"Another day at the book cafe began to the usual soundtrack of a hissing coffee machine and chattering customers, the air fragranced by good things to eat, the backdrop shelves and shelves of enticing books. The sun shone, brightening red shopfronts as Kat went out to the outside tables.
She drew in a deep lungful of warm summer air. Her job was the loveliest in the world".
Kat Jenson, the main heroine of Summer at the French Café by Sue Moorcroft, enjoys her job in a book café in the middle of wonderful Parc Lemmel, with its rides and lakes, formal gardens and vast green areas. The vibrant place sounds idyllic, and Kat is happy.
Before living in France, Kat was a travel journalist. "With no close ties to the UK, she'd gone freelance, wandering Europe, writing travel features and website content. Then she'd reached Alsace and fallen in love with" it.
She has a lovely little house in the French village of Kirchhoffen, a faithful albeit high-strung dog named Angelique and a handsome boyfriend Jakey.
A dating app had brought them together a few months earlier. "She wasn't sure that this whirlwind romance was going to come to anything, partly because half the time there was geographical distance between them."
Summer is her favourite season, and Kat is intent on enjoying every bit of it.
That is until she discovers that her boyfriend has been stringing her along. The perfect summer suddenly becomes complicated. She has to deal with the bitter venomous troublemakers, wreaking havoc at her place of work, family heartache and close friend going through a chemo as well as a personality transformation.
Kat's younger step-brother Solly moves to France for a working holiday. He shares staff accommodation with mysterious Noah, who arrives to Park Lemmel, pursuing his own agenda.
Noah has big problems of his own, trying to re-establish contact with his young daughter. His ex has married a controlling bully of a man. "Florine dumped reasonable, reliable Noah and fell into step behind Yohan like a trained dog".
Noah's daughter Clémence is "highly emotional", and reacts to even simple triggers with floods of tears. He knows he has to be careful as not to make his daughter's life even more anxiety-susceptible and confusing. Yohan enjoys his "pathetic power plays over a little girl", while submissive Florine is "sucked in by manipulative tosser". He considers only himself, and sees his wife and step-daughter as possessions.
"People think controlling behaviour is about loud voices, outright aggression, accusations and physical violence. But it doesn't have to be. It can be about emotional manipulation, isolation, using teasing or guilt as weapons".
Both Kat and Noah have to overcome their problems. Will they be able to find love again?
The book addresses serious issues of controlling behaviour, as well as disfunctional step-families, where children are often victims of their parents' egoistic decisions. The parents find new partners, and children's wishes and needs are not taken into consideration.
While villains appear rather one-dimensional here, on the point of a caricature, narcissitic personalities are abundant in real life, if you tend to believe the tales of many parenting forums, especially the step-parenting sub-forums.
I have slightly mixed feelings about this book. This is the fourth book by the author that I have read so far, and for me the biggest attraction of Sue Moorcroft's stories is her evocative, atmospheric settings. When you travel with her to Sweden in winter, you can feel the crispy snow. Visit the coast of Norfolk, and you can smell the salty breeze of the sea.
The French setting is excellent, and a joy to read. The book brings the sights, sounds and culinary delights of Alsace to life. The summer holiday vibe is second to none in its evocation of the French countryside.
I didn't care much about Kat, and "fur babies" in fiction usually tend to leave me indifferent. There was just too much time spent on the dog's frolics (which is a trend in romance books nowadays, there is always either a female character with a loopy dog, or she is dating a guy with a dog). I can see why it would appeal to people who are crazy about their dogs.
A word of warning: there is a pretty graphic sex scene that might offend some readers. As I have a lot of blog readers from the States who prefer the so called clean romance, this is definitely not one.
Potential triggers: controlling behaviour/domestic abuse, cancer, step-parenting hostility.
Summer at the French café is an emotional read, heartwarming and uplifting. It's an enjoyable story of second chances and love, family loyalties and feuds, loss and betrayal, regrets and hope.
Purchase Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-French-Caf%C3%A9-feel-good-fiction-ebook/dp/B09JBL9X3L/
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/summer-at-the-french-cafe-1
Apple books https://books.apple.com/gb/book/summer-at-the-french-caf%C3%A9/id1598083256
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Summer-French-Caf%C3%A9-feel-good-fiction-ebook/dp/B09JBL9X3L/
This post is part of the blog tour for Summer at the French Café.
Many thanks to Sue Moorcroft, NetGalley and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
If you like the sound of this book, you might want to check out my reviews of the other books by Sue Moorcroft, which I enjoyed in the past:
and
Author Bio –
Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times bestselling author. She’s reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle UK and Top 100 on Kindle US. She’s won the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Novel of the Year, Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary.
Her novels, short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared around the world.
Social Media Links –
Website [www.suemoorcroft.com]
Blog [http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com]
Facebook profile [Sue.Moorcroft.3]
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/SueMoorcroftAuthor
Twitter [@suemoorcroft]
Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/suemoorcroftauthor/] @SueMoorcroftAuthor
LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/suemoorcroft]
Newsletter sign-up https://www.suemoorcroft.com/page_2.php?pgenme=eric&signup=2
No comments:
Post a Comment