"𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘺𝘯𝘪𝘤. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳... 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯."
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Dear Sarah Ready,

Please stop making me sob and feel all the feelings while listening to your audiobooks.

K, thanks.
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One of the big themes of this book is unrequited love. A state I have known all too well throughout my life - one I lived in permanent until I started dating Matt. Obviously, looking back now, I'm grateful for all those people who wanted nothing more than friendship from me.

Also, additional kudos to Sarah, for her ability to write characters that are truly hateable. LOL because I wanted to crawl through my phone and punch Angela in the face.

Thank you Sarah, Swift & Lewis Publishing and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for this review!
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#bookstagram #booksta #books #booksbooksbooks #avidreader #ilovereading #thetwistedlibrarian #professionalbookworm #whatsnikkilisteningto #frenchholiday #sarahready #book24of2023 #audiobookreview #audiobook #meryandnoah #pierreandcamille #unrequitedlove #enemiestofriendstolovers #itwasalwaysyou #forcedproximity #onlyonebed

Look at this: Jessica listened to a romance book! Well chick-lit at least. And it was an entertaining listen! It was a fun/fluffy book to listen to, and had several cliché tropes to it: unrequited love, best friend marries sister, and enemies to lovers. Of course, there are more that I am not giving away! Like all chick lit reads, you are in it for the light heartedness and a fun beach read type book. And you get that with French Holiday.

We experience the wedding of Merry’s sister to Leo and meet Noah, the guy she instantly hates. And he keeps popping back up in Merry’s life when she would rather never see him again! And one of those places is a French castle that she is staying at for three months!

Of course, you know where the story will end and we have a journey to get there. Some parts were a bit much for me- there is an over-the-top extended scene starring a lobster that was very similar to the scene from the Little Mermaid. It just went on way to long for me! But that lobster was entertaining to say the least!

For most of the novel it was a three-star read for me, until we find out something about Noah, and then I was ready for the rest of the story! It picked up for me after that. We also had a bit of a mystery involving a painting that pulls things together and gives some intrigue to the story.

This was a first novel for me from the author and narrator. I did enjoy the story and narration. If you enjoy romcom/ chick lit/ romance you should give it a try! Many thanks to the publisher for granting me an audio-arc to listen to.

Rom-com with a mystery to solve -- yes, please!
Kelsey Navarro brought Sarah Ready's heroine, Merry, to life in this audiobook. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Merry's (oblivious!) sister just married the only man Merry has ever loved. She accepts an offer from her (fairy???) godmother to vacation in a (crumbling!) castle in the French countryside. Merry knows her French holiday will fix everything. Until she finds Noah—the best man at her sister’s wedding and the worst man she’s ever known—staying in her castle. It's hate at first sight and a holiday where nothing goes right until they find a truce—and a mystery to solve. Together!
I loved this story. Except the lobster...he creeped me out. I loved everything else! The characters are charming (even the grumpy ones and the narcissistic one). Ready's descriptions bring the decrepit chateau and the French sights into vivid view.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and funny romantic story with some grumpy/sunshine, friends-to-lovers, French neighbor love triangles, and a mystery.

French Holiday was available in the “Listen Now” on Netgalley. I'm always looking for armchair travel plus I’ve been meaning to try out Netgalley’s audiobook feature for a while now, so this seemed like the perfect little getaway.

Merry DeLuca is in unrequited love with her best friend, but as soon as he meets her sister, he falls in instalove. Merry is tired of watching her sister live out her dream and sick of her demoralizing job. So when her godmother offers her use of her chateau in France, Merry jumps at the chance to escape. But the chateau is a crumbling mess, and Merry finds out she is not the only one staying there. Her nemesis (and only person to realize she is in love with her now brother-in-law) is also staying there. And neither is willing to leave.

The story makes use of a lot of romance tropes: enemies to lovers, only one bed, and grumpy X sunshine. Merry was a bit formulaic as a heroine, nevertheless, she was an endearing, loveable character who was easy to root for. Noah was not as lovable. I’m not really into the emotionally damaged moody hero with a secret type. But he did grow on me. And just when I thought the plot was following the predictable path, it did curve enough to keep me interested. Swoon level and spice level were somewhere midway on the scale - satisfying but no irreparable scorch marks.

