Yummy croissants and macarons are what I want after reading Summer at the Little French Cafe!
Love the book cover photo….it is what made me want to read this book.
This is the second book in a series but can be read as a standalone read.
A very emotional read with infertility, adoption and loss of child.
I laughed and cried a bit while reading this story….emotional read for sure.

I was transported to the French countryside in this lovely book. It was incredibly easy to get lost in the story with such beautiful characters and atmosphere
If you want to read something that makes you feel good, pick up a copy , sit back and enjoy.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy , this is my honest review.

This was the first of Karen Clarke's books I've read, and I won't be long finding more of them. I loved this romance story, though I didn't like Henri at all. It was also great to see a book set in France that was somewhere other than Paris.

First book I have read written by Karen Clarke, won’t be the last. Based in the Ile de Re it follows the story of Elle who is trying to find her birth mother. Lots of humour, romance and soul searching mixed with a few mishaps and tears.

A good feel book well worth a read. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I have

A brand new author for me and this book didn’t disappoint. I want to live in this world. A brilliant distraction from the crazy world we’re in right now. Loved this book.

DNFed at 45%!

Here are the reasons why:

1. Henri is a creepy guy who just cannot take no for an answer. He keeps showing up at Elle's door and keeps hounding her to have dinner, go on a walk, do something, or some nonsense.

2. Elle's views are incredibly classist. "Oh I'd feel so bad if my birth mother were to be a butcher" is just one of the stupid nonsense she spouts.

3. "I'm glad I let Toni talk me into having a pedicure before leaving and that my toenails were coloured a shade called Bahama Mamma." - Good God, I don't even want to comment on this.

4. The village of Chamillon doesn't even take precedence. Every action that happens in the cafe, the author describes, but the cafe itself? No ma'am. It's called 'Summer at the Little "French Cafe"' no?

I'm just... Nope.

A delightful beach read, perfectly atmospheric, made me want to dash off to the French seaside. A funny romance follows Elle on her journey of self discovery. Would recommend for a beach vacation, paired with a croissant and cappuccino.

Elle always knew that she was adopted as a baby but when she finds a postcard signed by M and an ivory shawl she decides it's time to find out who her real mother is. The postcard is of a bakery on the Ile de Re and so Elle packs up her camera and heads off to see what she can find.

Another lovely story with Elle trying to work out if every woman who's name begins with the letter M is her mother and making lots of friends along the way.... perfect beach read

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

A lovely read, really evocative of France. I had read the first book in the series but hadn’t connected the two books until a few chapters into the 2nd. Loved the main characters of Elle and Charlie - didn’t want it to end.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Karen Clarke for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

3.5 stars

I was looking forward to Summer at the Little French Café, by Karen Clarke, and getting my hands on Charlie’s story after meeting him in book 1. The story didn’t pan out like I’d hope it would. Elle comes to Chamillon in search of her mother. She ends up with a temporary job helping out Dolly at the Café Belle Vie while Dolly tries to help in her search. She falls in love with the town and its people, slowly unearthing clues about her mum.

I found Charlie and Elle’s relationship awkward. I didn’t think they had very good chemistry and their romance was rushed, almost last minute in my opinion. The bits about her mum were fine, and I was glad she found Marie. The island was a very romantic place but the story didn’t feel romantic or balanced for me.

Summer at the Little French Cafe was my first book by Karen Clarke. I also happened to start in the middle of this series, but it really didn't keep me from enjoying the book. This was published by Bookouture on 06/27/2019.

Thirty-year-old Elle Matheson has decided it’s finally time to find the mother who gave her up as a baby. With a faded postcard from the Café Belle Vie in hand – one of the very few things she has from her mother – she heads straight to the Île de Ré to begin her search.

With only the postcard and the ivory shawl she was wrapped in as clues, finding her mum is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, even with the help of friendly – and gorgeous – café-owner Charlie. And since Elle hasn’t exactly told her younger sister what she’s up to, the little white lies about where she is are starting to add up…

But Elle is really starting to feel at home on the beautiful island. The locals are welcoming, the café is homely, and Charlie is always there with a helping hand, a listening ear, and a pain au chocolat.

This story was a typical chick-lit book. It was just the kind of light and adorable read that I needed to stack in between my thrillers and mystery books. Elle is a delightful girl. I really felt for her on her search for her true mother. I wanted so badly for her to find the happiness she seemed to deserve. The surrounding characters are interesting and funny. Elle pairs with them to create some very interesting plot points.

The description in this book was so wonderful. I felt like I could actually see this story. This was such a cute book, and I'm so grateful to have been given the opportunity to read it.

P.S. If you like this book, she has several others that look just as great. You can find her on Goodreads under Karen Clarke!

