Yes! Yes!
The synopsis is what drew me into this book. Give me sweet and a reality star any day! You will not be disappointed with this book!

Heart Restoration Project by Beth Merlin; Danielle Modafferi was a heart-warming story.
Everything about this book was just amazing.

Thank You NetGalley and Montlake for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake, Beth Merlin, and Danielle Modafferi for the advanced copy of Heart Restoration Project!

Heart Restoration Project follows Plum, a semi-washed-up reality star, as she navigates next steps in her life. Pressured by her celebrity family, paparazzi, and society, Plum joins a different sort of reality show-- home renovation. Unfortunately for Plum, her reputation as a reality TV star follows her and makes this new project more complicated than she expected.

This book was a very non-traditional romance novel and I loved it. Plum was an incredible main character to follow as she tried to make a name for herself that didn't rely on embarrassing herself in front of millions of viewers or her family's name. There was a very natural course of self-discovery which made reading this book enjoyable.

Though Heart Restoration Project by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi is marketed as romance, I would say it's more of women's fiction where reality TV star Plum Everly has arrived in French village side to reinvent her messy life through a new home restoration TV show. It's a mix of rom com, drama and historical facts.

Let me tell you what I loved about this book. Plum and the production manager Elliot's adventure to know the history of the chateau from the world war era was the best part. It showed Plum has so many deep and beautiful sides other than the shallow drama princess the world thinks her to be. Elliot misunderstood and judged her too but these trips with little nuggets of history proved him wrong. I definitely loved the whole French country side set up with the amazing people and the cuisine and the nature. The description was very artistic. Plum herself is an amazing character. The Everly family is built like the Kardashians but they are a more wholesome and less vapid one. All her sisters have their own brand but she has been lost. Every time she holds onto something , she is betrayed and hurt. But this project gave her the inspiration and courage and support to be herself.

But what confused and distracted and took away from the beauty of the story is the unnecessary emphasis on Plum's romance with the site foreman Bastien. From Elliot and Plum's first meeting in plane, I thought they are the couple and yes they are but most of the book, we spend time with Bastien and Plum's romance. He was charming and way too sweet and yeah..he ended up being a snake. But except last few chapters, the authors showed their very real affair. I could understand if his appearance was to push Elliot to show his cards but nope..Bastien kind of played the main guy. It only showed Plum's gullible side who ended up trusting the immediately next guy showing her affection and attention..against everyone else's caution. So I didn't feel Plum and Elliot's connection.

I reviewed an early copy voluntarily

I had a few problems with this book (hence the 3 star rating), but I did have a really enjoyable time overall. The book is categorized as a romance book, but I would recommend it to readers who like romance books that have a strong plot outside of the romance, as much of this book is about our main character finding herself while she uncovers the history of the house she is renovating.

Plum Everly is a celebrity from a reality TV family - think the Kardashians but with a health food fitness lifestyle hippie twist. After having her childhood and adolescence captured on the EVERLYday show, she has struggled to find herself as an adult the same way her siblings have, leading her to feel like the joke or failure of the family. So she takes an opportunity to star in a TV show where she renovates an old French manor, alongside a cast of characters from the French villagers, a handsome project lead and a grumpy camera man.

The first issue I had with the book is the first chapter. It tries to begin with throwing you into the moment - Plum is backstage about to compete in the finals of Dancing With The Stars. Unfortunately, a costume malfunction causes her to lose the finals, which not only humiliates her but puts her in a bad spot financially, as she was really banking on winning the season and the prize money and collaborations that would have come with it. However, something about the chapter and the writing was very awkward, which lead to me putting off this book for ages. Thinking back, it introduces a few characters that never appear again. I think this intro could have worked but we really needed to just focus on Plum and her emotions.

For me, the best part of the book was having Plum and Elliott investigate the history of the house. I appreciated learning a bit more about WWII through the book through this personal lens of one town, one family and one village. I'm not sure if the names of the village or family, etc. are fictional or borrowed, but I appreciated it a lot for being a realistic storyline and an introduction to the Dutch-Paris line (a resistance network that saved hundreds of lives during World War II).

I'm cautious that some romance readers will find the romance in here lacking. Additionally, this is a clean romance with no smut. It reminds me of a cleaner Emily Henry style of writing, one that isn't quite as trendy as the smutty KU style of books that tends to get hyped online. However, I still enjoyed it as I thought the romance was really organic, though I mainly enjoyed this book for the plot and side characters. As the book went on, I thought it painted a really holistic portrait of the town and its history and residents.

Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Plum Everly is the youngest of a family that became famous on a reality tv show. But making the jump to being an adult hasn’t gone smoothly. She is a low level celebrity and needs to make big changes after an intimate tape of hers is released. Needing a career boost she accepts an offer to star in a DIY reality tv show in France. The project is the restoration of Chateau Mirabelle which is in the Provence region of France.

I love France and am at the moment planning a trip through Provence and this just wetted my appetite for small French villages. This is correctly tagged as general fiction as romance is not the primary focus. It is Plum’s journey, overcoming her past, falling in love with the village of Maubec and her learning the history of the WWII resistors that were in the area. Along the way she is distracted by Bastian who is helping oversee the restoration. And she learns that tv makeovers aren’t as real as she thought. Cameraman Elliott is there to film all of it. Sadly her past mistakes are a big part of the story that she is trying to put behind her but others aren’t as willing.

I loved the village and the history of the chateau. I was less enthused about how much time was spent on Bastian who you know isn’t who she is going to end up with. And if a romance with Elliott is going to be believable it needs to be brought in earlier. The ending felt very rushed. It’s a likable story, but it didn’t really push into higher recommendation levels for me.

