Cute little romance, predictable, but aren't they all? Nice beach read. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was excited to read “French Holiday” and I ultimately enjoyed it. It has a delicious premise. The characters are well developed and there is more mystery and intrigue than I was expecting. This book was funny! The moment Merry met Pierre in real-life I laughed out loud. I only wish Noah was given some redeeming qualities sooner in the story. I needed more flashes of his interest in Merry or even more good things about him (other than physical attributes) that Merry should be interested in. It made their love story seem abrupt and based on nothing.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Meredith (Merry) spends her life giving her sister (Angela) whatever she wants just to watch her discard it when she's bored. When Angela marries the man that Merry thinks is "the one", Merry decides to take a 3 month long vacation to France while staying at her godmother's chateaux. She wants to spend the time there falling in love with France, herself, and hopefully a Frenchman named Pierre. However, when she arrives, Noah has just arrived and he has already paid her aunt to stay while filming his next travel documentary. Since Noah is Merry's least favorite human, they argue about who gets to stay. The begrudgingly decide to share the chateaux and stay out of each other's way.
This was a very cute story with the perfect amount of steam. The only part i didn't really love is the main character's full name because it kept taking me out of the story and making me think of Grey's Anatomy (her name is Meredith DeLuca iykyk). Thankfully her full name didn't come up too often so much brain didn't go wandering. I loved the side love story as well as the bonus mystery that was thrown in. I loved all the descriptions of the French food and countryside. This was a great book.

I loved this cute rom-com set in a crumbling French Chateau and devoured it in one day. The characters are likeable and believable with great dialogue and the author’s descriptions of the French countryside and food basically have me booking a ticket.

There are, of course, all the typical rom-com clichés including “only one bed!” This would normally make me angry, but it works here. I think that’s a testament to the fantastic writing and the way the author weaves everything together, including a bit of mystery toward the end.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a funny, romantic escape with great writing and characters.

Thanks to Swift & Lewis Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked this book.It was a very fun and easy read,which took me just 2 hours.I really loved the charecters,Merry,Noah and Camille!I also loved the backstories of each charecter,which made them more relatable(especially Merry) and with flaws(Leo and Angela).Some of the tropes I liked were the one bed trope,the fact that Noah liked her first and the kind of enemies to lovers!

This was a fun, fast-paced rom com that felt like a good movie. Merry’s best friend Leo marries her sister Angela, and Merry ends up revisiting her life choices on a French getaway to her godmother’s castle. Her somewhat enemy Noah ends up there as well, and they have to figure out how to survive together in the old castle. There, they are introduced to two locals, Camille and Pierre, whom they befriend and serve as potential love interests. There is also a mystery thrown in there about a French painter who used to live in the castle.

Overall, this was an enjoyable breezy read. I do think it could have been streamlined a bit (lots of secondary characters and plots that kind of took away from the main one), as it started to feel long toward the back third where the various plots were being wrapped up. I would have preferred more build up of the relationship between the main characters than the side stories. I did enjoy this one enough that I will seek out other books from this author!

Thanks to Sarah Ready, Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the ARC.

this was so cute!!! i love the enemies to lovers vibes and the smut was serving to be so honest.
it gave me all the butterflies and while there are more serious matters at hand in this story, it never took away from the swoon worthy romance it delivered

also the side characters stole my heart, i love them dearly

I thought this was very cute. Unrequited love sends Merry off to the French countryside [what a dreammmmmm] but life catches up a bit as she tries to run away. There are some suspensions of belief here required to fully invest in the story, mostly around living in a decrepit chateau, but overall I found this interesting, compelling and a fun tromp through France. Angela is honestly a total bear, and I would have liked a bit more resolution/confrontation between her and Merry. You can't just be red-biking everything, Angela!!! Also I don't know who we can chalk up to being the original grump in literature, but caffeine-deprived Noah was swoony as hell. WAS THE ORIGINAL GRUMP MR. DARCY?!?!?!? Plz advise.

