A lovely light holiday read - read it in less than a week, but was a little disappointed that everyone 'lived happily ever after' even if somewhat unexpectedly. .Characters were interesting though not developed in any great depth and some of the plot twists were intriguing..
A good light read

Rosie's Little Cafe on the Riviera is pure escapism. I loved it. I felt like I was there in the south of France, watching the Mediterranean sea glistening and gently lapping against the beach, while eating something delicious and naughty from the local patisserie.

The story is centred around Rosie, who has saved up enough money from working as a cook on a luxury yacht, to buy her own cafe overlooking the beach in Antibes on the French Riviera. She gets to meet and know some locals; Erica, mother to a little girl and who owns a gift shop "The Cupboard Under the Stairs" selling eclectic items, and GeeGee who works as a real estate agent; both of whom have their own challenges to face. The owner of the newly refurbished hotel that is due to open next door to her cafe is initially a bit of an enigma. Then Rosie's ex boyfriend from college, Charlie, who is the new owner of the yacht she used to work on, has discovered she has bought the cafe and seems determined to work his way back into her life and affections. However, Rosie can't forgive him for what happened years before and tries her best to discourage his attentions.
All Rosie wants to do is focus on her cafe and making it a success, but she worries about whether the French will take to a "les rosbifs" cafe, the spark between her and Seb and her mothers new boyfriend. There's also the ex back on the scene who seems determined he won't fail in winning her back. To complicate matters further, a man from her childhood appears along with a young woman, who is insistent on talking to Rosie. When the only relationship she wants for the foreseeable future is with the cafe...

When I'm back living in the U.K again, I can imagine re-reading this in the depths of winter to escape to the warmth. As it's currently summer in Australia, it's a perfect summer read too! You are instantly transported to the Côte d'Azur and the book makes you want to immediately book a holiday there. It really is a lovely book. The vivid descriptions of food and smells evoke wonderful imagery. It's like you've fallen into the pages and ended up in a nice part of the med. Although it's a lovely and light read, it's clear the author has spent a lot of time in the region - or done a lot of great research and spent a lot of long holidays! - where the book is set due to the full and descriptive writing. So if you are longing for a holiday somewhere warm and with delectable food, but can't get away from work etc, pick this book up instead for an instant rejuvenation. You really do feel like you have escaped to the south of France, even if just for a short time!

I'm personally hoping there may be a sequel in the pipeline, as there are still many stories to be told, and it would be fun to see where all the characters are and what other surprises life may have thrown their way.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, HarperCollins and the author, for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Rosie's dream of owning a cafe has come true, will she make a success of it? She has a lot of personal and professional struggles :a lovely book to curl up with on a wet day or at the beach. Well written with characters who are easy to connect with. I look forward to Jennifer Bohnet's next book.

A delight to read this book with touching tales of the people involved in the story.

This is a nice little chick lit book which I really wanted to read as I know the Cote d'Azur very well. Jennifer captured the lifestyle perfectly, even the problems encountered when Rosie first opened the cafe. I could imagine it all happening. I sort of guessed the ending but as I was looking for a relaxed, easy read I didn't mind at all.
If you want to escape for a few hours then look no further.

An easy to read feel good book. It tells the story of Rosie and her family and friends and how she opens a new cafe and gets to know Sebastian who owns the restaurant next door. A book about family, love and second chances.

There is a lot going on in this book, with many characters and many threads of narrative to follow. So to try to sum it up in a few lines wouldn't do it justice.

The story quickly pulls you in and gets you hooked, with lots of separate and interlinking threads to follow; Long lost parents arriving in town, ex boyfriends coming back and making things difficult for GeeGee and Rosie, as well as the opening, running and day to day life at the cafe. The book doesn't focus on the cafe as much as I had thought it would with it being the title. There's much more going on in the lives of the characters and this is the main focus.

The characters are very well written and easy to like and get to know. You immediately like Rosie and want her cafe to succeed, Seb, GeeGee, Erica and the other main characters feel real and are likeable too. Charlie is a great character. A dislike-able character, but not in a pantomime, over done way. More annoying and troublesome, unlike Zoe, who is written as the token "bad guy" who you love to hate.

The book does seem to go on for a long time. Not in a negative way. But because so much is happening, you feel like you've read a lot more than you have. It is enjoyable and one I would like to see more of the characters from.


(I will post a review on Amazon as soon as it allows me to, on publication).

This book is like having a best friend round for a brew, sharing the ups and downs of life. I loved it that much that I finished it in one sitting. A fab easy read.

Fun, feelgood story , the descriptions of eating ice cream in the sunshine helped lift the gloom of an English winter. The intertwining stories are interesting and I enjoyed the portrayal of female friendship. I'd love to laze away an afternoon talking and eating in Rosie's Cafe!

Great holiday read / escapism of the sort that is also useful for chasing away the winter blues. Lovely setting and some good characters. Gives the reader a taste of the ex-pat life but also how hard work it is when it is necessary to earn a living and not just laze around on the beach. Liked that the heroine was a bit older than they sometimes are in this kind of novel and there were representatives of 3 generations in the story.. Will definitely recommend.

Enjoyable contemporary women's fiction.

There are many different characters portrayed in this book - all with flaws - and all come together during a summer on the French Riviera when life changes for them all.

