Gentle Reads Annotation

Title: The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

Author: Louise Miller

Publication Date: 2016

Genre: Romance; gentle read

Number of Pages: 352

Geographical Setting: Boston, Massachusetts & Guthrie, Vermont

Time Period: contemporary 

Series: none/standalone  

Plot Summary: Olivia "Livvy" Rawlings has a chaotic but exciting life as an upscale pastry chef, catering to the wealthy social clubs of Boston. Then she drops a flaming Baked Alaska during an event that just happens to be chaired by her (married) boyfriend, and lights the building on fire. Luckily, she knows exactly where to hide out while she licks her wounds - her best friend's small town of Guthrie, Vermont. It's only supposed to be a temporary tactical retreat while Livvy gets her life back together, but she finds herself enamored by the town and its residents, and by who she might become if she stays. She takes a position as the baker for the local inn, run by prim-and-grumpy Margaret, whose obsession with winning the county apple pie competition borders on unhealthy. And then there's Martin, the handsome son of a farmer who has returned to town to spend more time with his elderly and ill father. As Martin and Olivia grow closer, Olivia begins to wonder about the possibility of a very different future for herself than any she's wanted before. 

Subject Headings: 

Women cooks -- Vermont -- Fiction

Romance Fiction

Baking -- Fiction

Appeal:

• A cozy setting: Guthrie, Vermont is the perfect setting for a gentle read novel. The small inn, nestled away among the sugar maples at the end of a long, winding road, and the tiny cottage behind the inn where Olivia makes her home, draw readers in and provide a level of comfort that promises everything will be alright. The description of every location - from the rustic bar where locals sidle up next to carvings of bears to gossip while fiddle bands play in the background, to the creaky barn where tourists and townsfolk alike gather to hold fundraiser dances for the library - serves to reinforce the dreamy, idyllic mood. 
• Lush descriptions: Olivia is a baker, and cooking is a quintessential part of what makes the novel work. The author spares no details when it comes to the descriptions of the food, baked goods especially. Reading about the sight, smells, and sounds of the bustling kitchen provide the same comforting feelings of childhood, watching parents and grandparents as they cook. 
• Lovable characters: Aside from a few necessary antagonists, this book is populated with people you'd want to be friends with, people who you come to care deeply about. These characters are not tropes - they're fully realized, with quirks and issues, with flaws and histories that make them unique. The story isn't driven by rapid action or a suspense, but instead works because of the investment the reader will feel in the characters and their happiness. 

Terms that best describe this book: Cozy, quirky, romantic

Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

• The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate: Both novels are gentle, cozy romance novels revolving around cooking. However, Senate's book has a spark of magical realism, as the main character who inherits her grandmother's Italian cooking school might also have inherited her ability to mend love with the right dish. The novels also both feature a lovable and diverse cast of secondary characters to add to the cozy feeling. 
• Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen: Sarah Addison Allen's books are well known and well loved cozy reads, and this particular novel offers another charming and atmospheric setting - Lost Lake, Georgia. The owner For readers who enjoyed the descriptions of small town life, the hospitality industry, and natural beauty found in City Baker. 
• Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber: This story, about a woman who returns to settle business in a small town that she never intended to stay in longer than she needs to, has a lot of similarities to The City Baker's Guide to Country Living. A city girl slowly and reluctantly falling in love with a quirky small town. The joy of finding family. And the power of the perfect slice of pie. 

Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

• Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore & Fairytale by Sarah Robinson: A cozy and empowering feminist fairytale history of the intersection between magic and food. This book should appeal to anyone who loved the cooking scenes in the novel. 
• Bread: A Global History by William Rubel: Part of the 91-book "Edible" series, this volume delves into the history of the cornerstone of Olivia's profession - bread. Part education, part travel guide, and part cookbook, this book is a great place to start for anyone who wants to learn more about bread. There are also volumes in the series about other baked goods that would be worthwhile companions to the novel, such as Pie, Biscuits and Cookies, and Cake. 
• Vermont Perspectives: Sense of Place, State of Mind by Anne Averyt: The cozy appeal of the novel owes a lot to the idyllic small-town Vermont setting. This similarly  comforting essay collection, written by a Vermont native, has pieces covering everything from agriculture to local happenings, from quirky history to community traditions, and should provide readers with the same remarkable sense of place 

Relevant Multimedia tie-ins:

• Gilmore Girls (TV series): Stars Hollow, Connecticut - where the tv show takes place - is possibly the most cozy town in fiction, and should rival Guthrie, Vermont in terms of warm & comforting settings. Both works feature quirky main characters, working in New England inns, who are in their early 30s and still trying to get their lives together, along with romantic interests who are a little shy and a little gruff. 
• Coffee Roaster (board game): This is a solo board game, for one person (although pairs can make the decisions together and play as one "player"). The premise is simple - make the perfect cup of coffee. Players can choose the difficulty, signified by the "blend," and then they use a "push your luck" mechanism by drawing tokens that help improve the roast, flavor profile, etc. But the tokens can also include burnt beans, acidic soil, and other drawbacks. 
• The Holiday (movie): In the movie, a busy city-dweller retreats to a small cottage in a quiet village for Christmastime. Both the festive winter setting, and the sweet romantic plotline should appeal to readers who enjoyed A City Baker's Guide to Country Living.
• Stardew Valley (video game): In this quintessential comforting video game, players take on the role of a young adult struggling in a crushing corporate job. Then, they receive a letter from their grandfather, who recently passed away, willing them the family farm located in the tiny town of Stardew Valley. Every day, players will spend their time cutting down trees, breaking apart rocks, tilling soil, planting, watering, and harvesting crops, along with caring for livestock, fishing the streams and rivers of the town, and gathering berries and other wild-growing bounties. There is also a cast of lovable and complex townsfolk to get to know, and eventually romance. 
• Flour, Butter, Eggs, Sugar (podcast): This podcast is hosted by Kate, a home baker, out of her small flat in London. It's aimed at home bakers, or those interested in home baking, but even listeners who don't cook will enjoy the cozy atmosphere, Kate's soothing accent, and the gently amusing stories of bakes gone wrong.