Tag: #HolidayRead

#Review By Lou of Under A Riviera Moon By Helen McGinn @knackeredmutha @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #UnderARivieraMoon

Under A Riviera Moon
By Helen McGinn

Review by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Under A Riviera Moon is the second book I have read by Helen McGinn and after sinking rather nicely into the previous one, The Island of Dreams, I was delighted to review another for the blog tour. Under A Riviera Moon is Helen McGinn’s 5th stand-alone book.

Below you’ll find more about the book in the blurb, my review and a bit about the author who also knows her stuff when it comes to wine in the Saturday Kitchen.
What’s more is the book is perfect for fans of Carol Kirkwood, Karen Swan and Erica James.

Blurb

The BRAND NEW read from Saturday Kitchen’s Helen McGinn

When a heartsick Maggie is sent on an errand by her mother to Cannes, she is keen to get it over with as quickly as possible.

She has been tasked with collecting a treasured box of photos from her late grandmother Elizabeth’s best friend, the impossibly glamorous Allegra Morgon who is desperate to tell Maggie all about the year she and Elizabeth spent in Paris. The sixties were in full swing, the air hummed with jazz, artists and students made the streets their own, and the City of Love was weaving its magic. And against this backdrop, two people were beginning a love story that would last a lifetime – but be over too soon.

As Maggie hears more about Allegra’s life, first in Paris, then New York, and finally on the Riviera, she is captivated and inspired. Was life always leading Maggie to this moment, this beautiful place so she could finally learn to stop living in the past? Because if she can, then another love story for the ages might just be within her reach…

Review

Set in the 60’s in Paris makes Under A Riviera Moon interesting and quite different. Helen McGinn paints a picture with words, so you can visualise the places her characters go and hear the jazz music playing. It’s all rather immersive.

Spanning 3 generations, there is a lot of life about the place as well as love and loss.
In the present day, there is Maggie who has got a lot on her plate. She’s divorced and there are uncertainties surrounding her career. She takes a trip to Scotland and this unexpectedly sends her to France to collect her grandmother’s belongings from Allegra, her grandmother’s friend. This in turn leads to a fascinating look into Allegra’s life and more importantly, Maggie’s grandmother’s whom it would seem she didn’t know much about at all in her younger days.

Under A Riviera Moon is captivating and fascinating reading about what was happening in 60’s France. With rich threads within the plot in an interesting time and setting, Under A Riviera Moon is a great holiday or wet weather read to lose yourself into for some escapism.

About the Author

Helen McGinn is a wine writer & broadcaster, international wine judge and author of the award-winning Knackered Mother’s Wine Guide book and blog. She spent almost a decade sourcing wines around the world as a supermarket buyer and now appears regularly on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and ITV’s This Morning as their wine expert. She writes about drinks for Waitrose Food Magazine among others and awards include Fortnum & Mason’s Online Drink Writer of the Year.
Her bestselling debut novel This Changes Everything was published in February 2021 and her second fiction book In Just One Day later that same year. This Is Us, her third novel, was released in September 2022 and her fourth, The Island of Dreams, in February 2024. Her latest book, Under A Riviera Moon, is published in April 2025.

#Review By Lou of The Right Place By Sophia Money-Coutts @HQstories @sophiamcoutts #Romcom #RomanticFiction #HolidayRead #SummerRead #BlogTour

The Right Place
By Sophia Money-Coutts

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Escapism is sometimes leaves a wonderful feeling and this does just that. It’s residue is that of something uplifting and holiday-like but with lots of substance of something deeper going on. Check out the blurb and review below. It’s a perfect fit for those who like Emily Henry.

The Right Place 1

Blurb

Escape the grey skies with this gorgeous summery beach read romcom set in the South of France!

If Maggie is living her best life, why doesn’t it feel like she’s in the right place?

From the outside, Maggie Lemon has a perfect life. But she and her husband have been trying for a baby for five years and she’s exhausted. She’s seen countless fertility experts and followed dozens of diets and homeopathic recommendations, and even gave up her dream restaurant in London when doctors suggested the stress might be too much. And now her estranged aunt has died, leaving her hotel in Provence to Maggie.