I appreciated the nod to gothic tropes even though it wasn't a gothic story. It does have a little bit of the formula of a gothic romance: a young woman goes to a crumbling manor house, things go wrong, and there is a brooding love interest with a secret. So even though the atmosphere was not gothic, it still was a fun little nod.

The story fulfilled enough of my wanderlust, but admittedly it wasn't a major focus. There are some scenery descriptions and a fair amount about food, but other than spending time with two of her neighbors, Merry didn't explore the area or culture. She barely even went into the town. Nevertheless, the descriptions were enough for me to add Annecy to my travel list. But I would have loved a more immersive travel experience. My wanderlust is never satisfied.

Overall, French Holiday is a great summer romance or beach read if you want something fun, light, and with a little French scenery.

Super cute story! A quick read and a lighthearted but deep story.

The characters were very like-able and I appreciated the story like of Noah searching for his father versus it just being the typical boy meets girl trope.

I’m going to start off by saying I absolutely loved the narration on this, and I will definitely go look for other books narrated by Kelsey Navarro; she made the book so much more enjoyable.

Now about the book itself; the storyline was really entertaining. And though some cliche tropes were used and I usually can’t stand that, it didn’t bother me much. Because there was too much other stuff going on. Speaking of that; for a while there I couldn’t stop listening. I was hooked. I thought it was going to become a new favorite, then it just became too much. What I mean by that is too much was happening, and it went on way too long. I had to take breaks because it became exhausting. Don’t get me wrong though, I still liked it, but if a lot was cut out, I could have loved it.

Now about the characters. First off, I loved Noah. I don’t have one bad word to say about him. Merry, on the other hand, my feelings are complicated. Sometimes I liked her, sometimes I found her unbearable. Being stuck in her head with her frustrating thoughts didn’t help matters much either. The side characters also had a mix of people I either liked (ex: Jupiter) or were indifferent to (ex: Pierre) or just disliked (ex: her sister). However, it was a fun mix of characters all the same.

Finally, the romance; I have got to say the romance was my favorite part. This was the enemies to friends to lovers trope done perfectly. Okay, they had a few annoying obstacles I’m going to ignore and I admit sometimes I wasn’t sure Merry deserved him, but besides that, I absolutely loved them and was rooting for them from the start.

Overall, despite its flaws, this was a delightful read, and I’ll be checking out more books by this author in the future.

This story was a lot cuter than I thought it was going to be...Noah as a character, I truly enjoyed and I loved Merry's journey of self discovery. I thought that the premise was fun and put Merry in the understandable position of needing the out of fleeing to France (her sister Angela married Merry's best friend/big time crush Leo) and the only one bed trope in a crumbling French chateau, was chef's kiss.

Merry's history of her parents disappointing her and Angela's self centeredness (even if Merry didn't see it) was sad and I'm glad that with the help of Noah and her own self discovery she better learned how to navigate it and heal. It was also great that in her effort to heal and explore herself that she also started to better understand Noah and is motivations and help him in his journey. I'm glad that they were both able to heal and discover more of themselves during their time at the château and wink, wink get together.

Kelsey Navarro's narration was perfect for this book and I greatly enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC.

FRENCH HOLIDAY By Sarah Ready

Merry DeLuca has a problem—a big problem. Her sister just married her best friend and the only man she’s ever loved. Her life is rapidly spiraling down the drain and she doesn’t have an escape plan.
So when Merry is offered a three-month holiday living in a romantic castle in the French countryside she leaps at the chance. Merry knows her French holiday will fix everything—there will be mouthwatering pastries, delicious (meaningless) flirtations, and languid strolls through vineyards at sunset. Her holiday will be perfect.
At least, Merry believes that until she arrives and finds Noah Wright—the best man at her sister’s wedding and the worst man she’s ever known—staying in her castle.

😊What i liked -

✔ Enemies To Lovers/Vacation Romance/Grumpy-Sunshine/Rom-Com
✔ OMG i died laughing in this one. There is a long list of instances that were super funny which involved cucumber, rats, lobster, cockroaches and so on.
✔ Merry was such a relatable character, Always keeping everyone else (especially her sister) before her.
✔ Noah has the silent type swoon and sexiness.
✔ I absolutely love allllll the side characters in this. (okay not all but mostly all).
✔This book is a good combination of heartaches, laughs and spicy swoon.

