Desserts & Dragons

Everdorne #1

by Bo Huffman

Legends & Lattes meets the Great British Bake Off in this cozy fantasy book.

Watch the Royal Bake Off…
Welcome to the kingdom of Everdorne, where sugar-obsessed dragons tend the fires in the royal palace, and Princess Damora has just gotten engaged. When her head pastry chef suddenly quits, the palace hosts the Royal Bake Off to find a replacement to bake the royal wedding cake.

As the first dwarf to graduate from The Royal Confectionary Apprenticeship, Gregor Brimstone is determined to win. Baking comes easily; performing for the enchanted mirrors placed all around the palace? Not so much. With the eyes of the kingdom upon them, Gregor competes in multiple rounds of confectionary challenges against his best friends. Winning will bring glory, but at what cost?

When a mysterious stranger arrives, it seems his sinister magic might sabotage the competition. Or worse, the royal wedding! It’s up to Gregor and his friends to stop him, but to do so they’ll have to beat him in the Royal Bake Off…

A delectable tale with delicious cakes, a dash of danger, and hilarious culinary mischief. Perfect for fans of Travis Baldree, J Penner, and Terry Pratchett.

Desserts & Dragons is book 1 in the Everdorne series. Each novel in the series can be read as a stand-alone.

Genres: Fantasy, Cozy Fantasy, Cozy, Dragons, Magic, Adult, Fiction

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 22, 2024

About the author

Bo Huffman is a fantasy author who writes funny, cozy stories and is known for her whimsical Everdorne series.
She lives in a cottage in Texas overgrown by roses and overrun by beloved pets. She is always on the hunt for the perfect croissant and the next cup of coffee.
Feel free to connect on social media: @authorbohuffman.

Reviews

[Emily]

Title: Desserts and Dragons
Author: Bo Huffman
Pages: 299
Rating: 5/5

Currently available on kindle unlimited

"Welcome to the kingdom of Everdorne, where sugar-obsessed dragons tend the fires in the royal palace, and Princess Damora has just gotten engaged. When her head pastry chef suddenly quits, the palace hosts the Royal Bake Off to find a replacement to bake the royal wedding cake.…"

I completely forgot to write the review on this book!!! I discovered the author through Instagram and was so intrigued by the description of this book. And look at that cover!!! Bake off, dragons, cosy fantasy! My idea of heaven. It did not disappoint.

This was a short read at only 299 pages and packed a lot of punch with a nod to the way things are turning in regards to privacy, judgement, tax and inflation. (Sugar tax is already a thing here in the UK)

Like most bake offs there are friendships, rivals and reality tv shows of secrecy and gossip. There was even a villain albeit low stakes.

This was a lovely standalone fantasy with an interesting world build that I wish there was more of. There was a potential to go deeper and further in the plot but I still thoroughly enjoyed the escapism of the read. (And the cake that was eaten alongside it)

You'll love this book if you like;
- great British bake off
- cosy fantasy with political undertones
- loyalty and friendship
- low stakes
- an excuse to eat lots of cake
- standalone fantasy

[Leigh]

This is supposed to be a cozy fantasy book about a baking competition and some unlikely friends. Instead, it’s a mess of tangled plot lines and too many characters with not enough personality to help differentiate them.

I did like how Gregor the dwarf was supposed to go to engineering school and instead accidentally got enrolled in baking school instead. I liked some of the different creatures we meet, like the fact that small dragons are used to heat up ovens and that harpies are gossip columnists. This book had its good points, but they were mostly overshadowed by the lack of cohesive plot, character depth and world building.

[Scott]

Sweet and Cozy

This was an Incredible book. It starts off a little slow but it draws you in and once there you will never want to leave. I had so much fun reading this cozy and Sweet book. As someone who enjoys baking shows this just hit the spot for me. Not only do you get a fun little competition but you also get treachery In the background that makes the stakes so much higher. If you love D&D and Cakes you’ll love this book. I highly recomend this to anyone looking for a cozy wholesome book to read. Now I just need a cookbook to go along with It.

[Karen Tankersley]

This story was so much fun! Gregor is a dwarf from a long line of engineers who takes a wrong turn at his first day of college and ends up in the palace kitchens, studying to be a pastry chef. It’s a dream come true for him, as long as he can keep the secret from his family!

