Sweet and Sugary

Lately my kids have been obsessed with this show. They act it out in the car, on the playground, and since summer vacation has started, in the kitchen. Therefore it came as no surprise when my daughter became equally obsessed with a series of books starring a family of magic bakers. 

The Bliss family runs a special bakery in Calamity Falls. Middle child Rose dreams of becoming a kitchen magician like her parents. When her mother and father are called away to help with a flu epidemic, Rose finally has her chance to try out a few recipes from the sacred family cookbook. 

Before Rose has a chance to crack an egg, a stranger rides up on a flashy motorcycle and claims to be their long-lost Aunt Lily. Although her brothers quickly grow smitten, Rose is suspicious and convinces them to keep the cookbook (and pantry of magic ingredients) a secret from Lily. 

The arrival of Lily doesn't stop Rose from trying out a few recipes. First, she decides to play matchmaker by whipping up a batch of Love Muffins. Then she tries to cure a lonely customer of her tall tales with some Snickerdoodles of Truth. However, when the ingredients include eggs of masked lovebirds and tears from a warlock eye, things are bound to go wrong. And they do. 

Rose tries to fix the mess with an upside-down cake that leaves the town, well, not exactly upside down but definitely backwards. Soon she has no choice but to show Aunt Lily the cookbook in attempt to set things right. Lily helps save the day, but the temptations of a magic cookbook are too much to resist. Although this installment ends in a happy family reunion, the rogue aunt has set the scene for the second book of the series.  
With a fist of flour, and a pinch of magic, Kathryn Littlewood has filled Bliss with enough mystery, humor, and baked goods to appeal to the eight (or thirty-eight)-year-old in your family.