Enchanting Confections series review

My review:

I didn’t write the review for A Batch of Bears and Bewitchment as soon as I finished it because I felt it would ruin the spell it gave. First off, the inciting incident starts literally on the first page and from the first page I was sucked in until I was released at the epilogue.  As a villager girl, Bryony doesn’t seem too fancy, but immediately she is put into an arranged marriage with an earl, and she arrives at a dusty, old, cursed castle. But befriending magical creatures *squeal* is only the first part of an entirely new life for her. I wished I could be in her place as I read, caring for an odd but friendly man and cooking in a kitchen alongside fae creatures of all kinds.  I have never read Sarah Carlisle’s books before-- this was my first-- and she surprised me with the sweet romance. I can’t wait to read more of her projects.

(Book blurb below)

Book blurb:

A helping of brownies. A fistful of gremlins. And a sprinkling of love to mend what is broken.

The proudest day of Bryony’s life is the day her father, the village carpenter, is knighted for saving the king. The worst is when she learns the king has a reward for her, too: marriage to a stranger. Not just any stranger, but an earl with a frightening reputation.

Bryony arrives at Aberarth expecting polished floors, bustling servants, and a grand welcome. She’s met with an empty, neglected house and withered fields.

But Bryony isn’t delicate. She’s a village girl with stubborn optimism and capable hands. No servants? A new husband who's too busy making mysterious magical explosions in his study to help with the laundry? Fine. She’ll rebuild Aberarth herself. First step: leave milk on the hearth for the household brownies. Then she'll roll up her sleeves and get to work.

Because Bryony isn’t alone. Brownies, gremlins, dryads, kobolds—the fae have had reason to stay hidden. As Bryony coaxes the estate back to life, old magic stirs. And so does something dangerous and tender between her and the eccentric young earl. But Aberarth’s decay is a warning. Is Bryony the key to waking its true power—or the bait that triggers what’s buried beneath it?

A Batch of Bears and Bewitchment, a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, is a standalone novella, complete with tropes such as arranged marriage, friends to lovers, and villager to countess. It is part of The Enchanting Confections series, a collection of clean and cozy stories guaranteed to delight your sweet tooth.