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    The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
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    The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
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    The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
    Audiobook10 hours

    The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

    Written by Louise Miller

    Narrated by Jorjeana Marie

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 9, 2016
    ISBN9780735206151
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

    4/5

    146 ratings24 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Food writing is wonderful when your mind is preoccupied and you do not have baked goods in your home! This book is a fairly formulaic romance novel, with a protagonist who is a bit of a mess, with her life at a turning point. She copes by running away, having a great job thrown at her, and of course, meeting the hunky reserved guy next door...
      Totally predictable, hunger provoking, and instantly forgettable, this bit of fluff was perfect for a hectic weekend read!
    • 4/5
      I admit it. I thought this book would be a sappy love story. It was a love story, but it wasn’t sappy. Give me a book with kitchens, cooking and baking in it and I’m a happy reader. Add in an urban baker in a rural Vermont town. Add a big helping of a crusty old inn-keeper. Stir in wonderful citizens, including the kind-hearted chef, and the result will turn out well.
    • 4/5
      A delightful story, easy to digest like the spectacular pastries she writes about!
    • 4/5
      The City Baker's Guide to Country Living is a fun filled, charming read. As delightful and yummy as apple pie! I just loved everyone in this book. They were like family and friends. I did not want to leave them. I felt for Olivia scene where she brunt down a historical building on the 150th anniversary. Talk about really "lighting" up the party. When I first met Margaret of Sugar Maple Inn, who is Olivia's employer; I liked her. Although, the more I got to know of Margaret, I fell in love with her. She may have started out a little rough around the edges but she was a sweetheart. Just like apple pie. The love interest Martin was good. I felt the chemistry between Olivia and him. Nothing worse than no sparks. They shared an ease about them. Which had me cheering for these two. A cute couple. Yet, as I stated, these were not the only characters that I enjoyed. The rest of the townsfolk were great as well. No one felt like they were in the story just as a filler. Because I enjoyed everyone that I met, it made reading this book a pure delight. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
    • 5/5
      After Olivia Rowlings accidentally starts a fire at her old job, she seeks solace in the small town of Guthrie, Virginia with her best friend. What started out as a temporary get away soon turns into the "home" she's been searching for her whole life.

      This book was so amazing! I was hooked from the first page and could not put it down. It was filled to the brim with humor, relatable characters, and wonderful food that made my mouth water. I found a very happy place to be in Guthrie, Vermont and really did not want to leave when the book was done. I felt connected to the characters and to the town. I think this book moved into my list of all time favorite books. I would recommend this book to ANYONE! It is such a cozy romance novel that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. In a world filled with violence and anger, this was a very refreshing change of pace and a wonderful place to get lost in for a while.

