Review and Giveaway: The Cake Therapist
Neely is a talented pastry chef who can taste feelings. She decides to return to the small town she grew up in to open a bakery and to run away from a broken marriage. As her business catches on, she becomes part of the community and senses the worries and troubles of others.
Olive and Edie are two young girls in the 1930s trying to make it on their own. Their story merges with Neely’s in an unexpected way.
The Cake Therapist by Judith Fertig alternates between Neely’s story in the present and Olive and Edie’s in the past, with Neely’s story being told in the first person and Olive and Edie’s in the third person. It takes a while for the stories to connect but they eventually do in a satisfying way.
Neely is a sympathetic character who was easy to relate to. Her descriptions of her baked creations made my mouth water. I didn’t mind the hint of magic realism surrounding her “gift” since it was written subtly.
I found Olive and Edie’s story a little hard to follow at times but it all come together in the end so it wasn’t an issue.
There was a lot going on in this book. Besides the two major storylines, there were several subplots that I felt could have been developed a little more. I have to admit I liked the book a lot but can’t say I loved it. Still, if Fertig continues Neely’s story in another book, I’d happily read it. If you like foodie fiction, you’ll probably want to give The Cake Therapist a try.
As a special treat, Tandem Literary is allowing me to give away copies of The Cake Therapist and Bake Happy, both by Judith Fertig, to one lucky reader! To enter to win THE CAKE THERAPIST and BAKE HAPPY, simply fill out the entry form. Contest is open to those with a US address only – one entry per person, please. I will use random.org to determine the winner. Contest ends at midnight EDT Thursday, July 09, 2015. Comments are welcome (and appreciated) but will not get you an entry in the contest.
I will link this up to Weekend Cooking which is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.
What an interesting idea for a book! Shame some of it was left undeveloped, I find that really frustrating as a reader.
http://libbycole.wordpress.com/
Fun giveaway!
This does sound like a fun book. Is it just me or are there a lot of cake covers right now?
I liked it too and would definitely read a sequel!
This reminds me of The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake. And the awesome cover and title make it something I really want to read. I was declined on NetGalley. ;-(
Oooh, I love foodie fiction — this sounds great, and I love that cover!
This sounds like such a fun story – food and drama! I love this kind of book! I’m definitely entering the giveaway – thanks 🙂
Kathy, thanks for hosting this lovely giveaway! I will add it to my blog’s sidebar.
I know what you mean…tons of little other things going on!
Food, magical realism and the cover art grabbed my attention!
I love foodie fiction, and cookbooks! Thanks for the chance to win!
Mmmmm cake
Food books always grab my attention and I love the cover on this one.
My mom actually just bought this book! I admit that we made the decision based on the cover, but I’m intrigued to read the story!
I love foodie fiction! But then I want to make/or eat the things I’ve read about.
Reminds me of The Sadness of Lemon Cake.
I’m about halfway through with this audiobook and my feelings on it are similar to yours. Like, not love. I didn’t realize the author was a cookbook author too, but of course that totally makes sense! Foodie fiction books are so tempting!
It reminds me too of the lemon cake book!
I’m looking forward to read this one.
Such an interesting premise! I’m curious about this one.
I have this one and am looking forward to reading it. Liking a book is fine with me — I can’t possibly hope to *love* everything I read. 🙂
Just my kind of summer story!
http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2015/07/eight-hundred-grapeswith-giveaway.html
That cover is just so colorful and cheery, it is calling out to me.
The positives on this one sound like the they outweigh the negatives though it is too bad that the plots weren’t developed more. Still I will keep this in mind for a light foodie read. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
I find it true of other books, the first is not always the best. Hopefully the author will develop and come into her own. Still I’d like to read it.
What a cover! Although in my view many cakes look much better than they taste! Cheers from Carole’s Chatter!
Beautiful cover! Thanks for the giveaway!
I very much like food fiction and thanks for am honest review & cool giveaway!
Tina
@novelmeals
Not a huge foodie reader but like the magic realism bit 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
I hear that this is the first in the series so maybe the author will explore the side stories.