Book review of The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

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No home. No job. No boyfriend.

When Lia loses her job straight after a break-up, she escapes to the Molins’ family-run boulangerie in Toulouse – the place she was last happy, far away from her cheating ex.

Sworn off men, she isn’t prepared for the spark she feels for charming cheesemaker Jean-Luc, nor for things heating up at the family’s country home in Gascony when handsome, self-assured vineyard-owner Théo asks her out.

Torn between the two and her connections to the Molins family, Lia has some tough decisions to make.

Lia loves being back in France with the people she cares about, helping in the boulangerie. On discovering it is under threat of closure, she is devastated and resolves to do everything in her power to help it stay open.

Will she succeed? And will she be able to choose between the two handsome Frenchmen and live her happily ever after?

For fans of Gillian Harvey, Rebecca Raisin, Jo Thomas and Veronica Henry.

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

My review

This book cleverly illustrated the good and the not so good in the life of a family run boulangerie in France, plus a whole lot more that kept me turning the pages, wonderfully absorbed in Lia’s adventures in France. 

Following a tough time, Lia takes the dramatic decision to return to the boulangerie in France, where she had spent a short but happy part of her youth. She is warmly welcomed by her former host family, and with the maturity that comes with age, now sees their lives in a different light. In some ways, everything is just as she remembered: the bedroom, the scent of freshly baked bread (that I am sure I could also smell), and the love of the family. She now also appreciates the important role the boulangerie has in the neighbourhood and the difficulties for the family as they juggle the unsociable hours and long days with family life.

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

As the pressure mounts for the Molins family, Lia wants to do all she can to help them out. Learning who to trust when you are new to an area is never easy, but I certainly enjoyed meeting the local characters alongside Lia as she took her first steps helping in the shop. I am a great believer in always saying yes to new opportunities, especially if they take you out of your comfort zone and Lia did just this, which gave us an exciting and entertaining read, full of French promise.

The comfort of the baked goods, the love of the family, plus the simmering heat of romance and the spark of an idea that could change her life forever, all set with the beautiful city of Toulouse as a backdrop - I couldn’t have asked for anything more from this book. 

Purchase links

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Amazon link 

Ebook – all digital retailers  

 

Susan Buchanan

Author Bio  

Susan Buchanan writes contemporary romance, women’s fiction and romantic comedies, usually featuring travel, food, family, friendship, community – also Christmas!

Her books are Sign of the Times, The Dating Game, The Christmas Spirit, Return of the Christmas Spirit, A Little Christmas Spirit, A Taste of Christmas Spirit and Just One Day – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, The Leap Year Proposal, You Can’t Hurry Love and The Boulangerie on the Corner.

As a freelance developmental editor, copyeditor and proofreader, if she’s not reading, editing or writing, she’s thinking about it.  

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors. 

She lives near Glasgow with her husband, two children and a crazy Labrador. 

When she’s not editing, writing, reading or caring for her two delightful cherubs, she likes going to the theatre, playing board games, watching quiz shows and eating out, and she has a penchant for writing retreats.

Social Media Links  

Facebook 

Twitter 

Instagram 

Threads @authorsusanbuchanan

Website 

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

Giveaway to Win a signed and dedicated paperback of The Boulangerie on the Corner (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Gleam box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Win a signed and dedicated paperback of The Boulangerie on the Corner (Open to UK Only)

My declutter challenge this Lent

A family meal out at N@APH79

Manic March

February left us with a shiver as the March winds arrived early. The last few mornings of the month were 0ºc with an icy easterly wind giving a real feel of -10ºc. It was the sort of weather that encouraged comfort eating and we don’t need much encouraging to stray from the healthy track. While chunky vegetable soups and lentil with sweet potato bakes ticked the box for healthy and comforting, we also indulged in one of our favourite cheesy mountain dishes, tartiflette. Even served with a side salad this oven baked potato and melted reblochon cheese dish can’t really be classed as healthy. When Ed and Pearl visit, a meal at the village restaurant is a must, the raclette cheese featuring on the pizzas and in the burgers.

