Sarah finds her true self in Paris. It takes some time and a lot of hard work and patience for Sarah to come into her own. It was really pretty to read the descriptions of what Paris looks like at Christmas. There is love, laughs and heartache in this book. In the end everyone gets a happily ever after. This was a great Christmas book to read and makes me want to go to Paris during that time. There are wonderful people in this book and you will fall in love with them all and Paris.



*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

The beautiful cover of The Little Bookshop on the Seine alone would have drawn me in, but a novel set in a bookshop? in Paris? Yes, Please! Just by looking at the book cover I know many of the boxes I would tick to want to read something would be met. I absolutely loved the novel, having an small town American girl on an adventure in Paris, running a bookshop there tugged at my heartstrings. I once went to Paris many years ago with my family, and I have been pining over Paris nearly every day since. I hope to go back one day and spend more time enjoying the magic and romance of one of my favorite places on Earth, if not my most favorite. I enjoyed the varied characters that make up the bookshop staff and loved seeing their stories unfold. This was a cute romance novel that ties things up around Christmas time so this is the perfect sweet romantic novel to usher in the holiday season here in the U.S. I recommend this book to dreamers, romantics, and francophiles.

A young, introverted bookshop owner from a small town in the U. S. steps out of her comfort zone to swap places with a bookshop owner in Paris, France. Having lived her life with her head constantly in books, she must embrace a new culture, new friends, and grow in self confidence. A romance with a freelance investigative reporter that began in her hometown hits some bumps.

I enjoyed the locale of this novel and its storyline. Parts of the novel seemed choppy; there were some places where the flow was not smooth. Overall, it was enjoyable, and I would be interested in other stories with these characters.

I just love Rebecca Raisin's books! This one is set in one of my favorite cities, Paris! This is the continuing love story of Sarah and Ridge. We met him and fell for him in the The Bookshop on the Corner, but fast forward... what is Ridge doing to our HEA??? He's not coming through for Sarah, and you just want him to get it together. He seems like a good guy, but our heroine cannot just sit around and wait forever. Sarah's offered the opportunity to swap bookshops with her Parisian friend. Maybe this is what she and Ridge need? Maybe she will be swept off her feet by a Frenchman? I was not sure what would happen and thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
My honeymoon was in Paris, so I enjoyed wandering it's streets and learning it's secrets as the story unfolds. Can't wait for the next book!

As much as I tried I just couldn’t get into this books. As I did not finish it I won’t post public review of this title.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honesty review!

I really wanted to read this book because I love stories that are set in Europe - especially France and Italy. In addition, this seemed like the perfect read for Christmas-time :). Unfortunately, while the premise of the book was promising, the execution of the story missed the mark.

The settings of the book are fantastic! I could visualize actually being in Paris and in the old-book-smelling bookshop with the main character, Sarah. However, the relationships and plot were just too contrived for me to buy in and feel compelled by the story. I needed more characterization, as well, to become fully invested.

I loved the premise of this book, but the execution fell flat in my opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love the escape factor of this book. It was easy to get lost in the story and forget the outside world. It is a story of the search (and escape) from romance when two bookshop owners - one from a small, sleepy American town where nothing much extraordinary happens, the other from glitzy, glamorous Paris - exchange shops for a period of time. Sophie is suffering from a shattering break-up, and for Sarah, France is on her list of places to visit. When Sophie proposes a change of venue, Sarah decides it is her chance to live her life, and to be closer to her world-traveler boyfriend Ridge. Sarah's little shop and circle of friends are just what Sophie needs, but Sarah finds the adjustment to the Parisian way of life a bit more of a struggle.

The storyline is easy to follow, and it is not entirely necessary to have read the first book in the series, although it might be helpful to understand more of the backgrounds of the characters. This was an enjoyable book to read and review.

