Scan barcode
rants_n_reads's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
robingibson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
butterflittin01's review against another edition
5.0
Enjoyed this book tremendously. I laughed aloud many times and loved the characters. They had quirky, unique personalities.
If you enjoy humorous books with heartfelt moments, you'll love this one.
If you enjoy humorous books with heartfelt moments, you'll love this one.
k_dog_reads's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
callienicole's review against another edition
1.0
1/5 stars.
I have been listening to a lot more audiobooks over the last year while I work on other things, and when I saw this one up for review it piqued my interest. I like a good food-related fiction book every now and then.
But the bottom line? I kind of suffered through this book. Not for any one reason, but for a bunch of things, and I honestly found myself skipping chunks toward the end of the book just to get through it quicker. Read below if you must know why.
Language: Several uses of the f-word, other curse words, and Jesus' name in vain (which I never appreciate as a Christian).
Sexual Content: From the very start of the book we learn that the main character is having an affair with a married man, and generally sleeps around a lot. That kind of soured the book for me right from the start. No lesson ever seemed to be learned related to this relationship either, even though I think people generally agree that having an affair with a married man is not a good thing. Other sexual references. An extended and pretty explicit sex scene that I skipped past. Another almost sex scene. I honestly started skipping through the book after this because for other reasons I list below, I was just so tired of this book.
Politics: Spoiler Alert - near the end of this book the main character finds out she's pregnant, and the doctor presents her with her "options". Then we have an extended debate about whether she'll abort or not, including an older lady who suggests some herbs that could "take care of it" (an older lady who had an abortion earlier in her life and regrets not having children, so it felt like a weird character to have giving her this talk). I am strongly pro-life and know that abortion ends the life of an unborn child, so I just cannot stomach casual abortion talk like this in my books. Thankfully the character decides to keep her baby, but the serious abortion consideration put a sour taste in my mouth.
Plot: This was my main problem with the book - there was really just no plot to speak of for most of the book. I kept waiting for something big to happen, but there was just nothing until the character found out she was pregnant, and you already know I wasn't thrilled with all the abortion talk. Even after that one big plot point, the book seemed to move slowly. I guess you could say this book was more character-driven, but I typically don't like audiobooks that are character driven. I need a clear plot to drive the book forward when I am listening on audio, or I have a hard time paying attention.
Characters: The second prong of my disappointment was that I liked none of the main characters in this character-driven book. From the start I felt like the protagonist was unlikable. I felt like her personality kept changing, and I couldn't decide if it was the author's fault or the narrator's fault (I'm thinking a little bit of both). Was she supposed to be high-spirited and sarcastic, or introverted and reflective? I guess she could be both, but I felt like it was hard to see her growth in the book because I couldn't figure out who she was to begin with.
My second beef with the characters - the two main characters were so immature (once again, was this the author's fault or the narrator's fault? I don't know!). If I had read the book without any ages being mentioned, I would have guessed early twenties...but no, the girl was 32, and the guy was almost forty. This was a big pet peeve of mine in this book. I felt like both of them should have had their lives together, or at least had a direction, at this age. Maybe almost-forty-year-olds aren't really expected to have their life together in this culture anymore? But in fiction, I like my characters to be a little more age-appropriate.
Narrator: I don't think I would have liked this book much even if I had read it on paper, but to me the narrator didn't do a lot for this book. And I think that is honestly just a personal thing. I didn't like the way she read certain lines (I think she added more sarcasm than I would have gotten from print, and her dictation made the main character feel more stuck up). Her voice for the male characters came off as creepy to me as well (in all fairness, I think a lot of female narrators have this problem though, at least to me).
What I Liked: The positive about this book was definitely all the food descriptions. Whenever I listened to it I would start to get hungry, and nothing I ate seemed quite up to snuff after hearing about all the food in this book! Books like this make me want to bake and cook more, which is a good thing because sometimes I need that extra motivation.
The ending was sweet, as it seemed like the main character finally found a place where she belonged and got the guy, so it all worked out. I do love a happy ending. However, this book was just really not for me.
Note: I received a copy of this audiobook for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
I have been listening to a lot more audiobooks over the last year while I work on other things, and when I saw this one up for review it piqued my interest. I like a good food-related fiction book every now and then.
But the bottom line? I kind of suffered through this book. Not for any one reason, but for a bunch of things, and I honestly found myself skipping chunks toward the end of the book just to get through it quicker. Read below if you must know why.
Language: Several uses of the f-word, other curse words, and Jesus' name in vain (which I never appreciate as a Christian).
Sexual Content: From the very start of the book we learn that the main character is having an affair with a married man, and generally sleeps around a lot. That kind of soured the book for me right from the start. No lesson ever seemed to be learned related to this relationship either, even though I think people generally agree that having an affair with a married man is not a good thing. Other sexual references. An extended and pretty explicit sex scene that I skipped past. Another almost sex scene. I honestly started skipping through the book after this because for other reasons I list below, I was just so tired of this book.
