[Photograph: Amazon]

Every year as the weather warms, I begin the search for some good summer books. You know the type—books that we can get sandy at the beach or skim by the side of the pool without worrying about missing anything crucial. As I turned the pages to The Bake-Off, by Beth Kendrick, I knew I'd officially kicked off beach read season.

The novel follows two sisters, who haven't spoken in years after a huge falling out in high school. Amy was the cute, popular homecoming queen with tons of friends; Linnie is a beautiful certified genius with little to no social adeptness. As adults, Amy has a lovely marriage and twin babies, while Linnie deals blackjack in Vegas. The one commonality between the starkly contrasted women is their grandmother Syl, and it is devotion to Grammy Syl that brings the two women together against their will.

When Linnie's roommate pawns Grammy Syl's priceless heirloom brooch, she's in need of big money to get the jewelry back. Grammy Syl offers an opportunity—to enter the Delicious Duet bake-off in New York City, using her family recipe for Polish apple pie. Little do the sisters know that the opportunity was also presented to Amy, pitched as a week's vacation from twin two-year-olds and a demanding job. Syl enters the women as a team, and drowns their wails of protests with a determination that they will not only learn to bake, but also learn to tolerate—even love—one another.

The story unfolds as the two women move through the rounds of the bake-off. Amy is the optimistic socialite, enjoying her week in a luxury hotel; Linnie buries her fears by calculating gluten percentages and keeping up her haughty guard. There are flour-covered mishaps and cut-throat competitors, and tackling these obstacles leads to the slow bonding of the two sisters. Generally I was engaged with the two characters; only occasionally did a plot twist make me groan with its predictability. It doesn't spoil much to say that every possible loose plot thread ends up neatly tucked into a happy ending.

So perhaps The Bake-Off is only worth a read if you are willing to suspend all notions of literary merit and embrace a fun, girlie, well-meaning plot line. I'd recommend pairing The Bake-Off with a glass of lemonade and some sunblock, embracing summer and a lightness of spirit.

About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. Her work is also featured in Rhode Island Monthly magazine.