This book was entertaining and captivated me from the beginning. A great read that is well written and thoughtfully carried out.

So cute. Not at all what I expected and I love that the two main protagonists weren't forced together romantically, which I was afraid was going to happen in the beginning. I loved the constant shenanigans caused by the surprise B&B guests, it made for a nice little comedy.

With this review, I am finally caught up with my reviews of freebie books. (You know the drill, I am given a copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review.)

Stuck in Manistique is not a heavy, dark read, in contrast to some of the books I have read lately. It is a nice story about Mark and Emily. Mark goes to Manistique, Michigan, because he has inherited a house from his estranged aunt. His aunt, Vivian, had been a doctor who traveled the world, going from one emergency to the next. He doesn’t know why she left him the house. His intention is to sell it as soon as possible. Once there, he discovers that the house was a bed and breakfast and that people have reservations to stay there.

Before he can cancel the reservations, the doorbell rings. There stands Emily with an eye patch. Emily has just finished medical school and is supposed to be going to Mackinac Island to meet her lover before she starts her residency at a hospital in Chicago. Emily is having doubts about meeting her lover. She has decided that she is not going to go when she hits a deer outside of Manistique. Her car needs repairs and she needs to have her eye checked. Manistique is the closest town, so her car is towed to the repair shop there and she goes to the local ER to have her eye checked. After telling her that her car won’t be ready until the next day, the car repair shop receptionist sends her over to the bed and breakfast because it is the only place in town that is available.

Mark tries to discourage Emily from staying there by telling her that his aunt is away and the inn isn’t prepared for guests, but in the end, they decide that Emily can stay for the night.

While Mark gets Emily settled, the doorbell rings again. Mark was trying to just ignore it but Emily answers it and there is George. George is on a gambling bus trip and has been kicked out of the local hotel. Despite Mark trying to discourage it, George then moves into the inn for the night.

This is the beginning of an interesting cast of characters who spend the next week in or around the inn. Mark finally admits that his aunt is dead. Emily’s lover shows up. A couple comes that are on a trip to drive an all-electric car around Lake Michigan. But somehow, no one is exactly what they seem.

I will admit that there are times that I don’t understand why the characters are doing what they are doing. Like why did Mark not admit that his aunt was dead? The story tells the story of Mark and Emily’s lives and explores Vivian’s life and that holds some surprises for Mark.

Part of the reason I did like the book is the setting. If you have ever been up in that area of Michigan, it is a pleasant reminder of how pretty the area is and all the quaint spots there.

Thanks for reading!

3.5

Poor, poor Mark. He inherits a house from an aunt he barely knew. It's in a town he's never heard of - Manistique, MI. The quickest way to get there requires him to cross over the Mackinac Bridge. Guess what? Mark has a bridge phobia. All Mark wants to do is get to Manistique so he can sell his aunt's house and then get on with his life. Of course it's not going to be that simple.

I am a sucker for all things Michigan. The title caught my eye and the overview sealed the deal. Little did I know what a funny story this was going to be. Mark is a bit quirky as are most of the character he meets on his journey. It turns out his aunt's home was a bed and breakfast. The harder he tries to get out of town, the more people come knocking on his door looking for a place to stay.

This was filled with witty dialogue and crazy situations. I really liked the small town setting. For a debut novel, it was very well written.

My thanks to Celestial Eyes Press and Netgalley.

This was a sweet and romantic story, with just enough twists to keep it interesting, all the way up to the ending.

Mark’s decision to tour his late aunt Vivian’s Victorian home in Manistique leads to a crazy few days after he discovers Vivian ran a bed-and-breakfast in the quiet little town. Vivian’s handyman, Bear Foot, needs to fix an electrical problem, and then performs a Native American ritual to ensure Vivian’s spirit travels easily to the next world. After Emily hits a deer, she shows up at Mark’s front door, begging to stay until her car could be repaired, since the local motel was full. George came by after the casino bus tour left him behind, and Peter had a reservation, but just needed somewhere to charge his electric car. He brought along Yvonne, a girl he picked up at a gas station who decided to come along for the ride.

Mark, a financial planner from the Chicago area with a bridge phobia, finds himself making French toast and bacon for this interesting collection of people, all the while reminding himself that he never meant to run an inn. In the process, he learns more about Vivian and her unconventional life as a doctor in war-torn countries, and eventually finds serenity in the small town way of life.

