Can't Go Wrong With Potatoes
Week 4 of My Cozy Fantasy & Food series
I saved my ultimate favorite for last and I must admit that I am a bit biased about this one (more on that later). But if you love Disney musicals, fairy tales, and humorous characters, then you will love this story too!
If you don’t love musicals, then heed this “DIRE WARNING” 😂:
The Potato Damsel: A Fairy Tale Musical…Of Sorts
“Locked away in her tower, sixteen-year-old, Megan O‘Boyle spends her days gazing out her window and dreaming of a place where the sky’s always blue, where a kind stranger offers a “how do you do?”. A place where she could be somebody grand like the heroes in her books. Somebody her siblings would be proud of. Somewhere she could be anything but useless.
During a birthday visit from her grandmothers, Gráinne and Sofie, a door appears in her tower. A door that had never been there before. Enter the fairy Mairé Annett, puppeteer and purveyor of dreams come true. And she’s come to collect her due for a deal Gráinne made years ago. Desperate to save her grandmother, Megan makes her own deal with the fairy to complete a not-so-simple task. If she succeeds, her grandmother will be freed from her contract. But should she fail, Megan will join her beloved grandmother to spend the rest of their forever after as puppets.
For the first time in five years, Megan O’Boyle will leave her tower and journey North to the Vale of Heroes to save her grandmother, to save herself. To prove herself worthy, and more than just a damsel in distress.Join Megan and her band of misfit friends in Act 1 of this whimsical, cozy-adjacent YA fantasy about finding your self-worth in a world that sets impossible standards.
Features a plus-size heroine, an LGBTQ+ ensemble, found family, and a snarky, dramatic wolf. For ages 12+.”
The author calls this more “cozy-adjacent” fantasy since it has higher stakes and dives into some deeper, heavier emotions and struggles, like anxiety, grief, and loneliness. You can find a content warning list on the author’s website.
I adore this book! J.P. Sheeran’s blend of humor with clever fairy tale and musical references is so refreshingly zany and fun. The cast of characters is delightful and I love its range of LGBTQ+ representation. Much like the Princess Bride, it lovingly plays with classic tropes, so Megan may seem extremely naive and sheltered at the start, but that’s the point. We follow her emotional journey through the book that deepens with the friendships she forms. I relate to Megan so much at times and her struggle to believe in herself. The brilliant cliffhanger ending made me cry. I need the sequel to come out ASAP! 😭
If you’re like me and you love YA fantasies, Broadway musicals, Disney movies, and quirky adventure stories like The Hobbit, Stardust, and Howl’s Moving Castle, then I think you will love this story too.
Help Support A New Indie Author!
I am a bit biased with my love for this sweet story: My friend wrote the book! And he hired me to be the book’s graphic designer! For those who don’t know me in real life, I am a professional graphic designer and I’ve always wanted to work on a novel design. Another friend, Michelle Foster, illustrated and hand-lettered the amazing cover art. Dream project!
It’s incredible to me that J.P. not only wrote a whole whimsical novel, but also published it! I am so grateful I could be a part of this and get to design with Michelle’s gorgeous artwork and J.P.’s clever words. I also had fun designing his website for him, astropuppress.com, using a customizable Squarespace template.
If you would like to help support this new indie author, you can:
Buy the book in print or ebook on Amazon, or in print on Bookshop.org (which gives proceeds to Indie bookstores).
Share about it with someone you know who loves musicals & YA fantasy.
Request that your local library and/or indie bookstore order some copies.
Leave a review on Goodreads & Amazon.
Follow J.P. on his socials. For indie authors, any support means the world to them!
Boil em, Mash em, Stick em in a Stew!
You can’t go wrong with potatoes: in your stories or in your food! With so much delicious, cozy, potatoey goodness in this book, I knew I had to find recipes for potato rolls and potato stew. I’ve never made potato bread before, so this was exciting! The dough recipe went well and just required extra patience with all the proofing stages. Kneading is so satisfying and I loved making all the little dough balls.
It was going so well…and then I burned the bottoms and tops of the rolls, oops! 😂 Thankfully they still taste good. I forgot to move the rack in the oven up and had them too low/close to the heat. Not a complete fail like last week’s scones, but once again this baking mistake feels so hilariously fitting for the selected book. Burning the rolls is definitely something Megan would do!
I also made a potato stew and I am so happy with how it turned out! I used this Irish Potato Stew recipe with some tweaks: No mushrooms, no beer, & not Vegan (I used chicken grated bouillon + Worcestershire sauce in place of the Guinness since we don’t drink and I didn’t want to buy beer just for a recipe).
I am so glad I tried this month-long series! I loved reflecting on my favorite cozy reads and deciding how to tie each story into a weekly bake. I think I will do another Fantasy & Food month at the end of the year for my 4 favorite 2024 reads, perhaps not cozy-specific. Thank you so much for following along with me! I would love to hear what you think if you read any of these books or try the recipes. I also would love to hear any favorite book recs (any genre!) that you have for me.
Having a theme for the month helped keep me focused & motivated. So my March theme will be DIY Home Updates. We have been slowly renovating our bedroom for months, so I am determined to finally get that wrapped up soon! I would love to share our process here, along with some other creative ways we’ve spruced up our home on a budget. See you next month!
Question for your Inner Artist:
• What do you dream about doing in your life, when you dare to dream?
So cool that you got to work on this book! And the bread looks delish. 💜
I'm glad the book turned out so well, and that you were inspired to try some potato recipes. Feel free to send some leftovers our way. I'm a willing guinea pig. :)