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    The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel
    The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel
    The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel

    Written by Jenny Colgan

    Narrated by Sarah Barron

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The beloved author of The Bookshop on the Corner returns with a sparkling, sunny, soulful new novel perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand.

    Years ago, Flora fled the quiet Scottish island where she grew up -- and she hasn't looked back. What would have done on Mure? It's a place where everyone has known her all her life, where no one will let her forget the past. In bright, bustling London, she can be anonymous, ambitious... and hopeleslly in love with her boss.

    But when fate brings Flora back to the island, she's suddenly swept once more into life with her brothers -- all strapping, loud, and seemingly incapable of basic housework -- and her father. Yet even amid the chaos of their reunion, Flora discovers a passion for cooking -- and find herself restoring dusty little pink-fronted shop on the harbour: a café by the sea.

    But with the seasons changing, Flora must come to terms with past mistakes -- and work out exactly where her future lies...

    Funny and heartfelt, The Café by the Sea is a delightful summertime novel that puts a modern twist on the classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers story.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 27, 2017
    ISBN9780062681478
    The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel
    Author

    Jenny Colgan

    Jenny Colgan is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Christmas Bookshop, The Bookshop on the Corner, Little Beach Street Bakery, and Christmas at the Cupcake Café. Jenny, her husband, and three children live in a genuine castle in Scotland.

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    Reviews for The Cafe by the Sea

    4/5

    421 ratings34 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Lovely book set in the mythical Mure Island in northern Scotland. Loved the whole series. I listened to the audio and was thrilled with the accents.
    • 5/5
      The story is light, relatable and heartwarming. The audiobook was amazing, it made me more familiar with the Scottish accent and the singing part was very touching even if I couldn’t understand the words, it still made me tear up.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. Enjoyable easy read! Downloading another right now!
    • 2/5
      I need to admit there are very few modern romances that I’ve enjoyed. Most are too smarmy, the characters boring, unlikable and undeveloped. This story fell in between for me. I enjoyed the readers voice - for the most part. The voice of the child was annoying and the voices of Joel and Clayton made me dislike them even before their creepy characters were brought out. Flora is needy and immature in her love attractions to Joel and Charlie. I struggled to find any character I liked in this story other than the dog. Without giving away the story ... we’re supposed to celebrate Flora’s choices in love and her family’s farm. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about any of it much. As I said, I’m a harsh critic (apparently) of romance and in the minority on my opinion of this book.
    • 4/5
      I turned down the volume every time she would read as the child Agate. Literally the worst part, it’s absolutely horrible.
    • 4/5
      Very nice story. It was difficult to understand the Gaelic though.
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure I ever connected to any of the characters, the book was way longer than necessary, the romantic element was shallow and it was hard to see why the characters were even attracted to each other, I don't even think she chose the right guy, etc, etc.....

      NONE OF THAT INTERFERED WITH MY COMPLETE ENJOYMENT OF THIS BOOK!!!!

      Usually I'm commenting and saying that it's the narrator who ruined a book for me....that I probably would have enjoyed the book more if I'd read it instead of listening to it. This time it's just the opposite: Sarah Barron's STUNNING narration made this book a MAGICAL experience! Yeah, the voice of the child was gratingly annoying....yeah, the whiny, flat tones she gave the American love interests made them COMPLETELY unlikable....again, NONE OF THAT MATTERED!

      This isn't just me being a sucker for an accent...for some reason I often have a hard time getting into audiobooks in British accents. But Ms. Barron masterfully captures the poetic, lyrical, rhythmic, almost mystical quality of Ms. Colgan's writing here, and even if I didn't find myself invested in the characters themselves, the locale and its traditions were rendered almost fairytale-esque through this perfect marriage of author/narrator.

