HerKentucky Whiskey Glass Rating: 🥃🥃🥃

Publisher’s Synopsis: Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she is desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket's hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business...and they share an instant attraction. But there is a mystery about their situation: what is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro's chef, that captures Thatcher's attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether to open her heart for the first time, or move on, as she always does.

Infused with intimate Nantucket detail and filled with the warmth of passion and the breeze of doubt, The Blue Bistro is perfect summer reading.

HerKentucky Review: Ms. Hilderbrand has often said that this is her favorite of her novels. I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. The elements are there — nomadic Adrienne takes a front-of-house job at a hip Nantucket bistro, where she’s soon entangled in the lives of owner Thatcher and chef Fiona. But, something just felt off to me. As a romantic lead, Thatcher was a walking red flag. I couldn’t help cheering for Adrienne to run in the other direction rather than toward him. That’s a bit of a flaw for a romantic novel, of course, but everything else about this book is lovely. The characters are well-developed, the menu sounds superb. I just can’t really feel it when it comes to the romantic angle.

Buy The Blue Bistro on Amazon or Bookshop.org.

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