Cheese, Paris, and romance--what more can you ask for? A fun, delicious romp. Highly recommended.


Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a cute story about a woman finding herself in Paris after a disaster boyfriend! She loves adventure, Instagram, and cheese, so naturally I adore her!

When Ella unexpectedly breaks up with her long term boyfriend, there's only one solution to fix her stale life: quit her job and move to Paris for a year to eat cheese. Makes sense to me. Fromage a Trois is about self-discovery, trying new things, whirlwind romance and cheese. SO. MUCH. CHEESE.

In the end it fell short of my expectations, but I still went out and bought a bunch of cheese so I'm calling it a win.

Fromage a Trois is a tale of cheese, Paris, cheese, love, and cheese. And love of cheese. As a cheese lover, the concept left me desperate to read more. The book does not disappoint. It's fun, engaging, witty, and fast-paced.

I really only had two complaints. First, Ella's reaction to her boyfriend's revelation at the beginning was way over the top and came across as unbelievable. I get that it was the inciting incident for the entire book, but it could have been written in a way that didn't make Ella so unsympathetic. I almost put the book down there. I'm glad I didn't. The other thing is that the quote at the beginning of Part IV is ableist and a bit offensive. I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but it took me out of the enjoyment of the story.

I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley.

In the mood to read something lighthearted that will make you want to consume massive quantities of fancy French cheese? If your answer is a resounding YES, I urge you to read Victoria Brownlee’s “Formage à Trois,” which will make you laugh, cry a little, then run to your nearest purveyor of fancy cheese.

This story is about Ella, an almost 30 year old, who ends a dead end relationship, quits her job, and moves to Paris to find herself (and maybe also a hottie Parisian boyfriend). On her first day in Paris, she stumbles, wide eyed, into a quaint formagerie, where she befriends a handsome cheesemonger, Serge. Serge challenges Ella to sample 365 different French cheeses within the span of one year, and Ella agrees. In the process, Ella not only learns about the various nuances of each type of cheese she samples, but also examines herself and tries to figure out what she can change to make her life happier and more fulfilling.

This story isn’t really about a romantic relationship between two people. It’s a coming of age novel that I personally wish I had a chance to experience before settling down. Don’t get me wrong: I’m more than content with my life, but a part of me wishes that when I was in my 20s, I had the gumption to drop everything and experience something completely new. I feel like that would have been so much more worthwhile than slogging through the misery of law school, then a dead end job to attempt repaying my student loans. In retrospect, I think washing dishes in Paris for a living would have been much more enjoyable and fulfilling in my 20s. I wish I read this book in my early 20s and been inspired to travel more.

Anyway, sorry about bemoaning my misspent youth and rambling on. This book gets 5 stars from me. Go read it while I stuff my face with cheese and daydream about Paris in the spring.

I picked up this book because I was looking for something light and easy to ready. I loved the idea of this book: almost 30 year old Ella goes through a horrible break up and decides to find herself a better and more exciting life.

The book started as I expected it. Ella seemed like a nice and sweet woman who didn’t realised she had put her boyfriend first and didn’t have anything of her own. She didn’t own a car, didn’t have a job she enjoyed, didn’t have money to pay for an apartment, and she had very little savings. She actually had to thank her horrible ex-boyfriend for having any savings at all. So, having nothing to lose, she decided to spend a year in Paris trying to figure things out. So far, so good.

After Ella moves to Paris, everything went downhill for me. She didn’t speak any French and she didn’t seem to care either. I don’t know exactly how she expected to get a job, but miraculously she found one after a couple of days in Paris. She worked only weekends and basically slept and enjoyed herself the rest of the week. What about trying to learn French? What about applying for jobs she might actually enjoy or that would at least pay her more than two days a week?

Ella is simply an immature 29 year old who is basically a charity case. She came across as more immature than the descriptions of her 21 year old self. The only thing on her mind was men. She falls in love at first sight and won’t stop thinking about this horrible jerk or the other men in her life. Her character never even considers what kind of job she might want or like: her friend gets her a job a that’s it. She didn’t learn a single thing from her break up or from moving to Paris.

Most reviewers complain about all the cheeses. I actually enjoyed the cheese challenge and the abundance of cheese.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet and somewhat cheesy
ByMaggie on October 11, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Pardon the pun, but I enjoyed this light-hearted book with some hidden messages for all of us. Life is not always what we expect, and we need to stay open to the possibilities.

This book is the perfect book to read to escape your problems, as it was a charming and lighthearted read! I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to read more from this author!

Australia

Ella, age 29, is heading for a date with Paul that she hopes will result in a proposal. They are to have dinner at Francine’s, their favorite French bistro. Ella and Paul have been together for 8 years. But instead of a proposal, Paul tells her he is off to find himself and he also tells her he never had marriage in mind.