      I keep seeing people referring to this as a perfect summer read, which I don't understand at ALL. For me, this is a perfect fall or winter read: so often bleak and melancholy in tone, with cold/wet weather themes, AND YET....simultaneously somehow just a perfect COZY read. I will 100% return to this book to listen to while trying to fall asleep....and if that sounds like an intended slight, IT'S NOT.
    • 4/5
      This was a really fun story to listen to at a time when I needed some serious distraction. The narrator was great when she was doing the Scottish and English characters. My only complaint, as an American, is when she did the American voices. I know that I wouldn’t be able to pull off doing British or Scottish accents, but I really wish she had had a little more coaching on the American dialect. The two or three characters who had American dialects sounded so awful that it was really hard to like those characters. She went with a stereo typical, nasal, annoyingly flat sound. I understand that this is how many people may view the American dialect, but it lacked any character or subtlety. And it made it really hard to like those characters. Other than that, it was a lovely story, about a beautiful place, and an interesting family. I enjoyed listening to it and it made me want to visit this magically beautiful island.
    • 4/5
      **This story is also titled as “The Summer Seaside Kitchen” with an alternate cover**The Cafe by the Sea is an endearing tale about a woman who is trying to come to her own after a tragedy strikes that created a rift between her family. She was able to push them from her mind until she was faced with going back to her home. Little did she know that returning to deal with her family gave her an opportunity to heal the wounds that she had ignored for so long. Weaved into an entertaining read is love, laughter, romance and local lore about mermaids.Flora is a quiet Scottish woman who has been living in London for the past few years. She had grown-up on a small Scottish Island but quickly fled after the death of her mother. All Flora wanted was to be as far away from her childhood home as possible and had not returned since her hasty departure. It is unclear at the start what it was exactly that happened that would embarrass Flora so badly that she would not return home but it is clear that the passing of her mother was extremely hard on this character as well as her family.Living in London, Flora has what she has always wanted, a proper professional job. She works as a paralegal and has made some friends but has been pretty unlucky in the love department. Her dissatisfaction with eligible bachelors is due to the fact that she compares every man she meets against her boss, Joel. Flora has an epic crush, a crush to end all crushes, on Joel. The problem is that he does not even know that she exists because he is the biggest douche bag ever! No matter what she tries, Flora can’t help wanting this man and it had been years.Life may have not been exciting for Flora but she was okay with where she was. Even though she always felt like something was missing, she quickly dismissed those feelings. Never dreaming of going back home, Flora is shocked when Joel calls her in and requests her to go back to her childhood home to smooth the way for Billionaire Colton Rogers. Colton was an American who had bought property on the northern tip of the island but was having a hard time with the locals.Although Flora did not want to be home, she found that as time went on, and she learned more about Colton’s plans, she became passionate about the island and the people on it. Through her intervention, she was able to show Colton that there were great experiences to be had if he would only look locally. He needed to use local sources, meet and greet his neighbors and really learn about the place he has decided to build his resort at.This is where the story really picks up. Having the characters and their stories unfurl on the pages was exquisite. I really felt a connection to the island and its inhabitants. In addition, with Flora being home, there was a reconnection going on with her family as well. Although it was challenging at first, as Flora started to actually take an interest in her family they responded in kind and it developed into a heartwarming merging of two worlds.There is a romance aspect to this story, it revolves around flora and two gentlemen. Both of which are unavailable for their own reasons. There are sweet moments between Flora and these men and you never are for certain where things are going to lead. There are surprises around every corner that will make you laugh as well as grrrrrrr. No matter what this story will appeal to all those readers who love a little romance.Much of this story revolves around Flora’s cooking for her family and the local inhabitants. What makes it truly sweet to me is that Flora was using her mother’s recipes from her personal cookbook and you could feel how it connected Flora to her mother. Healing Flora while she healed her family through meals together. There is a part of the story where you learn the significance of the cookbook to Flora’s mother and it is beyond heartwarming. This is a perfect beach read as well as a darling tale about the healing that can take place through cooking with love.This review is based on a complimentary book I received from Edelweiss+, LibraryThing Early Reviewers. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
    • 4/5
      Cute story. Challenging to perform but I think Sarah Barron does a great job of voicing the characters and I love how she sings the musical parts.
    • 5/5
      I really liked this book. The author's insights about northern Scotland islands are just amazing. She really painted a picture for the reader. The characters are great. The narrator was especially enjoyable to listen to.
    • 5/5
      liked this book a lot. Wished I had read this before the sequel, Endless beach.
    • 4/5
      I don't know what to say about this book; it's unlike the other books I've read by Colgan, and a much more straightforward romance.  The plot premise is implausible, at best, and the titular kitchen isn't even hinted at before the halfway mark.  But it takes place on a fictional northern island off the coast of Scotland, and the romance is a slllooowww burn, so I coped, and was pleasantly diverted by the wonderful atmosphere, obviously written by someone who loves their home country.But this was not as tightly written a story as it could have been, and felt like it was trying to tackle way too much in one book.  Flora's baggage, Joel's baggage, Fintan's baggage - there was just an awful lot of baggage, leaving the important impediments only glossed over here and there.  When things started to come together, they came together well, but at 400+ pages, the atmosphere carried me more than a time or two over some rough, and possibly extraneous, bits of story that ordinarily would have left me bored.While I'd happily love to read another of her books set on Mure, this wasn't as good as the others of her books I've read.  Still it was a nice mental holiday. 
    • 3/5
      A delightful confection. Loved it for the depiction of the Scottish isles more than anything else.
    • 5/5
      What a happy surprise this book was. I won a copy in a giveaway and was not sure how I would like it. I loved the title and cover, but had never read this author before. Happily, It was a fantastic summer read, beautiful locations, amazing characters, food and events. I loved them all, would want any of them over for tea. This book was not really about the romance it was about finding you in your world. Set in a mythical N. Scottish Island, small town, hard working honest people, and it's weather. The MC is a young woman who left to pursue her career as a lawyer in London after her mother died. She thought she'd never be back on the island till her job takes her there for a visit. Oh and she cooks delicious sounding dishes which this lovely author included at the end of the book. I'm making at least two of them. I can't wait to read more from this author
    • 4/5
      In searching for a better life, Flora left her home on Mure, Scotland to become a paralegal in London. But a twist of fate brings her home again, in the company of her lawyer boss and a very wealthy businessman whose accounts they would very much like to handle. As the story moves along, readers will likely predict what is going to happen, but the journey there is still well worth the read. The Scottish setting, the engrossing characters, and the intriguing plot combine for an entertaining tale. Though romance certainly is part of the story, there is much more to it than just that, as the author touches on family relationships and social issues. The first in the Summer Seaside Kitchen series, this novel is another example of Jenny Colgan’s skill as a wonderful storyteller.
    • 1/5
      I had read a Quick Reads novella by Jenny Colgan, set on the fictional island of Mure, and enjoyed it, so I thought I would also enjoy this full length novel set of the same island.

      I was so wrong!

      I wasn't expecting a literary classic in the vein of Austen, but given Colgan's legion of fans, I expected something a little better than this fantasy-world tale of poorly-drawn characters.

      Lets start with the protagonist, Flora, the paralegal with a huge crush on her attractive but miserable boss, who abandons her plans for a career in law to return home, run a cafe and cook and clean for her family, thereby putting the cause of feminism back 50 years. I believe the reader is meant to find her endearing, but as the book progressed, I came to dislike her more and more. She spends a significant amount of time leading on one of the male characters, and when he finally wises up, she blames him for not being "the man she’d hoped he was; that he wasn’t brave enough, in the end, to give it a shot. To risk it." Well, no, I can't say I blame him.

      And then there is her crush, senior lawyer Joel. Throughout the book, there are allusions to his childhood, bought up in a series of care and foster homes, which made him the man he is, but we never really get to truly understand his character. He remains an aloof caricature, and I can't help seeing the future for Joel and Flora being a short-lived relationship that ends when he gets bored. Maybe I am just altogether too cynical.

      The books itself felt too full of superfluous detail in places (did we really need to spend so long talking about Colton's big party at The Rock? Every detail of the preparation, the dancing, on and on....) and skimming over other areas (quickest planning meeting I've ever seen!)

