Princesses & Pastries (Falhaven Castle #1)
by Laura Greenwood
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
A returning baker means that Princess Evie can spend even more time making pastries.Princess Evie loves nothing more than to head down to the castle’s kitchens to bake alongside her miniature dragon, and now she’s trying to perfect a complicated pastry.
When her best friend returns after five years away from Falhaven Castle, Evie realises she might have the answer to her baking problems.
But after being apart for so long, things have changed between Evie and Nate, and they need to discover if they still have what it takes to bake together.
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Princesses & Pastries is book one in the Falhaven Castle series, a cozy fantasy with a baking dragon, a princess who wants to be in the kitchen over the throne room, and the baker who wants to be there with her. There is a slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance, with a pinch of steam in later books, and an ace heroine.
My Review
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
I really enjoyed the prequel novella for this series and was so excited to read more about Evie and Nate in this first book in the series. This book takes place 5 years after the prequel and Nate is back for a visit after 5 years of being away and Evie is excited to catch up with her best friend and bake with him again. This book deals with them reconnecting and Evie slowly realizing she has feelings for him. There is also a bittersweet part as they know Nate will leave again for his job.
I really enjoyed this story. Evie is neurodivergent and she felt very relatable and realistic to me. It could be a bit tough to read about her sometimes, especially the scenes where she had to do things that made her very uncomfortable as I know that feeling and it’s so hard to deal with it. I liked the scenes were she could be herself and I liked how Nate liked her for who she was and even did things specifically to make things easier for her.
I liked Evie and Nate together, it’s clear how close they are and I look forward to seeing them grow even closer. There are so many sweet scenes between them. And I liked reading about all the baking they do together. It was fun how they make some Dutch pastries in this book as that isn’t something I see often in books. There is a slight bit of politics in this one and I think that will play a bigger role later on.
To summarize: This was a great first book in this series. I liked Evie as a main character, she’s neurodivergent and I found her relatable and realistic. Although some scenes were she struggles and has to do things that make her uncomfortable could be tough to read as I know how hard that is. I really liked Evie and Nate together. They are so cute together with plenty of sweet scenes and I like how clear it is how close they are. I look forward to their romance developing. The baking element was fun and I liked reading about all the things they baked and there are some Dutch food they make in this one. There is a hint of politics and I think that will play a bigger role in future books. I look forward to the next book in the series.
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