The story is empathetically written with a nice flowing style

Wouldn't normally choose this sort of novel but was quite pleasantly surprised.

An enjoyable and pleasant book to read. Most definitely a book for curling up either on the beach, at a cafe or on the sofa with a hot chocolate. A lovely story to whisk you away although a little a predictable in some places. The characters were great and the story pulled you along nicely. A perfect book to pick up and be whisked away out with out too much effort. A great feel good book!

Rosie’s Little Café on the Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

If you are looking for a very light-hearted romance, this book is perfect for you. It is well-written and the characters, although they might be considered predictable, are still quite endearing.

I was interested enough and curious enough to want to read it quite quickly as although I could guess the ending, I just wanted to see how we got there.

This is perfect chill-out reading. Bohnet has got the atmosphere of the South of France spot-on. Whilst reading I was taken back to holidays there and could almost taste the chilled rose wine. Ahhh… especially on a cold winter’s day. It made me quite envious, the glorious weather, the sunshine, the lovely food and the seemingly unending flow of champagne – not that is what my visits were like.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley on my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This is quite a light read you don't get much emotion from the characters. A great holiday read I think

Rosie Hewitt has had it with love, from now on, all her energies are going into making her dream a reality – she’s going to open a little cafe on the Riviera. It will take hard work, but Rosie is up for the job and sure she’ll succeed. But she never counted on Sebastian Groc, the gorgeous, talented award-winning chef, opening a restaurant right next door. How can Rosie expect to compete with a man who looks as good as he cooks? A frothy tale of love and croissants on the Riviera

This is a sweet and charming chick lit read and I really enjoyed it! To describe it in a few words I would say it is low drama and irresistible. The characters come off very sweet and there is even a bit of romance in the air which just adds to the stories delightfulness! I would love to visit Rosie’s café on the Riviera! Readers who enjoy light chick lit reads will certainly enjoy this one. It would be the perfect story to add to your beach bag!

Rosie has took the plunge and followed her dream of opening a cafe in France. There is a lot of mishaps and things that seem to be going wrong for poor Rosie in her opening weeks as she trys tp get her cafe up and running.

A face from her past comes into her life, despite her best efforts to block him out, Rosie being the kind, warm hearted person she is, we see her give this person a chance and hear him out.

Rosie also finds unexpected love with the owner of the hotel next door, from their first meeting in the street we see their love blossom even though they are each others competitors in business, it is clear they are destined to be together.

In the book we are also introduced to other characters and follow their lifes too which I think is great how they all link up. Each character we meet in the book has something going on for them in their lives.

I think the whole book is so well written, the story is so warm and cosy. I just couldn't put it down - I just wanted to find out what was going to happen next. I definitely think this deserves 5 Stars!

Three and a half stars.

The story is set on the French Riviera and features three women: Rosie, who is opening a beachfront cafe after spending several years as the on-board chef on a yacht; Erica, whose husband Pascal died in a car crash which traumatised their daughter Cammie, who owns a bric a brac store; and Gee Gee a local estate agent who is struggling to make ends meet after her boyfriend Jay goes off to England to find himself.

The reader gets thrust into this world immediately, for a long time I thought that this might be part of a series and that if I had read the other book(s) I would understand the background, how Pascal died, the story behind Jay leaving etc. I can't see any references to this being part of a series however, so I assume this is just immersive writing.

We spend the summer with Rosie, Erica and Gee Gee as they run their businesses and deal with families and love. This is all about driving to Monaco to go to dinner or a party, copious glasses of champagne or rose wine sitting on the beach after work. About a society where everyone seems to know everyone else. When Rosie's mother has a new boyfriend everyone seems to know him already. It doesn't rain, there are no villains everything is low angst.

I liked this but I didn't love it. There is maybe too much going on with too many people and I felt as though we were just skimming the top of every emotion and interaction. We didn't need to follow Erica and Gee Gee as well as Rosie. But it did make me smile, it was pleasant, low angst, peopled by normal-ish people doing normal, if slightly glamorous jobs

I would say this is a perfect holiday book. And yet, on a very cold January afternoon I really felt like I was in the South of France sipping a glass of wine whilst walking along the beach with a handsome guy. So, if life is getting you down, or summer seems a long way away, why not spend a few hours in the South of France at a little beachside cafe?

Rosie's Little Cafe on the Rivera by Jennifer Bohnet was an exciting read. Filled with a lot of action, food, and a promise of romance. Little did Rosie think that not only would she be opening up her dream, but also find love too. Only it was a whole lot more complicated than that. A mysterious man pops up, asking her if she needs help. Rosie instantly judged him to be a bum...and it runs out that she was wrong on so many levels. Turns out he was much more than she could imagine. The scene where she found out exactly who is was...was priceless. I can definitely see the emotions crossing her face as the realization of the information dawned on her. Quite funny. Jennifer Bohnet definitely took me away from my cold winter overcast day and straight into a sunny world. Full of surprises. Love happened when it was least expected. The food is to die for...and the characters lured me further into the story. The plot itself was well-written and engaging. Steady but good. I read the entire book in one sitting. Rose's Little Cafe on the Rivera is an adventure to behold. I highly recommend it to all.