      The only good thing I can say about this book is that it is incredibly easy to read, even when running on a treadmill. So it served its purpose of helping the time pass. But otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Easy read with good story line.
    • 5/5
      Very good , definite 5 star. However giving the plot would lessen the adventure for new readers.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this book because I knew I would hear the beautiful language what I didn't realize was that a few times the reader would sing and what an amazing treat it would be. A sweet story where you realize that sometimes you CAN go home.
    • 4/5
      A delicious blend of romance, cooking and nostalgia.Synopsis:The beloved author of The Bookshop on the Corner returns with a sparkling, sunny, soulful new novel perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand.Years ago, Flora fled the quiet Scottish island where she grew up -- and she hasn't looked back. What would she have done on Mure? It's a place where everyone has known her all her life, where no one will let her forget the past. In bright, bustling London, she can be anonymous, ambitious... and hopelessly in love with her boss.But when fate brings Flora back to the island, she's suddenly swept once more into life with her brothers -- all strapping, loud, and seemingly incapable of basic housework -- and her father. Yet even amid the chaos of their reunion, Flora discovers a passion for cooking -- and find herself restoring dusty little pink-fronted shop on the harbour: a café by the sea.But with the seasons changing, Flora must come to terms with past mistakes -- and work out exactly where her future lies...Funny and heartfelt, The Café by the Sea is a delightful summertime novel that puts a modern twist on the classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers story.
    • 4/5
      Jenny Colgan's books are a wonderful way to escape the everyday and this book is no different! Flora, the protagonist of "The Cafe by the Sea" is a Scottish lass from a Scottish island where everyone knows everyone else. She tried to escape this life by heading to London, but finds herself back on the island with her raucous family and running a small cafe. "The Cafe by the Sea" does not disappoint and has a surprise ending that any reader will enjoy. I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy the genre!
    • 4/5
      Another lovely book by Jenny Colgan. The main character, Flora, returns to the small Scottish island she grew up on to help an American businessman start an extraordinary resort on the island. Flora has to tread carefully to help the residents of the island earn a living, and fulfill her responsibilities in her job. In the process, she discovers more of who she really is and what's important to her. I wasn't as fond of some of her choices, but then I'm not always fond of my friends' choices, either. But the characters in the book are enjoyable people that you'd (mostly) want to know in real life. It was fun and an interesting read. Now I want to go and bake in Scotland. Lovely book.
    • 4/5
      This is a good summer read. Colgan gives us a wonderful description of a very northern island with an old world ethnic culture struggling to stay alive. Strong family ties through thick and thin, a frustrating romance, great character development, and emotional hurdles moving a community from past to future lifestyles are all wrapped in a comfortable and easy read package. I, for one, would love to visit that "Cafe by the Sea" !
    • 5/5
      Jenny Colgan has to be one of my all time favorite authors to read. Her books take you to places you've never been through vivid description of landscapes and seascapes. This book was not an exception, the town and food and family lore all make you want to escape the world and live there. If I had a book a day by Jenny to read I would be the happiest of readers.
    • 3/5
      Flora, studying to be an attorney, works as a paralegal for a London law firm. She has a crush on her boss Joel who barely knows she exists. Flora is from the fictional island of Mure, which was the author's creation to avoid being criticized for anything she didn't get right about the Shetland Islands. When a case requiring her knowledge of the island sends her back home, she's not that thrilled. She left home with no intentions of returning, but Colton Rogers wants to prevent a wind farm from being built next to his investments on the island. However, Joel begins to notice her. She also meets Charlie who runs week-long retreats on the island. Flora knows Colton's public relations problem is bringing in outsiders to do jobs which could be done by islanders in need of employment. Many have left the island because of the lack of jobs. The novel got off to a slow start but improved. I do not recommend this book for theologically conservative Christians. The author includes a gay couple, probably just to show her acceptance of the lifestyle. It was in my opinion unnecessary to the plot and probably alienated some potential readers. It would make a good beach read for those who don't mind some premarital sex in the book. I received an advance review copy of the book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      I recently read my first Jenny Colgan book, The Bookshop On The Corner, (review here), and was utterly charmed by it. I recommended it to several people, and each one enjoyed it as well. When I heard that Jenny had a new book publishing, I was excited to be offered a spot on her TLC book tour.Like The Bookshop On The Corner, The Cafe By The Sea is also set in a small town in Scotland. Flora is working as a paralegal for a law firm in London, having left her home in Mure and her fathers and brothers behind after her mother passed away.She has a few friends in London, and a major crush on her boss at the firm, Joel, an enigmatic, hard-driving man who serially dates women but doesn't appear to have anyone serious in his life.When one of Joel's biggest clients, Colton Rogers, buys up property in