Shocked and hurt, Ella realizes what a fool she has been to stay with Paul all that time so she decides to pack up and move to Paris for a year. She loves the city and knows it will be a good change for her.

She gets a small apartment and spends days just wandering around Paris and absorbing the wonderful ambiance. Realizing that her savings will not last long, she needs a job. Having failed at being a barista, Ella finds a job washing jobs in a cafe and finds she enjoys it.

One of her favorite things about France is the cheese. She finds a fromagerie and makes friends with the owner, Serge. Seeing how much she likes cheese, they make a bet that she must try 365 different cheeses over the next year, and if she is successful, he will take her out for a nice dinner.

She is invited to share an apartment with her new friend, Clothilde, a pretty french girl. As Ella’s French improves, she gets another job to help support herself. Through Clothilde, she meets even more people, one a handsome man named Gaston who is a food critic. Oh what a life she is living.

This book!! I loved every word and enjoyed reading it so much. Two of my favorite things in life are Paris and cheese. I lived in that beautiful city for 6 years and can honestly say that I lived to eat as much cheese as I could. I couldn’t just pass by a fromagerie, I had to stop and sigh and I dreamed of eating all of the cheese. OK. Getting past the cheese part, Ella is a terrific character who loves life. Her experiences in Paris are so exciting and brought back such great memories for me. If you were a cheese mouse in a previous life like I was, and if you love the City of Lights like I do, then this is a must-read for you. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Honestly, the author had me at “fromage,” because I’m all about cheese. In addition, what’s not to like about a book set in Paris? This was just a fun book from beginning to end. The beginning reminded me a little bit of “Legally Blonde,” in that there is an event that changes the heroine’s life trajectory. The characters were fun, and Ella’s trials as she navigates a new path are, for the most part, amusing and well-written. I thought there were a couple of extemporaneous characters and events, but they didn’t really detract from the story as a whole. The end seemed a little bit abrupt; I would have liked to have seen a little bit more depth to her final decisions. I did particularly enjoy the descriptions of Paris, because they reminded me of our recent trip there. The author did an excellent job of allowing the reader to follow Ella in the whimsy of picking up and moving to a new place to forge a new life, and that’s a near perfect reading experience. Thank you to NetGalley, Amberjack Publishing, and the author for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This novel, like a perfect meal, really hit the spot. The book was comprised of the wonderful ingredients of luxurious Paris destinations, lovable characters, and delicious French food (and cheese!). This self-discovery journey could have easily been formulaic, but Brownlee’s creative food bent and optimistic adventure made the plot easy to savor.

Ahhh joining Ella and her two delectable Frenchmen on a 'cheesy' journey really made for some great reading! The writing and descriptions of Mon Paree and the drool-worthy Fromages was spot on... as an ardent francophile and cheese-lover extraordinaire it was a little learning experience too... Froamge-land is really toooo big annnd yummy!
Kudos to Victoria Brownlee for mashin-up the romance-food and travel genres into ONE BIG ENJOYABLE read!
Four cheesy Stars!

This book is more than your typical chick lit "coming to realise marriage is not everything" novel. While it's a fast easy read, it also offers the reader a tour of Paris and - cheese. Reader, be prepared to eat cheese while reading this book. Oh, but is it a love story? Yes!

I am so mad that I didn't like this book. It just wasn't something I was expecting.

When I requested this book from the publisher, the title was the thing that caught my attention. I love Paris and French and I just had this whole thing in my mind for how this story could have turned out and I wanted to read it.

I loved the idea of this book.

Ella was such a cool character in the beginning. Packed her things and left to a whole new continen, country and city. I give her points for bravery. I totally love her addiction of eating cheese and drinking whine. It's clishe but it's nice. But then she just didn't try enough in my opinion. She just saw the first man walking and liked him. I felt like she was miserable when the book presented her as really really happy and excited.

Also the man that she firsly likes, Gaston, even though he's really charming and French and all that jazz, he's also such a bad person. So into himself and so egoistic and treats Ella in such an awful way that I hated reading those chapters.

Even though the romance was kind of predictable I love that it was formed because of something both of them loved. I kinda wish that it had happened sooner because it just took too many chapters that I found very similar to each other.

I also have some gaps in the story especially the Jean-Pierre situation. It was so bizarre that I just got too confused. It just was something that I shouldn't be in the book.


Apart from all of that though, I enjoyed the book. I didn't like it but I had a fun time reading it. It provides such a sweet presentation of Paris life and food that I actually liked.