Sarah ran in small bookshop, The Bookshop Around the Corner, in tiny Ashford, CT. Sales had not been good and her landlord was threatening to raise the rent. Sarah’s boyfriend, Ridge, was a jet setting reporter whose schedule only allowed for brief visits to Ashford. Then her Parisian friend, Sophie, suggested that she and Sarah exchange places for a few months. Sophie owned a famous bookshop, Once Upon a Time, along the banks of the Seine. Sophie’s boyfriend had recently left her for a younger woman and Sophie felt she needed to be away from him for awhile.

Sarah flew to Paris a few days later. The Parisian bookshop was as charming and busy as Sophie had promised. However quiet, introverted Sarah had a hard time taking charge of the store. The employees were mostly part timers who made their own schedules which could cause problems when the store was filled with tourists and few people to help them. Sophie had not one to delegate tasks to underlings and so Sarah found herself working into the night to complete all the required tasks and paperwork.

Sarah made a few friends on the staff who tried to show her the French way of working with employees and also how to take time to enjoy Paris. She had hoped that being in the most romantic city in the world would inspire Ridge to spend more time with her. However in the few months she worked in Paris, he had only spent one day with her before being called away to report on a pressing news story.

In classic chick lit fashion, this story has a happy ending for everyone. I am a fan of Paris so I suspected that the story would have less to do with shy, young lovesick girls and handsome, rugged boyfriends and more to do with French life.

I received this ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Originally published in Britain in 2015, The Little Bookshop on the Seine is the first in a series of sweet romances featuring inter-related characters set in Paris.. The best feature of the book is description of the city and it's neighborhoods with particular emphasis on shops, markets, and bistros. Notre Dame is mentioned several times, as one would expect of any book set in Paris; however, in light of the recent fire, this made the book feel dated.

Let’s see what we have here:
Christmas = yes.
Christmas + Bookshop = yes, squared.
Paris + Christmas + Bookshop = yes, yes, yes!

Do you see where I’m going with this? You do, good. Let’s get on with it then.
When Sarah’s offered the opportunity to swap bookshops with her Parisian friend for six months, she jumps at the opportunity. And why wouldn’t you? Paris is, after all, the city of love.

If you’ve read one of Rebecca Raisin’s books before, you know that this book is going to absolutely ooze with charm and all the holiday goodness you could wish for. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

I loved following Sarah as she set upon her Parisian adventure. The bookstore that she was caretaker for was utterly gorgeous, as were the characters that passed through its doors. The real clincher for me was seeing just how much Rebecca loves Paris through the eyes of her characters. Not only do you get the standard backdrop of tourist attractions (oh, my!), but you get the backstreets and alleys, the small café around the corner, and the tiny cobblestone streets that only serve to further add to the charm of this gorgeous book.

One thing that really sucks me in when reading a modern romance is this: a touch of reality. Yes, I know we escape to our fictional worlds for the book clutching glee of a happily ever after, but in order for a book to really resonate with me, I need something rooted in the here and now. The Little Bookshop on the Seine had this with Sarah and Ridge’s relationship. Neither of them was perfect, and this gorgeous story of a bookstore swap was what they needed to learn and grow.

I love travelling Paris through Sarah’s eyes. It reminded me so much of my past visits, and has made me look forward to future trips so much more!

Another book to add to the TBR list of any francophile looking for a cozy read this winter. Atmospheric and escapist.

I'm recommending this book to all my friends! Rebecca Raisin transports readers to Paris, and to the bookshop- you can practically smell the books within! I wish I had read this in December in a cozy couch, with an even cozier blanket on top, next to my twinkle lights emblazoned Christmas tree!

Sarah Smith and her friend Sophie exchange jobs. Sophie has a bookstore in Paris and Sarah has one in a small town in the US. Sophie is trying to escape from a bad break up and Sarah is hoping to get out of the rut she's in, maybe by running a shop in Paris she'll be able to see her globe-trotting reporter fiancee, Ridge, more often.

What Sarah didn't realize was how buy and difficult to run the Paris bookshop would be. Suspicious things are happening at the shop, customers are rude, and schedules are very different (as in there really isn't a work schedule, people basically work when they want.)