Along the way shenanigans ensue. There are bespelled candies, drunken delivery pigeons, dragons that light the fires in the ovens, and one more thing… a royal wedding. Can Gregor and his new friends win the cake baking competition and get a coveted Royal Seal to open up their own business, or is something more sinister afoot?

I really liked the story after the cake baking competition started. It had all the feels of a good reality TV cooking show—alliances, secrets, friendships and rivals, and even a villain. It was set against a fantasy setting, so it used enchanted mirrors to transmit the show to the kingdom. The animals with little tiny mirrored outfits were very funny.

There’s no romance—not even as a minor side plot—although I don’t believe the book needs it. And it’s a stand alone (yay!!). It’s a very cute, quick read.

[Sunny Lovestories]

I was very surprised at this novel. And with how much I read it’s good to be surprised still. I was in the wrong thinking this was a cozy mystery along the lines for YA readers, which it very easily fits in that category of YA , not all magical tales have to be YA only.
So here we are needing a wedding cake and no one to bake but surely in a land of magic and mayhem someone is capable.
From page one we are set in a course for fun but so much much more. Introspection, humility, overcoming bullies, true to yourself, living up to your abilities, doing in the impossible. And if your old friends take a back seat to it all? You make new friends that value you. Gregor is a true role model.

[Barbara]

A fun story with drama as contestants scramble to win the Royal Bake Off and make Princess Damora’s wedding cake. There is magical mirrors that broadcast events. There is also a dwarf baker Gregor Brimstone who wants to win but turns out to be a savior to the kingdom along with his friend Noal. I enjoyed reading this cozy mystery story. This is a new Author to me and I want to read more by her. I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[TT]

Cosy fantasy about baking and dragons, what’s not to like.

[Kassyreadsalot]

Title: Desserts & Dragons

Author: Bo Huffman

Synopsis : Watch the Royal Bake Off…
Welcome to the kingdom of Everdorne, where sugar-obsessed dragons tend the fires in the royal palace, and Princess Damora has just gotten engaged. When her head pastry chef suddenly quits, the palace hosts the Royal Bake Off to find a replacement to bake the royal wedding cake.

As the first dwarf to graduate from The Royal Confectionary Apprenticeship, Gregor Brimstone is determined to win. Baking comes easily; performing for the enchanted mirrors placed all around the palace? Not so much. With the eyes of the kingdom upon them, Gregor competes in multiple rounds of confectionary challenges against his best friends. Winning will bring glory, but at what cost?

When a mysterious stranger arrives, it seems his sinister magic might sabotage the competition. Or worse, the royal wedding! It’s up to Gregor and his friends to stop him, but to do so they’ll have to beat him in the Royal Bake Off…

Review: This was such a cute and cozy book! It made me laugh and made me hungry for some of these pastries! I thought the challenges in it were so fun but I wished that those scenes or moments in the book were longer. Also this was the first time I read a cozy book that brought up allergies for people who can’t eat certain things in their pastries! While Gregor was a great main character I found myself more interested in Ash! The writing style was perfect for this book! I will be continuing this series!

[Mike]

The author, like so many, doesn't know how to use the past perfect tense, and thinks the main city is spelled "capitol" and that "donning" means "wearing". The world seems prefabricated - and anachronistic in places - and as far as I read it's not especially funny for a book that explicitly claims to be humorous. What finally decided me against it, though, was striking the expression "bear the brunt" rendered as "bear the brute."

A lot of people won't care about these issues, and will enjoy it for what it is, a fluffy cosy fantasy about a dwarf baker. But it's a no from me.

[Melissa]

Rommelig

[Kari]

The cooking challenges were the most interesting parts. A fun book.

[Véronique Lessard]

*****BOOK REVIEW*****

Title : Desserts & Dragons
Author : @authorbohuffman

When the royal pastry chef quits, the palace launches a high-stakes Bake Off to find a replacement for Princess Damora’s wedding. Gregor, a talented dwarf baker, is ready to win—until enchanted mirrors meant for public viewing turn out to be spying tools, and a dark sorcerer threatens the entire event.

Baking glory, friendship, and the fate of the kingdom are all on the line.

=====

I must admit that it took me some time to really enjoy the story. However, once the story and the universe were set, I dug in. The author involved "modern" concepts such as food allergies, feminism, social media, and reality shows!

