Paris in July/Blog Tour: Poppy's Parisian Patisserie by Daisy James

 

Oh no! I've been seduced into reading the fourth sixth book in a series when I haven't read the first three four books. What was it that seduced me?

Picture of Paris on the cover

Paris in the title

Patisseries

Proliferation of alliteration in the title

And it turns out this is my second book in a row that has a main character called Poppy!

Poppy is having a run of bad luck. Her chocolate making business has closed due to a fire, she still hasn't really moved on from her disastrous last relationship, and she has well and truly withdrawn from dating anyone. When she finds herself with a few weeks spare, her brother asks her to pop over to Paris and help out in his friend's patisseries. Olivier has had an unfortunate accident which left him with two broken arms and so he needs all the hands he can get (pun intended) to keep his patisserie running.

Poppy quickly makes friends with her eccentric landlady, with the her co-workers, and the shop owners from the surrounding shops. Soon, Poppy finds  herself seeing Paris through the eyes of her French friends, enjoying events that would be unusual for a normal tourist to experience. And as for romance, well Poppy is now living in the city of love. Of course there's romance in the air.

I normally try not to read books in a series out of order. I do think this is a book where it would have benefitted to have read the earlier books. It feels like there were a lot of loose ends that were tied up in this book, and there were quite a few references to people where I had to wait to try and figure out what was going on. I guess the gauge is whether I would go back and read the earlier books in the series, and I think I would!

I love escapist reads which take you to somewhere else and Daisy James is great at this. There were multiple times where I caught myself thinking either oh my goodness this brings back such great memories from our visit to Paris, or, oh my goodness I wish we had of visited there. I also loved the way that James spoke about food and books! All my favourite things to read about!

So, while I did really notice the reading out of order thing, I did find the rest of the story to be a lot of fun and entertaining.

I am sharing this review with my fellow participants in Paris in July (hosted at Words and Peace) and the New Release Challenge, hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog, and Foodie Reads hosted at Based on a True Story. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy!

I thought I would finish by sharing a photo that I took the night we went to dinner at the Jules Verne restaurant at the Eiffel Tower.

About the book

Poppy’s Parisian Patisserie

Escape to chic and glamorous Paris!

When Poppy Phillipson loses her chocolate-making business in the Blossomwood Bay fire, she’s heart-broken; all her hopes and dreams wiped out in the space of an hour. As if that wasn’t enough, her last three dates were a complete disaster – one two-hour lecture on the intricacies of the off-side rule, one no-show, and an embarrassing abandonment mid-date – and she’s having a hard time not to take it personally.

So, when her brother asks her to come to the rescue of his friend Olivier Bourdain, owner of Pâtisserie Madeliene, following a freak skiing accident, she decides it’s the perfect way to escape the Devonshire drizzle and enjoy a petit sojourn from all-thing romance exploring the boutiques and boulevards of elegant Paris.

However, when she meets handsome French chef Fabien Dumont, with his sexy accent and dark brooding eyes, her determination to take a dating hiatus is severely tested. Should she concentrate on improving her skills as a pâtissière, or should she throw caution to the wind and embrace everything the City of Light has to offer… including the possibility of love?

Join Poppy as she heads to the dazzling city of Paris, and enjoy a story filled with delicious French pâtisserie and a soupçon of heart-warming romance.

Purchase Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CX9N1JLL

About the author  –

Daisy James loves writing stories with strong heroines and swift-flowing plotlines. She especially likes to create sunshine-filled settings in exotic locations - the Caribbean, Tuscany, Cornwall, Provence - so she can spend her time envisioning her characters enjoying the fabulous scenery and sampling the local food and drink.

When not scribbling away in her peppermint-and-green summerhouse (garden shed), she spends her time sifting flour and sprinkling sugar and edible glitter. She loves gossiping with friends over a glass of something fizzy or indulging in a spot of afternoon tea - china plates and teacups are a must.

Daisy would love to hear from readers via her website – daisyjames.co.uk, or her Facebook page or you can follow her on Twitter @daisyjamesbooks, or on Instagram @daisyjamesstories.

