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Saturday, July 19, 2025

Sunday Salon: Spell the Month in Books - July









For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month. I will be sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

The idea is that you use the title of books to spell the month name. The theme  for July is set in a fantasy world or fictional place! Given that I am participating in Paris in July, all of these books have a French connection. Now I am not suggesting that France is fictional, but I am always dreaming of visiting it so that makes it my fantasy right?

We won't talk about the fact that I had to cheat a little bit for the J and the Y. Shhhh!



A Wish Upon Jasmine by Laura Florand - A few years ago now I had a massive reading slump that lasted a good couple of years. I think one year I only read about 10 books. Laura Florand was one of the few authors I was still reading. I really enjoyed all of her books which combined France and chocolate and perfume! This book is the second book in the La Vie en Roses series. I wish she was still writing now. 

Under a Riviera Moon by Helen McGinn - I read this book earlier this year. It was the first I had read by this author who is a wine expert and appears on British TV. (my review)

Lunch in Paris: A Delicious Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard - It's hard to believe I read this book 14 years ago now, but it's true. I originally posted about this book and linked it up to Paris in July back in 2011. This is the story of a woman whom move to France for love, the fabulous food she ate and the challenges that she faced. I still love this cover. (my review)

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes - This is a dual timeline where the historical time frame is WWI France (my review)

August's theme is Written by your favorite author(s). Finding two U books is going to be very challenging I think!

Will you be joining us?



Friday, July 18, 2025

Blog Tour: One Summer in Provence by Carol Drinkwater

 



Celia Grey's got a pretty good life really. She is a former actress who had a degree of fame in the UK but now lives in the south of France with her writer husband, Dominic and they run a vineyard that Celia inherited from her parents. The vineyard is doing quite well now, after they have worked hard for the last 10 years to bring it back to life. 

However, things haven't always been good. Celia's career was waylaid by a badly reviewed performance in one of her husband's plays whereas his career seems to have bounced back pretty well. She also had some hard times before she met Dominic, times that she hasn't ever even mentioned to him. 

To celebrate, and yes, to drum up prospective business for the vineyard, they decide to throw a huge party. Celia is totally involved in the organisation, to the point of distraction. There's so much to do. The week before the party she is contacted out of the blue by a man claiming to be the son she gave up for adoption many years ago. The son she has never ever mentioned to her husband. On impulse, Celia tells David to come to the party and offers him a place to stay. How on earth is she going to explain this to Dominic, especially when there never seems to be a right time to have any kind of conversation with him.

Then David turns up with someone else, his daughter Gillian, and she and Celia find it very difficult to connect at all. Are David and Gillian truly who they say they are? And can Celia, David and Gillian ever build any kind of relationship after so many years apart?

The author did a great job of really ratcheting up the tension on several layers in this book. There is the tension from hosting such a big event, the tension of suddenly having two people turn up and become part of your life and wondering if they really are who they say they are. Then there are the weather situations in the book, with danger lurking at any moment.

I recently read a book called Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen and in the Author Note she says

Books let our imaginations travel where our feet cannot.

and that quote right there sums up why I love to read escapist books like this one. There were scenes in this book where I could feel the Provencal sun on my face, I could see the Mediterranean stretched out before me as I stood on a cliff top, I could smell the lavender and the citrus.  Sometimes, the escapist books I read can feel a bit lightweight, but this one was a much bigger, deeper story and I really enjoyed it. 

I loved the way that Drinkwater wrote about the big events in the book.  The main event of the book is a party where the author described having an alley of trees between which there is a table set with plates and glassware and platters loaded with local food. It's the kind of meal that looks as pretty as a picture and the food sounded absolutely amazing too! I would love to go and have this kind of meal one day, whether it be in the south of France, or just somewhere special near me! But there was also an almost casual party on a beach, where people came together to eat, drink and listen to music.

It was interesting to read all the details about the running of the vineyard, in particular about what happens when there is too much water. It's not something that I have really thought about before!

While I have been aware of Carol Drinkwater as an author, particularly of her Olive series which are memoirs, I had never read her. I am sure I have seen her on a couple of TV shows talking about her expat life living in Provence for many years.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I am so glad that I have finally had the opportunity to read this author! I will definitely be reading more at some point. There is quite a backlist of both fiction and non-fiction for me to read!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, with Foodie Reads hosted at Based on a True Story and with Paris In July hosted by Words and Peace. At 512 pages long, this also counts as a Big Book of Summer. Thanks to the publisher and Random Things Tours for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. 

Rating 4.5/5





About the Book


A season of surprises...

Celia Grey appears to have the perfect life: married to Dominic, the man of her dreams, and living on a glorious, thriving vineyard in the south of France. To celebrate their good fortune, she decides to throw a huge party.