As much as I liked Gregor as main character, I really liked Ash, who really evolved and took its place as a character. The author showed some real writing skills with plots, descriptions and really got the read to plunge head first into this sweet yet realistic fantasy world.

I laughed, I cursed, and enjoyed the deliciousness of the indie publishing. Might I suggest getting a cup of tea (or mead if you wish), with cake while reading this. Believe me, you'll want some !

#bookreview #indiebookreview #cozyfantasy #authorbohuffman #dessertsanddragons #cozyreading

[Luna~]

1.5 stars...

I feel so guilty giving this a bad review, but honestly, I didn’t like it.

I was expecting it to mainly center around the baking competitions, but as soon as we got to the competitions, it just rushed past it and just shared the results and then skipped along. Like…what? I wanted more baking stuff or better challenges. Like in the last challenge, when they were paired up, it showed us like zero teamwork and it was rushed.

I feel like the whole mirror concept took over this whole book, and I was like yeah, yeah we GET IT mirrors basically are phones that you can doomscroll and watch people from, but it just kept coming up over and over again.

Oh yeah and Ash’s crush was the most random thing I’ve ever read. Like there was literally no point. It would’ve been so much better if they implemented it early on and then made her work with him during the competition, but no, she had a crush, wow, and then didn’t work with him and then never talked about him again… What was the point?

There’s also a lot of these like rushed encounter scenes. I think it was at Badger & Bard where they were talking and then about to fight with Gale and the others and then it got all resolved and then they saw Alistair there too and just moved on to go talk to him? And then like in the woods of Mead Monastery, Brimley ran into Elis and Eclin and then left and then immediately ran into Arosco who just HAPPENED to frequent there and told him the right beans to use for the cake…

And on page 155, where Gregor’s like, we need to have Elis on our side in order to get Alistair kicked out. Um…no…you….don’t… Later on, I could see why the author needed Elis in the plot, but in reality, Gregor didn’t really need Elis. There probably could’ve been a better reason to need Elis so he could buy the sleeping candy.

And when Alistair literally got arrested, I couldn’t help feeling like: “Wait—but didn’t THEY just poison all the royal, mirrored animals to sleep and basically blame it on Alistair to catch him on selling illegal, drugged candies?” …heh…whatever…

Gregor just like immediately winning the whole thing was so anticlimactic. And later on in the story, that mirror thing came way too convenient. Like when Mosley just HAPPENED to see a lizard plop on Ash’s shoulder to see her in a dress… And then Helva just HAPPENED to watch a cat’s mirror to see Ash come out of the bathroom as a boy. Felt really forced. And then there was literally no point for Helva to find out because the princess already knew…

AND TELL ME WHY EVERYONE’S REACTION TO ASH BEING A GIRL WAS LIKE BASICALLY THE SAME(except for like Mosley, Gregor, and kinda Celeste). Like Elis, Brimley, and the princess all had that same nonchalant reaction being like, “Yeah, yeah, I already knew… WE COULD TELL.” *winks*

Like, wasn’t Ash supposed to have some suspenseful consequence or something? Wasn’t there supposed to be this like DUN DUN DUNNNN moment? Like, oh no, what’s gonna happen to Ash?

The same with Gregor lying to his parents—there was no consequence for him lying all those years. His parents just showed up and were like, “Awww! Here are your friends! So happy for you!” Like maybe the dad could’ve been disapproving and tried to take Gregor away, but then Gregor’s friends stand up for him, saying like, “Gregor deserves to do what makes him happy!” and some other stuff. And then there could’ve been a little cute moment of changing his dad’s mindset and forgiving—or it even could’ve added more stakes, like, “If you can’t bake a good enough cake for the royal wedding, you’re not staying here!”(since the parents came after he won; or they could’ve come before and he could’ve added stakes for Gregor to win the competition)



Also there were a few mistakes I caught here and there that I couldn’t help but noticing, like little mess-ups on Ash’s gender.

