Lila Reyes is the ultimate pastelito queen and, she is excited to inherit her family’s Miami bakery with her sister Pilar. Until Lila’s life starts to unravel when her Abuela dies unexpectedly, her best friend ghosts her, and her boyfriend breaks up with her. Her parents are concerned and decide to have her spend the summer in their Winchester, England inn. Lila is devastated and gets homesick for her home in Miami and longs for Cuban baking alongside her Abuela. Until a cute British boy named Orion Maxwell walks into Lila’s kitchen with a delivery from his family’s tea shop. At first, Orion irritates Lila to no end, but soon they become friends, and he introduces her to his friends while gobbling up her Cuban food. Lila is intrigued by his knowledge of superstitions, and the fact that he owns a vintage motorbike doesn’t hurt. Then Lila learns that Orion’s mom has early-onset Dementia, which makes her realize that he can relate to the pain of loss as well. Suddenly Lila finds herself caught between two different worlds when she has to make a tough decision between a once in a lifetime opportunity in London (With a cute boy nearby.) or continue her Abuela’s legacy as planned.
Growing up in a Cuban family, books with Cuban food, especially pastelitos, are usually an auto-buy for me! In this YA Contemporary, I am very intrigued to read how Lila, a Miami girl, spends her summer in a place entirely different from where she grew up and how she handles the pain of experiencing so much loss in her life.
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