A nice bakery-theme cozy mystery with an interesting premise. The Jin family of bakers have passed down magical baking skills which are activated by the love they put into mixing the ingredients for their specialties. Happy, positive thoughts make Mom’s pastries a delight! Protagonist, Felicity ‘Lissa’ Jin’s magic is beginning; however, it comes and goes as she experiments in making fortune cookies.

When a corpse is discovered in the dumpster behind the bakery; a handwritten fortune is found in the victim’s pocket making Lissa the main suspect. Lissa’s best friend, florist owner, Kelvin, does his best to protect Lissa and her Mom, and help Lissa try to find the real killer. The cast of this story is small which makes the characters easier to remember, but not many suspects to choose from.

My favorite characters were Alma, Lissa’s godmother, who is rather mysterious. Also, I loved the ‘magical’ bunny, Whiskers, who showed up on a moonlit night, and they kept him!

The story has good bones. I thought the pacing could be faster. I’m eager to see character growth in the next story. ILL-FATED FORTUNE was a 3.5 Star read for me; rounded up to 4 Stars.

I honestly read and reviewed an unedited digital copy provided by NetGalley and Minotaur/St. Martins Press. All opinions are my own.

I started reading this book and immediately went oh oh. It opened exactly the same as another I just finished and wasn’t so good. Fortunately I found the book much more enjoyable. I liked the characters, and their philosophy of joy. It also focused on the investigation. Although it did go the circles for a while in the middle. I think the handling of the bad guy is very well done. #Ill-FatedFortune #NetGalley

This is book #1 in a new cozy mystery series. Felicity helped her mom in her magical bakery. She likes following the traditional menu items, but stumbles upon the idea of handmade fortune cookies. They become a very popular item - she can actually predict the future with the fortunes. Unfortunately one of the fortunes comes true when she forecasts their death. So the police look at her as suspect #1.....she has to work hard to clear her name and solve the murder.

A fantastic read. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a really enjoyable read! I loved the bakery setting, the magical elements, and the mystery. Whiskers might have been my favorite and I look forward to getting to see more of the enigmatic and mysterious Alma. I would have liked to have seen more of a balance in the relationship between Kelvin and Felicity, because it felt like he was always dropping everything to do and be everything for her, but there wasn’t much give back. I wished there was a bit of humor sprinkled into the story to make it a bit lighter, as that’s what I’ve come to expect with cozy mysteries.

Still, I really enjoyed it and even my 9-year old son was interested in it after reading a bit of it over my shoulder. He was enamored of the idea of magical fortune cookies. It was PG enough that if he wants to read it, I will let him, which is nice too. It’s a good, clean, wholesome mystery.

Now, I really need some fortune cookies! Good thing the book comes with a recipe for making them at the end!

#IllFatedFortune #NetGalley is the first in a new series featuring Felicity Jin.
Felicity and her mom work in the family bakery, where her mom creates delicious treats.
Her mother is able to transfer joy into her baked goods, but it seems Felicity is lacking that ability, until a fortune cookie creation brings sudden death to a resident.
Was it a fluke accident or does she have the same abilities as her mom?
Felicity is determined to find the answers with the help of her best friend.
I enjoyed the story, but I wish there would have been more characters involved. The story revolves around the 3 main characters, but the addition of others would have brought the book to life.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book, this has a lot of potential to be a great series.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

This mystery was very well thought out. The plot twist was perfectly done. I really enjoyed the food aspect of the story. I finished this book in a day and really enjoyed it.

An excellent start to a new series. Felicity Jin may have taken years to find her magical touch with baking, but when it came, it came with complications. Were her personalized fortunes for the fortune cookies fate or simply luck. They do seem to be magical, especially in that she isn't even aware of what she's written. At first, they seem to be lucky. A man she's predicted would find fortune stumbles and finds $50. Another scratches off a winning lottery ticket after being told she'd be lucky. But, it's the ill-fated one that leaves Felicity shaken. An oddly worded fortune slip is found in a dead man's pocket, one that is spooky in that it is close to predicting the cause of death. That puts Felicity at the top of the suspect list and she is determined to prove her innocence, not to mention figure out what is behind her magical personalized fortunes. Needless to say, she is not Detective Sun's favorite person.

I thoroughly enjoyed this new series. The author didn't make the mistake of introducing us to a flood of new characters but kept it basically to three main characters and some that may or may not make subsequent appearances. Felicity, of course, is the focus. She begins the story rather hesitant, having never found her place in the Jim family. And, there is magic, even if it's never fully explained at this point, even if only the magic of putting your love of baking into each individual treat. Felicity finds her niche with fortune cookies. Her mom is well known for her wonderful sweet treats, all made with a dose of the "special ingredient". The third cog in the wheel is best friend since childhood Kelvin, who runs the flower shop practically next door. He's the type who sees the good in everyone, even those who might be suspects, but backs Felicity 150%. I'll be curious to see if their relationship remains "best-friends" or eventually evolves into something else. One customer, Sally, stood out, so hopefully she'll be a regular and give Felicity, who seems to have few friends other than Kelvin, another friend to bounce ideas off of. They're all quite likable and I look forward to getting to know them better.

The plot moves along relatively smoothly although Felicity's worries about her "magic" ability with fortunes means she's lost in her mind occasionally, so to speak. She's spunky, that's for sure, and doesn't hesitate to rush into where danger might lurk. I give her kudos for having backup most of the time, however, backup that proves helpful. As for the cultural aspects, her heritage, while Felicity does reveal she was often shunned and even bullied as a child due to not looking like everyone else, she has hardly let that hold her back. I did want to slap one of the local cops, however, for attitude, albeit not directly toward Felicity. Even worse, against Detective Sun who we learn lost her own mother nearly a decade before and seems to respect Felicity's bond with her own. And, oh, there's an adorable rabbit called Whiskers who may or may not be magical. Rabbits are rather like that.

As for the mystery, I did have an inkling of whodunit but wasn't quite sure until the big reveal, so it kept my attention. Who knew making fortune cookies could be so cut-throat? I should also note that I was astonished at the description of how factory made cookies were made as opposed to Felicity's family's personalized, hands-on touch....okay.....of magic. Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress - #StMartin'sPaperbacks for introducing me to Felicity and this delightful new series. I look forward to keeping up with Felicity's growth as both a sleuth and baker, not to mention person, as the series goes along.

A new cozy series with a Magical Baker!


Felicity Jin has been working in their magical bakery in Pixie, California since she was a child. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have any magic herself, so it’s the cash register for her.
Her mom’s pineapple buns are legendary and bring happiness to those that are lucky enough to get one.


When Felicity tries her hand at making fortune cookies, she finds her magic. The writing inside seems to magically appear and soon she is making tons. But one customer’s fortune may have resulted in his murder!


Obviously, the police are highly suspicious of the baker, and she’s going to have to pull out all of the luck she can find to get her out of this!

With engaging characters, and delicious sounding treats, this is sure to be a winner!

Netgalley/ St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur February 20, 2024

Kindle Copy for Review from Net Galley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

On this new cozy series, we meet Felicity who grew up helping in her mother’s magical bakery shop. She is hesitant about trying new ideas until one day when something goes wrong where she ends up conjuring up handmade fortune cookies.

They become so popular that she ends up predicting their fortune. But reality strikes when one of the cookies forecast their death and the police look at her as a suspect. Will she be able to solve a murder to save her own fortune?

An exciting new cozy series to enjoy.