Cozy Reading Room

I absolutely adored this book! I finished it in less than a day before even realising it. It was such a cozy, funny and sweet story and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

Arleta is a human that loves to bake, but due to having no magic the people of Adenashire don’t appreciate her culinary skills as much as they should. Those without magic are generally discriminated against and treated as lesser than those who do have magic.
One day, she receives an invite to a prestigious Elven baking competition. There’s no rule against humans entering, but she knows that participating whilst being magicless is likely to work against her and she’ll have to work twice as hard to prove herself compared to anyone else in the competition.

This was such a lovely story of self-discovery, beating the odds, the sweetest romance, found family and wonderful friendships.

The writing was so bubbly and easy to read and it was such a joy to read something that was more lighthearted and the stakes were high but not totally world ending!
Arleta was such a sweet and loveable character, she expresses a lot of self-doubt, but thanks to the help of her friends and family she begins to believe in herself and her baking abilities and it was wonderful to see her surrounded by people that would constantly uplift her and validate her feelings.

Doli and Jez were such lovely characters and they had such life and vibrancy to them. They’re a real sunshine/grumpy combo, but I really think it worked well and their interactions with each other and other people were so fun to read!

The romance was very soft and flowery and I couldn’t stop smiling any time Theo and Arleta would talk. Theo believes in Arleta and supports her endlessly, he’s constantly encouraging her and reassuring her of her skill and pushing her the never give up and keep chasing her dreams. He respects her boundaries and Arleta often refers to him as a complete gentleman and its so true!

My only complaint is I wish there was more magic! Arleta is the only one in the competition that bakes without magic, but we never really see any of the other contestants use their magic on their creations. I really would have loved to see the magic element be incorprated with the baking, I think that could have been so much fun!