It’s been years since Maggie visited Le Figuier. There’s a lot of work to be done and she knows she should sell it. But when a disgraced Hollywood actor hiding out at the hotel lends a hand, the load feels a lot lighter. Is it just the chemistry with this handsome stranger, or is it starting to feel like Maggie might finally be in the right place?

Review

Perfect lives from the outside, rarely are from the inside. Maggie Lemon’s life looks and sounds like she’s just got everything made for her. So perfect! She has the money, the business and the husband.
In reality, she’s sacrificed a lot. She is stressed to the max! She’s gone through years of failed IVF treatment and given up the restaurant. Maggie is also wrestling with the question of where she feels she belongs.

Set mainly in Provence, France, her life begins to change as she inherits Le Figuier, but she does have a decision to make and that’s whether to sell it or tackle all the work that is required on this rather run-down hotel. She certainly likes a challenge and it piques interest that renovations are underway as it’s fun seeing how something dilapidated turns out.

There’s delicious sounding food, so on comes the hunger pangs and a celebrity in hiding, which adds intrigue as he also helps out. There’s lots to tackle from the interior to the exterior, including leaks and a pool that’s definitely seen better days too. It’s entertaining seeing how it will all turn out.

For all the issues that are there to overcome, there is some great humour in what transpires to be a holiday read that is fun to explore. 

#Review By Lou of Love In Provence By Jo Thomas @jo_thomas01 @RandomTTours #LoveInProvence #ContemporaryFiction #RomFic #SummerRead

Love In Provence
By Jo Thomas

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Having got some family in France, although not in Provence, it’s a country I like to sometimes read in fiction. Having read and reviewed books by Jo Thomas before, I am pleased to again, on the Random T. Tours blog tour. It may make you feel all rather summery with notes of lavender.

Love In Provence

Blurb

Escape to the beautiful lavender fields of Provence this summer

Del moved to the south of France three years ago and hasn’t looked back. She’s found new friends, new purpose, and new love with gorgeous Fabien.

But just as harvest on her little lavender farm is due to begin, Del gets some shocking news. With no time to dwell as she welcomes a new crew of lavender pickers, she unexpectedly waves goodbye to Fabien for the summer.

Usually cooking – the thing she loves best – would help soothe her troubles, but Del doesn’t remember how . . . And then chef Zacharie comes to town, dropping another bombshell!

Over one summer in Provence that’s full of surprises, friends old and new rally round. Can they complete the harvest and pull the community back together? And if Fabien returns, will Del finally get her happy-ever-after?

Review

If books had smell/scratch parts, you’d get the delightful, calming scent of lavender gently emitting from this book from the farm which Del has. There’s also a group of seasonal pickers and within this friendship buds. There’s a real sense of community spirit as people rally round to ensure the harvest is picked in time. After all the challenging times that Del is left to face, this is truly heart-warming to read. Fabian also has hard times as someone has died, so he has to rush off, which is why Del has so much to tend to on the farm.
Provence delights and has some interesting people within this books, which may make readers feel a bit peckish with all the food.

Love in Provence has a warm glow of sunshine around it for readers to soak up in their hearts.

#Review By Lou of Janet Jackson Superhost By Becky Papworth #BeckyPapworth @rararesources #CanCanPress #HolidayRead #SummerRead

Janet Jackson Superhost
By Becky Papworth

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Get ready for holiday time and check in with Janet Jackson Superhost for your accomodation.

Superhost

Blurb

Lavender Cottage, Yorkshire’s finest B&B, is owner Janet Jackson’s pride and joy. Now, after a year of running it and coming out alive, she’s set her heart on becoming a Superhost. For that Janet will need a blooming great tsunami of 5-star reviews- despite the many obstacles that stand in her way.

Number one, of course is the guests themselves. their strange requests, habits and lasting damage to her garden, the cottage and her sanity are a non-stop challenge.

Add in the piles of laundry, sleepless nights and scary spreadsheets, sneaky neighbours, and sex with no strings…and her goal seems far away.

Yet despite an endless run of dramas, and thanks to her passion for hospitality and home baking, Janet may find she is just a lemon drizzle cake or two away from a 5- star life.

