The Season of Dreams

From the title to the ending, this is a fun quick read. The author brings the characters to life on the pages in a cannot out down book. It was sent to me by Netgalley for review. I enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK Lake Union Publishing for the eARC.
Sara and Gavin have bought and refurbished a chateau in the wine country of Bordeaux and turned it into a wedding venue. But when Sara discovers Gavin in a compromising situation with one of the guests, her world practically collapses.
How she turns around the situation and finds love again is a wonderful story, told with much sensitivity and optimism. It's a lovely read, especially in these difficult times in the world, Definitely recommended!

This is another fun book with great characters. I wish I was friends with everyone in this book. I only wish I was in France drinking a fabulous glass of wine at a cafe while reading this charming story.

I realised too late this book is part of a set but it does not matter. A lovely story of weddings, a beautiful chateau , unfaithful partners, finding true love. Learning to trust again. The wedding descriptions were lovely. I loved it

Sara and Gavin run the Chateau Bellevue providing beautiful weddings in the French Countryside, until she discovers Gavin with one of the bridesmaids. With her dreams of her own fairytale wedding in shatters Sara has to regroup and try and salvage the rest of the years bookings whilst trying to find a way to hold onto the chateau. Will she get her own Happy Ever After?
A delightful read with lovely descriptions of all the weddings. Relatable characters and links to other books by Fiona. Perfect summer read

“The Season of Dreams” is a republished book by Fiona Valpy and the second book in a series. This book, however, can be read as a stand-alone book. Here’s what I liked about the book - it’s a quick read. Ms. Valpy lived in France for a number of years and her description of the countryside read as being authentic. I liked how this book began - a booked wedding venue with the owners (engaged) breaking up. One wants to keep the venue, the other immediately sell. I liked the tension this set for the remainder of the book. This book had a lot of optimism that I found enjoyable. I also like how, for a middle of a series book, this book didn’t feel like a “middle book” - no cliff-hanger no strong hints to another book in the series. A quick read with an enjoyable cast.

Sara is co-owner of a French chateau with her fiance, which whom she runs a wedding venue business. But she catches him cheating on her with a wedding guest, and is left broken-hearted in the chateau she sunk her savings into, with a season of weddings to host. She will take all the help she can get, including from Thomas, the wine salesman moonlighting as her DJ.

Previously published as The French for Always, this is part of the Escape to France series, although I think it is one of the weaker books in the trio. The prose is… a lot. It felt like it needed another editing pass, because there were too many words for what it was trying to say, and it left the book a bit bloated, considering it is quite a short story.

The tone is light and fun, and I think this could be the perfect book if you want a slice of idealised life in rural France, with a sugary romance and buckets of sentimentality. But it lacked the depth of Valpy’s other books, and left me unenthused.

I read this book first not realizing it was a series. I loved the secondary characters in this book and can’t wait to read their stories in Book 1 & 3. A perfect beach read!

I have read and enjoyed Fiona Valpy before. While I think this new series is a little more frothy with a little less substance than her previous books, I did enjoy them very much! Perfect beach read,

I enjoyed the story. This is definitely one for the beach and something I'd consider a light read. The author has a way of placing you in the setting and making you feel as if you are there. Would I recommend it? Yes.

The Season of Dreams, book number two in the Escape to France collection was great! A dreamy location and romantic chateau in a French wine country turned wedding venue, this book has it all. But will there be a happy ending? I enjoyed the wedding descriptions and romance. All of the characters were very relatable. Great read!

This is another great book by Fiona Valpy. It is a rollercoaster of emotions and delights. The Setting in France of these books really make you feel like travelling there. This is a throughly enjoyable book.

A really enjoyable read by Fiona Valpy. Based in lovely France, I felt like I was there through the pages. A fun, romantic read!

I have been reading a few of the shorter books on offer lately as I fell I need a break from long drawn out stories and this is just what I needed.

A book where you can escape to your world for a time and enjoy a story of giving life and love another go is a perfect way to escape into a good book.

I loved Sara, loved her courage, loved the settings and found this an enjoyable book to read. Not too heavy, not too light!

This was a nice read. However I think that the team and author might need to brush up a little bit on some of the war history. As some of the ties that it tries to compare the Afghanistan war with the world war is a little bit worrying and a little bit misplaced in my mind. It's always hard to try and compare wars and I thinks it's something that shouldnt really be done. As they are all such horrific events. Other than that it's a good read.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I enjoyed this book, liked the storyline and the characters. Would recommend.