“Ash looked past his shoulder and noticed Alistair approaching as well. He paused, observing from a distance. She looked back at Noal.” —page 146

There were also some grammar/writing mistakes:

“Gregor ran a ringer down the line, recalling the flavors of each instantly as his fingers touched the bins.” I think it was just a typo—(page 177)

“Well, let’s hope the princess sees it that way,” Ash said. getting up.” Instead of period, should be a comma—(page 173)

Also like forgetting a comma in a run-on type sentence, like this:
“When they all left to troupe down to the dining hall for treats and tea Ash went with them, Amrie clinging onto one of her’s and one of Noal’s arms, chattering excitedly the whole way.” (should be comma after tea, page 212)

It didn’t really matter too much, but it kinda made it feel more amateur.

Additionally, the writing style was really, really bland. Sorry! There was lots of telling and not showing, and in the beginning, there was a big info dump on the Luck of the Draw when it could have been sewn in the story gradually. There was also lots of random dialogue or too much dialogue—and yes, there were some okay descriptions, but there were some places that needed descriptions that never got any. Like their dorm—still only know it’s a dorm. Or maybe like a fully fleshed-out description of the kitchen? A lot of times there was very vague descriptions and they were just talking heads.

(heh just wanted to add this lowk weird desc)
“She reached up and pet the massive leaf of a griffin wing plant shading them. She could sense its peace; it was happy here, even though it was inside, and thrived in the cozy dimness.”

right…I sense the leaf’s happiness too…heh…


Like, on describing some of their outfits, the author described the princess’s dress as simple and elegant, and nothing else—LIKE I STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT HER DRESS LOOKS LIKE. The same for like Elis—she wrote something like: “It was his finest clothing, probably bought just for this occasion.” I STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE….

The writing felt very amateur and kinda down-graded the story for me. Also, the POV threw me off. I thought it was going to be Third Person Limited, but then it just started jumping around like Third Person Omniscient, and that did not help the story. It just confused me for a little while and only served the purpose of kinda info-dumping or random narrative, inner-like thoughts on different characters.

Plus, the characters felt very bland. Like, I know we were given strereotypes, like Gregor being grumpy and whatever, and Ash being the opposite in the beginning, but like nothing else. This story, in my opinion, needed lots more character development for it to actually make an impression on me.

I liked the idea of this story, but I think I raised my expectations a little too high. It was all very…bland and 2D.

Before I go, I’ll just add one quote I liked(from Elis of course)…
{page 172}
“Because I want to know where you’re staying! I figured they’d put you in this shabby dorm with the lot of us no matter what you’re hiding in your trousers.”

Oh yeah—and this one:
{page 87}
“Maybe it was the ale, maybe it was the freshness of the graduation, but Gregor felt invincible. He had spent the last two years of his life training for this. He wasn’t about to let a nobody beat him. Gods, is this how Elis felt, all the time? It was amazing!”

~~

[Beware the Bookwyrm]

Quick, initial reaction: This was such a fun story. I loved the characters and the world Huffman created. I can't wait for more books set in this wonderful world!

[Bo Huffman]

Super fun story about a dwarf pastry chef who competes in the Royal Bake Off. A story of friendship and shenanigans.

[Aaron DeMott]

Oh, this was good!
Imagine if Donita K Paul and Graham Elliot had a book baby.

[Sydney Wilder]

What a joyful, humorous, chaotic romp of a book. Desserts & Dragons is genuinely funny - the prologue had me hooked, and I giggled out loud several times while reading this book. It has a big cast of characters, who all have unique stories and quirky traits that make them a very chaotic group of bakers. There's multiple plot threads going on at once, and between the princess with a ton of food allergies, the mini dragons that flood the kingdom like stray cats, and the hilarious smartphone-like spy mirrors, there's tons of whimsy.

In addition, the baking descriptions, along with the science of how it all works, is very in-depth! It's truly impressive how much culinary knowledge the author is able to show off in this book. The Great-British-Baking-Show like competition scenes were the best part.

Plus, the cover is adorable! A must-read for cozy fantasy lovers, especially fans of A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic!

[Marilyn]

I think I may have misunderstood what this book was going to be.

I wouldn’t say it was bad but I wouldn’t say it’s a book that leaves an impression.

Pros
Cute cozy storyline with a happy ending
Gregor was a fun character.
I liked ash but their storyline ending wasn’t explained in the epilogue
Character descriptions were well executed
Gregor POV was always more interesting and fun

Cons
I thought it was going to be like the great British bake off with fun challenges and like over the top cakes with fun exciting flavors. But the challenges and descriptions fell flat.
A lot of characters that weren’t fleshed out or interesting
I got confused when the POV switched around. I wasn’t always sure what was happening.
I also didn’t 100% understand the mirror situation.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Gregor the dwarf goes to the city to attend engineering school, but due to a typo, ends up in baking school.