This book should come with a Lactaid or two as it is full of cheese! Cheese, the kind you eat, and cheese, the kind that exists in very very predictable books about love and life in Paris. Oh and the cheesy grin on the reader's face at the climax of the story. But seriously, there is no way a reader won't quickly figure out where the story is going to end up. And just like a wonderful cheese plate, maybe not with every kind of cheese there is in France, the joy is in the journey. Perhaps the best part of this book, other than an amazing celebration of cheese, is that the reader does know where the story will end up and can relax and enjoy the story. So grab some Lactaid, some good quality cheese, a bottle of wine, and enjoy the book!

Within three pages of starting Fromage à Trois by Victoria Brownlee, I heard the book review forming. It was going to be quick, blunt, encouraging, and smart.
Then, something, I don’t know what, kept me reading after I’d decided this book fell in DID NOT FINISH territory.
Writer me was enthralled with the story even as Editor me howled about an inconsistency here, that evasion over there, so many clichés. Writer me shushed that self-important, rules-based Editor self so I could read in peace.
I kept reading. I loved the protagonist’s adventure in Paris, taken on impulse and then becoming an important life passage as she finds work, makes friends, falls in love.
The digital clock read 1:00 AM when I finally finished reading.
Somehow, I enjoyed reading a book set in Paris celebrating sights and cheese, Australians making a life for themselves there. Her Paris did not resemble the Paris I know, but it was marvelous just the same.
What the writer got right was more important than what I thought was wrong. Editor me shrieked throughout the reading, but didn’t stop me from roaming pell mell through an appealing protagonist’s eyes on an adventure that she had no idea she was going to take.
I rooted for her through encounters with strange housemates, warm friendships, crossing cultural chasms. Friends and colleagues were also dimensional, fully-developed characters who I enjoyed getting to know.
Even when fantastic subplots were dropped in favor of the next sparkly event, I didn’t care. I noticed it — one of them even made me wince out loud — but it didn’t stop me from reading.
Yeah, I know.
I can’t believe I read it and liked it so much either.
Just goes to show I can’t always believe what I think.
Imperfect done with wide open, grinning joy beats cold, calculated perfect.
Even if it keeps me up late. Especially if it demonstrates the way a powerful story can overcome the technical glitches and fails. Especially if it demonstrates that grabbing a reader’s heart is more important than doing all the technical craft just right. Especially if I learn what matters most to me in reading a story, great glowing wisdom I can use in my own work.

I thought this a sweet story about a romance gone wrong, a new beginning in Paris and the path to love. This is the kind of book I enjoy to read for relaxation.

Seeking a fresh start in her life, Ella leaves her home in Melbourne on an adventure in recapturing herself in Paris in this enjoyable novel. Ella faces life head on as she seeks a job and an apartment in the city. What she finds is a love interest and the best fromagerie in Paris. What she does not realize is that the fromagerie may also have the best love interest in the city, too. All the best and all the worst happen as Ella passes the year in the City of Lights.

I have to admit, the reason I picked this book was because of the cheese. It did NOT disappoint. I found myself googling all of the different French cheeses. I am a little bummed to learn that it would be impossible to try them all in short time I have available to me while in France. I have decided it will be the first place I move after I retire.

From the characters standpoint, I was so glad that the ex-boyfriend Paul story line was over and done with quickly. I loved that Ella regained her independence and did something so daring Even though she was interested/dating, it wasn't the only thing she obsessed about. She took on a couple challenges, including a side job that she never once complained about. She was incredibly lucky to fall into some very fortunate circumstances but she was also a very good friend and engaged with the people around her.

Overall, I think there were topics that could have been fleshed out a little more but I consider that a really good sign that I was enjoying it and wanted to spend time in this world more.

Sidebars:
- What was up with Jean Pierre? That story line seemed a little unresolved.
- Do people really say Oh La La that much in France?
- I loved that Ella sent that email to Paul. How good must have that felt?

Title: Fromage a` Trois



Author: Victoria Brownlee



Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, France



Plot: Ella is on the brink of turning thirty and has spent the last decade in a relationship with a man she thought she would marry and settle down with for the rest of her life. But apparently he has other plans and breaks up with her before going off on a exclusive retreat. Ella, left in tears and uncertain as to what she should do next, decides to spend a year in France and get back in touch with her old globe-trotter days.



On her first day back, she finds a cute little cheese shop which quickly becomes her favorite and the central point for all her Parisian adventures. But soon she finds herself in a sticky spot between two dashing men and has some adult decisions to make.



Likes/Dislikes: I love reading books about Paris and food so I thought this one would be great. Plus I loved the cover. I knew it was about cheese primarily but I secretly hoped the cheese wouldn't play as big a role in the story as it actually does. Silly, I know but still. I don't like cheese very much and found it was a turn-off for me in this form. But I will say that the book opens very well and gives us lots of details for being first person narrative. And Ella doesn't sound like one of those annoying weepy characters either.



Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for reading level and content (majority of content unknown but it is an adult romance so...)



Date Review Written: September 25th, 2018



I received a copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.