ARC Review: "The Baby Dragon Bakery" by Aamna Qureshi (The Baby Dragon #2) ★★★
She was his brightest star, the guidepost from which everything else took direction. If he lived a hundred lives, he’d find her in every one; the way sailors unerringly found the North Star in the night sky no matter the century.
[Contains some spoilers]
PLOT SUMMARY
24-year-olds Lavinia Williams and Theo Noon have been best friends since they were children. Lavinia is an aspiring magical animal veterinarian studying in her second year of vet school while interning at the Animal Hospital. Theo has a business degree but is a baker who works at the Rolling Pin Bakery, which supplies Saphira’s Baby Dragon CafΓ©, where Lavinia works once a week though he has recently lost his passion for the job. The two have liked each other for years.
At the engagement party of Saphira Margala and Aiden Sterling, Lavinia attempts to kiss Theo which causes him to panic and flee. Lavinia is heartbroken as she feels pressure to find a romance like her parents found when they were her age. She is determined to find someone before the winter, believing if she doesn’t find it by then, she never will.
Lavinia gets the idea of dating her kind and mature coworker Calahan Goode, a PhD student in Folklore and Mythology. She immediately enlists Theo to help her who, believing he is undeserving of her, has to watch on while she falls for someone else. But when fate keeps deciding to throw them together, and things come to a head, will they choose each other?
And that was how Lavinia found herself enlisting the help of her best friend (who she had feelings for) to help her get with someone else (to get over aforementioned feelings).
Which wouldn’t be complicated. Or messy. And that wasn’t a bad idea.
Not at all.
This is told from the third-person past-tense POV of Lavinia and Theo.
OVERALL OPINIONS
γ €ππ©Ίa dough-lightful returnπ©Ίπ
Returning to Starshine Valley felt like catching up with old friends. It was delightful to see familiar faces like Saphira, Aiden, and a no-longer-so-little dragon Sparky. Their public displays of affection were a charming addition, and I loved that Saphira was rooting for Lavinia and Theo all along. Aiden saying the wrong thing about Lavinia’s breakup then being reprimanded by Saphira made me laugh.
The happy couple sang to each other as they danced, their eyes locked, smiles wide on both their faces. Once, Lavinia had thought Aiden to be awkward and stoic, and while he was still more the strong and silent type around everyone else, with Saphira, he was as dazzling as her, two stars shining in the night sky, sparkling together.
My suspicions about the plot for The Baby Dragon Bookshop (Book 3) have been proven correct, that it will be about Luke Hayward and Emmeline Sterline: Luke runs a rival chimera-roasted coffee company Tempest to Emmeline’s dragon-roasted coffee Inferno. I did rather enjoy Luke’s little quip (he clearly knows he annoys Emmy).
“You work at the Baby Dragon Cafe, don’t you?” Luke asked, cocking his head. “I think I’ve seen you there before.”
“Yes, I do,” Lavinia replied.
His lips spread into a smile, eyes glittering with mischief. “Tell Emmeline I said hi.” He looked pleased with himself.
“Sure,” Lavinia replied, and then he was off. There was no way Lavinia would be telling Emmeline that, or Emmeline’s blood pressure would shoot through the roof. Lavinia didn’t see Emmeline Sterling often, but she knew enough that Emmy was triggered every single time she heard Luke’s name. Saphira had mentioned once that the two went to university together and there was some history between them, but Lavinia didn’t know the whole backstory.
The preview for the first chapter at the end of this book also has my attention so I’ll stick around to read the next one, hopefully I enjoy it more.
γ €ππ©Ίjust what the doctor orderedπ©Ίπ
There were a lot of things to like about this story. I appreciated the parallel of each of them keeping an object of the other from the engagement party (Theo’s cologne; Lavinia’s scrunchie). The scene at the fall festival was one of the best as Qureshi really captured the cosy and cute atmosphere, and I love the idea of the rides being the mythical creatures.
This novel contains some surprisingly relatable moments. Despite being a fantasy, the realistic struggles of both Lavinia and Theo resonated with me. Like Lavinia, my parents got married around the age I am now and it does sometimes make you wish for the same sort of timeline and it can be difficult to watch others around me find their love. The advice her mother Beena tells her, that you cannot set a deadline on romance, was very poignant.
She knew that not everybody found romance in their life, and that to live without romantic love was not the worst thing in the world, but the prospect frightened her as it seemed to presage the worst kind of future: the idea of a very long life without any of the companionship that she had grown up witnessing in her parents.