Bugnes for Mardi Gras

 

As February drew to a close, Lent arrived, and here in France, it brought with it more tasty temptations. I know, traditionally, Lent is a time to do without, but it seems no one has told our local boulangerie that. In our area of France, Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is celebrated with bugnes, a light doughnut-type delicacy. The weekend before Lent, we treated ourselves to a bugne each when they were tantalisingly left on display at the till at the boulangerie. A week later when we cycled in for coffee and croissants at the market, despite Lent having started, the tempting bugnes were still there and so we treated ourselves once more. Would you believe it, but yesterday, for the third Saturday in a row, the same thing happened? In our defence, the March wind has made cycling quite hard work, and we’ve also taken on another challenge this Lent that has certainly been hard work, both physically and mentally.

My Lent declutter challenge, day 4

 

40 mins a day, for 40 days

Lent is a time to give something up and I have struck gold on an idea to tackle the clutter in a mega Spring clean this Lent. The plan is simple, spend 40 minutes a day, for the 40 days of Lent, and fill one bag of something every day, to be sold, recycled, or donated. By focussing on one cupboard, or set of drawers, or cluttered corner at a time, and setting a time limit, I won’t get too overwhelmed by the task in hand, something I know I’ve had a problem with in the past. I can’t be the only one who has emptied an entire wardrobe onto the bed and then run out of time and energy deciding what stays and what goes, resulting in more piles on the floor than there were before I started, and a job that never seems to get finished.

My Lent declutter challenge, day 8

 

We are now on day twelve and so far, so good. I’ve sorted through and reorganised all my clothes, shoes, cycling gear and handbags, plus the large wicker storage baskets on top of the wardrobes. I am ashamed to admit that these contained more scarves, gloves and shoes than I even remember owning. As each day’s bag has been filled, the contents have been sorted, and I’ve cycled 27km just going back and forth to the recycling point at the end of the village, occasionally adding in a loop around the allotments.

 

I’m not sure who has been more traumatised by this unusual behaviour, Adrian or the dog. While he has embraced my madness and matched it, clearing a carload of old and obsolete electronics from the dumping ground we once called a dining room, he’s also rolled his eyes more than once at some of my mad ideas. Poor Mini, however is finding it all quite upsetting. Gone is the calm of inactivity she has grown accustomed to, and while she watches suspiciously as we sort through piles and shelves, the minute we start loading the car, or moving bags and boxes out, she is at our heals. “Are you going somewhere? You won’t move house and leave me, will you?”. Poor Mini.

 

Finding a treasure of memories from 2010

Some of our finds have included love letters from over 25yrs ago, an empty pink champagne bottle that neither of us can remember the occasion for which we drank the contents, and a folder full of holiday receipts, maps and the itinerary from our 2010 road trip for Adrian's 40th birthday. 

French Entrée Magazine article Mar/Apr 2012

I also found lots of magazine articles going back over ten years where the blog and our life in France were featured (including one about the 2010 road trip). Adrian managed to fill an entire bag with socks he never wears. 

A curious find in our curiosity's cabinet

Then there was the dead lizard in our curiosity’s cabinet, and while no one can claim that isn’t a curious thing to have, I’m not sure it’s something we need to hang on to.

 

Whilst I would love a place for everything and everything tidied away in its place, this exercise has made me realise that the things I put away in cupboards, storage boxes, drawers etc, I don’t use. I’ve always been a fan of the “Less is More” mantra and now I know that the less things I own, the better I function. 

 

As week three of Lent begins, it’s time to tackle the bookshelves, then the towels and bedding in the laundry room. Wish me luck and if you don’t hear from me, send help, I’m probably trapped under a heap of duvets, lost in a book. 

I’d love to know what is the weirdest thing you have found when having a clearout?

Advent Day Four, baguettes, boulangeries and Père Noel

Today's lunch of soup and flat bread

Advent Day Four

We started today by making a batch of flat breads that will keep nicely in the freezer and enable us to have one each with our lunchtime soup for the next ten days. Soup quickly became a winter lunch staple for us when we moved to France in 2004. I can’t even remember if it started with the summer glut of courgettes that became a freezer stocked with soup, or from the realisation that despite gloriously warm summers when our old stone house remained cool inside, winters in rural France turned out to be so much colder than I’d imagined. The cool stone quickly became cold and damp with icy air invading through draughty gaps. Nothing warms you up from the inside quite like a bowl of chunky soup, served piping hot and topped with melted cheese. 

