Secrets and Scones by Laurel Remington (review)

When an ambulance arrives to take her elderly neighbor away, Scarlett retrieves a key thinking only to feed the forgotten cat, but instead she finds a handwritten cookbook that starts her on a secret mission. She and a school friend begin to sneak into Mrs. Simpson's house every afternoon and make treats, which they take to school the next day and offer anonymously to their classmates. The pleasure of baking bolsters Scarlett's confidence, but of course their secret endeavors can't remain secret forever; more friends join them, and Scarlett even gets a chance to interact with the boy she's crushing on. The eventual return of Mrs. Simpson yields unexpected outcomes for both the trespassing bakers and their unwitting benefactor, but complications ensue when Mrs. Simpson's nephew tries to insist that she enter a care facility. The secret baking club makes for an unlikely premise, but the characters are well drawn and the plot contrivance enables the story to plumb unexpected depths in terms of relationships, forgiveness, and compromise. Scarlett's overbearing mommyblogger mother and Mrs. Simpson's nephew evolve into sympathetic characters as they learn to look beyond their own harried perspectives to see the effects their brusque and financially motivated efficiencies are having on the people they love, while Scarlett comes to understand and value people she has formerly dismissed as unfriendly. Readers who enjoy a quick read with a lot of heart and more than a few carbs are the audience for this British import. Alas, only one recipe is included. KC