      *I received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this one and it was a break in tone from my usual reading fare. This definitely felt like Hallmark Channel should pick this up and develop it for their network. I'd watch. It pretty much hit all the notes of cozy women's fiction. Bucolic setting, newly arrived city woman with some secrets, relationship & commitment phobias & adventurously colored hair, a handful of colorful townspeople, a dog and luscious descriptions of food. There's even a pie recipe in the back of the book if the urge to bake won't let you alone after reading this. By the end our main character displayed growth and you just feel like she's all the better for having burned down the first restaurant in the opening. I'll definitely read another by Louise Miller. I think this is a great autumn read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this---just an adorable story---and of course the author really IS a baker!!!
    • 5/5
      I just finished reading "The City Baker's Guide To County Living" by Louise Miller.The genre of this book is fiction, and I would add romance.Olivia, "Livvy" makes a very flamboyant entrance with her dessert at a fancy Boston restaurant. Her blazing dessert is the cause of a fire, and Olivia's exit from working in Boston. Olivia heads for Vermont where her close friend Hannah lives. She takes a job as a baker in Vermont at a"Sugar House Inn", and is able to live with her dog,while she works.Olivia clashes with Margaret the owner as she settles in. Olivia finds there is a big adjustment from working as a baker in the city , and the demands on her in the country. Olivia loves paying the banjo, and is quick to find some new friends who also play in a band.I find that the other characters are delightful and friendly. Louise Miller writes a story about finding where you belong, friendship,family, and family.I enjoyed this charming story and the descriptive setting, and would recommend it highly.
    • 4/5
      Louise Miller's debut novel was a wonderful, sensual,(meaning I could smell apple pies on the pages) read that combined storytelling and family saga the best way. Her writing of the Vermont countryside and family farm, to contra dancing and banjo picking leaves you kind of wanting the book to go on forever.
    • 4/5
      Fun, satisfying book about a young woman who flees a bad relationship in Boston and winds up in a warm (but challenging) Vermont town.
    • 2/5
      It's an easy read, a predictable story, with a variety of dynamic (albeit sometimes stereotypically "small-town") characters. That said, I couldn't get into the novel as much as I'd hoped, as some parts were just too... hokey. (For example, the "city" girl just so happens to play the banjo, and almost immediately finds someone in the "small town" who plays the fiddle - because every small town obviously lives the bluegrass life. Additionally, she manages to get a job at an inn that also happens to have a cute little livable shack on-site. Said shack just needed a little dusting off but was otherwise well-maintained even though it hasn't been used in years.) In all, it's really a decent read, easy enough to breeze through if you have a few hours to kill, and the plot itself is a good one. The trick is to just keep yourself from get too distracted with all the contrived country stereotypes peppered throughout the novel. It will also probably make you really hungry.
    • 3/5
      A quick read that will leave your mouth watering and desperate for a vacation to a bed and breakfast in a small town in Vermont (where they also play a lot of folk tunes). Anyone who loves to read 1.) books filled with delicious-sounding foods and/or 2.) books where women need to escape their lives to find new ones, should pick this one up. I was reminded of the one Dorothea Benton Frank book I read last year. I think her fans would love this story.(The setting made me think of Gilmore Girls, but that's where those comparisons stop. Maybe time for some GG watching.)Read if you like Joanne Fluke, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Kitchens of the Great Midwest.
    • 4/5
      Olivia (Livy) is a pastry chef and works in an elegant club in Boston. When she accidentally sets the club on fire with her baked Alaska, she does what she's done many times in the past - she runs away. This time she runs to her best friend in Guthrie, Vermont, a small town where everyone knows their neighbor's business. Her friend convinces her to stay and to take a job at Maple Hill Inn. Once she starts the job, lots of fantastic characters become part of her life and for the first time in her life she begins to feel settled and happy. Will she remain feeling part of the community or will she run when the next crisis happens?Along with some wonderful sounding food, the author throws music and dancing into the mix to make the story even more fun and enjoyable.I really enjoyed this novel and I liked Livy and the other characters. I could almost smell the apple pie baking and the author rewards us with a great apple pie recipe.Thanks to NetGalley and First to Read for a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.
    • 4/5
      3.5 When Livvy, the pastry chef at an inclusive Boston dining club, drops a lit baked Alaska setting the room on fire, she runs to Vermont the safest place and person she knows. Her best friend Hannah. Hannah quickly finds her a position at a gorgeous inn, called Sugar Maple, located in the Vermont countryside.The descriptions of the desserts will have you drool, the food, entice, the beautiful setting and family atmosphere , envious and the banjo music and square dancing, tapping your feet. Still all os not sweetness and light, that would not be real life, there is an odious woman named Jane White, there are the secrets the Inn's elderly owner keeps and there is a family tragedy. Livvy herself is a colorful character, she dyes her hair the most outrageous colors, fierce fuchsia, banana yellow, pine green, changing to suit moods and seasons. On her own since the age of sixteen she just wants a place and a life she can call her own. Oh yes, a most not forget a wonderful dog called Salty. Of course there has to be a love interest as well.Still, a much lighter fare than that in which I usually indulge, always gravitating more to salty than sugar. But I have to admit I enjoyed this brief foray to the sweet side.ARC from Publisher.
