Pâtissier et Étranger by Laurence Raphael Brothers. 2026

Pâtissier et Étranger

RATED GOOD. 4/5

Equal Parts: Love Letter To French Pastry - Silly 1960S Spy Thriller - Cozy Science Fiction.

I am the ideal reader for this novella. My life was changed by a year of study abroad in France at the turn of the millennium which lead me to my career in the wine business. It is career that has lead to over a dozen trips to France. I love French food . The savory more than the sweet, but I won’t say no to some good patisserie. And because you are reading this, you know I love science fiction.

The story follows a British man studying in Paris at a top pastry school with three friends. On the day before the big examination, a girl that he has a crush on asks him to run an errand for her. She needs a special flour from a mill outside of Paris. He agrees, picks up the flour, and finds himself the target of assassins. Maybe they are after the strange egg-shaped device hidden in the sack of flour….

The second half of the story introduces the science fiction elements, but I won’t reveal those secrets here. The fact that it contains science fiction isn’t a spoiler. It is marketed as sci-fi and there is a UFO on the cover.

Good: It is fun frivolous read that you can probably devour in one sitting. I read the whole thing while sipping my morning coffee. The characters are charming. The stakes are low. If you already like French pastry or Paris - and why wouldn’t you - you’ll enjoy this.

Bad: Our main character is very passive, he does almost nothing intentional once we get into the second half of the book. Also he is giving off “Man written by a Woman” energy. The author is a man, but I found his interactions with the female lead to be sanitized to try to appeal to the stereotypical female reader. The cost was realism and stakes.

Overall: Worth reading, but unless you are the ideal reader, I wouldn’t go out of your way to find it.