This delightful tale is the first book I’ve read from the author and I instantly added other novels by Gillian Harvey to my TBR list!

Nina is newly divorced after turning 40 and reflects on her life. She’s been at the same job for the past 15 years and feels it’s time for a change. Deciding to quit to her job, Nina feels it’s time to find herself and start an adventure in France.

After arranging a house swap online, Nina is traveling to France in hopes of tracking down the young man she met there during a student exchange program when she was 17. She remembers the passion they shared and the letters they wrote when she returned home to England. Believing she’s found on him online, she’s excited to see where life took him.

While in France, she meets the sister and brother of the person she swapped houses with and a fast and easy friendship is developed with both of them.

Nina ends up finding her teenage love and has some big decisions to make about her future. Will she find happiness with the teenage crush and love she fell out of contact all those years ago? Or is Nina setting herself up for disappointment and heartbreak?

This was a quick and fun 4 star read for me! It releases Tuesday June 11th so make sure to get a copy for yourself!

Just ok for me. It was clear that Pierre was a cad from the start, surely over 20 years later someone would have explained that to Nina. Not sure how she made it to 40 lacking such common sense. Her friends really should have set her straight before such a big trip. But they seemed a little selfish too. The whole thing with Sabine was at first annoying then more interesting than any romance in the book. But again I found Nina’s lack of common sense annoying by just assuming she was so much older than Sabine or Antoine.

Nina's shocked when her divorce papers come through on her 40th birthday. She's always played it safe until now but decides to do a house swap to France to try and find her first boyfriend Pierre who she met on an exchange visit when she was 17

I enjoyed this book - it follows Nina who, on her 40th birthday, receives her divorce papers, questions her usual approach of taking the safe option and tries to rekindle her first love.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Nina has always done what’s she feels is safe throughout her life, rather than going with what she feels.

Now, that she’s celebrated her 40th Birthday and will soon be a divorcee, she starts to think about the past, after finding some old photos.

Deciding to go to France, she does a house-swap. She’s off to find her Pierre, who was her first love and hasn’t seen for years.

I loved the setting of France, how Nina makes her own decisions and does things her way, with help and advice from her friends.

So, will Nina find Pierre and will everything happen as she hopes?

I highly recommend this book.

A cute story about Nina, who having received her divorce papers on her 40th birthday, decides to take a house swap in France in order to track down Pierre, her first love.

Nina does find Pierre, but she also finds friendship and a re-evaluation of her life.

Predictable but still enjoyable.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Gillian Harvey and Boldwood for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Gina arranges a house swap with someone in France she hopes to reconnect with her first love she met at 17. loved the setting.

I really enjoyed this book; I love tales about people trying to reinvent themselves later in life. The beautiful French setting makes it even better - it’ would make a great holiday read but was also great in rainy England! Nina is an empathetic character and there is a warm and humorous thread throughout.

When newly-divorced Nina arranges a house swap with Jean-Luc, moving from St Albans to Cagnes-sur_Mer seems like a dream come true. Actually she hopes to track down Pierre, who she met on a school French exchange visit when she was 17 and re-kindle their love. Obviously things don't work out as she hopes (otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story) but Nina does find friendship and ultimately love, and confirms that life isn't over when you're about to hit the menopause. This is a heart-warming holiday read with some lovable characters.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review an advance copy of this book.

On Nina’s 40th birthday she received her divorce papers. Stuck in a job she doesn’t like she decides to do a house swap to try and. Reconnect with a high school crush. She soon discovers people are not as they seem and decides to take a chance on what she wants for once.

A fabulous warm-hearted story following recently divorced Nina. She’s always chosen the safe route, stable job, marrying her boring ex and always choosing sensible over excitement. She has fond memories of being a 17 year old exchange student in France and her first love Pierre. Quickly arranging a house swap with Jean-Luc, she leaves her friends and family behind and heads back to France to see if she can rekindle her first love? This is a perfect escapism novel, the plot flows well and I the characters are likeable. A great beach read. Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the chance to review.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. I really enjoyed the premise of this book, which is that Nina has always played her life safe rather than following her feelings, and now that she is 40 she finds her self getting divorced. She then decides to do a house-swap, and finds herself in France, which makes her want to seek out her first love, Pierre, who she met decades ago, but wouldn't marry. I really loved this story of Nina coming into her own and advocating for herself, and of course I loved the setting of France. I also enjoyed that Nina had a strong network to lean on no matter where she was, and it was refreshing to have a character be so amiable. Plus, a nice bonus were the secondary characters, who also had their own storylines rather than just a presence to prop up Nina.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful read. With most of the story set in France, there are several very likeable characters and they had strong and supportive personalities. A story of what happens when after a divorce, nostalgia leads you away from home but things don’t go the way you expect. A fabulous book.

