The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: A Dash of Ducks and Danger

Series: Enchanted Confections #10

Author: Robyn Sarty

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

A dollop of royal obscurity.
A serving of baking competition.
And a sprinkle of love to sweeten the batch.

Lady Elinor de Montmorel has never objected to marriage in theory — only in practice. After all, being tall, overlooked, and perpetually compared to more “suitable” noblewomen has made her cautious of suitors and weary of her mother’s relentless matchmaking. When one final attempt at securing her future is proposed, Elinor agrees — fully expecting another tedious courtship, and not a prince… or flour-dusted intrigue in the palace kitchens.

Pierre Deux, seventh son of King Etienne and proof that originality was not his family’s strong suit, has spent most of his life unnoticed. But when a royal baking competition is announced in honor of his namesake elder brother, Pierre, Pierre Deux sees his chance to rise. Armed with years of hard-won kitchen experience and a determination no one expects from him, he is ready to prove that he is more than an afterthought.

What neither of them anticipates is sharing baking supplies — or discovering a tiny abandoned duckling, followed swiftly by a very real plot to murder the crown prince. As secrets spill faster than sugar on marble floors, Elinor and Pierre must decide whether they will keep shrinking themselves to fit expectations… or risk everything on a recipe of their own making.

In a palace where appearances matter more than substance, will love rise to the occasion — or collapse like a cracked pavlova? – summary from Goodreads

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

A Dash of Ducks and Danger is an adorable Ugly Duckling retelling with hidden identities, baking competitions, he falls first, and royalty!

This book was absolutely adorable and such a comfort read! I was burnt out from a busy weekend while reading this book, and it was exactly what I needed.

I loved the main character, Elinor! She was so sweet and shy. She also dealt with some body image issues, and I like how it was incorporated into the story. It was well done and meaningful. I also really liked how hard she tried in the baking competition, even though she didn’t really know what she was doing.

I also really enjoyed Pied! It didn’t take me too long to figure out his identity, but I loved his confession scene. He was so sweet and kind, and his backstory was rich and well thought out. His motivations for participating in the baking competition were unique and I liked that while he really liked Elinor, he had goals separate from her.

Elinor and Pied were so cute together! They immediately hit it off and it was adorable! I loved that Pied taught Elinor how to bake and assisted her in the baking competition- those scenes were so fun and cute! One of the things I also really liked was that Pied had liked Elinor for years- it’s just adorable!

There were ducklings! I actually really don’t like birds, but I do love ducks, and ducklings are the best! So, the fact that there were little ducklings wandering in during baking sessions and were quite instrumental in saving a life was absolutely wonderful! These little ducklings were definitely a highlight of the story.

There was also a little bit of a mystery that needed to be solved in the book. The crown prince was being threatened by someone and attacked at the baking competitions. While an important part of the story, it was also a little bit of a background story. It wasn’t something that was focused a lot on in the narration. I think that would have been different had the book been longer. I did like that part of the story and was a little shocked at who the culprit turned out to be.

There were news clippings in the story! From my very limited understanding of Bridgerton, these news stories reminded me of that. They were just small little snippets, complete with headlines, about the baking competition and everything that was going on. It was a super unique and cool addition to a wonderful story!

I do hope that future books come out about the royal family! I can see a book focusing on each of the brothers.

A Dash of Ducks and Danger is a fantastic Ugly Duckling retelling with romance, baking competitions, and mystery!

A Dash of Ducks and Danger releases on July 10, 2026.