This reminded me of a Kardashian-era Eat Pray Love to some extent. It personally didn't do it for me, but it is well-written and I could see the appeal.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, "Heart Restoration Project" is a charming and uplifting tale that reminds us of the power of love, forgiveness, and second chances.

loved this romance but this daughter of a famous family -- she has done alot of reality tv and trying to find her place in the family and herself. she gets an opportunity to restore a house in france and finds love but also learns more about the town, the people and more of what she wants to do. loved the learning about the town. I hope to see more books on the other sisters .

Fans of the romcom should give this one a try. Plum, who has lived her life on reality shows thanks to her family, finds herself a bit out of her comfort zone when she arrives in Provence to take part in one where she's going to renovate a chateau. Not that she has any experience. Luckily, there's Elliot, the producer, who might not seem like the nicest guy at first but who, well, you know. This has some chuckles and you gotta love a rom com set in Provence. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

What a wonderful romcom. I couldn’t put it down! This book was definitely a page turner and well worth the read!

I'm a sucker for anything about Provence and have seriously considered buying one of those one Euro homes… needless to say this book brought me back down to earth enough to realize that I may not be able to afford that life.

The main character Plum reminds me of a Kardashian, or maybe Paris Hilton back in the day. As part of a large reality-star family where everyone is multi-millionaires, she’s struggling to find her spot after her most recent chain in reality shows. I struggled with Plum a bit… it’s hard to sympathize with someone who seems like their life is pretty good and minor inconveniences throw her completely off kilter, but she was still likeable enough to root for her during the story.

For me, the best parts of the book are in the descriptions of the town: the charm of the buildings, strolling through a farmers market, a cup of lavender ice cream, the smell of the soil in summer. Now I’m putting out flight alerts to head to Provence ASAP!

Thank you Montlake and NetGalley for this e-ARC of Heart Restoration Project by beth Marlin , Danielle Modaffieri

I loved the premise of this romance, renovating a run down chateau in France and then the plot thickens when Plum a down and out D list celebrity ( who is the the star of the reality show that work on the premise of renovating a run down house in Provenvce )starts this flirtatious connection with Elliott, (the head of the production team that is filming this project)each other ...

the tory ws good, a little bit too slow much of a slow burn for me and the pace was a little too patchy. I didn't resonate with Elliott or Plum sadly. And It Was not a favourite.

The Heart Restoration Project is a light, fun summer read, complete with drama, good food and wine, romance, and will satisfy some wanderlust.

The story itself was satisfying, the characters fairly attractive and enticing. The steaminess level was light.

I did not buy that the main character would have been hired on for this vague role as host for a chateau renovation without any related experience, and without knowing the language. That got in the way for me a number of times, as she was, for example, locked out of arguments about the direction of the construction. Her role was never clear, except to fulfill the arc of the plot.

But sign me up for Provence!

It took me a little while to get into this one, not because I wasn't enjoying it, or because it wasn't good. It's just a bit different to the kinds of things that I usually read. The first few setting-the-scenes chapters were a little slow going too.
I liked this finding yourself story, there is some romance here, but it's not really a romance book. It has more to do with Plum, our main character, finding what she wants from life and finding the courage to really go out and get it.
Who wouldn't want to go and spend time in France, working on the restoration of a tumble-down chateau? Even if it has to be for a reality TV show. It was a fun and interesting read as Plum tried to restore the fortunes of the small town, as well as her own.
There were a few twists and turns in this story, but nothing that took me completely by surprise, although the same can't really be said for the characters, which added to the enjoyment of the story.
This isn't my usual choice of book, but I enjoyed it all the same and I'm glad that I gave it a go.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

This was a great book. I connected with the characters. I felt engrossed with the plot. I would read another book by this author.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This was a cute sweet read and I loved every second of it.

♡ 2/5 ♡

Heart Restoration Project left me wanting more. The idea of a down-on-her-luck star redoing a chateau that has seen better days? Sounds great, but the story just fell short for me.
The idea of the story immediately made me want to read it, but I struggled to connect with the characters or the story. I found the premise really interesting, but I just couldn’t get into the book.
I feel like a lot of the details that would have made me enjoy the story more were left until the last minute and weren’t explored enough. Plum and Elliott just didn’t connect for me. Their romantic connection felt kind of forced and underdeveloped. The story seemed to focus more on Plum’s other romantic experiences rather than her relationship with Elliott, which left me wanting more from their dynamic.
While the romance fell short, I was definitely more pulled by the descriptions of France and the history of Chateau Mirabelle. Those descriptions made me want to jump on a plane and head back to France.
I can see how others would love this story. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

The Heart Restoration Project advertised a story of self discovery and a bit of romance - a story of a reality start stuck in a rut who goes to France to restore a crumbling chateau with a mysterious history. It sounds intriguing, but overall it is a book with great potential that fell short of that promise.

The main character is presented as growing and healing - a journey that is reflective of the renovation work that is being done on the mansion. But the story instead reflected the false veneer of the reality show at the mansion as what was presented on the blurb was not what the story truly contained.

The balance of the many sub plots seemed off. A majority of the book was devoted to a falsehood and the more interesting aspects such as the chateau's history were left to the very end of the book. There was so much more there that could have been presented, more interactions with the people of the town, etc. Devoting so much of the story instead to the false romance and the reality show felt bland and hollow.

In the end I was left wishing for more. It was a cute story, just slightly disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for allowing me to read an ARC of Heart Restoration Project by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi, in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars!

I loved everything about this book! The characters were very well-written, the dialog was snappy, the visuals from the scenic descriptions were awe-inspiring!

I look forward to reading more by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi.