The Reluctant Baker (Greek Village Book 10)

My heart ached for Ellie - growing up in the home of the vicar she experienced the harshness and rigidity that comes from religion ratherthan a loving relationship with God. A visit to the warm and sunny Greek village with it's blue skies and warm inviting friendships begins to transform Ellie's self-perception. She discovers true love but can she persuade herself to find her true self instead of being "responsible"? I read this book in one sitting - could not put it down. Truly a joy to visit my old friends in the village again!!

This is another great story from Sara Alexi. I always look forward to reading Sara's books as I know her characters seem so much like real people and her stories draw me in. This book is no exception. It is a complicated romance and as you learn more about the female lead, you wonder how she can trust any man again. The contrast between Greece and England is perhaps a little overdrawn - I am sure it doesn't rain all the time in England, does it? But I think some people are meant to live in the sun and heat and others thrive in cooler, wetter climes. And although I live in the former sort of climate, I look forward to travelling to Greece some day and maybe finding a village a bit like the one in Sara's stories. There were a few minor proofreading errors, hence the 4 star rating.

I have been reading the Greek Village series of books by Sara Alexi for a couple of years now. I have enjoyed each one. The book picks up with a person in the village and develops the characters of this person and those close to him. It is always a fun and interesting read. This book is about a young man who works for the baker and his wife, parents of his deceased wife. He feels very stuck in this job. As the story develops, we learn of his relationship to the others in this small Greek village on the Mediterranean Sea. There is a love interest of course.

The Reluctant Baker follows Ms Alexi's Greek Village series with many of the same characters (Stella, Mitsos, Juliet, etc.) finding yet another unhappy English woman discovering love in the arms of a delectable Greek man. Of course this is accomplished only after dealing with a number of social/cultural obstructions for both main characters. Ms. Alexi captures the essence of Greek village life and its close association with the natural rhythms of the land, as well as the effects of the economic challenges of contemporary Greek life. Hope there are more of this series on the way. We visit the Peloponnese for several weeks every fall, so it is lovely to be transported back there by these novels,from our home in the Pacific Northwest.

I've read all of this series, because I enjoy the village characters and the setting. I do find that the characters are sometimes dysfunctional but they grow throughout the book. In this one, it seemed a little far fetched that a young woman would move from England to Greece to be with a young man based on a couple of quick encounters. Also that her older teacher husband in England who was making a habit of seducing female students, perhaps trying to prove his maleness to himself, turned out to be conveniently gay.

I also read this wonderful book in one sitting. My husband's son is here visiting from Japan and they have had basketball on 24/7 :) So I went in the back room and went to Greece to re-visit all the people there that I have come to love. How I would love to just pick up my purse and get on a plane and do what Ellie did. I never had that spirit to do something like that till I read this beautiful written story. Thanks Sara Alexi for sharing your beautiful mind, dreams and I am sure some memories. I look forward to more.

This book continues the fascinating exploration of the intertwined lives of people who live and pass through a dreamy Greek village. Sara Alexi's characters are always complex, fully flesh and blood humans that I quickly care about. She tackles difficult psychological issues with very direct honesty. Another book in this beautifully written series that I couldn't put down as soon as I started. Sara Alexi is my new favorite author and I hope she writes many more books in this sumptuous series that I've fallen in love with.

I really love this series, each time I pick up one of the series I feel as though I am going home! Enjoyed Loukas's story in "The Reluctant Baker" and will look forward to more books which feature him and Ellie. The Greek Village Series makes you feel part of Greece for a little while and Sara Alexi draws you in so much with her descriptive narrative that you feel as though you are just visiting old friends for a while! I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good read

I have read all 10 Village books, one after the other as each book left me wanting more.I was completely transported to the village in Greece and found myself to be that fly on the wall looking down on each character as they travelled through life, loving,crying, working, eating, and sometimes cheating but passionate about retaining their own unique identity and a strong community ethos.The Reluctant Baker did not disappoint. I took on the baker's pain of wanting to please his dead wife's parents. I felt his frustration on meeting that special person and the twists and turns of life that the characters found themselves battling against but thankfully finding a successful outcome.Sara Alexi, please write some more "Village" books. There are plenty of miles to travel-maybe between Greece and Pakistan!. Where is thatGardener?

I have read all of the Greek Village books in the series up to this point and once again this does not disappoint.We are introduced to some new characters like the young Loukas a widower of a year trapped in a bakery working unreasonable hours trying to please his dead wife's parents. So young and yet not living but working his life away until he meets a young English lady Ellie and his world is turned upside down. Ellie is fighting her own demons. We also meet some old friends from the previous books including Stella and Mitsos with Stella attempting to start a hotel business on land previously owned by Mitsos but she is meeting all kinds of official obstacles and prejudice from the locals.This book is about young love and how the path to finding true love is not easy but at the same time not insurmountable.

As one can expect from Sara, yet another gripping story from the Greek Village Series, it doesn't matter if you start from the beginning with the Illegal Gardener or any of the other titles in between then and now, each one stands alone yet intermingles with the others, where we meet Juliet, Stella, Maria, Mitsos and many other characters. It's like keeping up with the 'family' gossip and that of close friends and never loosing sight of the main character within each story. Oh this book will certainly inspire the wish of the reader to sit and watch the world go slipping by whilst eating lemon chicken, maybe with a glass of Hellenic wine and a coffee to follow.... whilst feasting your eyes on Loukas as he works and wishing he would be making your cocktails later in the evening.

I must confess that after 10 books I am waiting for the one that disappoints. I have yet to read a series that doesn't struggle to keep interest in the stories and the characters past the fourth or fifth book, until now.This is not it!The characters and the storyline are as fresh and interesting as book one. If you haven't yet read any of The Greek Village series then dive in now and enjoy. It is not essential to read them in order, a fact that I can testify to, as we drift from one central character to another, sometimes in a parallel timeframe and others in a chronological order.In this book we see both old friends and new inhabitants to the village and feel the frustrations and helplessness of the two main characters that result in one returning to England to a loveless marriage.

The Reluctant Baker is the 10th in the Greek Village series, and maintains the standard of storytelling we have become used to being spoiled with. We have new characters plus a few older and much-loved villagers, set against the sun-drenched background of the village and the nearby town of Saros. This story is a mixture of passion, romance, naiveté, misunderstandings, unrequited love, scandals and the tragedy of premature death, that remains utterly riveting from dramatic start to neat finish. How Sara manages to keep pulling these out of the hat with such apparent ease and regularity is amazing. A firm 5 stars from me.