Thank you to Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC for gifting me the audiobook of French Holiday by Sarah Ready. It publishes 4/26/23. All opinions are my own and my opinion is that (drumroll) I recommend it!

After Merry DeLuca’s sister marries the love of Merry’s life, she needs an escape. Enter an invitation from her godmother Jupiter to stay at her newly purchased 17th century castle in the French countryside for free. Um… YES! Unfortunately, Jupiter forgot to mention that she also gave the same offer (albeit paid) to Merry’s nemesis, Noah Wright. Cue the shock, the angst, the forced proximity, the home renovation, the fun, the laughs, the mystery, the ghost??, the lobster, the nod to The Hating Game in chapter 3, the friends, the nice short, chapters and an enjoyable listen!

This is narrated by Kelsey Navarro and I like her unique, slightly raspy voice.

Open 🚪
4/5 ⭐️
12 h 2 minute listen (can easily be sped up and it doesn’t seem this long!)
Location: A crumbling Castle in France

This story was ok for me, but nothing exciting. It was a cute, lighthearted rom-com with an enemies to lovers plot. I couldn't wait to just get it over with because it just too long and it dragged on with not alot of excitiement in the story line. It did have some cute characters, but overall, it was just "meh."

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a free opportunity to review this audiobook.

French Holiday by Sarah Ready
Narrated by Kelsey Navarro

I thought this story was very cute. For the most part, it was a light hearted listen for me and predictable in a good way. Merry DeLuca was ditzy and Kelsey Navarro played her as ditzy which made the story funnier for me.

Poor Merry Deluca, victim of unrequited love, having to be in the wedding of her sister who is marrying her best friend, Leo. Merry has been in love with Leo for four years, FOUR YEARS! She thought their love could grow slowly, she could wait until he noticed he loved her, too. She had time, she wasn't going anywhere. Then Leo meets Merry's sister, Angela, and instalove demolishes Merry's dream of Leo falling for her.

At least Merry can throw herself into her job. Oh, wait, ditch that thought because, the job thing doesn't go well either. So, on the advice of her godmother, Merry will spend three months at her godmother's French chalet.

Just her luck, the worst man Merry has ever met, Noah Wright, is staying at the chalet, and he's not leaving. The chalet is a crumbling wreck and very little of it is useable which makes close quarters for two people who can't stand each other. Except, Noah may not be so bad after all, there is more to this handsome ogre than Merry realized. Yes, Noah is a dreamboat really, but he's complicated for good reason.

Thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for this ARC.

I am always in need a good rom-com read. French Holiday by Sarah Adams was just that. Meredith "Merry" is in desperate need of a chance to get away from her current life! A deadend job, an unrequited love and a family who always put her in the backseat finally gives Merry the push she needs to "get outta dodge". Her "fairy godmother" Jupiter sends her to her French chateau in the French countryside. From here Merry reunites with Noah, her unrequited loves best friend, with whom she could do without seeing on her French holiday. The story and characters grow and evolve from there! Without spoilers, this book provides humor, self-discovery and love. Sarah Adam's writing allowed me to feel apart of French countryside. Her visual descriptions of the places, locations and scenery of the book helped bring this story to life. The narrator for the audio version of this book fit what I would imagine "Merry's" voice to sound like. Overall I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for an easy read/listen, a good laugh and a great love story!

I adored this sweet romcom! I really liked Merry’s character and I found myself laughing constantly, especially during the Louie the Lobster fiasco . If you’re a fan of enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and the one bed trope, I highly recommend you pick this one up!

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

My rating: 4.5/5

This sweet romance has deep insight and beautiful descriptions as it envelops the enemies to lovers trope in a beautiful French chateau. This book has art, travel, romance, deep insights, and a story or two of unrequited love. This sweet story isn’t without a few crazy twists and turns along the way. A must read to get swept away in and be warned, you may look into flights to France and “local lovers bridge” after reading this beautiful work.

I received this novel as an advanced review copy and offer my honest opinion voluntarily.

