposed to find Arleta sympathetic, but I just found her rather annoying and wanted to shake her several times. However, a lot of the side characters were much more likable, and I did enjoy them. The next two books in the series feature them as the main characters, so that could be good. The romance was also sweet.
However, between the fact that I didn’t really like Arleta and that she was the main character, I found this a bit of a slog. I also found the ending ultimately not that satisfying. It’s a light, quick read, and I think it would probably work for a lot of people. I do plan on giving the next book in the series a chance because like I said, this had so much potential. Two out of five stars.
CBR 16 Bingo – Games: A baking competition is at the center of the story.