Audiobook :

✔ I read this book while listening to the audiobook, and let me tell you I enjoyed the book more I think because of it.
✔ Kelsey Navarro's voice is a perfect fit for Merry's character.
✔ Kelsey managed to get Merry's emotions across so well and not only her's but of the side characters too. (it was an absolute pleasure to hear)

🤔What could have been better -

✔ I had a bit of a problem with Merry's sister's character. It felt like she was left off quite easily.

📚Who Should read :
👶Beginners
💝Romance Lover
💕Enemies To Lovers Romance
🏰Vacation Romance

📈My Rating : 4/5


Thank You, Sarah Ready. Swift & Lewis Publishing and Netgalley ,for a copy.

Book Name: French Holiday
Series: NA
Author: Sarah Ready (Kelsey Navarro)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Is there anything quite as painful as unrequited love? If anyone would know, it’s Merry. She been in love with her friend Leo for years and the day she finally builds up the courage to tell him how she feels, he meets Merry’s sister and falls instantly in love. They’re engaged the next day.

Merry finds herself in France, in her godmothers chateau as she tries to take some time for herself and maybe sort out her life and priorities. It just so happens that Noah, Leo’s best friend and her nemesis, is also staying in the chateau for work.

I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks but I really enjoyed this one. The voice artist was good and really got you into the story. The mystery that ran along in the background to the romance had you guess what was going to happen and there were lots of funny moments to keep things interesting. The whole lobster thing had me laughing along as it just got more and more ridiculous.

Their relationship was sweet and I liked how it evolves throughout the book. It’s a very slow burn, but also doesn’t really feel like it. Though if you’re waiting for spice it doesn’t happen until like 80% through the book. Also, can I please just mention the scene near the start of the book with all the condoms!!! HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD OF A BIN! On the floor? In the bathroom? IN THE BED!! Animals. 😂

Thanks to #NetGallery and Swift and Lewis Publishing for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Genre: Romance
Format: Audio
POV: Single
Spice: 🌶️ /5
Age suggestion:

Thankyou to netgalley & the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

There was so much going on in here, but in the best way! The main plot was about Merry, who needed to make a change and decided to go to France. There were a few different subplots, surrounding Noah & there new french friends. I loved Noah, and I loved Noah and merry together. All the tropes!! They had enemies/friends - lovers, forced proximity, one bed! If you love a good romance, this one's for you

This was a fun read. I felt like the story dragged on a bit but was still enjoyable.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

I came for the cover and stayed for the French countryside setting but overall this novel was a disappointment.
I really tried to overlook the overwhelming number of rom com troupes, but the plot points and the characters themselves became just too cliche for my liking. I appreciate the author’s attempt to interject some comedy but the many pages featuring a lobster sealed the deal for me.
I finished the novel, hoping that the conclusion would wrap up on a high note, but revisiting an extremely unlikeable character in the final chapters left this ending flat.

This should be a fun beach read for a younger demographic. Thank you Swift and Lewis Publishing and Net Galley for the audio copy in exchange for my honest review. In keeping with my positive review pledge, this will not be shared on my public platforms.

4.5 stars

I love that we got two love stories in this book - Merry and Noah and Camille and Pierre! I thought the setting on the French countryside was very sweet and overall pleasant and perfect for this story.

I did not really like how Merry threw around the word love, she seemed overall a bit immature to me. She loves Leo today, then a week later she loves Noah. Merry's sister and Leo's relationship just gave me anxiety. Hearing how Merry described her sister as loosing interest in everything shortly after, I was shocked when she got pregnant quickly after the wedding. I was also very confused when Leo came to France and tried to seduce Merry, then five minutes later said how much he loves her sister. Huh?!

I did enjoy the story overall, I would not say these are my favorite characters or my favorite love story, but I think that the French countryside made up for this a lot! I would also like to read more about Camille and Pierre.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing this audiobook to me in exchange for my honest review!