When she is contacted by a stranger who claims to be her long-lost son, David, the newborn she gave up at twenty and has never spoken of since, Celia impulsively invites him for the weekend of celebrations - without mentioning it to her husband.

Despite his surprise, Dominic graciously welcomes David and his unexpected companion - but secretly he harbours doubts. Is David really Celia's son? And who is the mysterious young woman travelling with him?

Only Celia can decide how far she will go to hold everything together, to keep her perfect life from unravelling...

One Summer in Provence is a story of betrayal and belonging, and of discovering love in unexpected places.





About the Author


Carol Drinkwater is a multi-award-winning actress, writer and film-maker, best known for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the classic BBC television series All Creatures Great and Small. She is the author of twenty-five books, both fiction and non-fiction and including the bestselling Olive Farm memoir series set in the south of France. Her latest TV work is a six-part travel/lifestyle programme commissioned by UK's Channel 5, Carol Drinkwater's Secret Provence. Carol lives with her husband in France.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Blog Tour: The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey

 


When advertising whiz Becky Thorne has a meltdown at work and is signed off on stress leave for a month, she can't believe it. She certainly doesn't believe that her twitching eye and trembling legs are physical signs of stress. What is she going to do for a month? How on earth is she going to tell her driven, successful mother who doesn't believe in poppycock like burn out?

Part of the trigger for her stress is the fact that she has inherited a cafe with an apartment from her Aunt Maud who she hasn't seen in years after there was some kind of family fall out. The cafe is in a small French town called Vaudrelle in the Loire. Becky just wants to get it sold so that she can use the money to buy a fancy new flat in London and get on with her life. 

The fact that there is a tenant is causing some problems and so Becky goes to France so that she can get to the bottom of it all, much to her mother's dismay. There she meets the tenant, Pascal. He is a writer who has been keeping the cafe going. He shares a letter with Becky from her Great Aunt Maud, asking her to at least spend a month working at the cafe before she makes any major decisions. Understanding that with French bureaucracy things are going to take time anyway, Becky agrees to stay but she starts renovating the cafe in preparation for when she can sell it. 

Thankfully, she has the support of her best friend Amber who she can call on at any time. However, when Amber isn't as available as Becky needs she is somewhat perplexed. Amber always helps her navigate her difficult situations, including her difficult relationship with her mother. 

Becky isn't really that nice a person for the first part of the book. She is very self-centred and not a great friend to Amber who keeps on trying to tell Becky that she has issues of her own. She also kind of bulldozes her way into town, making decisions about the cafe before she truly understands the town and it's people. 

As you would expect though, taking some time out turns out to be exactly what she needs. She begins to understand who her aunt really was, and what prompted her to move to France all those years ago. She is also reminded that underneath her brittle shell of ambition and drive, there is someone who does appreciate different aspects of life including art and taking things slowly.

It is interesting to see the topic of burnout addressed in fiction. I have taken a few months off of work and whilst I haven't really used the term burnout. there's no doubt that my mental health has improved as a result of taking some time out.

I love Gillian Harvey's books about people making a new start in France.  I didn't get the same sense of place that I normally do with this one though. I guess I was thinking that given that the setting was in the Loire Valley there might be a visit to a chateau or two or a mention of the river. I was looking for the Loire that I visited a couple of years ago in the pages.  

I loved all of the film and pop culture references that were scattered through the book such as all the quotes from Jerry Maguire. There was also a bit of twist in the second half of the book that was as much of a surprise to me as it was to Becky. I liked how this really helped Becky understand a few things about her family.

Gillian Harvey is an auto-read author for me these days. Her books are always very readable, and this was no exception. I galloped through it in a couple of hours. I am already looking forward to her next book. I do have a couple of her earlier books that I still need to read in the mean time!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and with Paris In July hosted by Words and Peace. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 3.5/5





About the book

The Village Cafe in the Loire

High-flyer Becky Thorne cannot believe what she’s being told. She doesn’t need to be signed off for burnout! Life has been a bit chaotic lately, that’s all. As if dealing with her enviable job and permanent meddling from her mother aren’t enough, she’s also inherited a café in the Loire from an estranged great-aunt, complete with sitting tenant who refuses to budge.

But nobody stands in Becky’s way! Ignoring her best friend Amber’s advice, she decides to storm over to France and sort the tenant out. Then she can finally get the café sold and jump back on the career ladder.

What she doesn’t count on is the tenant being Pascale, who is six feet of tall, dark, handsome and extremely grumpy about her plans for change. Not to mention the village and the secrets it holds about her past.

Becky’s path to success is all planned out. But the Loire has a magic she might not be able to resist…


Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/VillageCafeintheLoire



About the Author 


Gillian Harvey is an author and freelance writer who lives in Norfolk. Her novels, including the bestselling A Year at the French Farmhouse and The Riviera House Swap, are often set in France, where she lived for 14 years.


