The Late Bloomers' Club

By: Louise Miller

Narrated by: Emily Rankin

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A delightful novel about two headstrong sisters, a small town's efforts to do right by the community, and the power of a lost dog to summon true love.

Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, and she takes great pleasure in knowing exactly what's "the usual". But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town's beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson.

Kit, an aspiring - and broke - filmmaker thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer before her death. The people of Guthrie are divided - some want the opportunities the development will bring, while others are staunchly against any change - and they aren't afraid to leave their opinions with their tips.

Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon. But Nora isn't quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer's rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on - finding Peggy's missing dog, Freckles.

When a disaster strikes the diner, the community of Guthrie bands together to help her, and Nora discovers that doing the right thing doesn't always mean giving up your dreams.

©2018 Louise Miller (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Heartwarming, charming and utterly fascinating, The Late Bloomers' Club is a beautifully rendered peek behind the scenes of a small town, its community, and its mysteries. I adored this novel.” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times best-selling author of The Bookshop at Water’s End)

“The Late Bloomers’ Club is a downright delightful read.... It has everything you want from a small town summer read: sweetness, charm, and a side of romance.” (HelloGiggles)

“A transportive book, and one that activates the senses: the smell of cider donuts, the taste of elderberry juice, and corn in red-and-white cardboard boats drenched in butter and flecked with sea salt, and the summertime warmth of rural New England. ” (The Boston Globe)

“As warm and cozy as buttered brioche and tea next to the fireplace on a winter morning...will appeal to fans of Jan Karon’s 'Mitford' books and Jennifer Chiaverini’s 'Elm Creek Quilts' series.” (Library Journal)

Loved it

Just a really nice, enjoyable book. This could be used as a great palette cleanser if you’ve been reading a lot of heavy subject matter books. . Enjoyed the relationship of the sisters and supportive characters. Good vacation read.

Simple sweet story

Loved this story more than her 1st city’s bakers guide... it’s such a sweet loving story. Characters are more detailed n it made me want to move to this small simple town!

Pretty good

I thought this book was o.k., but I really hated Kit's character. I just wanted someone to put her in her place and make her stop walking all over everyone and taking everyone and everything for granted. Poor Kit who felt so unwanted. This story of the big sister having to sacrifice everything for an ungrateful sibling who gets all the freedom has been done a lot. I think I'm just tired of the theme. This book was just fair.

Workin' 9 to 5! What a way to make a livin'.....

I picked up this one because it sounded cute and I needed a little fluff in my life.

What I didn't expect was how much anxiety listening to this book caused me. Holy moly, there was so much money being spent and being in debt that it had my head reeling a bit. It all worked out in the end, but just thinking about all the financial burden that was piling up had me going. I'm probably making this sound bigger than it is, but just figured I'd throw that out there for anybody who might be sensitive to that.

ANYWAYS, this book was fun and I enjoyed the pacing and the characters. The romance is very chaste and just super sweet and sincere. Elliot Danforth is too good to be true, but that doesn't make it a bad thing. He's the representative for the big corporation, but he genuinely cares about the town and what they have to say. He's sensitive, shy, outdoorsy, and nerdy and just an adorable man altogether.

The romance is a part of the book, but it doesn't overwhelm the book. Another big part of the book is about the relationship between Nora and her little sister, Kit. They have a somewhat tumultuous relationship due to their age difference and the emotional baggage from their parents passing too soon. Kit is a free spirit who doesn't want to be tied down in life, and Nora is the hardworking and grounded one. I like that the book didn't demonize or shame Kit in the way she chooses to live her life, but I do feel like she got off way too easy for her irresponsible nature and how she pushed her burdens onto Nora? She kind of just floated on in and expected her sister to take care of everything when she hadn't bothered to visit in years. When they finally butted heads, it didn't feel like everything that needed to be said was said.

But that might just be me projecting my feelings. I know if my sister had come to me to ask for me to use all my money and to take out a loan for her movie project while I was working full-time and owned my own business and was trying to make ends meet, I wouldn't do it. Take her in? Yes. Help her get back on her feet? Yes. Give her a job to work on some savings for her project? Of course. A loan for 50 grand while trying to keep a diner afloat? Not happening.

Nora is a much more generous and trusting soul than I am, though. And her town is filled with great people. It's all very comforting in other ways and Emily Rankin does a great job with her narration. I definitely do recommend this to anybody who wants some small town fluff and romance. My feelings on the sister conflict don't affect my overall opinion. I think this is a good time spent even if there are some things in the writing choices I don't agree with. I hope you give it a chance and that you enjoy it too!

I am sorry…

As an other has said I found this book — which seemed as if it would have been la-la-la-la-la-la in a small town, deeply anxiety provoking.

Large amounts of money, people’s livelihoods at stake, a kid sister who seems gooey affectionate but wants what she wants regardless of what it costs our heroine, and a heroine who seems to be unable to speak the hell UP about anything — Anything!— had me open-mouthed on the diner floor, not looking for scraps but some GUTS from Nora.

It just went on too far and too long! Less patient readers would give up, and I ended thinking I wasted my time.

this is a romance novel about loving a place

I teared up several times and absolutely loved the narration. Great performance! it's always impressive when I can tell who is talking by just slight changes in the narrators voice

Terrific.

A standout delight of a listen. A small Vermont town full of community-minded people and a diner which is one of the main hubs of the town holds the bones of this book and Nora is its heart. She had run the diner with her mother and father until their deaths and took it as her half of the inheritance from her parents' estate with the other half going to her usually broke sister, Kit, a filmmaker/director aspiring to fame. Along comes another unexpected property inheritance (and back taxes, liens, etc.) to Nora and Kit throwing the town into a dither as a big box store wants to buy the property. What makes this book a delight are the wonderful, colorful characters of the town and how they all face the challenge of possible changes the big box store would bring to the town if Nora and Kit sell out. Miss Miller must have grown up in a small New England town to do the superb job of bringing these characters to life. Emily Rankin as narrator is, as always, first-rate.

meh

I chose this book because I had read the author’s first book and enjoyed it (it’s not a continuation, just same town with a few of the previous names sprinkled around).
this was not near as enjoyable…a bit far fetched…a few new social topics thrown in.

Wonderful simple read

I loved this book for its warm genuine characters and comforting simple story. The only warning I would give is that you will suddenly crave homemade cake!

Perfect Summer read

I loved everything about this book. the characters were well developed, the pacing was good and the narrator was perfect for the book. Plus, who doesn't love being emersed in a small town Vermont life even if it's only for 10 hours.