Louise Miller - The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

A full-hearted novel about a big-city baker who discovers the true meaning of home—and that sometimes the best things are found when you didn’t even know you were looking
When Olivia Rawlings—pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club—sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of—the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts.
Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uberenthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired—to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.
With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought.
But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee—or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected—it could be even better.

Comment: This is the second book I try by this author. I've picked it now because it would suit a topic in a challenge I'm doing, but I was a little apprehensive to read it because the other one I did try was a good read, but some elements weren't the best and I feared the same could happen here...

In this story we meet Olivia "Livvy" Rawlings, a baker at a prestigious club in Boston. When the story begins, Livvy is about to present a special dessert for an important event and things don't go very well, making her feel she needs to get away and she decides to seek her friend Hannah, in a quiet town in Vermont. She hopes to charge batteries, but the opportunity to work at an inn and earn some money she desperately needs convince her and after a while she starts feeling part of the community, even going as far as to think she could fall in love with Martin, the son of her boss' best friend. But his family is worrying for Martin's grandfather, who is ill... besides, Livvy has the experience that everyone leaves her. Can she hope things will be different now?

I barely remember the other book I've read by this author and had to check my post which helped me get some ideas back. I remembered that my overall feel of that other book had been one of great ideas and potential, but some narrative choices didn't seem to be as precise or suited as I'd prefer and although this is clearly a matter of personal interpretation, I still felt the story could have been stronger.

Well, I feel exactly the same regarding this one, the delivery could have been so much better if one or two key elements had been different. Perhaps this means the author's style is this and all her her work will follow a certain pattern, but I can't help feeling a little frustrated because the potential for something sweeter, something stronger is right there...

Livvy is a likable protagonist but I must confess some of her choices didn't seem the best and that did impact my opinion of her a little. It seems some of those choices can be explained by the fact she had a mother who left, and a father who raised but who died. This led her to feel people who should be there for her would leave and she has been alone since she was sixteen. The fact that she did something with her life means she had drive and focus and I did like how she loved baking and how she was so good at it.

Personality wise, she was approachable but the fact she was sleeping with her married boss before leaving for Vermont did disappoint me. I imagined her story would go on towards the scenario of her realizing life in a smaller community in Vermont would let her see how rewarding it would be to have close friends and relationships and, perhaps, even find love. In a way, this is what does happen, but the writing style, and things being told from Livvy's POV makes the story feel as if it's not always linear. I think this style helps with the idea of reading things as one wants, but I feel that sometimes this also meant the situations were more like episodes put together rather than a narrative.

The plot is simple, Livvy starts working at the inn, makes friends, tries to keep up her friendship with Hannah but this soon proves hard when her closer and closer relationship with Martin's family, especially his ill father - like a father figure for Livvy too - means her free time is often spent with them. The fact she likes music and plays banjo and Martin's father also played instruments brings them closer, and I did like this aspect of focusing part of Livvy's character development in letting her form relationships which are not only passionate. Of course, this leads to many emotional situations, considering the illness and Livvy's own sense of abandonment.

As the story gets closer to the end, something happens to dramatize the small conflicts and Livvy does something sudden, which I disliked. She makes a decision without informing others and I think that while this is certainly not that surprising if we consider her past choices and the examples she has had, she is also an adult and she has been establishing solid relationships; I feel she didn't have to go back to her old ways. I also think it would have made for a stronger plot if certain situations had not been rushed, or perhaps I felt that because Livvy is the only one narrating and she does have a limited way of learning some things.

In regards to the romance, since it's not the focus things don't get to be developed as much as some readers might like, but the hints and the slow pace felt enough to me. Nevertheless, if it's an element the author chose to include, then I think she could have written things in a way that would show the relationship as being more balanced. Livvy should be more aware of why Martin was back in Vermont, although he lives in Seattle, and that, perhaps, he would want to go back. I'm saying this because why assume anything, why not talking... I understand why, the point was to create a specific situation, but... there were other ways to delay the HEA.