Struggled a bit to get into this one, but I persevered thankfully. 40 seems a bit young for a mid life crisis- or does it? What if? If only? Perhaps?
Loved the setting, felt as if I was in a sunny French seaside town, with a glass of rose in hand

Gillian Harvey's books have made me want to chuck everything in and disappear to a small village in France numerous times, and The Riviera House Swap was no different!
Nina is off-kilter. Having turned forty, she is amicably divorced and still stuck in a job where she's pootling along. Something in her decides it is time to live life for herself. However, it's hard when you've spent your life being sensible, doing the right thing, and thinking of others before your needs.
Finding a batch of never=quite-forgotten love letters in the back of her cupboard as she sifts through her stuff, spurs her on to make a huge decision to leave her comfortable life and go on an adventure alone, by arranging a house swap with a man whose own home is on the French Riviera, and happens to be where her 'one that got away' was from.
Will she find her second chance?
Well, I'm not going to tell you that. You need to read the book! Nina is a woman on the cusp of that perimenopausal time we women have to deal with. She's not sure if her hormones or something else are making her make certain decisions, and I think there are a few of us who could relate to that!
Nina has some wonderful friends, both in the UK, who cheer her on, and people she meets in France who become close to her, and they make a wonderful addition to the story.
And there is romance from several angles, involving others, as well as our main character, Nina.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, devoured it in a day, and now want to go and swap my home for one in a gorgeous European setting... (But I'll take my Hubby, as he doesn't need swapping!)
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

This was a slightly different style to some of this authors books that I have read but I still
Enjoyed it and as per usual the author transports us to the beautiful surroundings of France.

This is a story about taking chances and not playing it safe and also of new beginnings and finding new friendships and that yes life can begin at 40.

I would love a sequel to this to see how the characters lives pan out and what is in store for them next.

Can you ever really go back in time to find your first love that you left behind? That is what Nina was debating as she began the second half of her life. Her divorce was final, her house would sell quickly and her boss reluctantly agreed to give her a month off, with the stipulation she return ready to get back to work. Her time in France as a teenager was filled with magical moments of first love, shy kisses and plans for the future. Pierre was the young man she had fallen for but as often happens with young love, they never saw each other again. Nina kept all of his letters and upon reading them again, she wished she could recapture the youthful exuberance she once had. Back then she had the world at her fingertips but now she felt that she hadn’t accomplished anything at all.

Which brings us to Nina’s decision to partake in a house swap so she could open her heart to new beginnings, make her own decisions and perhaps rekindle the flame she once had with Pierre, if she could even find him. Gillian Harvey is a gifted and creative writer who takes us to the beautiful French Riviera where we witness Nina spreading her wings as she becomes the independent woman she always wanted to be. Along the way she made wonderful friends, caught the eye of many handsome Frenchmen and came face to face with a ghost from her past. Nina took hold of her future, looked ahead with excitement and never looked back!! I love all of Ms. Harvey’s books because they allow me to travel to exotic places without leaving my beach chair!!

Nina has always played it safe. But when her divorce papers come through on her fortieth birthday she decides enough is enough. Ever since she refused to elope with her first beautiful, poetic, thoughtful Pierre, the man she met aged 17, on her French exchange, she's always wondered about the what-ifs.

Deciding to take a chance, she sets up a house swap with a French businessman to stay at his place in France while he goes on holiday at her house in England.

Going back to the place she met Pierre to try and find him was definitely a crazy idea but she went with it and along the way made meaningful friendships. She grew into her new era of life and took all the curveballs in stride.

It was definitely a predictable plot but an enjoyable read nonetheless. Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey which I loved! A fun adventure is exactly what we all need from time to time and tis book is the perfect reminder.

Nina has always played it safe. But on her fortieth birthday, when her divorce papers arrive, she decides it's time for a change.

Nina has consistently opted for the sensible path, sticking with a stable job and marrying her predictably dull ex-husband. She suddenly realizes that for years she has chosen security over excitement. This pattern started when she refused to elope with her first love, Pierre—a beautiful, poetic, and thoughtful man she met at 17 during a French exchange program. Pierre remains the only man who ever truly made her heart race.

Nina makes a bold decision to escape her mundane routine by taking a month-long sabbatical and exchanging homes with an unfamiliar person in the South of France. She travels back to the city where she had initially encountered Pierre, her teenage crush, questioning if he still holds the key to her heart as her one true love. The story narrates a woman's quest for self-discovery and belief in her intuition; all woven into the fabric of a slowly kindling romantic flame. The book is not meant to be a long read but rather one that easily hooks you from the beginning till the end, keeping you captivated throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing a copy of this book.