This book is recommended to those who enjoy women’s fiction in which the past and present intertwine. It tells the story of a young woman who finds a photograph that will influence her future, as she comes to understand what happened to her great-great-grandmother. Alexandra is led to a small French village and a castle that is there. She is also unexpectedly led to Eric and a new relationship.

Readers will be drawn into this title when they read the note from the author at the start of the novel. This is clearly a personal and special book for her. It was initially published in France and later in the U.S.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Alex travels to France for work and decides at the same time to combine a bit of family history research. She has photo of a woman that looks eerily like her in a chateau and is determined to find out more about her ancestry. She arrives at the chateau and meets Eric the current owner who is struggling to restore the old building and is extremely rude and unhelpful to Alex....... until he realises that she might be the one to help save the chateau.

A lovely dual time story, I really enjoyed how they gradually pieced together the history and the dual timelines worked really well....I will look out for more books by this author

The Chateau by the River draws you into it's dual time line. A mysterious faded photograph of a woman who looks eerily identical to Alexandra Dawson has her traveling to a crumbling chateau in France. Such a lovely historical story we discover this woman is her great-great- grandmother. Secrets revealed lead us to discover the truth of her own identity. Such a romantic charm to be found in this story within it's crumbling castle walls.
Pub Date 25 Dec 2018
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own.

A cosy romance with a sprinkling of predictability but a heart warming dual tale none the less. I enjoyed this book. There were few surprises but it was well written and the separate stories of Alexandra and Gabrielle easy to follow which is sometimes a risk with this type of book. It could have been set anyway, the French location could have been expanded on as last of the story. Some incidents felt like they were brushed over rather than being pivotal parts of the story. However well worth a read.

Thank you Netgalley.

The Chateau by the River quickly draws you into the connecting romances. Alexandra or Alex meets the gruff castle owner Eric and explains she is searching for her family connections. He really does not care. Alex has only a part of a picture to assist in her search. We find out fairly quickly this is her ancestor/many greats back grandmother, Gabrielle who had fallen in love with the then castle owner Thomas. Both romances are sweet and develop slowly. Both women are strong and take care of themselves in a very modern manner.

I did not realize this book contained dual timeline romances switching between them when I requested the book. Although the writing and back and forth aspect of time lines was done very well and was easy to follow. Alex and Eric seemed to have more difficulty connecting than Gabrielle and Thomas, but once they did, their story was beautiful. Until, trouble brews for both couples.

All in all, this is a sweet way to spend your weekend wrapped up in two romance stories that are connected by several aspects. Both men seemed to have a bit of pridefulness keeping them from believing and trusting in their love, but makes for a great HEA once it is complete. As the first Chloe Duval book for me, I found her to be a thoroughly entertaining writer and story teller.

In all honesty I judged this book by its title. I enjoyed the alternating chapters of past and present - very easy to track of who is who, and when is when.. The store revolves around a young woman who has goes to France to see what she can learn of her ancestors. All she has to go on is a partially burned picture of a woman, who she resembles, standing in front of a castle. Part of her name is on the back as is the location where the picture was taken. I think this book would be perfect for those who enjoy Kate Morton, It was very hard to put down.

Alexandra has found a photograph from the past. It has captured her imagination. When she is in Europe for business, she decides to take a side trip to investigate the chateau in the photo. The owner of the chateau is a man named Eric and he is not happy to see her.
I disliked Eric right from the start. He is very rough around the edges and just plain rude. But as the story developed, he sort of grew on me. He and Alex have a strange relationship which grows into much more than expected. Took a while and it was a struggle, but they made it in the end.
This tale captivated me from the very beginning. The historical setting of the chateau and the troubles surrounding the upkeep are fascinating. Then the relationship between Eric and Alex…well, let’s just say, it is not a bed of roses. These two do team up FINALLY to try and save the chateau.
I enjoyed this read. The history, the setting, and the characters are a great combination.
I received this novel from Kensington Press via Netgalley for a honest review.