Review

Yorkshire is a lovely place to go on holiday to. Lavender Cottage is Yorkshire’s finest B&B to check into and belongs to Janet Jackson (not that one). She is ambitious in the dog eat dog world of hospitality and wants that coveted spot of being named a Superhost.

The book, although fiction, feels like it gives a bit of an insight into what it takes to be a B&B owner and how you have to be at everyone’s beck and call, no matter how strange a request is. The guests are eclectic and some are most definitely eccentric with their rituals in the gardens and desires in the bedroom, Janet knows its going to take a lot to get a plethora of 5 star reviews to prove she can be a Superhost. There’s only her and her personal life and the guests standing in her way, so she knows she has to up her game, but anything can go wrong.

Janet Jackson Superhost is warm-hearted, witty full of mayhem. 

#Review By Lou of Island In The Sun By Katie Fforde @KatieFforde @centurybooksuk @randomhouse #HolidayRead #Escapism #Summer

Island In The Sun
By Katie Fforde

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sun, sea and pure escapism can all be found in Katie Fforde’s latest, enticing book.

Island In The Sun

Blurb

Dominica. A beautiful remote island where the sun shines and the living is easy.

And where Cass goes to photograph a rare stone carving as a favour to her father.

With her is Ranulph, a deeply attractive, much-travelled journalist, who offers to help Cass with her quest.

But Dominica has just been hit be a severe hurricane, and Cass and Ranulph are spending all of their time helping the local community.

Cass knows she must not fall in love with him… He is just looking out for her. He’s being kind.

There is no way he could be even the slightest bit interested in her. Could he?

Review

Dominica is painted as a very attractive and desirable place to be. The idyllic location is soon rocked by a severe hurricane hitting its shores and interfering with community life. Katie Fford captures the contrast in between the calm, serene scenery and the destructive nature of the storm, beautifully.

Cass is on a mission from her father to photograph a rare stone carving in Dominica, where she also meets Ranulph. He’s well travelled and interesting, so very quickly becomes a character you want to know more about. He’s a journalist, so of course is curious about Cass, since she’s on the hunt for something rare.
When the hurricane hits, there’s a more genuine warm-heartedness about the characters as they want to help the community get through the devastation.

Romance is in the air and oozes off the page, just like the romance of the location does. It’s a very different sort of romance from the norm, which I rather liked. I won’t say too much about that as I feel it’s something to be explored as you read the book. It certainly adds much interest to the characters as its played out.

Island in the Sun is a rather interesting escapist read that embodies romance and danger.

#Review By Lou of Island In The Sun By Katie Fforde @KatieFforde @centurybooksuk @randomhouse #HolidayRead #Escapism

Island In The Sun
By Katie Fforde

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sun, sea and pure escapism can all be found in Katie Fforde’s latest, enticing book.

Island In The Sun

Blurb

Dominica. A beautiful remote island where the sun shines and the living is easy.

And where Cass goes to photograph a rare stone carving as a favour to her father.

With her is Ranulph, a deeply attractive, much-travelled journalist, who offers to help Cass with her quest.

But Dominica has just been hit be a severe hurricane, and Cass and Ranulph are spending all of their time helping the local community.

Cass knows she must not fall in love with him… He is just looking out for her. He’s being kind.

There is no way he could be even the slightest bit interested in her. Could he?

Review

Dominica is painted as a very attractive and desirable place to be. The idyllic location is soon rocked by a severe hurricane hitting its shores and interfering with community life. Katie Fford captures the contrast in between the calm, serene scenery and the destructive nature of the storm, beautifully.

Cass is on a mission from her father to photograph a rare stone carving in Dominica, where she also meets Ranulph. He’s well travelled and interesting, so very quickly becomes a character you want to know more about. He’s a journalist, so of course is curious about Cass, since she’s on the hunt for something rare.
When the hurricane hits, there’s a more genuine warm-heartedness about the characters as they want to help the community get through the devastation.

Romance is in the air and oozes off the page, just like the romance of the location does. It’s a very different sort of romance from the norm, which I rather liked. I won’t say too much about that as I feel it’s something to be explored as you read the book. It certainly adds much interest to the characters as its played out.

Island in the Sun is a rather interesting escapist read that embodies romance and danger.