4 stars for a grand time. I'd definitely read this author again and am currently scanning the libary catalog. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute romance story about two enemies to friends to lovers. Merry DeLuca and her enemy Noah Wright end up stuck in the same crumbling French chateau. I enjoyed the French scenery, and the story started breezy and fun. However, I'm giving it 3 stars because halfway through, it takes a darker turn and becomes more of a mystery than a romance. I found the subplot distracting and unnecessary. I feel like the friendship to romance and forced proximity of the characters would have been enough to keep any reader interested. Another aspect of this book that I found VERY distracting, was the verbose descriptions of the food. I am not a foody and found the lengthy descriptions contrived and boring.

Regardless, it is a worthwhile read for any fans of the French countryside and fans of French food.

Thank you to Swift and Lewis Publishing for my ARC!

This book had so much potential with a good premise and likable characters, It unfortunately got bogged down in too many side stories and too many pages for a romance. I also had trouble trying to figure out if this was supposed to be a contemporary romance or a romcom. At times, I felt like this book was written by two different people.

Merry is in love with her best friend Leo but Leo has fallen for Merry's sister Angela. Merry jets off to her godmother's French Chateau to find herself and start anew after the wedding and a drunken night spent with the best man Noah only to find out that Noah is staying at the Chateau too. It's a great premise but as I said, this book has too many side stories that clutter it up... especially the not very funny escape with Louis the Lobster.

I would have love to have cleared the clutter and focused on Merry and Noah with the secondary story on Noah's research in France.

This was a very light and fun read. I really liked the characters and the plot was very fun and interesting to read about. It was sort of like a mystery and they were trying to solve it.

Merry has been in love with her best friend Leo forever, so when she finds out he’s getting engaged to her sister she decides to go on a vacation to get her mind off things and find her happiness. Unfortunately once she arrives at the mansion she finds a man also staying there. Noah Wright, Leo’s best friend, who isn’t a big fan of Merry. He’s staying in France to do some research while she’s here to hopefully find the love of her life. They’ve always disliked each other but decides to stay together as long as they don’t cross paths with each other. Of course that doesn’t work out because there’s only one bed and creatures living there…

I really enjoyed watching Merry and Noah work together to solve the mystery. The joking, the banter was very entertaining and had me laughing at times. Although, I do wish there was a little more romance so I could’ve watched the love unfold between them. They liked each other but I didn’t get the impression that it was anything more :( Overall I did love their friendship, it was sweet and light. The side characters were very much my favorite. Camille and Pierre had such fun personalities and it was nice seeing them spend time with each other.

The reason I didn’t give this book a higher rating is because some parts of the book were really cringe and unnecessary long to me. Especially when Merry was interpreting Noah’s feelings the wrong way, even though he didn’t give the impression that it was anything more between them. Towards the end he claims that it was always more to him but I wish he showed it more through his actions or words. If I was Merry I also would’ve been confused.

Around 50% it felt like the story was dragging a little bit. Not much was happening and I was losing interest. But I kept going and it definitely got better by the 70% mark. If you want a short cute read definitely pick this up.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Shout out to Swift Lewis Publishing for this ARC and the opportunity to discover Sarah Ready’s French Holiday!
I am giving this one four stars, because it was a super fun journey. While the plot and romance didn’t always deliver, I really liked the premise and I enjoyed Sarah’s writing style. This book is the epitome of a quick and light summer read.

It all begins when Merry is at her sister’s wedding… where her sister is marrying Merry’s true love Leo, and Merry is unfortunately stuck spending the day with the best man Noah. Shenanigans ensue and Merry decides she needs to hop off to France to recalibrate her life. (Good for her, escaping reality in France is the BEST plan.) When she arrives at her (fairy?) godmother’s French castle in Annecy, *surprise* there is Noah.

This book was fun, silly, and sweet. While I hoped for a super steamy romance.. I found the writing of the eventual spice…. a bit cringey. Other than that, here were too many characters in the book to give them the time they deserved. Some relationships seemed superficial, like the hot and cold nature of the main relationship, and her initial love for Leo which was never substantiated (if you’re going to obsess give me some reasons to go on this ride with you!).

Overall, I recommend this book for an easy, breezy day on the beach. Don’t forget the French rosé!