Flora's hometown, Flora is assigned the task of returning home to help Colton smooth over relations with the townspeople to get approval for his building plans.Flora does not want to return home to face her family and friends. Something happened at her mother's funeral, and she is afraid of having to deal with everyone in that aftermath. Flora's brothers and her father don't appear to be too happy to see Flora either.She is dismayed to find the family's home in disarray; the men don't keep it neat and tidy, and although they live on a farm, they seem to only eat takeout from the fish and chips place or eat food out of a can.Flora finds her mother's old recipes and cooks up some family favorites. In order to schmooze the townpeople, Flora opens up a cafe in town in a building owned by Colton, and right away it is a hit. Cooking helps Flora feel alive in a way that her law work doesn't allow her.I adored The Cafe By The Sea. The setting of the Scottish town by the sea is so vivid, and the characters are so wonderful, I wanted to know them all- her brothers Fintan, Innes and Hamish, Colton, Joel, Flora's friend Lorna, even Bramble the dog- they were all so endearing.There are romantic entanglements- Flora and Joel, Flora and Charlie the local hunk, and a sweet surprise romance for Fintan. (I confess that Fintan was my favorite character.) There are delicious food descriptions that will have your stomach growling (but fear not, Colgan includes recipes at the end of the book) and the setting is so enticing, you will want to book a ticket to Mure so you can eat at The Cafe By The Sea. I highly recommend this delightful novel.
    • 4/5
      The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel by Jenny Colgan is a soft and pleasant read. Flora left her home on the island farther north than Finland, but a bit off the shores of Scotland, soon after her mother died. She left to find happiness and a career in law. While working as a paralegal and waiting for her big break, an unusual circumstance sent her home to Mure. The law firm where she worked was asked to represent an eccentric and wealthy entrepreneur on this far away island home. Her job was to try to encourage the island people to accept his project on their island. Little did she know, that finally being given a big break in her career would affect her life in so many unexpected ways. Is it true that you can't go home again?
    • 4/5
      Thank you librarything.com for the advanced copy of The Cafe by the Sea: A Novel by Jenny Colgan in return for my honest review.I had never read a Jenny Colgan book before, and I almost gave up on this one, but I am glad that I didn't. It took a liitle while for me to get connected with the story and the characters, but once the setting moved to the Scottish Island of Mure, the story took hold. This is what I loved about the novel: the descriptions of the island and its residents, their culture and traditions. If it wasn't an imaginary place, I would surely want to live there, or at the very least, visit Mure several times a year. The interaction between the main character Flora (a paralegal from a posh London law firm returning home for business after a prolonged absence) and her family members, especially her brothers, felt incredibly real and true. Flora's young niece Agot was my favorite character of all with her mischievousness and spunkiness. Agot may not have been in many scenes, but she stole the show for me. Additionally, the recipes made sounded amazing, and some of them appear at the end of the book. Further, this shouldn't make a difference, but the short chapters made this book such a quick, enjoyable read.Less appealing to me was how Flora's love story turned out. I was hoping that a different character would win her heart. The one that did seemed unrealistic to this reader. Also, though I don't object to sexuality issues being incorporated into a story, in this case I didn't find it necessary, and it was introduced, announced and accepted so completely it seemed too ideallic, especially in this community. It is the type of reaction hoped for, but it just didn't feel honest. I would definitely read this author again. Despite some criticisms, I did get lost in the story, and being transported to the Island of Mure was a beautiful escape. This would make a great beach read.
    • 5/5
      This is another delightful book by Jenny Colgan. If you enjoy light-hearted stories with easy to like characters, give her books a read. The Cafe by the Sea is a good book to read as your first book by this author. It has family issues, acceptance problems, love and a wonderful story of learning to be who you are meant to be and not who others want you to be. Along with that there are beautiful descriptions of the islands in Scotland and to top it all off - RECIPES for the food that is written about in the book - Bannocks and Steak and Ale Pie are two that I would try if I cooked. Flora fled to London after her mother died, leaving bitter words to her family and her community in the small island of Mure in northern Scotland. When she is sent back on an assignment for her law firm to try to help a rich US tech mogul fight a local plan to build wind turbines that would ruin his view, she has to face the negative feelings from hr family and the small town. Along with missing London and her life there, she had a huge crush on her boss at the law firm. While on Mure, Flora has to make a lot of decisions about what to do with her life. As she gets caught up in daily life at the farm and in the town, she has to decide whether she was met to live a small life in the big city or learn to live where she was meant to be. I have read a lot of books by Jenny Colgan but this was one of my favorites. Even though it appears to be a light read, the author grapples with several difficult themes throughout the book. The characters were well written and very real. Plus I am ready to book a trip to Scotland to see the beautiful islands that she writes about so lovingly. This is a definite must read.Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.