This is the third book that I’ve read by Sarah Ready and I think she’s pretty talented and does a good job with her stories and writing. Over all I had a pretty fun time with this book and I look forward to picking up more book by the author in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, the author was pleasant to listen to and the story had just enough predictability and mystery. The love story flowed throughout the book in a perfect manner. The book was easy to follow, both quirky and sweet, and had an excellent ending that wrapped everything up nicely. I really appreciated the ability to listen to this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in romance novels or looking to lighten things up from a murder mystery genre as well. Personally, I also appreciated that the love/romance scenes weren't overly graphic, sometimes listening to that via audiobook can be slightly awkward and this book had just the right amount of spice! Overall a great read/listen.

Sarah Ready is turning into an author I can definitely rely on for a romance book I can't put down and French Holiday was no exception. Though parts of this book were utterly ridiculous and a suspension of belief was absolutely necessary to enjoy this, I really liked the characters and the setting and the slight mystery component of this story. The love story was cute and I felt a bit like I wouldn't mind doing some travelling but I have no desire to stay in a centuries-old castle that is falling apart LOL. A cute light beach read with a lot of fluff and low on the steam :)

This book has a lot going on but in the best way possible. While the main plot is about Merry and her quest to move on after the love of her life marries her sister, there are multiple subplots: the forced proximity between her and her nemesis Noah, the neighbor Pierre who seems to be hiding something, and the other neighbor Cami who brings Merry & Noah's attention to the mystery of the castle. This occurs while Merry and Noah attempt to make the castle (which neither of them was aware was in such disrepair) more habitable during their 3-month stays.

This was my first book by Sarah Ready and it won’t be my last. This book had so many good things… enemies to lovers, forced proximity, only one bed… but also hilarious banter, a crazy disastrous French chateau, unrequited love (iykyk), and just a lot of things to make you laugh. I loved Mary and found her to be very relatable and real, and it was also so sad to see how she gave everything for her little sister and as she grows to realize why she was that way. I loved Noah from the get go and knew he was going to be such a swoony book boyfriend. I love the mystery and intrigue of the chateau and the art. Give me a book with great romance and a great mystery to solve and I am there!

I listened to this book in 1 day, it was such an easy listen with a fantastic narrator. I could not pull myself away from this story and just had to finish it! Thank you netgalley for the advanced listener copy.

Belly Laugh Funny

This has got to be one of the funniest books I have read. Just looking for something light to fill in between my usual historical fiction books. I laughed all the way through the book.

Story of a girl in love with a boy who marries her sister. It gets worse she has to attend the wedding pretend she is happy for her sister and walk down the aisle with the most annoying man ever the best man Noah Wright. Merry is devastated and on top of that she has a crummy job she hates and quits the job. Now What!

Her godmother to the rescue. She offer's Merry a castle in France for three months. Merry is delighted, she dreams of French pastries, a historic castle and maybe a romantic French man to go with it!
Merry packs and flies off to France. When she arrives it all falls to pieces when she finds none other than Noah Wright already living in the castle. Oh how awful! Her godmother forgot that she rented it to Noah for the summer. He won't leave and she has nowhere to go so they end up agreeing to live in the castle together as friends then they will never see each other again.
That's when the fun begins. Complicated by a French man named Pierre and a French girl named Camille.

I listened to the audio book and the narrator did a wonderful job. Her voice was perfect for the story and the characters were distinguished between them very well. She was pleasant to listen to and easy to understand.

The characters are perfect. They learn to communicate , they learn to love and they learn that you never believe all of what you hear. Love is believing in someone, trusting, and being there for them. It means waiting until you know what is in your heart, then letting your heart lead the way.
This was a very entertaining book and I would definitely recommend it. If you want a few laughs and some good humor with a bit of romance than you will love it.

Thanks to Sarah Ready for writing a great story, to Kelsey Navarro for the wonderful narration, to Swift and Lewis publishing for publishing the audio book and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

this was an enjoyable read. I liked the growth the MC showed as she went from infatuation for her best friend, to an actual adult relationship on her French holiday. (with a bit of meddling assistance from a belovedly eccentric aunt) there was plenty of humor with the ramshackle castle , and lots of romance-y moments.