Laila Thomas and Lucy Flores are back for another sweet and twisty mystery, and this time these besties aren’t just on the case, they’re swapping roles! In This Just Desserts by Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow, budding baker Laila is taking over the investigations, and aspiring reporter Lucy is stepping into the kitchen. What could go wrong?
If you haven’t read The Cookie Crumbles, let us rewind. Eighth graders Laila and Lucy have been inseparable since Kindergarten, so when they found out they’d be going to different high schools, they were majorly upset. When Laila gets invited to participate in a baking competition that offers a scholarship to a fancy boarding school with both an elite culinary program and a prestigious journalism program, the girls know they’ll do whatever it takes to stay together next school year. With Laila determined to win and Lucy working on an impressive article about the competition, they’re unstoppable. Except, things go off the rails when a celebrity judge tastes Laila’s creations and collapses, causing fingers to point at Laila for doing it on purpose! You’ll have to read the book to see how it all goes down, but what we can say is that the girls are back to crack another case.
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 desperate: 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?
Their Just Desserts
AUTHORS: Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow
PUBLISHER: Quill Tree Books
DATE: May 13, 2025
In Their Just Desserts, Laila and Lucy are still besties at heart, but with busy schedules and almost-boyfriends, they’ve started to drift apart a little. So when their friend begs them to join a holiday baking competition to help find missing jewels, they’re all in and eager to spend time reconnecting and doing what they do best. Laila will wow the judges and keep everyone distracted while Lucy investigates behind the scenes. But when Lucy ends up in front of the camera, they’ll have to switch roles, putting their friendship (and their skills) to the ultimate test!
Authors Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow wrote a piece from the girls’ perspectives, sharing how to get the job done even when you’re feeling totally out of your element! The best way to handle something totally out of your comfort zone? Fake it till you make it!
Laila and Lucy from THEIR JUST DESSERTS Share Their Advice for How to Fake it Till You Make It:
LAILA: Hello, readers! So here you are, trying to figure out the best way to make your dream come true. Like a baking club or a profile in a food magazine, or having a maybe-boyfriend (??) who’s good with plants, or maybe solving crimes… You know, totally regular stuff. Well, do we have advice for you! You’re going to be sooooo glad we’re sharing stuff because we’re sorta big deals now. We’re––
LUCY: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Just because we’ve managed to solve a couple of crimes–
LAILA: Big crimes!
LUCY: –okay, big crimes, doesn’t mean that we’re big deals. In our latest adventure at the Holly Jolly Bakeoff, both Laila and I found ourselves totally out of our elements. She was in charge of investigating, and I had to be the one baking in front of the cameras. The only way we could stay in the competition and solve who was behind the set theft was by faking it till we made it, so here are a few tried-and-true tips.
LAILA: First tip. What you really want to do is dress the part. Make your outfit stand out, go wild with style. My mom won’t let me get purple streaks, so instead I wear funky foodie earrings and all glitter all the time. When you show up to a club meeting or you’re trying to be the next big thing, being memorable is important.
LUCY: Unless you’re investigating. Then you want to blend in, fade into the background as you search for clues. You also probably want to dress for comfort – say, a nice comfy hoodie that will hold a notebook and pen in the front pocket and some sneakers for, well, sneaking. You never know if you’ll find yourself wandering some dark hallways or caught in a snowstorm.
Which leads me to my next tip: research, research, research. You don’t want to be caught unprepared, so find out as much as you can about who and what you’re dealing with. I prefer to create detailed dossiers of every suspect.
LAILA: …Or instead of all that research because that can be boring––no offense, Lucy––and you might not have the time, why not learn while you go. Watch. Recreate. Get your hands in the dough and shape it the way you like. Sometimes you have to sink before you can swim (that’s a saying, right Lucy). You have to make mistakes, but when you do, you make sure you take a lesson from them and vow not to do it again.
LUCY: Um, okay, I guess you can do that. But researching–and learning as you go–all leads to the next big tip: create a solid plan. Figure out what your next steps will be so that if you stumble, you know exactly how to get back up and keep investigating.
LAILA: Not gonna lie, Lucy’s advice is good. But with baking, you have to be flexible. You can set out to have the perfect plan…sometimes that doesn’t work out. For instance, I can schedule four hours to bake a loaf of bread and then maybe make a video after. What if, though, the bread doesn’t rise the way you want? What if it’s ugly? What if you messed it up? Now you have to make a video with something that’s less than perfect. That’s OK.
Icon Julia Child once dropped a chicken on the floor and rolled with it. If Julia can do it, so can you. It’s relatable. Even the best pastry chefs in the world mess up. Be flexible. Try your best and if you don’t succeed, live with it. Don’t cry over spilled milk. I know that’s a saying!
LUCY: I can’t argue with Julia Child. All right, why don’t you give the last tip then, Laila?
LAILA: My last bit of advice is… find your people. Don’t go it alone. Make sure you’re always rooting for each other, even when you feel like you’re failing. I wouldn’t be on television or solving crimes or even that good at baking if it weren’t for Lucy. She makes me feel big and confident. She eats all my creations, tells me I can do it, and sticks up for me. She’s my best friend and my greatest support. Love you, Lucy!
LUCY: Right back at you, Laila. And friendship is something we’d never have to fake.
📚FIERCE FOODIE READS: In need of another fierce food-based read? Try The Takeout, author Tracy Badua’s magic-infused tale of family, finding yourself, and food trucks! CLICK HERE!
