I listened to the audiobook of French Holiday and managed to get through it, but I'm not sure I would have if I had to read the book. This is a very light predictable romance that didn't really grab me. Merry DeLuca is in love with her best friend Leo but never had the courage to tell him. When Leo meets her younger sister Angela, they fall madly in love and get married very quickly. At their wedding, Merry is forced to spend some time with Leo's best man Noah Wright - a famous travel writer. The two rub each other the wrong way. After the wedding Merry decides to travel to France for 3 months to stay at a French chateau. Of course, when she gets there, Noah is also there. Noah won't leave, so they wind up staying in the dilapidated chateau together. What happens from there is totally predictable and not really worth reading. I don't recommend this one. Thanks to #netgalley and #swift&lewispublishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me unhoneymooners vibe in the beginning.

The whole sister gets married, other sister hates the groomsman who is best friends with the groom.

But for this, there was more to it. Merry, this sister of the bride has been in love with her best friend, who happens to be the one who ends up marrying her little sister.

With the wedding over and her leaving her job, she decides to take a 3 month long trip to France at a castle her godmother owned.

Little did she know that the castle was not in the best shape and her godmother rented it to the groomsman and enemy, Noah.

This book has everything. Enemies to lovers, one bed trope, grump/sunshine vibes and more.

I really enjoyed the story as it progressed and fell in love with the characters. Overall, an easy read and very cute ending!

Sarah Ready’s French Holiday gets my vote for Best Gothic Romance for 2023! Now, before you switch off thinking that it’s a super sad or dense horror story, let me ease your mind: it’s the quirkiest love story, filled with the cutest rats, bats, rogue lobsters, and roaches in the most gorgeous of ancient castles in the middle of the French countryside.

This novel has the brave non-French speaking Merry enjoying her Escape Plan to the fullest, when she pulls up in a cab to see her godmother’s little place in the French countryside. She gets the surprise of a lifetime when she finds her nemesis, her ex-crush’s best friend, already there.

In this story, SO many bridges are built and crossed, and almost too many Austen-esque misunderstandings are explained and clarified, Eventually. But all-in-all, the love flows throughout this book. It’s the perfect read for all of the days of the year, but especially when anyone is beginning to doubt their chance at finding their very own lobster.

A huge Thank You to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC for this Audio Arc!

There were things about this book that I enjoyed (the general setting and run down French castle, Merry getting away to recharge and get over Leo, Merry’s personality was fun and personable, Louis the Lobster!) but there was also parts that I didn’t care for, and it overall it overall was just OK for me. The romance was SO. SLOW. And there were parts of the romance that I didn’t understand just didn’t go with the story for me. But if you don’t care as much about the romance it’s an entertaining read!

Tropes:
- One bed
- A bit of mystery/suspense
- Forced proximity
- Slowwwwwww burn
- Destination romance

[thank you Swift and Lewis Publishing for the gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own]

Merry has hit a rough patch. Her career seems to be falling apart. Her little sister Angela just married her best friend (and unrequited love) Leo. Plus she may have made some poor choices with Leo’s bff Noah after the wedding, despite being enemies at first sight.
Merry is incredibly overwhelmed and just needs an escape.
It seems almost fated when her godmother Jupiter asks her to stay at her recently purchased château in France. Merry envisions a perfect 3 month holiday flirting with French men, eating fantastic foods, and sipping wine at a vineyard. She packs her bags, sublets her apartment and jumps on a plane.
As she stands in front of the picturesque château, her dreams seem to be coming true.
That is until Noah walks out like he owns the place.
Can Merry make this holiday work? Can she avoid Noah and still do everything she’s been planning? WHY is Noah here, and WHY won’t he agree to leave?

This novel was delightful! There’s witty banter, fantastic tropes (enemies to lovers anyone?) and well constructed characters, oh Louis you are terrible!
There’s redemption and reality checks and even a bit of mystery woven into this adventure.
While I prefer to read my romance novels, the narrator of this audiobook was fantastic and I’ll definitely be on the look out for her again!

This was a NetGalley ARC

4.5⭐️
It was way more than just a French holiday and I loved it :) Rom-com mixed with mystery making it a perfect combination.

French Holiday was the perfect romance story. A little mystery, a little unrequited love, dramatic life-changing decisions, and the perfect amount of humor. Merry DeLuca's best friend and love of her life has just marred her sister. With the sting of unrequited love and leaving her job in Human Resources, Merry is in need of an escape. It just so happens that her Aunt has a castle in France. This seems like the perfect opportunity to have the perfect holiday. It all seems like it will be the perfect holiday, until she finds out that Noah Wright, a famous documentarian and the best man from the wedding, is also staying at the castle. Noah is Merry's nemesis. How dare he be at the castle when she needs it most? Noah and Merry decide to both stay in the castle together for the next three month. Their cohabitation turns to friendship, which turns to more amidst the castle falling apart, new friendships, family drama, and a crazed lobster. French Holiday will leave you wanting to read another story by Sarah Ready.

This is a sweet destination romance that kept me wanting more. The concept of unrequited love and how it sends Merry off to France to heal really hooked me in. The chemistry between Merry and Noah was pretty hot but might seem too rushed to some readers. I also found the middle of the story dragged a bit but once we learn more about Noah's background, I couldn't wait to see how things would end.
Thank You to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for my advanced e-book and audio copy of French Holiday.

