REVIEW: The Baker and the Kraken by Ellie Ash (Celebrations with Mythical Mates #1)

THE BAKER AND THE KRAKEN

Celebrations with Mythical Mates - Book One

by Ellie Ash

Release Date: September 11, 2026

Review

A reminder that hate and fear are taught and a good friend can snap you out of such ridiculousness.

Adam is a witch and a baker who is talented but also extremely clumsy! Which is definitely not helped by the hot guy watching him across the room.

Calder immediately knows who Adam is to him, but I love that he courts him, that it isn’t an insta-love relationship. They took their time to fall in love, time for Adam to believe someone could love every clumsy inch of him.

It’s a really cute story and a lot of fun.

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Synopsis

Can a happily ever after start with a faceful of cake?

Adam

At 32, it’s safe to say that Adam isn’t growing out of his awkward and accident-prone phase. Unbreakable charms and mending spells only help so much, and past experience has taught him that no one wants to put up with him for long. He loves his job at the bakery and the friends he’s made there, but he’s given up on the thought of anything more. Besides, he’s a witch who doesn’t want a familiar, and he certainly doesn’t need a shifter familiar bond. That’s not ever going to change.

Calder

Calder has been waiting for centuries to find his mate. But he’s a shifter with patience, so he’s sure he can get past the defenses of the adorable witch who’s the clumsiest and most charming person Calder has ever met. But if Adam doesn’t believe in bonding or connecting to shifters, how’s Calder going to break the news to him that he’s Calder’s fated mate? Is it possible that just this once, the Magic got it wrong?

The Baker and the Kraken is a 42K MM urban fantasy romance novella that starts off the Mythical Mates for the Holidays series. It features a clumsy witch who’s commitment-averse, a patient shifter who’s been waiting for his fated mate for centuries, and a sassy barista who won’t rest until these two are together. It’s low-angst and low-spice.

NOTE: The Baker and the Kraken was first published in the Candy Hearts Anthology, volume 3. This version is expanded to include approximately 17K of additional content that continues where the original left off. (That's 70% more story!) The rest of the content is largely unchanged.

About Ellie Ash

Ellie has had a life-long love affair with books. A proud Canadian, she graduated from university with an English Literature Bachelors and Masters—as well as an avid appreciation for MM romance thanks to all the slash fanfiction she read and wrote. Around 2021, she realized that the kind of MM romance she enjoys was now being traditionally and indie published, and she has not looked back.

From devouring ARCs to betaing and editing while writing in her spare time, Ellie was inspired by a reader and writer conference in 2024 to take the plunge and put some of her own stories out in the world. In her spare time, she reads, writes, plays D&D, and pursues other geeky interests.

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