She runs mundane errands and takes responsibility for her siblings, but she dreams of more, of taking the world by storm, or at the very least of attracting the attention of Devin Stetson whose sandy blond hair falls into his eyes and who knows how to repair a torn fan belt.

So Rose feels almost invisible: reliable, efficient and capable, but neither pretty nor witty. And no one could ever be as cute as three-year-old Leigh. Many of this book's young female readers will find it easy to identify with her: she is not as good-looking as her older brother Ty, nor as extravert and attention-seeking as Sage. She really loves working with them, and is becoming a very good cook in her own right, but she feels torn: does she want to stay forever in the dull little town, learning to cook like her parents and eventually taking over the shop, or does she want to travel far away, see the world and find a different destiny for herself. Rose is twelve when the book opens, and she has known for a couple of years that her parents are kitchen magicians. And although the townsfolk don't understand precisely what goes on in the kitchen of the Bliss Bakery, they return day after day for the most delicious pastries, muffins and cakes they have ever known with a vague conviction that life is better as long as they do so.

No surprise, then, that this is where Rose lives, along with her parents, two brothers and her baby sister. Even before you move there you just know that if something can go wrong then it certainly will, and that however much it may look like normal small-town America on the outside, nothing short of magic will make it a happy, fulfilled place. Publisher: HarperCollins Children's booksĪ town with a name as ominous as Calamity Falls cries out for a shop like the one run by the Bliss family.

But then her parents are called away so Rose, along with her three siblings, is left to run the shop and things quickly get out of hand. And when Rose Bliss sees her mother fold a lightning bolt into a bowl of batter to save a child's life, she realises that the cakes really are magical. Summary: Everybody in the town knows there's something special about the cakes at the Bliss Bakery, which is why there's always such a queue outside the shop.

Kathryn littlewood