Book Info:
Secrets, Spells, and Chocolate by Marisa Churchill
Genre: Young Adult
Publishing Date: December 9, 2025
Synopsis:
The culinary world is full of secrets. For one, recipes can become powerful spells. Of course, fourteen-year-old Sylvie Jones knows this. Sylvie has been dreaming of attending her mom’s alma mater, Brindille School of Culinary Arts and Magic, since she was old enough to reach the stove. Unfortunately, the last name Jones has a horrible stain on it—something that could destroy her dream. So, when Sylvie is given the opportunity to prove that she’s got the skills to be a great chef and put an end to the rumors that her famous chef mother cheated her way to victory at the world’s greatest magical cooking competition, The Golden Whisk, she takes it.
But the opportunity she’s been given may not be all that it’s cracked up to be. If Sylvie truly wants to make her own mark and earn a place at Brindille, she needs to uncover the truth about what happened all those years ago. But some will go to great lengths to ensure Sylvie fails, and she soon finds herself tangled in a web of deceit.
With the unlikely help of frenemy Georgia Shaw and rising-star-student Flora Jackson, Sylvie must find a way to get to The Golden Whisk All-Star competition and uncover the past before time runs out. Will she be able to redeem her family’s name and save her future, or will it all end in burned butter and broken dreams?
Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220547440
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DKB69W5D/
IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/secrets-spells-and-chocolate-marisa-churchill/d70337ac642936eb
About the Author:
I graduated from the California Culinary Academy and embarked on a 10-year adventure, working in some of San Francisco’s most notable restaurants: Rubicon, The Slanted Door, Ame, LuLu and Yoshi’s, where I was named “one of the city’s top pastry chefs,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s head food critic, Michael Bauer.
My culinary adventures have taken me to some places I never imagined: competing on the cooking/reality show Top Chef, building cities out of chocolate and Rice Krispies on Food Network, and eventually across the globe, to Greece, where I had my own cooking show on Alpha.
I’m also the author of two cookbooks. My recipes have been featured in Food & Wine, Oprah.com, The Talk on CBS, Access Hollywood, and more. For the full list, check out my press page.
Stepping Out of the Kitchen
After meeting my husband and having kids, I began to wonder, what’s next? I knew my days of slaving in a hot kitchen, no matter how much I loved the creative push and adrenaline rush, were over. Trying to do that work, day-in and day-out, when you’re no longer twenty something takes its toll. More importantly, I wanted to be at home to put my girls to bed and have dinner with my family. Life was great. But my creative mind started to grow restless. At that point, I was writing about food for multiple national platforms. Then, an agent asked me a question that helped an idea grow. Have you ever considered writing a story with a magical cooking angle? With one simple question, my life’s purpose changed.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.marisachurchill.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef_marisachurchill/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829278
Tour Schedule:
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