My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Women’s Fiction
General Fiction

Review:

Overall:

A great summer read that’s uplifting and full of positivity. Set in a beautiful chateau in the Bordeaux region of France. The book is well written and flows well. The surroundings are very vividly depicted and the characters are interesting, their actions were explained in detail, this made them realistic, an enjoyable book to escape with for a couple of hours

Review copy provided by NetGalley at no cost to me.

I didn't realize until I started reading this that I had previously read this in 2020 under the title The French for Always. While somewhat predictable, The Season of Dreams is a pleasant tale of love and second chances. I enjoyed reading the stories behind each of the five different weddings described in the book, especially the last one, and how each of these love stories affects Sara and her business at the Château Bellevue. A fast read. Fiona Valpy's novels are always enjoyable.

Such a romantic story….Sara has one summer to make wedding wishes come true. But can she save her own happy-ever-after?
My cheeks hurt from smiling through this delightful book. This one kept me hooked and entertained until the last page… The characters each have these little pieces that make them such believable characters!

This was a slower burn for me than the first one in the French series I read, “The Recipe For Hope”, but I think that’s because this is set in the summer - I intensely dislike the summer - whilst the other was set at Christmas time - and I intensely love the winter.

I felt it with the first one, but even more with this one, the feeling that these characters have become your friends and you want to stay with them on their journey, you want to know what happens to them and if they all live happily ever after.

I haven’t been to France for a good few years now, but Fiona Valpy’s writing is reminding me how much I love it. Okay, so I haven’t stayed in an isolated village or in a grand chateau in the countryside, but considering I am not a city girl, and yet I like Paris, I think goes to show that I’d love the French countryside.

There were a few standout characters for me: our main protagonist Sara is a lovely woman, working through some difficult times but full of love; Thomas, our French wine merchant who sounds so dashing and loving; as well as all of Sara’s chateau staff - I won’t name them all, otherwise this review will becoming like a school register - but they’re all fabulous in their own way. Even Gavin, the two-timing arse of a man makes an impact (not a very nice one, mind); and all of these manage to push Sara’s story to the right place.

Who wouldn’t want to live in a gorgeous chateau in the French countryside, with gorgeous views, hosting fabulous weddings? It sounds perfect to me. Each wedding is perfectly described an you feel like you’re there, surrounding by all the celebrating.

You’ll find yourself wiping away tears of sadness, tears of anger, tears of joy, and mostly tears of happiness.

It’s a quick read, but just like the other one, I actually wish it had gone on longer. I could live in this French romance for ever. But it does mean you can curl up in the corner with it and get completely lost in it, without worrying it’ll take too long to finish.

The Season of Dreams tells the story of Sara, a Brit, who with her then-fiance Gavin, purchases an old chateau, the Chateau Bellevue de Coulliac, in France and transforms it into a beautiful wedding venue. I felt like the characters really came alive and I enjoyed how Sara became completely invested in the chateau, setting down roots in the small French town with a cast of interesting characters. Sara grows throughout the novel, learning more about the background of the chateau from Mireille, a character I had previously met in The Dressmaker's Gift. Fiona Valpy has a writing style that I enjoyed and I was pleased that by the end of the novel, Sara gets her happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is another lovely book by Fiona Valpy. It is set in France and has a beautiful background. Sara has a lot to deal with and the summer to find herself as she helps her scheduled weddings find their happily ever after.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

I've become a fan of books by Fiona Valpy because they are family oriented in their content and characters -- a mix of older generation with younger generation and neighbors with families who intermingle. I did read this particular series of books out of order, and it doesn't really matter except that I want to get the family members organized in my mind better (so I'm buying the books...lol). I really do like the characters, and I like the insight into the background stories of each set of characters. I'm falling in love with the scenes from France.

A couple of reviewers raised valid points about the inclusion of the war in Afghanistan in The Season of Dreams book (not necessarily about the story of the bride and groom...although Valpy could have had the groom get his injuries in some other way). I don't know that there is time to revise that before the Sept. 1 publication date, but it is worth a try.

Another reviewer raised an eyebrow about Sara's propensity for jumping into relationships. It's a good point...but one that didn't strike me while reading the book. I was happy to be reading a book that could be read by a high schooler or a great-grandma -- if both read books with current day life in them (i.e. unmarried couples, but no sexually graphic scenes).

I got teary-eyed in a particular moment of the book (always a sign of a good book for me). It's definitely a "feel good" book which can be read quickly, and when I am reading many heavy books, I need a book like Valpy writes.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing (and Amazon UK) for this ARC.

First of all, if you’ve read The Beekeeper’s Promise you’ll remember Sara, the owner of the castle. She’s the protagonist in this story. If you’ve read The Dressmaker’s Gift, you’ll remember Mireille and Eliane. They also appear in this book. If you’ve read The French For Love/Light Through The Vines, you’ll meet Gina and Cedric again! I love it when characters pop up in a book when you aren’t expecting them - it’s like meeting an old friend!