While I felt a 24-year-old would likely already understand this, I do accept that her anxieties overrode her reasoning, which was reaffirmed by this moment where “deep down, Lavinia knew these things. They weren’t complete revelations. It was just a matter of choosing to believe in them rather than believe in all her anxiety-ridden ideals.”
Theo discovering that his hobby should stay as a hobby and not a career was something I understood where he was coming from – if you make it a career, you may lose your passion for it.
Qureshi provided some lovely representation. There was plus-sized representation through Lavinia’s body description, as she is short and curvy. And then there were the mentions of a lot of Indian recipes such as keema, kulfi, haldi doodh and ras malai. I could really tell Qureshi knew what she was talking about when it came to those, especially the kulfi as the descriptions of Theo making them were so vivid I could imagine the whole process.
γ €ππ©Ίless of everything and nothing newπ©Ίπ
While I loved the world-building in the first book, it fell flat here. The first issue is that much of the information was a simple recap of the previous book, which, while useful for new readers, felt repetitive. The second, and more important, issue is that no new information was provided. The established world was not expanded upon, which felt like a missed opportunity given its potential.
If anything, there was less of everything, especially dragons, which is a big disappointment. This series is called Baby Dragon when they have become secondary characters. Without the occasional mention of them, this has slipped more into the contemporary genre. There were ample times to actually use Lavinia’s dragon Biter as the means to bring the two of them together: for instance, the draggo could have gone to the football game, or Theo could have played with the dragon and Lavinia’s brother, Alfie. The fact that Theo doesn’t even have a pet limits the expansion of the world-building too.
There hasn’t been much done to pave the way for book 3 (The Baby Dragon Bookshop) either. There was a little bit of information provided that has added intrigue for me: that being Luke broke her younger sister Millie’s heart, and that there was some history between them. Qureshi does briefly mention the bookshop in question called, Tales & Tails Bookshop (love the name!), describing it as “a bit rundown, but quiet and devoid of distractions”. Nothing else is said (though this raised I feel an issue with why the bookshop is mentioned by name but not the restaurant, or the ceramics store).
A few suggestions to consider (after reading the premise for book 3: Why not have an interaction between Emmy and Luke in this story (rather than her reaction to him being mentioned)? It would add more chemistry. Why not add a moment where Millie is in the story or, being a busy married woman, takes a moment to call Emmy?
γ €ππ©Ίsimplicity and repetition in writingπ©Ίπ
This was an issue I encountered while reading book 1 that has unfortunately continued over here. A lot of the language and descriptions feel too simple and, considering it is marketed as an Adult book, this makes it read like a Young Adult book – yet some of the content in here suggests otherwise. This makes not only the narrative feel too straightforward but the lack of complexity causes the characters themselves to feel more high school-esque in their behaviour instead of acting their own age (though, practising kissing on someone else instead of her boyfriend doesn’t sit right with me).
Like the first book, there were some repetitive points or cues, almost like each chapter was treated as a standalone instead of how it reads as an overall book. I’m constantly being reminded of things as if I had forgotten what I had just read a few chapters ago (at the most). I was told in Chapter 1 Lavinia only works at the CafΓ© once a week now because she is in vet school, and am reminded in Chapter 4 of this.
The number of times that Theo says that Lavinia deserves to be with a knight or a lord? I counted at least 4. It was the same thing regurgitated. Take the first example: “She deserved someone… much better than him, for sure—a prince from a fairy tale, or a knight in shining armor, or one of those fancy titled lords from the period dramas her mom liked watching.”
Then the second time it crops up is so similar to a tee: “She deserved a prince from a fairy tale, or a knight in shining armor, or one of those fancy titled lords from the period dramas her mom liked watching”
Then the third: “She deserved a fairy-tale love story, with a knight or a prince or a lord, because she was just like the heroines of the romance movies she loved”
While it’s good to drive a point home by saying it multiple times, this was emphasised far too much and in a far too similar way and is ultimately unnecessary to the plot as it doesn’t add anything. We know because of other reasons (and explicit statements) that he feels he doesn’t deserve her.
Another example is the repeated use of similar descriptions, such as “something dark coming over his expression” followed by “his expression darkened” just a few pages later. This is a small point, but it contributes to the overall feeling of a lack of stylistic variation.
Another thing is that a lot of the narrative lends itself to direct characterisation where Qureshi explicitly states what a character is doing. One example from this book is “He looked so happy that she smiled, feeling happy, too.” I think more things could have been shown and not told, like so: “His happiness was so contagious a warmth that a smile involuntarily spread across her own face”
γ €ππ©Ίto concludeπ©Ίπ
This was a promising story, but I feel the narration really let it down. If Qureshi were to focus on expanding her world-building and incorporating more variety in her writing, it would undoubtedly elevate her work.