 

Social Media Links – https://www.facebook.com/daisyjamesbooks/

https://www.instagram.com/daisyjamesstories/

https://x.com/daisyjamesbooks

Blog Tour: The One That I Want by Sandy Barker

 

After a late night working with her boss,vAnjali, Greta shares that she is a bit lonely and worried that she will never find love. Luckily Anjali has an in with a professional matchmaker at the Ever After agency. Enter Poppy Dean. Of course, Greta cannot know that she is being matched so they need to come up with a cover story. 

Greta is a rising star in the magazine world, and is just about to launch a new online magazine. She is the editor, and the buck stops with her. When her boss suggests that maybe a series of articles on dating would be a good idea, Greta is on board, even though she sees through the ruse relatively quickly, but she cannot let Anjali know she knows. Yes, its all a bit complicated. Of course, it would be no good to go on just one date and meet your dream man so first step is to go on some disaster dates first. Perfect fodder for a column in the magazine. Let the fun begin!

I love the way that Sandy Barker writes female friendships. Greta's best friend is Tiggy and the way they support each other is so good. There's even a surprise reveal of a friendship for Anjali. 

Poppy and her colleagues at the Ever After Agency work tirelessly for their clients, and contribute some fun to the story, especially George with his love of fashion. I am also quite partial to the agency's French PI. I also love being able to see how Poppy's own relationship is going!

I have now read all three books in this series and I think this was the best of the three. Yes Greta is quite anxious at times, but she is in a stressful job, trying to navigate dating disasters and trying to find love. It's probably understandable. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned much about who Greta ends up with, and that is deliberate, not because he's not a lovely hero, and that it isn't relatively obvious where things are going, but I don't want to spoil too much.

If you follow Sandy Barker on socials you might be aware that she is currently travelling around the world, writing as she goes. I can't wait to see how some of the locations she is visiting find themselves in future books. There are a lot of different locations portrayed through her previous books! Whatever comes next, I am looking forward to it.

Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog

Rating 4.5/5

About the book

The One that I Want

Greta Davies, the features editor at a women’s magazine, is accomplished and successful. That is, in all areas except her love life.

Determined to help, Greta's boss - and friend - secretly enlists the help of the Ever After Agency, and sets out to make her dreams come true.

Work-obsessed Greta is nothing if not stubborn, so it’ll take some creative thinking, which leads to a lightbulb moment: a new column focused on dating in the city.

With date after disastrous date, things are not looking rosy for Greta. But little does Greta know, the perfect man has been there all along. Will she realise it’s more than friendship before it’s too late?

A fun and sexy rom com inspired by the classics How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Thirteen Going on Thirty and Sex and the City.

Purchase Links - https://mybook.to/theonethatiwantsocial

About the book –

I’m a writer, traveller and hopeful romantic with a lengthy bucket list. I love exploring new places, outdoor adventures, and eating and drinking like a local when I travel, and many of my travel adventures have found homes in my novels. I’m also an avid reader, a film buff, a wine lover and a coffee snob.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandybarkerauthorAU

Twitter https://twitter.com/sandybarker

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandybarkerauthor/

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

Bookbub profile: Sandy Barker Books - BookBub

Paris in July: Paris songs!

Every year I when I do this post, I wonder if this is going to be the year that I run out of new Paris songs to share, but somehow I always find some more to share, although a few of the ones that I have on my list are now French songs about Paris, but lets start with some more familiar names.

The first is Paris by Taylor Swift

I wasn't all that familiar with Corinne Bailey Rae other than her song Put Your Records On, but this song, Paris Nights, is lovely

Apparently this Elton John song, simply titled Paris, was released as a single in France, but I don't remember hearing it before finding it for this post.

Les Nuites Parisienne by Louise Attaque - You might have been expeecting to see a female singer for this song, but Louise Attaque is actually a four piece folk rock band

And I'll finish with Paris Summer by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood

Top Ten Tuesday: First books

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Debut Novels I Enjoyed (A debut novel is an author’s first published book. You could also choose to share genre or age group debuts if you’d prefer, such as an adult fiction author’s first YA book or a mystery writer’s first romance.) (submitted by Angela @ Reading Frenzy)

I keep track of a lot of things on my two spreadsheets, whether a book is the author's debut or not is not one of them. So I am going to twist the topic a little bit and share the last ten books that I have read where I hadn't read the author before.

Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg - If all goes to plan I will be reviewing this next weekend.

