Book Review - One Winter At The French Chalet by Mandy Baggot

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Title: One Winter at the French Chalet

Author: Mandy Baggot

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 16th September 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Things aren’t going well for travel writer Orla Bradbee.

With Christmas fast approaching, her boss is insisting Orla must travel to a rural village in France to interview a man who doesn’t speak. But with trouble at home – her teenage sister Erin is in a ‘situationship’ with a man online – Orla’s only plan is to take Erin with her.

Get the interview done, find out more about this online Romeo and still be back in time for Christmas dinner. Easy, right?

Saint-Chambéry is a picturesque French village nestled in the snow-capped mountains, but Jacques Barbier – gorgeous and brooding, yet a man of few words – makes it clear that Orla is wasting her time here.

Orla can’t deny that Jacques intrigues and infuriates her, but what is the mysterious Frenchman hiding exactly? And can she get close enough to uncover his secrets without risking her own heart?

Escape to the beautiful French Alps with Mandy Baggot for a romantic, heartwarming story to get you through the cold winter months!

I was totally transported to Saint-Chambery and the remote location that is Jacques' chalet, the two main locations for this fabulous story, showing once again that Mandy Baggot's ability to make you travel by armchair and really feel for a location is utterly fabulous. 

It's a quirky little French Village, with some great Christmas traditions and travel writer Orla is sent to write an article about a pregnant reindeer and its' mute handler, literally at the last possible minute. And she ends up taking her 16 year old sister Erin with her. 

Only thing is well she has been misled by Delphine who had been trying to get Orla to visit, but not necessarily for the reasons she thought, and well I'd say a far more interesting story develops. 

I read this over a couple of days, and found myself dreaming of the remote location overnight, which was rather weird, but on the other hand shows how much this story had clearly got under my skin. 

Orla has assorted family issues to juggle and the she meets Jacques and he doesn't initially want to have anything to do with her.  But once you discover why he is rather reclusive, it does make sense, and I found he really did have a heart of gold under his gruff exterior. 

I totally fell for Jacques myself, and I really enjoyed all the various sub plots of this story.   It's Mandy Baggot at her finest, and this was a very entertaining and enjoyable book that I couldn't get enough of. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.