Scones & Sensibility

Author: Lindsay Eland

Pages: 320

Published: December 22 2009, Egmont USA

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Cover Score: B+

Overall Grade: A-

Source: Author

debut author

Summary: Twelve year old Polly Madassa was born for another time. A hopeless romantic living at her parent's quaint bakery in a Jersey Shore town, she dreams about calligraphy, ballgowns, and finding her own Mr. Darcy. But when Polly unfortunately gets landed with the duty of delivering pastries, she realizes that it is the perfect opportunity to play matchmaker, "invoking love's burning passion" upon unknowing citizens and friends. But little does Polly know that being a matchmaker has its problems, and that sometimes the best of plans can go horribly, hilariously wrong...

My thoughts: Charming, humorous, and delightful, Scones & Sensibility is a bold start for debut author Lindsay Eland. Starting the book, I had very high expectations. Cupcakes? Romance? I'm so there. Luckily, most of my expectations were upheld.

First of all, Polly was a delightful narrator. Her elegance, humor, and the fact that I could relate to her all contributed to her utter charm. She felt like a real person and was easy to sympathize with and laugh along with, though sometimes her obsession with the past and her old-fashioned speaking habits could be annoying.

The book was fast-paced, simple to understand, and utterly enjoyable. It flowed and had a clear beginning, middle, and very satisfying ending. The plot was endearing and totally sucked me in, and I could picture places in the story like the quaint Jersey Shore town and Madassa Bakery to the unique and sometimes kooky characters.

The one thing that irked me was how nosy Polly was in other people's love lives. It was really annoying to me that she was so blinded by what she wanted that she never took the time to realize how un-subtle and pushy she was. It also took forever for her to realize that she was making a big mistake in setting people up together without their knowing. Sure, it contributed to the chaos and humor, but it made the plot a little slow towards the middle.

I definitely hope there will be a sequel to this highly-enjoyable and cute debut. Perhaps titled Pride and Pastries? Just a thought. (:

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