Release date: April 28, 2016
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction
Narrator: Helen Johns
Blurb:
Sun, croissants and fine wine. Nothing can spoil the perfect holiday. Or can it?
When Emmy Jamieson arrives at La Cour des Roses, a beautiful guesthouse in the French countryside, she can’t wait to spend two weeks relaxing with boyfriend Nathan. Their relationship needs a little TLC and Emmy is certain this holiday will do the trick. But they’ve barely unpacked before he scarpers with Gloria, the guesthouse owner’s cougar wife.
Rupert, the ailing guesthouse owner, is shell-shocked. Feeling somewhat responsible, and rather generous after a bottle (or so) of wine, heartbroken Emmy offers to help. Changing sheets in the gîtes will help keep her mind off her misery.
Thrust into the heart of the local community, Emmy suddenly finds herself surrounded by new friends. And with sizzling hot gardener Ryan and the infuriating (if gorgeous) accountant Alain providing welcome distractions, Nathan is fast becoming a distant memory.
Fresh coffee and croissants for breakfast, feeding the hens in the warm evening light; Emmy starts to feel quite at home. But it would be madness to walk away from her friends, family, and everything she’s ever worked for, to take a chance on a place she fell for on holiday – wouldn’t it?
Fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Nick Alexander will want to join Emmy for a glass of wine as the sun sets on the terrace at La Cour des Roses.
Review:
I’m joining in again with Throwback Thursday which was created by my good friend Renee at It’s Book Talk . She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favorites and read books that have already been published. I have so many older books on my TBR that get ignored in favor of review copies and I figure participating in Throwback Thursday will help me to read at a least one older title a week!
Oh this book was an absolute joy to listen to! It was bright and humorous with plenty of feel good warmth. It opens with Emmy finding her long term boyfriend, Nathan in a…ahem…delicate situation with Gloria, one of the owners of the guesthouse where Nathan and Emmy are supposed to having a romantic vacation. So clearly this one grabbed my attention right away, as much as I felt awful for the lovely Emmy the way Pollard wrote the scene and then Johns delivered it was just too hilarious! It set the perfect tone for the story and was highly memorable.
As much as this has romantic elements the plot doesn’t hinge on a love story and I really liked that. It focuses more on Emmy doing what makes her happy, with or without a man in her life and I found the way everything played out to be realistic and true to real life. I adored Emmy and found myself wishing I had a friend like her myself and then there was Rupert a charming old guy, his meddling and bossiness made me giggle. The location was gorgeous as well and both the author and the narrator did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life! There’s a sequel and I’ll definitely be reading it ASAP, I can’t wait to catch up with these lovely characters.
Overall rating: 4/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.