Omgg I LOVED this book! What a fun ride 😍

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️ (light)

Merry needs to get over her unrequited love for her best friend - especially since he just married her sister. After she’s offered her godmother’s chateau in France, she heads off to the perfect place to do so.
Little does she know, Noah, her best friend’s other best friend, rented that castle to work on his next documentary.
The biggest problem? They hate each other. AND there’s only one bed (of course).

Troubles in their past make it difficult for both of them to believe, and trust in love. But they slowly go from enemies, to friends, to more, as they open up and trust each other.

This book was sweet, and pretty funny. I enjoyed all the antics Merry got herself in to 🙃 there was also a little mystery to solve, that added to the story!

I read the ebook & listened to the audiobook, and loved both.

Read if you enjoy:
⭐️ Enemies to lovers
⭐️ Only one bed
⭐️ Forced proximity
⭐️ Holiday in France
⭐️ He falls first
⭐️ Slow burn
⭐️ Romcoms
⭐️ Single POV

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for an advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

I thought this book was super cute! I really enjoyed the storyline and the added mystery plot. The main characters felt very well thought out and had depth to them. I do think the relationship moved a little fast but I still enjoyed the story. I really appreciated all of the characters but Louie the Lobster might be my favorite. Overall, sweet story, the french countryside and lots of fun.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a bit of a mess. The overarching theme of “unrequited love” is fairly consistent but everything else is haphazard and rushed. The whole thing takes place over the course of maybe three months.

Merry (the main character that is consistent pronounced ‘Mary’ the entire time) had no chance to reconcile her feelings about her best friend Leo because he and her sister are getting married after a MONTH. Merry then fell OUT of love with Leo and IN love with Noah in a month. Maybe it’s a family thing? But it comes off as young and rash - Merry is 24 so can’t imagine her younger sister is much older than 20.

There was no time for Merry & Noah to enjoy falling in love - all the tropes were there and they just weren’t used correctly. Only one bed? Let’s put cockroaches in it. The man can cook? Only after the lobster I tried to boil RAN AWAY. The lobster was then found living in the kitchen walls and they ADOPTED IT.

That’s not even mentioning the fact that about halfway through you find out the REAL reason for Noah being in France and it’s incredibly important to the plot.

I get that romance books are a bit of a stretch. But this one just stretched way too much. Characters are flat, story is rushed, and Merry’s internal monologues are repetitive and long. I think this manuscript needs another revised draft.

This was such a tropey, French romantic fantasy good time. It gives "Under the Tuscan Sun" vibes if "Under the Tuscan Sun" was set in France and really leaned into the whole "woman finds love in a foreign country staying in a fantastic castle while wearing a flowing dress in a field/vineyard/etc." trope. "French Holiday" really played up the main character wanting that, buying all of these frilly dresses and anticipating a hot romance with a Frenchman named Pierre. While this may be more brain candy than anything, I really enjoyed this romance. It was sweet, adorable and at times completely swoon worthy. And the food! All of the food mentioned in this book sounded simply divine. All of the baguettes, fresh fruit and brie that you could wish for and more.

Overall, this was a fun and light spring into summer read with plenty of romance and plenty of travel inspiration. After finishing this, I want nothing more than to book a flight to France and sit in a field while enjoying a bottle of wine, some cheese and a hearty slab of French bread. I truly enjoyed my time with it and can't wait to pick up more from this author.

Thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks and Netgalley for the audio-arc of this book!

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the French chateau setting, but felt that the author could have capitalized on the setting a bit more throughout the story. The banter was enjoyable at times, but a bit forced and cheesy at other times. It felt like Ready was trying to add in elements of a mystery at times, but that aspect was not fully fleshed out and lacked depth and intrigue. I enjoyed the journey that Merry was on and some of the lessons she learned, but I felt that the author could have done more to develop the depth of feelings of Merry internally as well as the chemistry in her budding relationship. Overall, this one was entertaining but fell a short of hitting it out of the park. With a bit more editing, this would have been a solid 4 stars for me.

French Holiday by Sarah Ready was a great surprise. This book is enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, forced proximity, and grumpy/sunshine, all with a mystery element! I found this in the "Listen Now" section on NetGalley, and I'm so glad I did.