Social Media Links –

Facebook: @GillianHarveyAuthor

Twitter: @GillPlusFive

Instagram: @GillPlusFive

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/GillianHarveyNews

Bookbub profile: @gillplusfive

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Paris in July: French-ish songs




Every year as part of Paris in July, I like to share some music. Generally I choose songs with the word Paris in the title but I have used lots of them before so only have more obscure songs available, so I am changing it up a little bit.


Recently I read French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain, and there was quite a bit about music in the 1980s. Originally I thought it was going to be a book about music and nostalgia but it ended up being quite political but it did inspire my first selection for my post today.

For my post today, I am starting with one of the songs that was mentioned in the book as a French song that made it big around the world. I then thought about other modern songs that would fit (kind of) into this category


Ça plane pour moi by Plastic Bertrand (1977) - In the book French Rhapsody, we follow some of the members of a cold wave rock band who never made it. This song was referenced quite a few times in the book. Apparently this song has had a bit of controversy around it around whether the singer actually sang it. Interestingly, Plastic Bertrand (not his real name) was from Belgium but he had a French father. 




Joe Le Taxi by Vanessa Paradiso (1987) - When I thought about other songs that made it big around the world this one came to mind.  I didn't realise that she was so young when she recorded it though! Apparently she is still touring as well.



Blue by Eiffel 65 (1997) - Fast forward another 10 years and this song was everywhere. It certainly got a lot of airplay in Britain where I was living at the time! Turns out Eiffel 65 are Italian but with a band name like that I couldn't leave them out!


Aux arbres citoyens by Yannick Noah (2007) - It was actually a coincidence that the first three songs I have shared were released in 1977, 1987 and 1997, so I thought it would be fitting to choose a song from 2007 as my next choice. When I looked at the list though, there wasn't really any particular song that jumped out at me. However, I was curious to see that Yannick Noah had a hit in that year and this song was Song of the Year. Yes, that is the same Yannick Noah who was a successful tennis player, but he looks every inch the rock star in this video!



Makeba by Jain (2017) - When I looked at the list of French hits for 2017 this was the one that jumped out at me as being a song I was familiar with, but that may well be because it had a resurgence in the last couple of years after being used in a couple of ads.


Do you have a favourite French-ish song?

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Honorifics

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books with Honorifics in the Title (“…an honorific is a form of address conveying esteem, courtesy or respect. These can be titles prefixing a person’s name, e.g.: Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Mx., Sir, Dame, Dr., Cllr, Lady, or Lord, or other titles or positions that can appear as a form of address without the person’s name, as in Mr. President, General, Captain, Father, Doctor, or Earl.” For more info, click here.) (Submitted by Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog)

I am always grateful for my handy dandy spreadsheet that I have been maintaining for 20 years or so for these kind of topics. Apply a couple of filters and you at least have the start of a list!

My first 5 books have a French connection in honour of the fact that we are half way through Paris in July. 



The Madamoiselle Network by Natasha Lester - This book tells the story of the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII. It is a really interesting book, although I must confess I am not sure why it is called Madamoiselle given that the main character was married when the main part of the story started! Guess it just sounded better than the Madame Network which could be something completely different! (my review)

Madamoiselle Victorine by Deborah Finerman  - I hadn't thought about this book for years which probably isn't a surprise given I didn't really like it. Interestingly finding out what happened to Victorine Meurent is one of the strands of The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl which I was reading last week.

Mrs Harris goes to Paris by Paul Gallico - I love the movie of this book and have watched it several times. I did also listen to the audio. At some point I will listen to more of the Mrs Harris books. In future books she goes to New York, Moscow and Parliament! (my review of the movie and the book)

A Star for Mrs Blake by April Smith - This book tells the story of some mothers of soldiers from  WWI who were given money by the US government to travel to France to find the graves of their dead sons.

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain - I thoroughly enjoy reading Antoine Laurain's books and this one was a lot of fun! (my mini review of this book and two others by Antoine Laurain)




Miss Graham's Cold War Cook Book by Celia Rees - I really enjoyed this book in which a young teacher is sent to post WWII Germany to help in the rebuilding process but she is also there to provide information, which she does by sharing coded recipes. (my review)

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart - This is an older book now which when I read I thought was a super fun idea but I wasn't sure about how it turned out as a reading experience. I do still love the cover on that one though (my review)

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - I have such fond memories of reading this book many years go. I recently read Simonson's latest book, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, and that was a lot of fun too! (my review of Major Pettigrew)

Sir Thursday by Garth Nix - This is part of the The Keys to the Kingdom series. I read all seven books in the series between 2007 and 2010 but I only ever reviewed the first three. 

