Pearl & the Baker by Sienna Peake: Book Review

Details

• Genre: Historical fiction
• Series: Once Upon a Wood (Book #1)
• Length: 91 pages (Kindle edition)
• Publication Date: January 23, 2025

Tropes

• Retelling
• Secret identity

My Rating

Book Description

“A girl. A baker. A cottage in the woods.

Pearl Hartley is determined to protect her brother from being sent away, even if that means fleeing into the forest by night.

Rowan Barrington wants nothing more than to work peacefully as a baker deep in the woods, forgetting his painful past.

When an accident leads Pearl to Rowan’s doorstep, will they discover they no longer have to struggle alone?”

— from Goodreads

My Review

To protect her young brother from their stepmother’s machinations, Pearl Hartley flees her home and unexpectedly stumbles upon Rowan Barrington and his aunt’s cottage. What starts as a temporary shelter, begins to feel more and more like home. However, both Rowan’s and Pearl’s pasts soon come knocking.

A lot of retellings are based on the more common fairy tales (Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, etc.). So it was unique to read a Hansel and Gretel retelling. 

I’m not really an outdoorsy person, but Pearl’s love of the forest was contagious. 

Henry was a sweet kid, who loves the forest (especially the frogs and toads) just as much as his sister does.

Rowan is one of my favorite MMCs. A gentleman who gave up his comfortable lifestyle and became a baker, how could I resist 😉

I also loved all the descriptions of the beautiful forest and mouthwatering baked goods.

Favorite Moments

🍪 spiced biscuits
🍞 almost falling down the stairs
🍪 carrying down the stairs
🍞 proposal 
🍪 epilogue

Favorite Quotes

“‘There is no young lady interested in an eccentric gentleman-turned baker living out in the forest with his elderly aunt.’

Aunt Agnes huffed and tossed him a saucy glare. ‘You needn’t have added that last term….’“

Sienna Peake

“Rowan shook his head and chuckled. There was no stopping Aunt Agnes when it came to dreams of love and matrimony….but, truly he had no notion of prospects for himself. He was far better suited to buns and biscuits.“

Sienna Peake

“One of the only good things about Georgina entering her life had been the realization that small tasks, done well, brought joy….[Pearl] still recalled the first time she’d finished beating dust from the parlor rug. Her arms had burned with the exercise, and a cloud of dust had surrounded her, yet she’d been grinning. Such simple labor brought a vigor to life that much of the upper-class might never know.“

Sienna Peake

“When people bit into one of his biscuits or licked their lips after tasting a hot, sticky bun, their looks and sounds of pleasure filled Rowan with a deep satisfaction. His work brought people joy. And it brought him joy as well.“

Sienna Peake

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