The Blue Bistro » (First Edition)

ELIN HILDERBRAND grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was a teaching/writing fellow. Her short fiction has appeared in Seventeen, The Massachusetts Review, and The Colorado Review. She lives with her husband, Chip Cunningham, and their two sons in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The Blue Bistro is her fourth novel.

AN UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY LEADS TO…

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.

A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE…

But there is a mystery about their situation: What is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro's chef, who 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 she'll move on, as she always does—or finally open her heart…

"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

Publishers Weekly

The pricey, popular bistro of the title is the real star of Hilderbrand's fourth novel set on Nantucket. After years of hotel employ, peripatetic Adrienne Dealey, 28, lands her first restaurant job within hours of disembarking on the bucolic Massachusetts island. She's got a lot of learning to do as assistant to co-owner Thatcher Smith. Adrienne's soon attracted to the handsome Thatcher, and he seems to return her feelings. But just what is his relationship with his partner, the famous, utterly reclusive chef Fiona "Fee" Kemp? And why will no one talk about her? Hilderbrand specializes in beach reading (Summer People; The Beach Club); the plot doesn't go too far beyond standard romance and the characters don't reach beyond the conventional (though Adrienne does drink a bit more than the average heroine). But the complexities of running a bustling, ambitious restaurant in a summer hotspot are absorbing, and as Adrienne develops survival techniques with the customers and staff, readers follow her progress with genuine interest. Though the romance is a bit tepid and a subplot involving Adrienne's father's new girlfriend doesn't add much excitement, this is still a perfectly enjoyable beach book. Agent, Michael Carlisle. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.