Mina is excited to start her mentorship at A Batch Made in Heaven, the bakery in her hometown that’s famous for their inventive cookies. Mina dreams of becoming a baker herself someday. But there’s a problem. Flynn, the (undeniably cute) son of the owner, won’t let Mina into the kitchen: the top secret Cookie Vault. If Mina can’t bake, then she can’t enter the big cookie competition… and if she can’t enter, she’ll never win the money to help her dad open the restaurant he’s always wanted.

What secret is Flynn hiding? And will Mina’s entire plan crumble like an overbaked cookie, or can she find a way to help her family and her heart?

For the most part, this is a cute, quick read that cookie lovers will enjoy, as well as middle grade aged kids. However, I did have some issues with the plot and characters.

Mina is very passionate about baking, which I enjoyed, especially for someone who’s only twelve years old.

I did also feel bad for her in a way because her parents were more concerned about her baby siblings and would get upset if Mina made too much noise. I understand that they were tired because the twins are still under a year, but it was sort of like they forgot about Mina being a kid still. I understood her frustration when it seemed like her parents only saw her as a live-in babysitter, which can be kind of pressuring for a middle-schooler.

I had an issue with how realistic this book actually was. While parents using their pre-adolescent child as a free babysitter was not something unusual, there were other aspects that just had me shaking my head. For one, the romance between Mina and Flynn was something out of their age group. While having a crush, even a strong one, at 12/13 years old, when these two were together they made it seem like they were falling hardcore for each other like adults would. Maybe it’s because I was a normal kid who didn’t think about romance beyond a slight crush at that age, but it just seems unrealistic that they were acting how they were at the end with each other.

What really got to me was the whole “internship” thing. I get letting middle-schoolers help out at businesses to do some low maintenance tasks (even though it violates child labor laws), but to let a twelve year old be in charge of baking cookies (or anything) for a bakery? That’s got to be a lawsuit waiting to happen. While I do believe kids that age can have a passion for baking, and even be more skilled than some adults, I just don’t think having them work in a professional kitchen is realistic, no matter if it’s an internship or as family help. Maybe if Mina and Flynn were 16-17 years old, it would be plausible. 

Despite the unrealistic parts of this book, it’s a cute read and good for middle-grade aged kids. I would have enjoyed it more if the characters were of a different age in their work settings. I’ll still give some of the other books by this author a shot.  

Rating: 3/5 stars

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