Magical is the perfect word to describe the writing done by Chloe Duval! Her books are translated from the original French, so I imagine that it would be even better were I able to read French. Sometimes things are lost in translation, and this is one of those times I wish I was bilingual. Thankfully, the wonderful people at Lyrical Press understand that even those of us who are not lingually inclined want to read foreign language books. Thus The Chateau by the River is reborn in English! Chloe Duval has such a gift with writing that it's difficult for me to rate this book, because while I loved her storytelling in this book, I found myself frustrated with major parts of the romance component. As in her last book, I enjoyed the jumping between past and present, because it's like getting two love stories in one. The trouble was, I wanted to stay in the past, because the present was the part that was difficult to read.

Sent to France by her employer to do business there, Alexandra Dawson takes the opportunity to extend her stay for vacation, so that she can do some digging into her French heritage. Her first order of business is to go to a castle where her great-great-great-grandmother was photographed, to understand what her connection was to the surrounding area. What she finds, however, is a crumbled structure destroyed by a fire many years ago, and its caretaker has no interest in helping her explore. Eric Lagnel wants to keep Alex out of his castle and out of his heart, but as she worms her way into his life, he finds her unrelenting positive attitude hard to resist. As they work together to uncover more of Alex's ancestor's history, a story begins to unfold from the past, and Alex will find that history often repeats itself, in the most unexpected ways.

The "past" story was my favorite part of this book! I loved Gabrielle and Thomas so much, particularly as they became closer and showed greater depth in their personalities. Gabrielle was a very strong woman who was also compassionate and smart. She was the perfect fit for Thomas, who needed someone strong to break through his shell and help him see what a wonderful person he was. Their romance made my heart flutter, especially when they showed each other how they felt and had so much joy. It wasn't perfect and there was some drama, but ultimately they realized that love was stronger than any obstacle they faced. I also really enjoyed the secondary characters who brought so much color to the story and made me wish I could jump into the pages to meet them.

As far as Alex and Eric are concerned, I was very, very, VERY conflicted. Alex, dear girl, was engaged, and she neglected to tell Eric this for the majority of the book. So for most of the "present day" story, I was waiting for her to put on her big girl panties and tell him, so that we could avoid a big dramatic scene later when he finds out. Sadly, Alex didn't do that, so we were forced as readers to watch as Eric fell in love with her, and Alex didn't tell him about her fiance back in the States. Eric deserved better, in my opinion, and while he had a lot of faults, I really liked him. I also liked her fiance. When everything exploded and her engagement was revealed, I was cheering Eric and Spencer on, because Alex made it seem like there was an adequate explanation for her lies. Which there wasn't, let's be honest. You messed up, and there was no good reason not to tell them.

So 5 Stars for Gabrielle and Thomas and 3 Stars for Alex and Eric, which is why you will see my final review is 4 Stars.

I really enjoyed reading this book overall, and I can't say enough good things about the author. She really has a talent for putting beauty into words, and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

A dual time line romance set in, sigh, a chateau in France. Alexandra decides to do some research into her family's history and while doing so, discovers the diary of Gabrielle, who was in love with Thomas. She meets Eric, who is the current owner of what has become a tumbledown in serious need of renovation. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This isn't deep but it's a good read, with four characters who you will root for.

A pleasant novel with dual timelines, a ruined castle set in the Loire Valley, France is the backbone of this story.. Alexandra in the present, is looking into her ancestry, trying to find out who she really is. All she has is her great-great grandmother Gabrielle's half-burnt photo taken with the castle behind her. The book was historical fiction with more than its share of romance. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable read with an interesting dual timeline. Spending time in France during two lifetimes was the bonus

Alexandra Dawson has traveled to France on business, but when that portion of her trip is concluded, she stays on to try to solve a piece of family history. She has a damaged photo of a woman taken 100 years earlier, standing in front of a castle. The woman could be Alexandra’s twin. When she finds the castle, she also encounters its owner, Eric Langet. At first he has no time for the American’s queries, until he realizes her quest may be the answer to saving his decrepit pile of stone. Traveling back and forth between the past and present, this is a pleasant read, even though I found the characters a little lacking in depth