The Itinerary by Penny Pentley - This was a fun trip through Europe

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs - I can't believe I hadn't read this author before now. (My review)

A New Dawn at Owl's Lodge by Jessica Redland - I would like to read more from this author (My review)

Come Fly With Me by Helen Rolfe - I will be reading my next book from this author soon  (My review)

The French Cookery School by Caroline James -  This was so much fun! Made me want to do a cooking course in France. (My review)

Invitation to Italy by Victoria Springfield - I'd be happy to visit Italy or France. Either one really. (My review)

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - i can't wait to see the movie of this! The cast looks stellar. 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - I have the next book on my Kindle already.

The French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet - Say yes to adventure! (My review)

This Week...

Life

On Sunday we went to a cafe in the inner city suburbs where they were advertising Parisian Hot Chocolate, and I have to say it was worth  the drive. What is that, you may ask? Well, it was a very thick drinking chocolate that comes with a big serving of cream. We had a ham and cheese croissant and then shared a banoffee cream croissant which was oh my goodness good. The cafe only does the Parisian Hot Chocolate during winter, but all the food looks so good, we can see ourselves going back again.

It did make me reminisce on all the delicious hot chocolates we had when we were travelling through Europe, which I posted about here.

This follows our visit to a German Christmas Market on Saturday which I am counting as our Christmas in July for this year. It was a bit cold and rainy (it is winter after all) but we got to enjoy some mulled wine and there was a nice vibe. We intended to grab some dinner there but the queue for the Bratwurst sausages was at least an hour long, so we ended up going to the local pub for their Christmas in July menu. We do try to do something for Christmas in July most years!

I also had a work offsite this week which was in a gorgeous location and with great food! It was an enjoyable couple of days but quite full on!

I'm reading

After a slow reading week last week, this was a much better week in terms of the number of books read. I read both Secrets in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen, which I reviewed last week here), and The One That I Want by Sandy Barker which I will review this week. I also started reading Poppy's Parisian Patisserie by Daisy James

I finished listening to Sidelines by Karen Viggers, which was an interesting read. It's not my normal type of read but I did enjoy it in the end. It covered a number of issues. I then wanted a change of pace and so I started listening to Funny Story by Emily Henry.


I'm watching

It was the finale of Masterchef Australia this week. Whilst I am not going to spoil the results, I can say that I wasn't the biggest fan of the winner. Never mind. Bring on Dessert Masters!

I did  start watching a British show called Extraordinary Extensions. The show is basically a home renovation show. It is hosted by rapper Tinie Tempah, which gives the home renovation genre a bit of a twist. The renovations they are featuring are amazing, featuring people who make very brave design decisions and do something different with their houses. Oops...apparently the host just goes by the name Tinie now.

Other than that, I did watch a couple of movies. I watched the new Harry Connick Jr movie set in Cyprus - Finding Me Falling. It was pretty standard rom com and it was ... you know...fine. Harry Connick Jnr stars as a faded rock star who buys a house on a clifftop in Cyprus. When he runs into an old flame, things change more than he could ever imagine.

After our fancy brunch, we went to see Arctic Convoy (Konvoi) which is showing as part of the Scandinavian Film Festival. This is a Norwegian film which tells the story of an Arctic convoy which plied the seas from Norway to the USSR, providing much needed provisions in the depths of WWII. It was a pretty good movie, although it did lose it's way a little bit at times. It was certainly dramatic. Here's the trailer.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Things I Love About Books Set in France

Blog Tour: Secrets in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen
Weekend Cooking/Paris in July: The Taste of Things

Paris in July: Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Paris in July: Paris: Impressions of Life 1880 - 1925

There is a regional city a couple of hours away from us called Bendigo, and it is a place I love to visit. At the Art Gallery, they often have really interesting exhibitions. In the past they have held exhibitions about Elvis, Wedding Dresses, British Royal Portraits and more. This year, the exhibition is called Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925 and of course we had to visit.

There were several themed rooms for visitors to walk through, starting from the Market Town Show, through Public Gardens, along The Seine, into Montmartre via the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee. There was a really interesting mix of art, promotional posters, fashion, and historical photos of some of the most familiar landmarks, although they looked a bit different .

My favourite room, and the one that I want to share the photos of today were all the different signs that used to be outside shops to tell people exactly what was sold in the shop! Some of them are more obvious than others! I love the ornate key, and the snails, and yes, the shop sold snails!