Merry DeLuca escapes to France after being the maid of honor for her sister's wedding. Her sister married Merry's best friend Leo (who she loves unrequitedly). The best man is Noah Wright, who is Merry's enemy right away. Fast forward to Merry getting to her aunt's castle in France. Well, Merry didn't realize she would be sharing this castle with Noah, who paid to stay there to do research for one of his documentaries. I got lost in this story, and all the adventures Merry, Noah, and their French friends had together. The lobster is by far my favorite part! I'm still laughing!

Swift & Lewis Publishing and NetGalley, thank you for this gifted copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book. It was nice to get away to France with the author and the hate/love relationship with the couple. Of course, I love a good romance, and I enjoyed the suspense the author used in the book to keep me interested and wanting to learn more. The ending was great with love and the mystery.

French Holiday was such a wonderful book to listen to. This hilarious rom com has a bit of everything: unrequited love, misunderstandings, traveling, food, art, hilarious moments, difficult relationships, secrets and mysteries.

I absolutely loved this book and had so much fun listening to it from start to finish. Merry is a lovable character. She is absolute sunshine while Noah is grumpy, but in the end they are both so lovable. The backstories for both Merry and Noah are so well done and both characters are very well developed. This is everything that a rom com should be- enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, one bed and close proximity! Everything about this book was chef’s kiss and absolutely charming!

Merry is in love with her best friend- but her sister just married him, so when she’s offered a holiday in the French countryside she takes it. When she arrives she finds Noah- the best man at her sister’s wedding and the guy she cannot stand- at the same location so what can they do? They make a deal to live together for three months and then go their separate ways, but a lot of things happen along the way and certain things change.

Thank you Swift & Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for my ALC.

ok, dnf pq eu nao gostei da trope "o amor da minha vida casou com a minha irma" e o audiobook é chato e que a atriz passa uma vibe arrogante, fazendo com que eu tenha zero simpatia por ela.. entao, não. nao vai rolar.

mas mesmo assim, obrigada pela oportunidade de tentar ler ele netgalley...

Following her sister's marriage to the man she loves and quitting her HR job, Merry takes the opportunity to stay at a French chateau for three months to have an adventure before sorting her life out. Little does she know that her brother-in-law's best friend and her foe will be staying at the same chateau!

French Holiday gives all the delicious tropes of a French holiday story – wine, cheese, lavender fields and a lovers' bridge – and an enemies-to-lovers romance. Recommended for a fun, romantic listen; I binged it within 48 hours.

I liked this book, but I did not love it. It was a cute premise, and I love the travel aspect. However, some of it felt very forced, like trying to fit too many tropes into once story. I do think it's a fun and easy read, just not so much for me.

A book that starts with unrequited love then moves into enemies to friends to lovers territory. Set in a French chateau backdrop. yes please! The character chemistry was spot on, I loved all the mini twists and turns of the plot. Very entertaining and engaging, I kept rooting for Merry to find her happiness. Noah always kept it real with Merry, my favorite quote from Noah “You can paint your bedroom walls the color of his eyes”.

Merry was in love with her best friend. Unfortunately, her best friend is marrying her sister. In an attempted to rid herself of these feelings, she decides to escape to a French chateau belonging to a family friend.

Turns out the family friend had also rented the chateau to her best friend's other best friend, Noah, who has shown nothing but disdain for her every time they'd met. Oh yes, and the chateau is in ruins. Merry feels like she's hit rock bottom.

Over the course of her month away, Merry needs to figure out what's next for her, how to survive in this French countryside for which the most modern update was the toilet, and solve the mystery of Noah. Add in some comedy from the neighbors, one who is interested in Noah, another who is interested in Merry, both of which are keeping their own secrets, and it's comedy, growth, romance, and self love all in one good read.

#arc
#netgalley
#frenchholiday

I was describing this book to my daughter, she thinks that this should be a movie

I think Merry is finding herself in this story...and the along comes Noah.

And he totally tips what she thinks should happen.

And watch out for that Godmother...she is tricky

I would totally read this again