The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: A Cake of Cherries and Charm

Series: Enchanted Confections #8 (standalone within the series)

Author: Brittany Fichter

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Retelling

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Six cups of powdered sugar.

A country girl out of her element.

And a determined troll out to avenge her brother.

Rosie was happy with her mother and twin sister and their country life. But after she and her sister broke a prince’s spell, her sister fell in love with the prince, who then whisked them away to his family’s castle.

Rosie knows she should be grateful… but surviving catty court politics might be more than this resilient country girl can handle. So she throws herself into the one wedding task she knows how to do–baking the perfect wedding cake for her sister’s big day.

Unfortunately, even this is complicated when a spiteful troll appears, determined to ruin the royal wedding. And to complicate matters further, Rosie’s future brother-in-law’s big brother, the crown prince himself, seems far too interested in her cake for comfort. Why else would the future king look her way?

Can Rosie discover the recipe to a happy royal life? Or is she doomed to feel out of place forever? – summary from Goodreads

*I received an ARC from the author, and all reviews are my own.

A Cake of Cherries and Charm is a cozy retelling of Snow White and Rose Red with romance, court politics, and toll hijinks!

This book was so much fun and I adored the romance! I am not super familiar with the story of Snow White and Rose Red, and this book really expanded on this story. One of the things that I really liked was that the author provided an overview of the original tale in the beginning of the story. It helped me get a better feel for the book and the original story.

The characters were amazing! I loved all the different characters, except for Marianne and her mother. They were awful, but I do hope to read Marianne’s story in the future. I loved Rose and Snow! They were wonderful characters, and I loved their sisterly bond. While Snow wasn’t in the story too much, I did enjoy the parts she was in, and how protective she was over her sister.

I loved Rose, too! She was determined and kind. She also had small-town vibes, which I loved. I live in a small town, and I enjoyed how much Rose loved her town. She was also very protective and caring towards her family, and I loved watching that protection expand to others.

Jonathan was a wonderful character! He was a little stoic at times, but he grew into someone who deeply cared for others. I loved the quiet, gentle ways he looked out for Rose; it was incredibly sweet. He also had to deal with his responsibilities as the crown prince, which added some nice depth to the story.

I loved the sibling relationships in this book. The focus was definitely more on Snow and Rose, but I loved Jonathan and Frederick’s relationship. Truly we didn’t get too much of them, but what we did get was wonderful. I love these positive sibling relationships!

I loved all the political drama. It wasn’t too much, but it was just the right amount of political intrigue for me. I loved that this was included in a romance book. It added nice complications and really guided the story. The King and Queen were interesting characters, though not ones I loved. The Queen, especially, didn’t help Rose with her issues with the court.

The troll was a fun aspect of the story. She was an interesting character that caused a lot of issues but really helped out at the end. I loved the hijinks and the shenanigans!

The romance was so sweet! I loved Rose and Jonathan together. It was commoner x royalty, and that was a big part of the story. They balanced each other nicely, and both tried aspects of the other’s life. They just had such a nice balance!

A Cake of Cherries and Charm is a cozy retelling with commoner x royalty, troll hijinks, and a sweet romance!

A Cake of Cherries and Charm will be released on June 26, 2026.