Secondly, if you’ve already read The French for Always, then you’ve already read this book!

Can you imagine moving to another country with your fiancé, starting a wedding venue business, and then catching him in flagrante with one of the client’s bridesmaids? What a let down! For someone in the business of creating fairy-tale endings and happy-ever-afters, this was gut-wrenching. Sara has to pick up her life and carry on without Gavin because she’s got five weddings booked and she can’t let the brides down on their important day. When a cute wine salesman crosses her path, Sara begins to imagine other options to just selling and returning to London.

What a dreamy setting for a wedding - an ancient chateau in Bordeaux! I loved reading about Chateau Bellevue de Coulliac, the mystery it holds and how it connects to a book I’ve previously read. Valpy writes such descriptive settings that it’s easy for readers to place themselves in the story. The added historical fiction flavour increased my enjoyment of this book. I also enjoyed learning about les larmes de Saint Laurent, the bluet (cornflower), the sage-femme, and Code Napoleon inheritance laws. Valpy has a lovely mix of genres in this book.

Equally exciting are her characters. Although I couldn’t connect to them as well as those in book 1, I did love how the chapters were copies of the wedding invitations and featured the couple to be married. What a lovely idea. The design of the invitation was a perfect way to introduce them as it gave readers an inkling of what the characters were like. I loved The Hels Belles and the Irish family! The title was a perfect choice for the wedding season and brides (and Sara’s) dreams for the future.

I already feel like I know this little community and I can’t wait to see what Valpy has instore for them in book 3.

I was gifted this advance copy by Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one at all. It felt very rushed, there was no time to connect with Sara and care about her relationship before it fell apart and she fell for someone new in a minute. Very low stakes and the writing leaves a lot to be desired.

A light and easy read.
Sara and Gavin move to a château in France and create an exclusive wedding venue employing local staff.
Unknown to Sara, Gavin has been unfaithful and after being caught he leaves.
Sara seeks help from her neighbour Thomas, who becomes her Knight in shining amour.
Sara soon finds hidden treasures in the château and wants to find out more about its past.
Can Sara survive on her own?

The third in a trilogy of Valpy's novelettes/novellas. I really enjoyed Sara's story. I think it was my favourite of the three. Loved the castle as a backdrop. The romance was well-written, though I can't help thinking the timeline was a tad unrealistic. I enjoyed the individual weddings too, and like how this story links to some of Valpy's previous books (other than this trilogy I mean). With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fiona Valpy's republished book "The Season of Dreams" is a light, fun read filled with the romance of a weddings in a French chateau.

The book opens with the chateau co-owner Sara catching her fiance and co-owner Gavin cheating on her with a bridesmaid. Gavin takes off, leaving Sara (who has sunk her entire life savings into the venue) to finish out the season hosting five booked fairy-tale weddings. As she tries to pick up the pieces, Sara learns more and more about the chateau's history. Each wedding hosted has its own short story with vivid characters, interwoven with a budding romance between Sara and the wine salesman-turned-DJ she hires to take on Gavin duties.

There are a couple of rough edges that dimmed my enjoyment: First, "overcautious" Sara berides herself for her failed relationship with Gavin going too quick, then jumps into a new relationship within 2 months. Second, in the final wedding of the season, the author draws parallels of the British fighting the war in Afganistan with the French resistance fighting in WWII. The comparison is jarring and doesn't add to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy. I enjoyed reading Season of Dreams (and was surprised to find out this is the middle book in a series). Three and a half stars.

Fiona Valpy never disappoints.
Whether she is writing historical works of romantic fiction, thoroughly researched and accurately re-told or a modern tale of heartbreak and finding love once more, her characters are skilfully brought to life and it is difficult to put any of her books down.

This was an easy, fast-paced, and enjoyable read. I'm new to Fiona Valpy, but I'm looking forward to reading more of her stories.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Sara and Thomas. Sara owns a wedding destination and Thomas.’ Family owns a winery next door. There is an instant attraction. Sara hires Thomas to be the DJ at the rest of the weddings for that year. They each have some problems but together they work them out and fall in love.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m glad I got the chance. This story is centered around Sara. She comes to France with her fiancé and they start their own business. After he betrays her, she’s left wondering what she’s going to do now. I won’t leave any spoilers, but I will say I loved how Sara finally got a backbone and stood up for what she wanted. I also loved her new love interest. Grab your copy and see what happens. This has many amazing characters that I enjoyed getting to know.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

I enjoyed the story. This is definitely one for the beach and something I'd consider a light read. The author has a way of placing you in the setting and making you feel as if you are there. Would I recommend it? Yes.