The items in this collection come from Musee Carnavalet which is the museum of the history of Paris.  When we visited Paris, I did hear about this museum but we were unable to squeeze it in. We had already added it to the list for the next time we visit Paris. This exhibition has definitely ensure that will be a must do!

After a quick lunch, we were also lucky in that we got to attend a fascinating talk by famous French Australian chef Gabriel Gate.He was talking about both the history of restaurants and food and his own career in food, using some of the illustrations from the exhibition as well as others.

Among the various things he talked about, including the different types of restaurants, and how the movement of people have bought different types of dining to Paris. For example, the Prussian wars which caused people from the Alsace-Lorraine area to move to Paris, and with them they bought brasseries, which originally was where beer was made. He also spoke about other types of restaurants such as bouillon restaurants, some of which are still open today, as well as much fancier restaurants like Le Cafe Riche

The 1900 World Exhibition was another key event bringing millions of people into the city and creating work. He shared a photo of a banquet that was held in 1900 was the Banquet des Maires where 22000 local maires were invited to Paris for a 6 course meal, served over the course of 90 minutes.

One of the statistics shared was that in 1789 there were around 100 restaurants in the city but by 1900 there was around 3500 eateries in the city. A lot of those very early restaurants were opened by the chefs who worked for the aristocracy but the French Revolution saw those chefs moving to the city. 

In terms of his own history, Gate started working in kitchens in 1974 and he talked about how different that world was. When he started work there were still ovens that were heated using fires, you had to break up your own chickens and there were very specific rules about behaviour. For example, he worked in a restaurant where the kitchen was downstairs and under no circumstances were the downstairs staff allowed in the dining room. The only time he even saw the dining room was on his last day working there.

There were so many interesting stories that were shared as part of this session, and I am so glad that we took this opportunity to hear Gabriel Gate speak. I could have listened for much longer!

It was a great day out!

Weekend Cooking/Paris in July: The Taste of Things (La Passion de Dodin Bouffant)

For a couple of years now, I have tried to see at least one movie at each international film festival as it comes to town. For example, recently I watched a couple of Spanish movies, and this weekend I am going to see a Danish movie. Earlier this year, it was the French Film Festival and I managed to see three movies, one of which was The Taste of Things, also known as The Pot-Au-Feu.

The Taste of Things is set in 1899 and tells the story of a passionate gourmand, by the name of Dodin Bouffant and his housekeeper Eugénie. A gournand is defined on Wikipedia as someone "who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming particularly good food and drink."  

For the first 30 minutes or so there is very little dialogue in The Taste of Things. Instead we witness a complicated but well choreographed dance as Eugénie, Dodin, her assistant Violette and a young protege named Pauline work together prepare a lavish, multiple course feast for Dodin and his group of foodie friends. During this whole scene. the only words are directional ("put the veal in the oven" for example. Other than that we watch as vegetables are chopped, broths are made, fish are poached, and love and passion are expressed in the form of food. It is food porn at it's finest.

However, whilst there is a lot of cooking in this movie, it is more than that. Dodin and Eugénie are lovers and have been for many years. He has asked her multiple times to become his wife, but she is content with life as it is and doesn't see the need to change. The life that they have is very comfortable. They live in a gorgeous chateau, where Eugénie oversees the growing of the freshest ingredients.

No matter how content people may be, time passes and things change, and so it is for Dodin and Eugénie. When the latter becomes unwell, it is Dodin who takes care of her and who has to face into a life without her.

This movie was the French submission for the Oscars last year and won a couple of French awards as well, and you can see why. It is a beautifully shot, very emotive story and the two stars shine on the screen. It is interesting that Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel are former partners and share a daughter. I am not sure I could work with my ex for months on end. Actually, I 100% could not work with my ex under any circumstance. 

If you like food, or you like French movies, or indeed if you like both, watch this movie!

I am sharing this post with my fellow participants in Paris in July, hosted by Emma at Words and Peace.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday -Chicken Kiev, Mash, Broccoli and Gravy
Monday - Beef and Broccoli Noodles
Tuesday - Work dinner
Wednesday - Chicken Stir Fry and rice
Thursday - Butter chicken and rice
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page