Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel in Recipes by Jenny Colgan

Issy's grandfather had owned three bakeries and he taught her how to bake.  When she gets caught in a company cutback, she takes her severance pay and puts money down on a little out-of-the-way shop.  She's going to make it a cupcake shop.

Sourcebooks Landmark and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published July 2nd.

She asks a woman she met at a class her old company sent her to if she would like to work with her.  She's good at paperwork and has good ideas at marketing.  She says yes and they work on setting it up.  Once they are open, the customers are few.

Issy is also having romantic problems.  The boyfriend she had at the old company has disappeared.  She likes the bank loan officer but feels like it would be a conflict of interest if she started dating him.  What to do?

She begins sharing her cupcakes with people on the streets and at the bus stop.  It gets her a few customers.  The banker sends her a few more.  Then the woman that wanted the shop before she did comes in and asks for work.  She has all her clubs come in.  They even hold meetings there.  Just as everything is picking up, her old boyfriend shows up again and invites her to move in.   She should be suspicious but she's not.  He even introduces her to his mother, who doesn't like her.  She finally breaks up with him but he has evil plans.  He intends to buy the whole block her store is on to turn it into apartments.

Can she stop a huge company from taking over her lease?  Who will she decide to love?

This was a warm fuzzy kind of book that makes you feel good while you read it. You'll end with a smile on your face. Issy finally grows up.

 There are a lot of good recipes in the book, too.