Here is a fun French fact - did you know that despite the French accompanying most meals with a baguette, the one meal they don’t serve with bread is soup?

The baguette vending machine in our village

 

This week the French baguette was granted a UNESCO world heritage status. Buying their daily bread is part of the rhythm of life for French people with twelve million of them shopping in a boulangerie every day and with over six billion baguettes being baked every year, it is the most popular of all French breads. This prompted our local French newspaper to run a poll, asking “do you still eat baguettes daily?” and I was surprised that only 70% of respondents said they did. Sadly, we fell in the 30% who don’t – shh, don’t let on to my French friends, but even when we had a boulangerie down the road, a daily baguette intake just doesn’t agree with my English digestive system, and I’ve yet to use the baguette vending machine that was installed in our village in April. 

Envelopes and post box for Père Noel at our local boulangerie

 

We did visit one of the local boulangeries this week, for a croissant to have with a coffee, and I couldn’t help smiling when I saw it has become a temporary Christmas post office. Isn’t this just the sweetest Père Noel post box? 

 

If you want to know more about French bread, you might like this post from two years ago:

How to eat your bread

 

Here are the links to my previous 2022 Advent posts, just in case you missed any of them this week:

Farewell November

Back in the Creuse with a great fun cosy Christmas who dunnit

Festive fun with French words 

Lockdown diaries day forty-four, Advent day twelve, French pizza

Advent day 12 IPA and Bordeaux sauvignon blanc

Day forty-four, Saturday 12^th December 2020

 

Advent day twelve

We are halfway through advent (already) and Adrian is happy with the IPA he pulled out from his calendar this morning as it’s his favourite from the eight varieties included. I have a Bordeaux white, which should go nicely with my pizza tonight.

Toad in the hole, cooked by Ed

 

Last night I relinquished control of my kitchen and let Ed cook his signature dish, toad in the hole. For those of you who aren’t British, this is an oven cooked dish of sausages in batter and I have no idea where the name originates from, but no toads were harmed in the making of our dinner last night. It was delicious and the perfect comfort food choice for a cold, damp day. Traditionally it is served with an onion gravy, but Ed being my son, added mushrooms, peppers and courgettes to his gravy mix as he felt it would otherwise be lacking in vegetables. That’s my boy. Despite its origins, ours was a good local dish as the sausages came from Noah’s Ark Farm (about ten kilometres away), the eggs for the batter came from Bois Cambert (about three kilometres away) and the shallots were from this week’s Espoir Nature veggie pannier.

 

The boulangerie treats from today's bike ride

Greedy little piggies

We have been a bit indulgent today, munching our way through five different types of cake. During the first lockdown I slipped easily into the routine of always having a cake in the kitchen. At this time of year, as well as the topless carrot cake that has become our regular favourite (no sickly cream cheese topping here), there are mincepies too, plus the brownies I made yesterday. It was a real treat to have one of each after our healthy soup at lunchtime. 

As the weather was sunny today, although there was quite a strong wind too, we couldn’t resist a bike ride this afternoon and found ourselves outside the boulangerie in Brioux-sur-Boutonne. Our mid ride rest today included a piece of flan and a chocolate chip brioche roll, that we shared on a sunny bench. It was just what I needed having cycled into the wind for eighteen kilometres. I now have less than fifty kilometres to cycle to reach my goal of five thousand for this year.

 

Tarte flambée - Flammenkuche

France Trivia advent calendar, day twelve, French ‘pizzas’

I know the pizza originates from Italy, but did you know there are two French regional dishes that give the pizza a run for its money? 

 

The first is from the Alsace region in the north east, and one of Ed’s favourites, the tarte flambée or flammenkuche. This thin pizza dough base is layered with crème fraiche, lardons (bacon pieces) and onions before being cooked in a hot oven (or wood fired pizza oven, if possible). 

 

The second is the pissaladière, from Nice in the south. Here the pizza dough base is covered with a generous layer of caramelised onions before criss-crossing anchovy fillets over the top and dotting on black olives.

 

They are both a delicious alternative to a more traditional tomato base pizza, but for a country that boasts over a thousand different types of cheeses, I do think it’s a bit odd that neither French ‘pizza’ contains any cheese. 

