The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Café
High-powered Manhattan attorney, Ellen Branford, is going to fulfill her grandmother’s dying wish—to find the hometown boy she once loved and give him her last letter. When Ellen leaves her Kennedy-esque fiancé, Hayden Croft, to go to Beacon, Maine, she expects to have a quick twenty-four-hour stay. But a near-drowning experience leads her to become a local celebrity and introduces her to a man named Roy, a carpenter who saves her life. As Ellen learns more about the past her grandmother has kept hidden and works to bring closure to her quest, she may find that a twenty-four-hour visit to Beacon will never be enough.
Praise & Reviews
Number 1 on Germany’s best-seller list.
On the list for 37 weeks.
USA Today Recommended Reading, July 8, 2013
Good Housekeeping New Book Pick, August 2013
Chatelaine Magazine (Canada) Book Selection, August 2013
“Mary Simses can write evocative detail that puts you right in the scene and dialog that always rings true.”
–James Patterson
“Simses’ portrait of small-town Maine is enchanting, a place for a reader to linger…”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This charming, tender first novel emphasizes the power of simple pleasures, comfort food, and undeniable chemistry. Fans of the leads in the movies The Proposal and Sweet Home Alabama will recognize a kindred spirit in high-strung, perfectionist Ellen, and the novel’s small-town setting will appeal to loyal readers of Mary Kay Andrews, Elin Hilderbrand, and Jan Karon. Simses’ story of emotional discoveries, shifting priorities, and new beginnings is a delightful beach read.”
—Booklist
“Big-city lawyer Ellen heads to Maine to fulfill her grandmother’s dying wish—and falls for a local guy. Problem is, she’s got a fiancé back home. Basic ingredients, well mixed—and good to the last crumb.”
—Good Housekeeping
“Like the tastiest piece of pie, The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Café is mostly sweet with a touch of tartness and has a richly constructed crust to contain all its ingredients. Though Simses’ story is a familiar one, her depictions of the charming qualities of small town life, the healing abilities of comfort food, and the redemptive power of love will win the hearts of readers, as will the subtle sprinkling of humor and intrigue. Fans of Nicholas Sparks, or even the romantic offerings of James Patterson, will approve.”
—Hartford Books Examiner
“Simses has crafted a wholesome love story, infused with the pull-and-tug of romance and elements of mystery and enhanced by humble, low-key themes and conflicts.”
—Shelf Awareness
“Take all those endearing qualities of a Nicholas Sparks novel, add the addictive charms of New England and food, glorious food, and hey presto, you have a gentle, nostalgic and light-hearted story to tickle those summer taste buds.”
—Lancashire Evening Post (UK)
“Mary Simses’ debut novel offers a diverting armchair visit to a (blueberry-dotted) seaside village in Maine. Ellen Branford goes there to deliver a mysterious letter from her recently deceased grandmother to an elderly resident with whom she shared a long remembered past…With details that dovetail nicely into the plot and an assortment of quirky characters, The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Café mixes up an authentic Maine setting with an entertaining story.”
–Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA