Their Just Desserts (The Cookie Crumbles #2)
Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow
Quill Tree Books
Published May 13, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Their Just Desserts

Perfect for fans of The Great British Baking Show and Clue, this enchanting and rollicking follow-up to The Cookie Crumbles follows two best friends caught up in a twisty mystery when jewels go missing at a high-stakes baking competition.

Baker extraordinaire Laila Thomas and budding journalist Lucy Flores are living it up at the top of the junior high food chain as eighth graders. But between busy schedules and kinda-boyfriends, these two best friends haven’t gotten to hang out as much. So, when Jaden, an ex-competition rival, begs the duo to step back into the world of cooking competitions and crime—the answer is yes.

Jaden is His father is accused of stealing prized jewels on the set of an amateur kids’ holiday baking show. The plan is for Laila to smash the competition while Lucy investigates behind the scenes—but their half-baked plan gets turned totally upside down when Lucy ends up in front of the cameras instead.

As the investigation and competition heat up, Lucy and Laila’s bond is put to the ultimate test. Can they solve this bakeoff mystery, or will they—and their friendship—crack under pressure?

My Review

Where do I even start?! What a fun book. I love all the references to the holidays. The story takes place near Christmas, and Laila and Lucy reminisce about their own treasured holiday traditions: watching holiday-themed murder mysteries and enjoying delicious baked treats. Can’t beat that! The movie descriptions are fabulous. They have that over-the-top holiday movie vibe. Definitely something I’d watch with a cup of hot cocoa and a holiday cookie.

One of the really sweet, subtle things about the book is the way that it explores loneliness. I remember being Laila’s age and having the loneliest time of my life, even though I was constantly surrounded by people. Laila notices her loneliness and struggles to voice her feelings. As she’s working through this, she notices loneliness in others around her, and that helps her see people in a new way. Some characters she viewed as arrogant or aloof actually turn out to be shy and lonely themselves, and recognizing that helpes Laila connect with them.

I also enjoyed the mystery element to the book. The girls race to find missing diamonds and uncover the identity of the thief before police charge a dear friend’s dad with the crime. Putting the baking show and the mystery together worked really well, as both eliminate suspects within a specific timeline. And the baking show added deadlines and pressure to the quest.

This book was an absolute joy to read. I think middle grade readers interested in mysteries or anyone who loves baking will want to check this one out.

Author Q&A with Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow

Don’t miss out on this fabulous Q&A with Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow that I posted last week. I had so much fun learning about some behind-the-scenes story information and the duo’s collaborative process. Be sure to check it out!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to attraction between characters. One character is excited about the possibility of starting a relationship.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to a thief stealing diamonds.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.