The book was funny and was also fun to read. There were several references to Fawlty Towers, a series I’ve never seen (but am going to look for). I loved Mark’s confusion and seeing his control of the situation just slip away as people kept showing up at the front door. And then he had to feed them! I really enjoyed this debut novel and will be watching for the next.

I loved this sweet book. The dialogue writing was well done, and I found it much wittier than I expected. I read it primarily because I am familiar with the geography, but the story was easy, comfortable and not too predictable!

This book was awesome! I live in MI’s Upper Peninsula not far from Manistique. This book is so spot on to life here in the UP. I highly recommend this book.

I usually read more historical fiction and YA, but I thought I would give something new a try. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was quirky, and had an interesting cast of characters. I found the two main characters, Mark and Emily, to be endearing and fun to follow around. 

I have never been to Michigan, and certainly not to the Upper Peninsula, so I really enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery up there. It was just enough to help me feel acclimated to the atmosphere and not feel overwhelmed by detail. I could perfectly picture myself in this world, which is always very important to me as a reader. 

I had never heard of the fear of bridges before, gephyrophobia. I felt the panic and anxiety that Mark felt, and now feel like I have a little bit more insight into the world. If nothing else can be said for this novel, it is that Cuesta wrote characters that were very real, even while being a little silly at times. I found some of the more comical sections to be a welcome relief from the more serious tones of the text. Every character had at least one fairly glaring flaw, but they were loved regardless which is so much like real-life. 

There were a few things in the book that were not my favorite. I found the repeating refrain that Mark and Emily didn't see each other romantically to be somewhat comical after being repeated at least five or six times. I just feel that there was a more artful way of conveying to the reader that you should not 'ship' these two characters. I also found some of the almost slapstick-esque comedy to be a little bit too much. I little can go a long way. And, I found the end to be very abrupt. I won't spoil it, but it felt like I was left hanging a bit, and not in a good way. 

All in all, this was a fun read with a great cast of characters. It dealt with some harder topics, like cancer, suicide, affairs, guilt and fear in a well-put-together way. Of all of the places to get stuck, Manistique seems like a pretty good place to be. 

My Rating:
3.0/5.0

I gave Stuck in Manistique 3 STARS. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys fiction with a bit of quirk and some heartfelt moments sprinkled in.

Stuck in Manistique is a story about a man named Mark who inherits a bed and breakfast from his aunt. When he arrives at the old Victorian mansion, he has no idea that it was a bed and breakfast until his first guest arrives. A young girl named Emily who was traveling and hit a deer and has no place to stay while her car is getting fixed. This is when the fun begins! Quirky characters keep showing up and Mark keeps letting them in even though he pronounces several times that he is not running a bed and breakfast. There are several mentions of Fawlty Towers which I might have seen a couple of times but don't really remember it enough to make a connection to the characters in this novel. It didn't matter because this book had a great storyline, was charming, and funny. The ending had a twist that wasn't expected. There were several things that I expected to happen but didn't. I love that I was surprised! This was a great debut novel and I would love to see more books written by this author!

Thank you Celestial Eyes Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this great book in return for my honest review.

This book ticked all the boxes for me, it was a fun, enjoyable read with great humour.. I loved the use of quotes and analogies from Faulty Towers peppered throughout, I could just imagine Mark running around like Basil and it had me laughing out loud at times.

I also appreciated the serious subjects covered in the book, relating to doctors and their struggles in the profession. This has led me to now read another ARC (Only Human), so I thank Netgalley for placing these two books in my lap and giving me the perfect book flight.

I also love any book that takes me to a new geographical location. I had never heard of Manistique before this book and was so excited when a google search gave me an armchair tour of the area. I loved that the author had added facts to his book, such as the service to drive people across the bridge. This fascinated me. I was happy to read that the author had wanted to created this book for 25 years, following a deer and a stay in the area !!

Thank you for this wonderful reading opportunity, it was just what I needed after a fair few non fiction books. I highly recommend it.
4.5 stars

This debut novel by Daniel Cuesta was a fun and enjoyable book. It’s written with a good deal of humor with some references to the British sitcom, Fawlty Towers, about a hotel. If you've never seen the show, you can still understand the book.

Mark's Aunt Vivian dies and he goes to a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to settle her affairs.. He has lost touch with her over the years but had been closer to her as a child. He knows little about her recent life or why she has been running a bed and breakfast in Manistique..

Meanwhile, Emily, escaping a troubled relationship, has a collision with a deer and ends up in Manistique needing to get her car repaired. When she can't get it repaired immediately she needs a place to stay for the night.and of course, ends up at the Victorian Manistique. While Mark plans to sell the house as soon as possible and is not interested in running a bed and breakfast, he allows her to stay the night.