I have read only one novel by Sarah Ready before, and found it to be a sweet romantic comedy (Josh and Gemma make a baby). So, I was excited to see this ARC available on Netgalley and snapped it up. I was not disappointed!

We first meet Merry DeLuca at her kid sister Angela's wedding to Merry's best friend, Leo (whom she has secretly loved, but never had the courage to make a move on). Turns out that her love isn't quite so secret - Noah, the best man (well, not according to Merry) is fully aware of her feelings.

Post-wedding, Merry gets back to her life and quickly realises she doesn't like her job very much and quits. She jumps at the chance to spend a few months at a French chateau, reevaluating and regrouping. And of course, who should be there, but Noah, the irritatingly handsome truth-teller from her sister's wedding.

The two of them slowly strike a truce, which turns into friendship and then into love. Everything happens quite quickly, with a couple of quirky French characters thrown in, and some hijinks and LOL moments (oh God...Louis(e) - I will leave you to find out more on the page).

All in all, this is a frothy low-angst read, that made me laugh and made me root for the main characters.

After a 5-month-long book slump, I am so glad to find my luck has turned. This is the 4th romance novel in a row that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading in the past few weeks.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ARC. This did not influence my review.

I need to go to France. Merry made it seem so wonderful. The wine, the food, the small towns and vineyards. The men. Getting away after leaving her job, seeing her love marry her sister, and meeting and ditching Noah. Wouldn't you know it Noah is there. Staying at the same Castle. Together, they find what they really want. Thank you, NetGalley! I loved this ARC.

This was a really fun book to read. It felt like an escape from reality and into a romantic comedy movie, my favorite kind.

Who knew enemies could turn out to be the best kind of lovers? Merry and Noah definitely worked for it but I'd say it was more than worth it in the end.

Plop in a few locals to mix things up and you almost have a party. Don't forget the almost falling apart castle with its varied inhabitants.

Who doesn't need a rogue lobster to really make you laugh and ultimately fall in love with.

This entire book made me smile and I'm happy in the end that Noah had his questions answered and he found his love.

A crumbling french chateau, a fairy godmother, a vengeful lobster, and a brooding leading man with a secret. One of my favorite reads of the year so far!

French Holiday far exceeded my expectations. The dreamy, whimsical setting of a small countryside town in France. The rugged, lived-in, possibly haunted chateau. The gothic romance-worthy love interest. Put all of these together, and you have the ideal romantic escapism packaged in a novel.

The humor in French Holiday is SO WELL WRITTEN! I was smiling, I was giggling, I was rooting for Louis the Lobster.

The mystery, although not the crux of the entire plot, was intriguing and was a welcome addition to flesh out the characters beyond their romantic aspirations.

I’m also happy to report that there is not an unnecessary third act breakup, and the characters communicate well (for the most part). The pillars of a good romance novel, in my opinion.

Save this book for a warm spring day, lay out in the sun, and enjoy. This is definitely read in one sitting worthy, so plan for that (I made the mistake of having a job, so I spent my entire workday dying to read more).

On a separate note from the story, I’ve gotta say it — this book deserves a better cover! This plain cartoon cover is giving “cheesy so-so decently written romance.” The well written, dreamy, whimsical and sometimes mysterious romance does not come through at all in this cover!

Such a great progression of Merry and Noah's relationship. A few parts felt a little unrealistic (like Leo and Angela's engagement), the overall story continued to get better as it went on. By the end I was caught up in the romance and loved the way Noah's story came together.

This was a really sweet book! Merry and her sometimes antagonist and sometimes love interest Noah have great chemistry. The setting of a crumbling chateau in the gorgeous French countryside worked so well for their story. There was also a little bit of mystery thrown into the mix. I read this partially on ebook and audio.

French Holiday by Sarah Ready is a totally wonderful book filled with unrequited love, found love, different types of love and a crumbling castle in France along with a little mystery and magic. This story has humor and unexpected surprises that will keep readers completely engaged. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommended.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this! Set in paradise, rats and all, with a little mystery, and a slow burn romance, it's a wonderful novel.
The relationships are real, and the characters are lovely. Even Louie...
Was a lovely HEA.