Lockdown diaries day thirty-five, Advent day three, how to eat your bread

Advent Day three, JP Chenet Ice Edition

Day thirty-five, Thursday 3^rd December

 

Advent Day three

Having already pulled out a sparkling rosé and a red Merlot from my wine advent calendar, I was kind of expecting a crisp dry white to go with my moules frites this evening. Wrong. Behind today’s window was another JP Chenet sparking rosé, but this time, the Ice edition. I have no idea what that means, or if I am supposed to chill it in the freezer rather than the fridge, but it’s getting a 10/10 from me just for the pretty pink wrap over the bottle.

 

Bean chilli with oven baked potato

December recipe challenge update

Last night’s veggie chilli tasted as delicious as it smelt when I was cooking it (even if the photo may not look the most appetising) and was the perfect warming meal for a cold day. All plates were cleared (nothing unusual there) and not much leftover, which I was surprised at. I know our portions are not overly large and the recipe said it would feed four or five but shared between any more than the three of us, would have resulted in quite mean meals in my opinion. The Merlot went down very well with it too and I’ve already found another couple of recipes, for equally tasty, comfort food meals, that I’m looking forward to trying in the next few weeks. 

 

Inside my veggie pannier today

Out in the rain

I have been out and about a bit today, just around the village, and although going out in the wind and icy rain isn’t much fun, it was enough to feel like I’ve done something. Thursday is veggie box day and as Espoir Nature have added to the selection of veggies available, we picked up some new flavours today, including parsnips and Brussels sprouts. I think it is only this year that I have seen parsnips for sale in French supermarkets and as we rarely cook a British roast dinner, I don’t think I’ve ever bought them since living in France. I’ve already found a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall parsnip risotto recipe that I might try this weekend and I’m sure some will end up in our soups. Sprouts are obviously a must at this time of year and I’m thinking cooked with lardons, walnuts or some of the chestnuts we picked, roasted, shelled and froze a few weeks ago, will make a tasty dish.

 

Village Christmas decorations

As a small nod to normality I also had a meeting in the village this afternoon where our little team met to fold and staple this month’s village magazine, ready to deliver, and get planning for next month. We were all masked up and keeping our distances, a far cry from the usual hugs, kissing and noisy chatter we are used to, but it was so nice to catch up face to face with people who mean a lot to me. We might not have seen each other’s smiles, but our eyes were smiley and that will have to do. It was also nice to see that the village Christmas decorations have been put up, and our little forest of green Christmas trees has a new addition this year, a jolly snowman, whose expression seemed to suggest I wasn’t respecting adequate social distancing, oops.

Baguettes et pains

France Trivia advent calendar, day three, how to eat your bread (pain)

The daily baguette or pain (a slightly larger loaf) is certainly something typically French and although supermarkets all sell them, many French people travel quite some distance to buy their preferred bread at a specific boulangerie, having already taste-tested the options locally. I have been to events where there has almost been a walk-out as the bread served was not deemed to be up to standard. As a Brit who eats very little bread, I struggle to understand their passion, but I do so admire it. From my Larousse “A la Française !” book, they have a handy section giving top tips for good bread-eating etiquette.

1)   Should you serve your bread ready cut in a breadbasket (corbeille)? This would seem the correct thing to do, but it is acknowledged that between close friends or family, placing the bread on the table is acceptable, however you should cut your piece off with a knife rather than pulling it with your fingers.

2)   How should you eat your piece of bread? One thing's for sure, don't bite into it, instead break it into small pieces (petits morceaux) as you need it.

3)   If you feel the need for a little buttered bread (tartine) during a meal, never butter the whole slice at once. Place a small knob of butter at the side of you plate and butter each small piece as you eat it.

4)   The art of cleaning your plate. We all know that at the end of a meal wiping your plate (saucer son assiette) with a piece of baguette is almost enough to give you French citizenship, but Larousse informs me that for formal meals, using your fork rather than fingers to control the wipe of the plate is far better manners. Obviously, one should never lick the plate (lécher l’assiette)

5)   Breadcrumbs (miettes). Remember, no matter how tempting it is to use your finger to pick up the baguette crumbs that will fall around your plate, restrain yourself, especially if you are in polite company.