Most situations in the story was fun and did remind me of cozy communities where people can be there for one another, even if some have long lasting "feuds", as Livvy's boss had with another woman. There is also a lot of talk and a lot of baking descriptions and besides thinking Livvy was a good baker, I was also left wondering how long did the author spend researching baking tips and receipts. Some elements were a bit clichéd towards the end, but I didn't really mind... overall, my impression of this book is similar to what I thought about the other one, that the story has potential, many great elements but the execution wasn't always as great as I think it could be.

Grade: 7/10

Louise Miller - The Late Bloomers' Club

Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, and she takes great pleasure in knowing exactly what’s “the usual.” But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town’s beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson.
Kit, an aspiring–and broke–filmmaker thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer before her death. The people of Guthrie are divided–some want the opportunities the development will bring, while others are staunchly against any change–and they aren’t afraid to leave their opinions with their tips.
Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon. But Nora isn’t quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer’s rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on–finding Peggy’s missing dog, Freckles.
When a disaster strikes the diner, the community of Guthrie bands together to help her, and Nora discovers that doing the right thing doesn’t always mean giving up your dreams.

Comment: I added this to my TBR for the most common reason, which is the fact I saw a positive review about it, liked the blurb and now I finally got to it.

In this book we follow the daily life of Nora, a 42 year old divorced woman who lives and works in the same place since she was a young adult. Nora likes life in her quiet town, a place where things go at a very steady and slow speed, only having more movement when it's special holidays and during the summer, when tourists flock to be in a calm location and enjoying local traditions. However, one day Peggy the cake lady, as she is known, dies and leaves her house to Nora and her younger sister Kit, more a free spirit than Nora. They do plan on seeling for that will help them financially and, conveniently, a big company wants to buy but that would mean change in all sectors. The thing is, would that be good for everyone and for the town long term? While this is debated, Nora can't help but like Eliot, the company's representative who is a much more down to earth person than she imagined... but will he be too much of a distraction?

I would describe this story as one of those cozy dramas in a small town where the big conflicts comes from the usual source: will it be a good thing for the place to be updated, to have more movement of people, access to more modern things or should some spots remain the same, for tradition and identity is what tourists want anyway, but in detriment of better economy? I found this story to be something I could more or less identify myself, for I too, live in a small place and while change is necessary, too much might destroy the beauty that already exists.

However, that is where similarities end, and I could focus on the plot of this book since it is set in a very different place from my own, culturally speaking. It was almost like watching a movie, having so many references to the local diner/cafe owned by Nora, the protagonist. A place where everyone knows everyone, where people are simply kind and aware of each other's odd personalities and little quirkiness. At times, this felt a bit too perfect, in the sense it's hard to accept there wouldn't be more antagonist characters or a negative atmosphere surrounding some areas (meaning, politics and in terms of personal conflicts) but I suppose this wasn't the author's intention.

Nora is a fascinating character, for many certainly too accepting of misfortune and too timid, but I liked the fact she was steady on her look on life and in what she knew would make her happy or not. Of course, there's a hint of romance coming her way and the fact she is in her 40s makes for a change in the usual clichés in these types of stories, where everything works out perfectly. I liked Nora and her love interest didn't have solutions coming easily and their relationship developed at a very slow and cautious pace, after all they are mature people...

The big drama is centered on whether the town should embrace change or not (there's a certain parallelism with Nora's life in this) and how that affects everyone. All characters had an opinion, a take on the positive or negative outcome of a choice and some details were very well thought in this regard, I liked the ideas left on the page and what analyses that might suggest to readers. On one and, I liked things weren't easily dismissed so the focus could be another issue instead, but on the other there were times things dragged a lot.

This would be my biggest complaint, the slow pace at times got to nonmoving and this did affect my eagerness to read. I also think the different problems weren't done in a balanced way all the time, and sometimes it felt the tone of the story was too sad for the kind of inspiring goal the author seemed to be after. Perhaps it's just my impression, but a few changes in the problems the characters faced and perhaps a few more obvious romantic scenes might have given this a more positive vibe when necessary...

I don't think this would appeal to everyone but overall the style worked for me and I found the little odd details to be more on the quirky side than on the silly one. The end is positive and the allusion to the romance going on a good direction makes up for some less happy moments but I bet this could have been done much better too, even without going into cheesy territory. I liked reading this novel but the charming elements could have been balanced a little more strongly.

Grade: 7/10