Another great read

This is my second book by Fiona Valpy and it certainly will NOT be my last. After finishing it this afternoon, I bought 2 more books by her for my Kindle; unfortunately, my libraries don't have her books. But, that should not be a reason for you to miss out on these enjoyable light romances! I love books about moving to France and this one is even better than the first one I read (the reissued Light Through the Vines). This is a perfect book for the beach, for lazy Sunday afternoons, or reading beside the fire. Our heroine has cashed in all her savings, sold her apartment, and moved to a Chateau in France to restore it and start a wedding venue. Her boyfriend/fiance is much less motivated to work, but very motivated to boink the guests. So how does our heroine keep her dream, even with her exboyriend's 60% stake? Read the book!!!

Thank you to the publisher who lent me a time-limited e-arc via netgalley with no obligation. This review is optional and my own opinion.

The Season of Dreams is the second book in the Return to France collection. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this delightful book.

Sara and Gavin are engaged to be married; they sink all of their resources into buying and fixing up a chateau in Bordeaux. Things are going great until Sara finds Gavin in the arms of a wedding guest. Gavin takes off and Sara is left to keep things together. Sara stays to finish out the wedding season and delivers five fairy tale weddings.

I loved each of the individual wedding stories. Once again Valpy delivers a delightful story filled with memorable and likable characters.

This wax the second book in the series that I actually read and enjoyed much more than the first one.
The cheating aspect didn’t work well for me but I wanted to hug and cheer her up for standing for herself and carrying out her promise and dreams to provide the perfect weddings for the season.
It was an emotional read, one that packs many topics , some heartbreaking some uplifting and one that many readers will enjoy

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

This was such a fun read. I read it quickly and really enjoyed it. I have loved this series set in France they have been such a pleasure to read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Fiona Valpy is one of my favourite authors, so I was delighted to receive an arc of this book, The Season of Dreams. It recounts how Sara and her boyfriend Gavin bought a French Chateau and set up a venue for weddings. The story has many surprising turns, all of which hold the readers interest. It also mentions anaphylactic shock from a wasp sting, how dangerous it can be and how Sara dealt with it. Many people would be unaware of the seriousness of this, so it was a good way to raise awareness.
It isn’t a long book, I found it an easy, lighthearted read, with romance, but not the usual romantic fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this copy.

This is a beautiful story about finding your home, both in a place and within a family. I really enjoyed this book, the second in a three book series. The main character, Sara, is charming and surrounded by excellent secondary characters in a wonderful chateau that hosts weddings. The story is fun and lets you take a peak into life in the French countryside and play a part in several happily ever afters.

Sara found out her fiancé was cheating on her with one of their client’s bridesmaids. For someone who is in a business of happily ever after business, it really impacted on Sara. However, as their castle was booked solid in this wedding season, she has to pick up her life and carry on without Gavin and in time find her true love with Thomas.


Sara is a lovely women, and I like the way she take everything in her stride working thru some difficult time. I like how the chapter in the book tell its story of the bride and groom. and Love how Sara turned around the difficult situation and find love again. Overall it is lovely read for me.

*review post schedule to be posted on my blog on 13/11/22*

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was a lovely short tale of a woman, Sara, who throws caution to the wind and takes a chance with her fiance, Gavin and buys a chateau in the french countryside to create a wedding venue. Sara is loving her new life but is completely taken aback and shocked to find Gavin assiting one of the wedding guests without his clothes on; Gavin then tells her he can't do this anymore and leaves her. Sara has to try to figure out if this is what she wants to do and if so, how can she hold onto the Chateau when Gavin holds the reigning initerest. in it With the help of er staff and newfound friends, Sara gets ready for the last few weddings of the season, all the while realizing how much she loves the chateau and how much she will be devastated to have to leave it.

This author's stories are always uplifting and enjoyable. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Quick read about 5 very different weddings in a French chateau and the lessons they teach Sara, the owner. Beautiful!

I have previously read this book as ‘The French for Always’ and really enjoyed it. I am a big fan of Fiona Valpy having read several of her books already.
The season of dreams is based in an idyllic setting, making you feel like you are there in rural France. A great story and I look forward to reading more.

What a delightful book! The way the story is told through the different weddings held at the Chateaux was really interesting and kept me reading late into the night! I love that the main character, Sara, learns many lessons of life, love and family, one wedding at a time. The wedding stories were each beautiful. The couples and their families were interesting and relatable. I really enjoyed this book and once again, Fiona Valpy does not disappoint. Thanks #NetGalley #LakeUnion #AmazonPublishing