    • 4/5
      The City Bakers by Louise MillerLike baking and discussing the details of baking.Olivia sets a fire by accident and leaves the city to go to VT where her girlfriend lives. She's out of money and she helps set her up with a job and a place to stay. For the job interview she has to bake an apple pie=she's not interested in her resume.Loved hearing of the tips along the way of making the pie-I had to listen to this tape 2 x to make sure I got them right.She's given a few options for a place to stay-the Sugar House or a room at the inn where she will bake.Chapters are titled by the month of the year. Like how she becomes one of the community and how she does it.Through love and loss the story goes on. Easy to follow the characters until the big Thanksgiving feast. Really enjoyed this story.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 4/5
      When Livvy's high-profile chef's job literally goes up in flames, she leaves Boston to hide out in the small Vermont town where her best friend lives. There she finds herself being drawn into friendships, relationships and small town life. A satisfying debut novel which will have you taking a break in the kitchen to bake something tasty.
    • 5/5
      This story had a little more depth than the reviews lead me to believe. It is a hallmark story on one hand, a simple happily ever after love story, but on the other hand it is a story of a woman being kind to herself, being open, making a family and building a community through her choices.
    • 5/5
      A charming gem of a book! I initially thought this was going to be a sappy and predictable story, but I was wrong. This novel does have a cozy vibe, but also suspense, secrets, and oh so much food!After being asked to "take a break" from her current chef position, Livvy takes refuge at her best friend's house in the small town of Guthrie, Vermont and reluctantly accepts a job at The Sugar Maple Inn. It is here she finds that a "family" can be where you find the best people.Livvy's unreliable (and frustrating!) narrative is well balanced by a cast of wonderful and heartwarming characters. Reminiscent of Gilmore Girls and wonderfully written, this medium paced plot sweeps you into the lives of the friends (and nemesis) in this little community and leaves you wishing you could live there too.If you're looking for a lighthearted read full of personality, this is a book for you.
    • 4/5
      AudiobookNarration 5 starsI am so glad I finally got to this book, it was of my to be read books for too long. I originally picked it by title alone, and never read the blurb. This has proven to be a good method of picking books for me so far. I loved this feel good, great characters with real problems story.Olivia, works in Boston for a major restaurant where she has relations with the married boss. Her days are numbered when she sets fire to the restaurant and realizes she may not be where she wants to be in life. She heads to the country to her dear friend where she finds a job working for a cranky woman in small town where everyone has real issues and big hearts. The books follows her as she stumbles, sticks her foot in her mouth, runs, gives, shares and eventually finds her truth. It is a feel good read with a lot of bumps. While I found one of her choices wrong the author made it work for this character. I look forward to reading more for this author
    • 4/5
      Very sweet book. Never sure where these towns and people are in America. Love books about food
    • 4/5
      This book has contra dancing in it!!!!! And old time music!!! This made me so happy. The actual story is so so average, but the setting (Vermont) and the music references were really great. I grew up contra dancing and it is really cool to see it in a book. I've seen it referenced in one other book, but in this story, the dancing is described in some detail (even the calling) and the protagonist is even in the band. I enjoyed how the music is portrayed as music of life, joy, and of death, which in my experience is how spot on.
    • 4/5
      Olivia (“Livvy”) Rawlings, 32, leaves Boston to stay with her BFF Hannah in Guthrie, Vermont after having botched up her job and her life, and because her usual response to trouble is to run from it. Livvy is an award-winning pastry chef, so Hannah is able to arrange for Livvy to get a job at the Sugar Maple Inn. Her new boss Margaret seems like a cold woman, but Livvy learns to appreciate her nonetheless, as well as a local man, Marty McCracken and his warm, sprawling family. She also learns to love the gorgeous woodsy setting. But then something goes wrong and once again she runs.Woven into the plot are many mouth-watering descriptions of meals, as well as Livvy’s ongoing tweaking of a recipe for a prize-winning apple pie (the recipe for which is included at the end).The supporting characters in this book are lovely, but seemed a little too forgiving of Livvy to be realistic. While she has many good qualities, she is also irresponsible and immature, and it didn’t seem to me like leaving everyone in the lurch as she continually does would be so totally forgivable by everyone.Nevertheless, the story has a lot of charm, and is a bit like reading food porn, which of course is always appealing to me.
    • 4/5
      Louise Miller is remarkably accomplished in this debut novel about a family-less pastry chef escaping an affair with her boss in Boston, a married man, and landing at the Sugar Maple Inn in Guthrie, Vermont. All of our senses are engaged just by contemplating the premise: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Miller adds the umami ingredient, voice. Her main character, Livvy, has the wit to speak her mind and the cooking talent to go with it. What she doesn’t have before she moves to Vermont are the comforts of a home where people will love her for just who she is.Romances are written to a formula, and some do it better than others. Miller manages to include every element of a rockin’ romance, including a prudently unconsummated sex scene with said boss late in the proceedings that proves her bonafides when it comes to one of the more difficult things to write well: sex. That this is a debut is reason for romance-lovers to celebrate. The story was inventive enough to encourage us to believe that there is more where that came from.(view spoiler)Miller herself is a pastry chef in Boston, though she gives Livvy “a splashier career” than her own. In an interview conducted by her publishers, Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, Miller tells us"Actually, writing a pastry chef character gave me a surprise benefit: it made me more mindful in the kitchen. I found myself paying closer attention to everything I was making—especially to the tasks I can perform without thinking, like making chocolate mousse or crème brulee—wanting to capture all the details."Truthfully, it would not have bothered me a bit to have a few more clues to successful baking left in. Who isn’t completely obsessed with BBC TV’s The British Baking Show?"I find that writing about food is a million times more difficult than actually making food. Baking requires precision, and I had to fight the urge to include every step of the process when writing about making dessert. Many of the baking scenes had to be edited several times because they sounded too instructional."I don’t bake often, but when I do, I want to make sure it turns out. A few more hints to winning techniques wrapped in a romance fondant wouldn’t go astray in this reader’s opinion. Besides, if we learn a few things along the way we may not feel so guilty taking a day or two to read about someone else pursuing their dreams.When asked why she chose this particular story line, Miller admits that she has always been a city kid:"I think the allure comes from the fantasy that life will be vastly different—a slower pace, a life more connected to the land and to the seasons, with space to grow a big garden, to own a little piece of land and to know it well. Life in the city requires constant negotiation—with your neighbors, with the people on the subway, in line at the coffee shop, in traffic—part of the attraction is being free from some of those pressures."Fantasy is a big part of successful romance. The most reassuring thing about this novel was that Livvy and her fellow characters all progress to some kind of personal dream fulfillment in the course of the story. Livvy creates her own family with strong bonds, and her friends manage to wrestle her to the ground long enough for roots to form. She is not finished growing, but we leave knowing she has a solid foundation for a good life and successful career. And that is how we feel about Louise Miller, too.This is a fine book to escape the summer heat, so rustle up a copy when it comes out August 9, 2016 and settle in for a journey that begins with flambé and ends with homemade apple pie.
    • 4/5
      The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living is a debut novel by Louise Miller. Olivia “Livvy” Rawlings is walking into the Jefferson Room during the 150th anniversary celebration of the Emerson Club carrying a flaming Baked Alaska when she spots her boss, Jameson Whitaker (and lover) across the room with his wife. Livvy sees Jameson whisper to his wife and then the wife laughs while looking at Livvy. Livvy is surprised and drops the dessert (which weighs 40 pounds). Instantly a tablecloth catches fire (the one under the ice sculpture) and soon the curtains (after the ice sculpture melts and falls). Of course, then the sprinklers kick in. Livvy rushes home, packs a bag, loads her dog, Salty into the car and heads out of town. Livvy calls her friend, Hannah Doyle who lives in Guthrie, Vermont and asks to stay for a few days. Hannah would like Livvy to stay permanently in Guthrie and arranges a job interview for Livvy. The interview is with Margaret Hurley at the Sugar Maple Inn. Margaret has Livvy bake an apple pie (she has an ulterior motive). Livvy gets the job and a place to live. Livvy moves into the old sugarhouse on the property. Livvy soon finds out that Margaret needs Livvy to help her win the Coventry County Fair blue ribbon for an apple pie. Margaret has not won since the death of her husband, Brian (Margaret has a secret). Margaret needs Livvy to help regain her reputation as well as the inn’s. Come join Livvy as she settles into life in small town Guthrie in The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living.The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living was an enjoyable novel. It is easy to read, has engaging characters, interesting and beautiful small town, and a lovable dog. There is the requisite romance in the book for Livvy (and a sex scene that was not needed). The small town of Guthrie has the normal gossips, busy bodies, and rivalries. I liked Livvy and her ever changing hair color (it was a new color every week). I give The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living 4 out of 5 stars. The story has a good pace, nice writing and a lovely ending. There are also mouthwatering descriptions of the delicacies. I did not give the novel five stars because of the predictability. I enjoyed reading the book, but I knew how it would end. There is one nice little surprise though (I do not want to give it away). I look forward to reading more books by Louise Miller in the future.