<< Positives >>
π Lovely return to a familiar world
π Relatable and poignant moments
π Thoughtful character representation
π Vivid descriptions of food
π Wholesome Williams family
π Beena is the best voice of reason
π The friendship and support of Genivieve and Saphira to Lavinia
π Longer epilogue this time
π The cafΓ© renovations would have been nice had there been more of a plot. It would have forced the two into working in close proximity to each other
<< Negatives >>
π Repetitive and simple writing
π Lack of world-building expansion
π Overuse of direct characterisation
π Dragons became secondary to the plot and characters
π Missed opportunities in plot setup
π 3rd-act breakup
π Epilogue reveals Theo has cut himself off from his parents but I would have liked to have seen him stick up for himself/reprimand them first before this
CHARACTERS
-ΛΛ ꒰ Lavinia꒱ ΛΛ-
↳ Rejected by men after they grow tired of you? Been there. Had someone break up with me and I had to go to class the next day? Been thereeee (it was even worse because I had a test). She has quite a few insecurities that bring about opinions that men get tired of her and she should put a deadline on obtaining romance.
-ΛΛ ꒰ Theo꒱ ΛΛ-
↳ His parents are the worst. I’m glad he finds his worth and cuts them off. He is a really sweet and devoted guy.
FAV QUOTES
• She was a hopeless romantic at heart, and yearned for a grand, sweeping love story. She did not simply want to fall in love, she wanted a *great* love. She thought about things like invisible strings and destiny being written in the stars and fateful encounters.
• No matter how small or inconsequential, or stupid or silly—he told her everything. It was how he lived his life; she was the air he breathed.
• Lavinia was downright exhausted by all the failed romances of her life—the way hope and excitement always slowly but surely gave way to rejection and heartbreak. She would rise from the ashes like a phoenix, ready to start again, and now she was getting tired of it.
• He’d had to leave immediately before he did something stupid, but that didn’t stop him from pressing the lipstick stain on his finger against his mouth, as if he could transfer the feel of her lips to his own.
• She shook her head. “You’re so silly! I don’t even know what I’m saying half the time. My opinion doesn’t matter that much.” | He looked at her like she was being absurd. “Your opinion is the only thing that matters.” A current ran through her spine at the intensity with which he said those words, how earnest his brown eyes were.
• Then, he entwined their hands. Theo blew air on their joined hands, and the clay dried a little. If they didn’t move, it wouldn’t crack. They had become a work of art themselves. Tenderness spread through her, and she looked up to find him looking at her.
• They had known each other for most of their lives, and she thought she knew everything there was to know about him, all his behavioral patterns and thoughts and feelings, how he would act and react—but this was uncharted territory. That scared her, but it thrilled her, too, in a deranged way; the way lightning might be exhilarating, despite all the ways it could devastate.
• The way he said her name was new, unlike anything she’d heard before, from him, or anyone else. It was almost like an oath or a prayer—something haunted or holy.
• He couldn’t think of anything else but her, and when he finally slept, it was her he dreamed of.
• “Lavinia, I’m in love with you,” he said. “I have been this whole time; I probably have been my whole life. I just never realized it, or never allowed myself to be because I was afraid of ruining our friendship, of losing you.”
• “My heart beats for you,” he said, bringing her hand to his heart. She felt it beating hard and fast against her palm. “Only for you.”
• Perhaps she would be fossilized like this. She could end up in a museum with a tag: “Local Girl Lost Will to Live After Breakup”.
• “Tired of you?” He was astounded.“If I was going to get tired of you, it would have happened when we were eight, Lavinia. Since then you’ve stolen all my favorite flannel shirts, and your hands are always cold, and you make me watch all those romcoms, but no, I could never get tired of you, or any of those things, or any part of you. Take all my clothes—everything of mine is yours! And if your hands are cold, it means I can make it my mission to keep them warm, and I don’t really mind those movies, since they teach me how to love you better.”
• “You’re everything to me. If I don’t have you, I don’t have anything. I love you so much. And you’re wrong—I don’t need a prince, or a knight in shining armor, or a lord. I just need you, my best friend, Theo, exactly as you are, exactly as you’ve always been. To me, you’re enough. You’re more than enough, and you always have been.”
• Being with Theo was even better than all the love stories and love songs she adored because this was real—this was hers. Theo was hers.
══════════ ⋆★⋆ ══════════
I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Aamna Qureshi, Avon, and NetGalley for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.
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