Emma Woodhouse has just lost her former governess and favorite friend to marriage, and she is now a bored, lonely matchmaker looking for her next project. Harriet Smith is an agreeable, obedient acquaintance attending the local boarding school, with no known family or influences—the perfect pliable pupil. Emma tries to set her up with a…
Category: Romantic comedy
“The Notebook” Book Discussion and Cherry Coke Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Noah is an elderly man in a nursing home, his hands crippled by arthritis, who still, every morning, picks up a notebook, and carries it with him to his wife’s room, where he will tell her their story, hoping her Alzheimer’s won’t stop her from remembering them, even just for a little while. He makes…
“The Princess Bride” Book Discussion and Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Buttercup is an “impossibly lovely” milkmaid living on a farm in the fictional city of Florin. There is a farm boy named Westley who loves her, and says so with every utterance of his famous quote “As you wish.” He travels to America to obtain a fortune so he can marry her, but his ship…
“The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris” Book Discussion and Molten Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan Anna worked at a boring mass-produced chocolate factory in a small English town, until a freak accident left her missing two of her toes, and her self-esteem. Feeling sorry for herself and bored, she rekindled a friendship with her old French teacher, who is also at…
“Christmas in Vermont” Book Discussion and Maple Cinnamon Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Emma has a problematic habit: after one year of dating, she realizes each guy she’s with just isn’t marriage material, and she breaks up with him. So now, she’s suffering through winter in New York with a broken radiator (when she should have been on a tropical vacation with her now ex-boyfriend), working on a…
“One Day in December” Book Discussion and Chocolate Cupcake Recipe With Chocolate Mousse Topping
A single, sarcastic girl makes eye contact across a crowded bus station with a handsome boy, and wishes she got off the bus and got his number. Then the girl—Laurie—spends the next year searching for him in every pub in London. A year later at a Christmas party, Laurie’s best friend, Sarah, brings home Jack,…
Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
Polly and her adorable puffin Neal now live in the lighthouse on the Scottish island of Polbearne with her boyfriend Huckle, the beekeeper. In the mornings, she wakes early and goes down to the cold bakery and starts up the oven for fresh bread and pastries the locals will devour. Christmas is no exception, with…
“The Cafe by the Sea” Book Discussion and Lemon Raspberry Jam Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan Flora works at a law office and lives in a cramped London apartment, seeking to escape her childhood memories of farming on a small, cold Scottish island. Mure is a place that now only holds flashbacks of her mother who passed away, the awful thing she said…
“The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe” Book Discussion and Blueberry Streusel Muffin Recipe
A New York lawyer visits her grandmother’s hometown in Maine to deliver a letter. After nearly drowning and several other hilarious mishaps, Ellen unexpectedly finds the possibility of a new life, as well as a new taste for blueberries. An engaged New York lawyer visits her grandmother’s hometown in Maine to deliver a letter to…
“The Hideaway” Book Discussion and Strawberry Pie Cupcakes Recipe
The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton The small town of Sweet Bay, Alabama hides a house where Sara grew up with an embarrassingly eccentric grandmother named Mags, and all of her hippie friends who’d stayed on since the sixties. Sara escaped to a life in New Orleans with a shop of elegant knick-knacks as soon…