Cooking Up Magick Book Review

HL Bernabe’s *Cooking Up Magick*, the first book in *The Dell Chronicles*, follows Paisley, a halfling who leaves her family’s inn to seek new recipes and is drawn into a quest to stop a returned evil overlord. The review finds that the novel’s strongest element is its warm cast and theme of found family, while its cooking, magic and romance do not receive enough development to fully realise the story.

Paisley’s compassion and courage help her bond with her companions, including a Half-Orc love interest, and her emerging magic lets her heal, protect and connect with them. Cooking initially motivates her journey but fades as the larger conflict and her powers take over; the review also says the fantasy setting lacks detail. It gives the book a score of 6.