The Blue Bistro

By: Elin Hilderbrand

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Elin Hilderbrand, author of the enchanting Summer People and The Beach Club, invites you to experience the perfect getaway with her sparkling novel, The Blue Bistro.

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.

©2005 Elin Hilderbrand (P)2012 Macmillan

Critic reviews

“The Blue Bistro is a wonderful, wonderful love story, the kind that you read, then recommend to many many friends - and so, I recommend it to you. Highly.” —James Patterson, bestselling author of Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

“A wonderfully poignant behind-the-scenes journey into the world of high-end restaurants, island life, and the inner workings of the human heart. A great summer story.” —Lolly Winston, author of Good Grief

If you are a fan of Ms. Hilderbrand’s work, you’ll like this book.

Elin Hilderbrand is one of my top ten favorite authors of all time. I have read this book 3 times and listened to it once, and every time I am hooked and can’t put it down. I have read all of her work and have enjoyed it all, but this title rates up there in my top three favorites along with Silver girl and a Summer affair. Reading it again is like visiting with old friends. Although the ending was not very satisfying.

a book of twist and turns. loved every bit of it.

i loved it. the twists and turns, the heart felt warmth. truly great read.

wanted to love it

great beach read the writing makes you feel like you're in Nantucket yourself. the story just didn't capture me, didn't love the characters or their chemistry and was underwhelmed with the ending.

not her best.

I felt like the story was all over the place. The ending made me angry

this was so good until the end (no spoilers)

Love Elin Hildebrand. An acquaintance said this was her favorite of Elin's, and our did not disappoint. I loved "hanging out" with her and the other characters, until the climax of the story. How the story's heroine responded was weak, I thought she was a much more self-reliant person. Other than that, very good.
They took reading the emails a little too literally. a portion of the communication between Addie & her father take place over email. The narrator spells out the email addresses on each one! very annoying.

4 starts

I just thought more would be made of what a mysterious place the bistro was. More about why the news reporter got the main character to join the bistro. Elin's other book summer people seemed much more entertaining to me. More pieces woven together that had a layering effect and kept me very interested. This book didn't quite have that effect.

A good book for someone else

It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't for me. I often find myself listening and zoning out, doing other things, only to come back to the story and not care about what I missed as I wasn't that invested in the characters.

Great love story

What a great love story I immediately fell in love with the characters Please make it a movie

Great book!

Such a good story with a lot of depth. I want to work at the blue bistro!

The Blue Bistro -

The plot of this book was interesting but I just could not get into the characters. The female lead, who is in her late 20’s, seemed like an immature teenager at times and the narrators performance seemed to support my thoughts on this. It was somewhat frustrating to read about her poor choices also. I really wanted to like this one and even though it was somewhat interesting, I found it lacking overall.