Friday 14 July 2017

Book Review - Summer at the Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard - Blog Tour

Amazon UK
Title: Summer at the Little French Guesthouse
Author: Helen Pollard
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 12th July 2017
Rating: 5 Stars


Summer sun, chilled, white wine, and a gorgeous fiancé. Nothing could upset pure bliss ... Right?

Emmy Jamieson loves her new life in the gentle hills and sunflowers of the lush French countryside, managing La Cour des Roses, a beautiful, white stone guesthouse. With marriage to caramel-eyed Alain just round the corner, things couldn’t be more perfect.

The odd glass (gallon) of wine dulls the sound of Emmy’s mum in full motherzilla-of-the-bride mode, and the faint tinkling of alarm bells coming from Alain’s ex are definitely nothing to worry about. Guesthouse owner Rupert and a whole host of old and new friends are there to make sure nothing gets in the way of Emmy’s happiness.

But as Emmy gets close to the big day, a secret from the past throws everything decidedly off track. Will her idyllic French wedding go ahead as planned, or will Emmy run back home to England with a broken heart?

I'm utterly bereft that this fantastic book has come to an end, and that I have no idea if there will be another book in this series, have I have been hooked on from the start. 

There is just such a charm to La Cour des Roses that suckers me in, grips my heart and won't let go, I absolutely adored being able to catch up with Emmy, Alain and their friends and family.  One of my favourite things about reading series is that you find out so much more about the characters than in just one book, and  I couldn't think of a better group of characters to keep returning to. 

The entire book centres around the run up to the big wedding between our main characters, and as you may expect from a book dedicated to just that topic, plus some subplots, things don't necessarily go as smoothly as you may want! 

From Emmy's overbearing mother who is driving the bride mad with daily calls and emails, to a disaster involving the wedding favours, to all manner of last minute problems, plus the run up is affecting the happy couple's relationship. 

I really enjoyed getting to know Emmy's niece and nephew-in-law a lot better, they are adorable children that do play a fairly important part in some of the storylines in this book.  I loved seeing more of ife at the guesthouse, especially a year on from that fateful holiday of Emmy's that was the catalyst for well...books 2 and 3! There was a good variety of guests for Emmy and Rupert to entertain. 

I was enjoying the story so much I didn't even think if it could be read as a standalone.. I suspect it can be but please don't quote me on that! I was just so happy to be back amongst my French friends at the guesthouse that I can safely say its a brilliant book for fans of the series!

I could potentially wax lyrical for far longer about various aspects of the book, but really I may start spoiling it for you, as it really is an enjoyable story that I could talk about for the rest of the evening!  There was just so much to enjoy about this book from the writing, to the characters, the setting, the funny bits plus a very fitting finale! 

Summer at the Little French Guesthouse is a wonderful way to escape your own life, while devouring a great story that should have you grinning for the majority! 

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

About Helen Pollard


As a child, Helen had a vivid imagination fuelled by her love of reading, so she started to create her own stories in a notebook.

She still prefers fictional worlds to real life, believes characterisation is the key to a successful book, and enjoys infusing her writing with humour and heart.

When she's not writing, Helen enjoys reading, scrapbooking and watching old seventies and eighties TV shows.


Helen is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and The Society of Authors.




1 comment:

  1. Thank you for reviewing, Rachel :) So glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete

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