One night stretches into several and various other guests show up complicating the situation for Mark and Emily and introducing a cast of unusual characters. In addition, we meet many of the residents of this small town who typically know everything about one another.

The story is somewhat predictable with a few surprises. If you're in the mood for a fun light read this could be the one..

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's not uncommon for me to have several books that I'm in the middle of reading. So when one of the books takes over as the only one I want to read at night during my reading time, I know that I've found a great book. Stuck in Manistique grabbed me from the start as it rotated back and forth from alternating chapters about Mark and Emily. As the story begins both characters are heading separately from Chicago, Illinois to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan via the "Mackinac Bridge" (otherwise known as "Mighty Mac.") Neither character has ever met the other until their paths cross in Manistique, Michigan. Emily finds her self stuck in this small town while she waits repairs on her shattered windshield while Mark is trying to quickly settle affairs for his late aunt Vivian who unbeknownst to him had been running a bed and breakfast in Manistique. When Emily has no other place to stay in town, Mark reluctantly agrees to let her stay at his late aunt's B & B which he has no idea how to run. Unfortunately for Mark, even more guests show up and he suddenly finds himself amidst a lot of craziness. Many parts of this book were hilarious especially the lighthearted and comical banter back and forth between Emily and Mark. There are many parts where I found myself laughing out loud at the comments they would make to each other. I can picture this book easily being made into a movie or play. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Stuck in Manistique. All thoughts expressed are my honest opinions of this book.

Why did I pick up Stuck in Manistique? Well, I saw it on NetGalley and the description - especially this line: "Will these two strangers, holding on to unraveling secrets, remain in town long enough to discover the connection between them?" - and the location in Michigan's U.P. grabbed my attention.

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. It felt more like some piece of kooky dinner theatre and perhaps that's because it was trying to be an homage to a British sitcom referenced several times throughout the book, Faulty Towers. Maybe, if I'd seen or liked the show the farcical tangle of events and eccentric characters would have been enjoyable.

However, I found there to be too much emphasis on details not essential to the story and not enough character building. I felt no connection to the characters or the events taking place. I found myself skimming over the farcical events just to get to the end and find out what the connection between the two "main" characters was. At which point the story just ended.

Stuck in Manistique didn't work for me, but if your a fan of wackadoodle dinner theatre then maybe it will work for you

This was a great read, good story. I could not put this book down, because I just had to know what would happen next!

I really enjoyed this book. I was expecting it to be a chick lit romance, and it had a bit of that feel, but it definitely diverged from that path. As we get to know main characters Mark & Emily, learning their stories, we also meet a zany cast of characters that keep things interesting. It's a rare novel that makes me laugh out loud but this one did in many places. It's a fun story, in a very unique setting, and is a great lighthearted yet emotional journey from grief to wholeness.

The town's name alone is entrancing. Mark has been left a house by his aunt in her will. She is someone whom he hardly knew, but now he wished he had taken the time to know her better. She did not seem to want to keep in touch and was always serving in remote areas of the world as a doctor.

Coming to her house and slowly unravelling the secrets of her life is more than what he bargained for.

Mark did not even know that she ran a bed and breakfast and having to face upto unexpected guests as well as the rituals involved in the Indian culture following a death was a little hard for him to follow. Getting more and more involved in the personal lives and calamities of the guests was something he never envisaged and he does not know how to get out of it and go back to the peaceful life he led before.

Finding out that even total strangers can be connected to one another seems very strange, and when it seems that some of it connects back to him it is even more difficult to logically explain. Going with the flow Mark discovers a part of him that was hitherto unknown!

Mark is surprised to learn that he is the beneficiary of his estranged aunt's house after her death. He has never heard of Mystique but he is intrigued. On the day he arrives to check the place out he receives a knock at the door and someone wants to stay in the bed and breakfast. He agrees to let her stay for the one night but it turns into much more.

Interesting characters and a page turning storyline. Loved every word. You will find yourself thoroughly engaged. Highly recommended.

I jumped at the chance to read Stuck in Manistique because I enjoy reading books set in areas I am familiar with. Michigan's Upper Peninsula is one of my favorite travel destinations, and I also live near Appleton which was often referred to as Emily's hometown. I will admit there were a few rough spots as this was the author's debut novel. However, I enjoyed the quirky characters, small-town flavor, and interesting plot twists. I am a sucker for tales of fate and destiny. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for introducing me to a new author.