What I enjoyed:
* The premise was great and I enjoyed Gregor as a MC
* The baking class characters got some personality, but the other entries into the competition really didn't

What could have been better:
* A baking competition that only has two rounds and they randomly team people up for the second round?
* I'm not sure if the whole mirror plot just died out or continued on

[Nicole Aldana]

This was a cozy and enjoyable read overall, but the ending didn’t quite work for me. It felt rushed and had the potential to be much more satisfying. Some plot threads didn’t feel fully resolved before the epilogue, which left me wanting more closure. I also would have loved more depth in some of the main elements of the story—especially the baking competition, which felt like it could have benefited from richer detail. Despite these shortcomings, I still enjoyed the story and found it to be a pleasant, comforting read.

[Pat Akers]

I was looking for some light fantasy reading and was recommended this book. It was that, and also really funny and a lot of fun! It's got a big baking contest that a bunch of chefs who were classmates compete in, and they go from being classmates to competitors and it's full of goofy problems like you'd see in a baking show. This is my first 'cozy fantasy' book and it was well-paced and full of fun characters. I'm looking forward to the next book!

[Mickey B]

I read A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic and that got me into reading a lot of cozy fantasy lately and this one is by far my favorite! Where other books are slow and sweet, this one is about an exciting baking contest that's several rounds and gets harder as the competitors realize the princess has dietary restrictions. I like how technical the author got with baking and how unserious the characters are. And the dragons! Cute but also sort of scary?
My only wish is that there were recipes in it.

[Shelly]

This is a fun, cozy fantasy. Gregor the dwarf “accidentally” ends up becoming a pastry chef apprentice. At the end of his apprenticeship the kingdom is celebrating the Princess’s wedding and Gregor and his friends are entered into a contest to be the Royal Wedding Cake baker. However, there are others in the kingdom who are using this opportunity for nefarious purposes.
The characters in the book are so lovable and fun. The plot is exciting and kept my attention.

[Kara Bayliss]

I loved the characters and the story location. I think the Author had some amazing ideas and a lot of things that they wanted to accomplish, I just think it should have been more than the one book to tell the story. The plots were intriguing and, as I said, the characters were great! I just felt like it got a bit too heavy handed at the end trying to stuff all of it in one story (if that makes any sense). I would definitely read more from this author though.

[D.M. West]

Ok this was adorable.
There is lots of head hoping povs, even within the same paragraph, but it’s mostly able to be overlooked because the story is so entertaining.

I loved all of it - the baking contest, what happened with the mirrors, how dwarves choose their leader, the characters, the dragons - just everything.

This one is right up there on my list of favourite cosy fantasies. And there’s more books set in the world wooo

[Linda]

Cozy Fantasy

Gregor ends up in baking instead on engineering. Since he doesn’t know how to tell his parents, he tells them he is working on bigger, better moats in his letters. Of course, he becomes an excellent baker, but there are challenges and surprises along the way. Because of the cover, I expected more dragon cuteness. There are dragons, but I expected something a bit different.

[Cottage_reads]

This is the perfect cozy read to snuggle up with.

No angst or stress and great to read in between heavier reads.

This book really surprised me and I will definitely read more from this author.

Thank you Booksprout for the ARC.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Annalisa]

I loved this story! Reading it both inspires me to want to bake things and also makes me wish I could taste test all the desserts in this book. I think the dragons are living the life eating all those sweets. I loved the dragons. The kitchen ones sound adorable. I really liked all the characters and getting to know them. The story was really interesting and fun. It was a delightful experience.

[Karen Ing]

This book is as cute as the cover. A baking contest is a front for the king to get all of his subjects to bring enchanted mirrors into their homes so he can spy on them. That premise sounds scary but it's done with such humor and is the sub-plot to a bake-off where friends have to compete against each other. A perfect cozy read.

[Marcie Carroll]

My only qualm is that it's a standalone because I need to know more about these pigeons!! Also, the dragons in this world are so different than any I've read before and I love how this magical society has incorporated them to be helpers.
What a wonderful world to sink into, and dessert descriptions were scrumptious!