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon - This is part of the spin-off mystery series which features Lord John Grey who we originally met in the Outlander books.




Monday, July 14, 2025

This week....

I'm reading


I mentioned in last week's post that I had started a few books. I still have a couple of those books in progress.

I did finish A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan. This is the current Cook the Books selection so now I just have to decide what to make before I post my review this weekend.

I also finished The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl. I did like this one, but there was something that bothered me about the book. The review for this one will be up soon where I will elaborate!

I read The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey for a blog tour this week. I do have another blog tour later in the week but I haven't started reading that book. I best get onto that.

I also started Adam and Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen. I have no idea where I saw this book which then prompted me to then request it from the library. It's a romance that is set in Vietnam which is interesting.  I am enjoying visiting lots of the famous sites of Vietnam through the book.



We had our read on a theme book club meeting on the weekend. The theme for this meeting was war and I actually read 4 books that fit the theme. They were The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, The Lost Story of Sofia Castello by Siobhan Curham, The Girl from Normandy by Rachel Sweasy and A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan. The picture above shows some of the books that were read by the whole group. Next month we are doing something a little different for us as a group and that is we are all going to read the same book. The book we have chosen to read is Butter by Asako Yuzuki.



I was very excited this week. I got some physical book mail from a publisher for the first time in forever! So excited! I have booked to go and see this author at an event soon so I will be trying to read the book before then!


I'm watching


We watched a documentary that was produced by the Sail GP team called Uncharted. Basically it was about Australian sailor Jimmy Spithill leaving the US team and starting a new Italian team and how both teams fared following the changes

I stumbled across a TV show on Disney called No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski. I had no idea who the host is (apparently he is the food and wine expert on Queer Eye), but the show certainly looked interesting. The idea is that he takes a special guest through their family history but also focusses on the food that their ancestors would have eaten. Think Who Do You Think You Are but foodie. The first episode was with Florence Pugh and I really liked it. I will be watching more this week.

We finished watching the first season of Murderbot. I was pleased to see that the series has been renewed for a second series!

I also saw that there is an adaptation of Before the Coffee Gets Cold announced. Will definitely watch that. There is already a Japanese language adaptation but I haven't been able to watch it yet. I might see if I can find it on any of the streaming services this week.




Life



After being sick for weeks, I finally feel better although I do still sound a little croaky.

My first social outing in weeks with anyone other than family was to go and see the play Julia, which is a two woman show which tells the story of Julia Gillard who was the Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. The show builds up to the famous speech that she gave in Parliament on 9 October 2012 about misogyny. It was an exceptional play.




On Sunday went to the Bastille Day Festival at the Queen Victoria Markets. We were only able to be there for just over an hour but loved the vibe. We wandered around drinking hot chocolate, having a very nice macaron, listening to music and we bought some delicious pate which we will find an opportunity to eat soon.




Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Rereads

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge June Statistics (and for the first 6 months of the year!)

Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.

In terms of the books read in June, there were 70 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 20 participants. There were 69 individual titles reviewed, written by 66 different authors. There were 5 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 11 or just 1.

So which book was reviewed more than once in June? 



Last year The Women by Kristin Hannah was the most reviewed book for the whole year. This month, it was reviewed by both Bree from All the Books I Can Read and by myself. This book certainly made both of us feel a lot! 

There were also two other authors who had more than one book reviewed. 

I reviewed The Diamond Eye and Margaret from Books Please reviewed Signal Moon which is a short story. Both are by Kate Quinn.

Bev from My Reader's Block has been working her way through the Redmond and Haze mystery series by Irina Shapiro and reviewed the first three books. They were Murder in the CryptMurder at the Abbey and Murder at the Mill.

I wonder what books will be featured next month!

It is hard to believe but we are half way through the challenge already for 2025, so I thought it would be interesting to look at the stats for the first 6 months and see what stands out. 

So far this year there have been 366 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 32 participants. There have been 335 individual titles reviewed, written by 292 different authors. There are 3 reviewers who have reviewed 25 or more books each with Laura from Laura's Reviews having contributed an astonishing 53 reviews so far! Thank you to everyone who has shared their links with the challenge.

There are 3 books that have all been reviewed 3 times for the challenge. They are The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn, The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry and The Versailles Formula by Nancy Bilyeau.




Agatha Christie tops the list of authors who have been reviewed most with 10 reviews, followed by Kerry Greenwood who has been reviewed 6 times, and Kate Quinn and Patrice McDonough who have both been reviewed 4 times. 

And so far there have been 29 books reviewed that have the words death or murder in the title! What a bloodthirsty bunch of readers we are!

It will be interesting to see what changes over the next 6 months when I do the statistics for the whole year!

If you love historical fiction and reading challenges, it isn't too late to join us! All the details can be found in the sign up post.

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz
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