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars

This was my first Karen Clarke book and it won't be my last. I loved the evocative setting, the heart-wrenching tale and the love interest of course. And the outcome. Definitely a new favourite author for me. Have already started downloading her back catalogue

Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest review! #summeratthelittlefrenchcafe #netgalley

Elle, a successful businesswoman and photographer, grew up in a loving home with two parents and a sister. Although Elle looked like her mum and sister, Elle always new that she had been adopted from birth. After her dad died Elle made the discovery of a Postcard written to her by her birth mother. All she had to go on was the little french cafe on the front of the card and that her birth kotjer had signed 'M' on the back of the card. Can Elle find her birth mother?

The typical french styles scenery on the cover drew me to this book.

Some research into this author has told me that this is her second book in the series. However you would not know this when reading and this book makes a great stand alone book, Something I think this author has got down to a fine art.

Although not the conventional summer romance. This book makes you laugh, cry and hold your breath as you go through the roller coaster of finding Elle's birth mother. Whilst sharing with you summer in France. With all you can eat macarons, pretty French chalets and bicycles!

This book is a great summer read. Throughout the book you are guessing who you think may be Elle's birth mother but it is not who you thought! A beautifully written surprise. Although their are some emotional subjects included in this book such as adoption infertility and infant loss. I do not feel this takes away from the summer feel of the book.

This book includes some difficult but pressing topics. All of the characters have their own difficulties and this allows me topics to be broached in a way that does not make the book too heavy. Which could have happened if only one character went through all of the difficulties. It is great that this can be included in a 21st century summer read to normalise this and get everyone speaking about these taboo topics.

I feel that Elle's relationship with Charlie was rushed at the end. Suddenly in the last chapter or two. They fell in love and got into a relationship. Although previous to this Elle had pretended she had no feelings for him and he insisted he wasn't looking for a relationship. I think this needed to be "beefed" out a bit or even to leave it that they would try dating when he visited England. Allowing for a sequel of their relationship.

However I would still love a sequel of Elle's "new" life.

This was a lovely novel, and a nice change of pace from what I have been reading. Beautiful setting, interesting characters, and a little bit of drama and humor- Just what I like in a story. I am interested in what comes next in this series.

***I received a copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review***

After reading the first book, Escape to the Little French Café, I was looking forward to more of some memorable characters. Though I did get to know more about Dolly and Marie, I didn't get more of Charlie. What little I did see of him, he didn't seem like the same character from the first book. I was somewhat disappointed in that. I did like the plot of a young woman who was in search of her mother but, unfortunately, I didn't warm to Elle. She was just ok, but I felt her character was trying too hard to be clumsy cute. Since I knew that Elle was going to end up with one guy, there wasn't enough interaction between the two, so I wasn't feeling the whole romance angle. Elle definitely spent too much time with another guy, which never really made sense to me. Still a cute read but I much prefer the first book.


*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just loved Summer at the Little French Cafe and read this book in one setting. A great book to sit reading whether on holiday or not. I was hooked from the first few sentences and loved it. I already can’t wait for the next one.

I really loved this book, it was such a sweet story and very enjoyable to read. I hadn’t read any of this author’s books before so I was very pleasantly pleased that it was such a lovely story.
I will looks for more of her books in the future.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This was another wonderful Summer read by Karen Clarke and has made me want to book a week/weekend to Paris ASAP! Although the story started off quite slowly, I really enjoyed following Elle's journey to finding her birth mother, meeting lovely characters along the way and spending time in Dolly's adorable, quaint, little cafe.

This is the second book of a series and can easily be read as a standalone novel, although I most certainly am going to go back to book one and learn more about Natalie's story!

A perfect read, filled with so much romance, humour and life lessons. I can't wait to see if Karen adds anymore books to this gorgeous series.

In the beautiful village of Chamillon lies the Café Belle Vie, where you’ll always find croissants and friends when you need them the most – and where Elle is hoping to uncover the truth about her past…

Thirty-year-old Elle Matheson has decided it’s finally time to find the mother who gave her up as a baby. With a faded postcard from the Café Belle Vie in hand – one of the very few things she has from her mother – she heads straight to the Île de Ré to begin her search.

With only the postcard and the ivory shawl she was wrapped in as clues, finding her mum is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, even with the help of friendly – and gorgeous – café-owner Charlie. And since Elle hasn’t exactly told her younger sister what she’s up to, the little white lies about where she is are starting to add up…

But Elle is really starting to feel at home on the beautiful island. The locals are welcoming, the café is homely, and Charlie is always there with a helping hand, a listening ear, and a pain au chocolat.

Is Elle about to discover not just where she came from – but where she belongs?

This was a fun summery book about family and love. I enjoyed the writing style a lot.

*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*