Friday 25 April 2014

Review ~ The French for Always by Fiona Valpy.

Title: The French for Always.
Author: Fiona Valpy.
Publisher: Bookouture.
Genre: Women's Fiction.
Release Date: April 25, 2014.
Source: Review Copy.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Purchase: Amazon UK

Leaving the grey skies of home behind to transform a crumbling French Château into a boutique wedding venue is a huge leap of faith for Sara. She and fiancé Gavin sink their life savings into the beautiful Château Bellevue – set under blue skies and surrounded by vineyards in the heart of Bordeaux.

After months of hard work, the dream starts to become a reality – until Gavin walks out halfway through their first season. Overnight, Sara is left very much alone with the prospect of losing everything.

With her own heart breaking, Sara has five weddings before the end of the season to turn the business around and rescue her dreams. With the help of the locals and a little courage can she save Château Bellevue before the summer is over?




Review:

The French for Always was a beautiful book. Just look at that cover! The books that bring you a setting you want to be transported to are always lovely to read and I need to spend some time at the gorgeous Château Bellevue.

The book looks like a serene, relaxing read and I felt like the writing represented that too. It was an easy, light book which for me was perfect to enjoy in one sitting on a night in. The French culture really stood out in this book and I felt like the author excelled at setting the scene for this book. It was a truly stunning story.

As much as I loved how pleasant this book was to read, I felt like maybe it could have done with an added twist in the tale, not unnecessary drama, but just something to give the plot a little bit of a lift. However, The French for Always was really brought to life with the brilliant characters. Sara was a lovely character and from the moment her life changes at the beginning of the book, I cared and rooted for her the whole way through. She felt like the kind of person I could be friends with in real life and I love authors who can write characters like that. Each of the to-be-married couples were developed wonderfully too. For a quick book I thought it was great at creating memorable characters who I loved to read about.

The French for Always helped me drift away from my own life for a little while and it was a lovely story – one that never failed to make me smile. With a plot I’d love to revisit again and again, this was a fab book.


Review also posted on Goodreads ; Amazon UK ; Amazon



About the Author:

Fiona Valpy lives in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. She left behind a career in Marketing and Public Relations to explore new avenues and now teaches yoga and writes.

Having renovated an old rambling farmhouse with her husband, she has developed new-found skills in cement- mixing and interior decorating, although her preferred pastime by far is wine-tasting.

Connect with Fiona: Facebook ; Twitter ; Goodreads

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