Politics: Spoiler Alert - near the end of this book the main character finds out she's pregnant, and the doctor presents her with her "options". Then we have an extended debate about whether she'll abort or not, including an older lady who suggests some herbs that could "take care of it" (an older lady who had an abortion earlier in her life and regrets not having children, so it felt like a weird character to have giving her this talk). I am strongly pro-life and know that abortion ends the life of an unborn child, so I just cannot stomach casual abortion talk like this in my books. Thankfully the character decides to keep her baby, but the serious abortion consideration put a sour taste in my mouth.
Plot: This was my main problem with the book - there was really just no plot to speak of for most of the book. I kept waiting for something big to happen, but there was just nothing until the character found out she was pregnant, and you already know I wasn't thrilled with all the abortion talk. Even after that one big plot point, the book seemed to move slowly. I guess you could say this book was more character-driven, but I typically don't like audiobooks that are character driven. I need a clear plot to drive the book forward when I am listening on audio, or I have a hard time paying attention.
Characters: The second prong of my disappointment was that I liked none of the main characters in this character-driven book. From the start I felt like the protagonist was unlikable. I felt like her personality kept changing, and I couldn't decide if it was the author's fault or the narrator's fault (I'm thinking a little bit of both). Was she supposed to be high-spirited and sarcastic, or introverted and reflective? I guess she could be both, but I felt like it was hard to see her growth in the book because I couldn't figure out who she was to begin with.
My second beef with the characters - the two main characters were so immature (once again, was this the author's fault or the narrator's fault? I don't know!). If I had read the book without any ages being mentioned, I would have guessed early twenties...but no, the girl was 32, and the guy was almost forty. This was a big pet peeve of mine in this book. I felt like both of them should have had their lives together, or at least had a direction, at this age. Maybe almost-forty-year-olds aren't really expected to have their life together in this culture anymore? But in fiction, I like my characters to be a little more age-appropriate.
Narrator: I don't think I would have liked this book much even if I had read it on paper, but to me the narrator didn't do a lot for this book. And I think that is honestly just a personal thing. I didn't like the way she read certain lines (I think she added more sarcasm than I would have gotten from print, and her dictation made the main character feel more stuck up). Her voice for the male characters came off as creepy to me as well (in all fairness, I think a lot of female narrators have this problem though, at least to me).
What I Liked: The positive about this book was definitely all the food descriptions. Whenever I listened to it I would start to get hungry, and nothing I ate seemed quite up to snuff after hearing about all the food in this book! Books like this make me want to bake and cook more, which is a good thing because sometimes I need that extra motivation.
The ending was sweet, as it seemed like the main character finally found a place where she belonged and got the guy, so it all worked out. I do love a happy ending. However, this book was just really not for me.
Note: I received a copy of this audiobook for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
happylilkt's review against another edition
3.0
This book gives off serious Gilmore Girl vibes, but more from a Sookie-ish character (but not). I would have rated it higher if it didn't have some of the content (see below) because the baking descriptions were so fun and the writing was quite good. I thought the main character was very unusual and refreshing for this genre and trope. I read it in one sitting.
Note: contains brief, strong profanity, an open door scene, drinking, infidelity/adultery.
Note: contains brief, strong profanity, an open door scene, drinking, infidelity/adultery.
bethwolf's review against another edition
3.0
This book was suggested to me because it has similar vibes to Gilmore Girls and I totally get that. The story was a bit slow though and had a lot of plot holes for me that I just can’t get over. I mean, whatever happened to all the people she owed money to. She never discussed a salary with the inn so we have no idea how much she was making but she wasn’t paying for living accommodations, so she didn’t have much in the way of expenses so she should have been pocketing most of what she was making at the inn in order to pay all the debt off but it just disappears after a certain point in the book. I also can’t get over how she treats Hannah. This girl is supposed to be her best friend but she is so horrible to her and almost never mentions her unless it’s a convenient plot device. The stars I’m giving are for the vibe and the descriptions and the bones of the story. I think that it could have been a lot better. And I got taken out of it a lot when there were typos, which was quite often. I’m also definitely not a country girl so the banjo and all was a bit much for me but I’m glad that they connected over music and not just “you’re cute” like a lot of romances do today.
jol69's review against another edition
3.0
If you want a fun feel good book, a little 'hallmark' in parts, then this hits the mark.
keen23's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it! This was the second book I've read this week that was set in rural Vermont. It must be seasonal or something, because no one does fall quite like Vermont.
kaitlynannette13's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Characters seemed flat and you don’t really get to know who they are. I didn’t even know who the main interest was at the end of the book and the main character does get fleshed out a bit more but still don’t feel like I know any of the main characters well.