📖 Cute story with a feel good happy ending all the way around
📖 It felt very slow for me, I was over half way done and still waiting for something to happen. The audiobook in particular, the narrator spoke painfully slowly
📖 Unrequited love
📖 I did love the location and supporting characters quite a bit

This cute and charming rom com was a delight to read! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great! It was a super light and easy read. There were multiple times that I laughed out loud at Merry’s antics. I thoroughly enjoyed the added layer of mystery which gave the story more depth. There were several twists that I didn’t see coming. I loved the setting of the castle in the French town. I felt like I was really there! The characters were lovable and relatable.

Romance isn't my typical genre, but I snagged this before a long car ride and REALLY liked it.

The narrator was easy to listen to, and her voices added to the listening experience. I like to listen between 2x-2.5x, and I never had an issue continuing to listen while driving or doing chores around the house.

The story itself was lighthearted and not overly dramatic. The inner dialogue of the MC was relatable. The "twists" took the MC a beat too long to figure out, but she was a "head-in-the-clouds" kind of character throughout, so overall it worked out. I liked the unique setting for the story, the unrequited love, and the humorous scenes (Long Live, Louie!).

A simple, feel good love story.

Overall: 4 stars

I'll tell my students about: alcohol, sex, mature content, abandonment

**Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the free ALC.. All opinions expressed are my own.**

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. I was very excited about reading this book but wow it was a sure miss for me. I absolutely cannot stand the main female character or the main male character also. And the plot is absolutely so unrealistic. The main female lead is 30 years old and she acts like a teenager.

When Merry's sister marries her best friend, the man she is currently in love with, Merry doesn't know how she can move on. When the opportunity to live in a French castle arrives, Merry embraces it wholeheartedly and leaves as soon as she can. But she doesn't expect the castle to be so rundown and needing so much work. She also doesn't expect travel documentarian and best man, Noah, to be there as well. I won't say any more :)

This was a super sweet destination romance. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of both the audio and ebook so I spent most of it reading while listening along. The narration was excellent and the author's writing style is commendable, emphasised by my struggle to put this one down. I loved both our main characters and loved the ending. I'm definitely keen to read more by Sarah Ready!

this book had a lot of heart and even a little bit of mystery! it was sweet, charming, and heartfelt. I loved the slow burn romance and that there were other things happening throughout the story. there were a few things that happened near the end that felt unnecessary and rushed but overall I really enjoyed this book!

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator was wonderful. it was giving all the fun rom com vibes.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook!

This book was very enjoyable, especially the setting of the French castle. There were some cute twists, and the narrator did a great job in this audiobook version.

This was a charming and fun story with a cynical edge to it. Merry DeLuca has married off her younger sister to her best friend who she had an unrequited love for and after the wedding she returns to her job as an HR specialist to learn she will be firing/downsizing employees. It is time for a change. She calls her aunt to take her up on her offer to use her chateau in France so off she goes for an extended vacation but who does she find there but her wedding mate, the best man she slept with, Noah. They have a contentious start first with the stabbing cucumber and then sharing of the only bed but when they let down their guard they actually start to become friends. Add in the mystery of the chateau and something else happens along the way. This was such a good story and I loved listening to it.

Sarah Ready - French holiday ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Got this one from @netgalley to listen and this was so captivating and really had twists - good one!
So highly recommend to read this one 😄
First I was mixing the names of the two male characters, but in the end it didn’t bothered me that much.
All the characters and the scenery was well crafted. Also, I liked how much there were flirting without being too cheesy.

I got this ALC from Netgalley and Swift & Lewis publishing.

This was a funny, charming, and lighthearted book. At first, the FMC was a bit annoying, but it soon changed, and she let herself be who she is and grow. The story was fun, enjoyable, and easy to read. It was kind of predictable, but that is also a little what i like about romance novels, I know what I get, and i can enjoy it as it is, and see what this story is about.

This book has the one bed trope (my favorite), an angry lobster (it was hilarious), unrequited love, friendship, a French run down castle and a much more.

Your sister is about to marry your best friend and the man you have loved for years. And to get away, you borrow your godmothers castle in France so you can stay there for three months. The problem is that so is the worst man you've ever known, and he refuses to leave. Plus, the fact that the castle is not like the pictures at all!

The audiobook is narrated by Kelsey Navarro, and she did a very good job at bringing this book to life, and i really liked it.

The release date is 26.04.23

Overall I didn't like this book--I feel bad but I just thought the writing was awful and the whole thing felt like a cartoon/sitcom where no one acted like a real person would. I did care a bit about the relationship and I like enemies to lovers so I stuck it out even though I wanted to DNF a few minutes in. And it's not the worst thing ever or anything, I don't hate it. I just didn't enjoy it and wouldn't recommend it. There was also ableist language right in the beginning of the book, which like, it wasn't a big issue in the rest of it, but still it started off on a bad foot. And the main character just jumped to ridiculous conclusions all the time and did not act reasonably at all. The writing just felt bad and lazy.

The narrator however was good, and it wasn't *not* entertaining in some ways. Thanks to Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Sarah Ready is rapidly becoming a favorite author for me. I love how she writes characters in a romantic comedy, yet also manages to bring so much depth to their stories. This book is another example of her fantastic writing style and ability to weave real life complications into romance and make it enjoyable, fun, and memorable. I was feeling a lot of unexpected emotions in this story and loved every moment. The audiobook is so well done and I can't wait to listen to it again.