6)   Never place a baguette or pain upside down on the table as this is considered extremely bad luck.

 

Diary of Covid-19 confinement, day twenty

Ready, steady, cut!

Pop-up hair salon

Well, maybe salon is taking things a bit too far, but I could wait no longer, my fringe (bangs) had to be trimmed and as I’ve been shaving Adrian’s hair for many years now, it seemed only fair he got the chance to have a go too.

I can see again!

I was unnecessarily nervous as the minutes ticked slowly by, imagining the result would be something way too short, but even before I got a peek in the mirror, it already felt so much better now it wasn’t tickling my eyes. As I hope you will agree, he’s definitely hired and did a great job even if the only comb we could find was a beard comb and the scissors were kitchen scissors!

La Cornuelle

Palm Sunday or Rameaux

Today is the last Sunday in Lent and a day I’ve always looked forward to, since I discovered the special biscuit, la cornuelle, baked locally to celebrate. In these unusual times I was looking forward to a moment of normality this morning when I arrived at the boulangerie. However, I was disappointed as sadly, there were no pretty triangle shaped buttery biscuits, with fluted edges, a hole in the middle and decorated with aniseed sweets, for me to buy today.  Bernadette admitted that with everything that has been going on recently, she had completely forgotten all about les cornuelles. 

The tradition behind these biscuits has two explanations. The first being the triangular shape represents The Holy Trinity; The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit and traditionally it was baked to be sold at the entrance to church on Palm Sunday, where a sprig of box (another traditional French symbol of Palm Sunday) would have been placed in the hole. The second story comes from those whose beliefs are more Pagan than Christian, and with spring signifying new life, la cornuelle is believed to be triangle shaped to represent the female reproductive organs and is a sign of fertility. Maybe Bernadette was subconsciously erring on the side of caution, as many believe this period of enforced confinement is likely to lead to a rise in the number of births in nine months’ time, so I guess there is little need for a fertility biscuit this year.

My courgette, squash and pumpkin seedlings

Talking of signs of new life, I can’t help but share news of my courgette, pumpkin and squash seedlings, that are growing so fast, they will need to be potted on this week. I hope you agree they are little beauties and so far, I have counted a whopping 60 have germinated.

Adrian in the potager

Adrian has also been busy rotivating the potager and turning the compost heap, all necessary tasks getting things ready for the seedlings to be planted out next month. As I now know the exact contents of my freezers, this year’s harvest can’t come soon enough as stocks of last year’s roasted veg purée are running very low. 

Stay indoors, stay safe.

The Roma Nova series by Alison Morton

Lockdown Library

Today’s reading suggestion takes us away from France, into the alternative history world of Roma Nova, a series written by local (to me) author Alison Morton. Alison is currently offering book one in the series, Inceptio, FREE on kindle. 
Universal link here.

Alison and I both write a regular piece for The Deux-Sèvres Monthly magazine and Alison and her husband kindly offered us a bed for the night when we took on the challenge to cycle the whole of the department on a charity bike ride back in 2017.

Diary of Covid-19 confinement, day thirteen

Croissants from the boulangerie

Day thirteen

An unlucky number for some and sadly our luck seems to have run out in terms of sunshine, mild weather and blue sky. Today has been more grey, cold and with a frisky wind from the east. Time to forget the garden and huddle together indoors for a lazy Sunday. #lazysundayinfrance

Paris-Brest, Tarte-aux-fruits et éclair-au café

Tasty treats

It’s not been all doom and gloom though as just a peek through the boulangerie window this morning was enough to put a smile on my face, so I thought I’d share some of their deliciousness with you too.

Easter treats from the boulangerie

Hooping

Too much cake however, and not enough cycling, isn’t going to help maintain my almost 50-year-old form, but thankfully I have my hoop. Internet exercising seems to be quite the trend at the moment, so I’d like to invite you to come hoop with me. I think confinement madness my have arrived, but we all need a laugh in these tough times, so I hope this puts a smile on your face today.

Video filmed by Adrian Brown and Ed Brown.

Edited by Ed Brown

Music composed and performed by Ed Brown

Thank you for all your encouraging comments on my daily diary posts of life in lockdown, it is lovely to know you are enjoying them.

Stay indoors, stay safe.