Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks (Pie-Jinks #0.5)
by Selina J. Eckert
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy/ Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF
Blurb:
When fate comes knocking, feed it pie!Pie witch Reese always played it safe—until she opened a magical bakery. But running a bakery is harder than she expected, and she finds herself one bad week away from going under. When the town announces a baking competition that could save her bakery’s future, she jumps at the chance to rescue her dreams. But then two mischievous autumn sprites show up on her doorstep, demanding pie and determined to find a mate for their prince.
With pressure building for Reese to find the prize-winning dessert, she starts to question every choice she has ever made. And the sprites have their own agenda, involving nothing Reese could have imagined… including turning her house into candy. With time running out, can Reese distract the sprites long enough to save her bakery?
Or will her dreams turn into nothing more than an under-baked pie?
Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks is perfect for fans of Gilmore Girls and Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. It is part of a collection of standalone fairy tale novellas, Seasons of Magic, and is the prequel to the Pie-Jinks contemporary fantasy series, starting with Vanilla Bean Vampire. If you like lighthearted tales, autumn magic, and pie, you will love Selina J. Eckert’s Hansel-and-Gretel-inspired story!
My Review
This was a fun and magical fantasy read that’s perfect for this time of year as it is set during autumn. I liked reading about Reese and her magical bakery. Two sprites are causing mischief as she’s preparing to make a pie for an important contest. There’s a hint of romance as well and a few chapters from the point of view of the autumn fae prince.
Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks was a great introduction to this world. The magical bakery was fun to read about with how themes and emotions could be added to pies. I also liked the addition of how Reese’s hair could turn color based on her emotions. I liked the fantasy and magical vibe of this book with the bogs, magical pies, fae and sprites. I also enjoyed reading about all the pies and baking the magical aspect added a whole new dimension to the baking.
The plot was well paced and kept my attention as I was wondering whether Reese could get everything right for the competition and win. There are a lot of things going wrong and I was wondering how she would resolve everything. The ending was satisfying and wrapped things up well, but also left me eager for more stories, luckily the first few books in the pie jinks series are available already.
To summarize: This was a light, fun and cozy contemporary fantasy book. I enjoyed the autumn vibes and the magical aspects. Reese was an interesting main character and I liked reading about her and her magical bakery. Two autumn sprites cause mischief as she tries to prepare for a competition that can save her struggling bakery and lots of things go wrong. I wanted to keep reading and see how things would get resolved. The ending wraps things up well, but leaves me eager to read more about Reese and her bakery. This was a perfect read to read this time of year and a good fit for my mood with the light and fun atmosphere.
This sounds cute and cozy. It’s been a minute since I’ve read a cozy magic/fantasy book and this sounds like something I would like. Great review, Lola!
Angela @ Simply Angela recently posted…Blame it on the Brontes by Annie Sereno
It really was a cute and cozy read and I had fun reading it.
Fall and baking go together for me. Love the magic and the fae inclusion to the world of the story.
Sophia Rose recently posted…Once Upon a December by Amy Reichert
I really liked the combination of fall and baking too. And the magic and fae really added something to the book.
The title is too fun. Sounds pretty good.
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