At first the shop is struggling under Sarah's management but can she turn it around with the help of her new coworkers?

This is the first book I've read by Rebecca Raisin, but I'll definitely check out others in the future.

#TheLittleBookshopOnTheSeine #NetGalley

DNF. The romance is lackluster the heroine's passivity was starting to irritate me. The scenes about Paris were well-done but unfortunately the characterization was not working for me.

What’s not to love? Beautiful Paris as a backdrop, a busy bookshop, the chance to move from a small American town to one of the most romantic cities of Europe in winter, an irresistible boyfriend in the background.
Sarah jumps at the chance to do a book shop exchange with her friend Sophie. It sounds idyllic and fun but proves much harder than Sarah anticipated. Her luggage is stolen as soon as she arrives at the bookshop and the French staff seem nothing but rude. The profits fall and Sarah really begins to struggle. Ridge only manages a day’s visit and she begins to wonder if she should admit defeat and return home.
Slowly, things begin to improve. She gains confidence and begins to win over the staff, uncovering secrets in their lives, and winning their support. She explores and falls in love with this wonderful city. Her own romance develops too,
Paris is one of my favourite cities (Shakespeare & Co one of my favourite bookshops) and the author described it beautifully – felt as I was back there in lovely Paris as it was before the ugly scenes we see today. The supporting characters were all well drawn as well.
Definitely recommended as a feel-good romantic read!
Thanks to TBC, Netgalley and the author for the chance to read and review the book.

Really enjoyed this book - the characters and the setting. The story flowed along and made me want to keep reading. I think this is part if a series so I will certainly be looking for the others. I really need to finish the Cedarwood series too.

So this was just a so-so romance read. I usually am all over Christmas romance books, but this one was pretty lackluster. The heroine (Sarah Smith) is a doormat for a good 3/4 of this book. And it didn't help that Raisin threw in a side plot dealing with letters that were left behind that added nothing to the story. I think the main problem is that the book at first reads as if this is a second book in a romance series. We hear very little details about Sarah's romance or her friends in Ashford because the author acts like readers should already know. I think that is what ultimately threw me for a loop while reading this. Since this is book one in this romance series, it's a shame that there was not more backstory added before moving the setting to Paris.

"The Little Bookshop on the Seine" follows bookstore owner Sarah Smith. Sarah lives in the town of Ashford and loves her bookstore. Business is slow though and now that her roving reporter boyfriend Ridge is dashing about trying to nail news stories, she feels stuck. When her friend Sophie asks about switching lives and jobs for six months due to a romance gone wrong, Sarah initially hesitates, but then jumps at the chance. Six months to be in Paris and to have romantic days and nights with Ridge is too much to resist. Of course nothing goes right, and Sarah wonders if switching her job and life for six months was a bad idea.

As I said above, Sarah is a doormat. I was hoping that Raisin was going to have some magical realism elements due to at the beginning of the book she mentions how books "talk" to Sarah and how Sarah is able to pick up what books suit a potential owner. We don't unfortunately get a lot of details about her romance with Ridge besides him calling her and trying to talk to her about what underwear is she wearing at any given time. I was actually pretty disappointed with this romance, it just didn't seem to be more than them having sex with each other in between times when Ridge was traveling.

Sarah is also not a great boss. The workers at the bookshop she encounters she is scared to really deal with for a long long time in the book. Money goes missing along with a rare book and Sarah is scared she's going to cost Sophie her business. I just got tired of reading about it again and again. Sarah was overworked and tired through most of this book. It's broken up here and there by her going out in Paris, but not by much. I was pretty disappointed we didn't get more scenes of her exploring Paris and all that it had to offer.

The secondary characters are barely developed I thought. We had a bookshop worker Oceane (I think that was her name) that seemed way too good to be true. And then Sarah had to deal with a nasty one named Beatrice that she is too intimidated by most of the book.

Sarah also it seems barely talks to her friends or her mother back home. We just have her fretting about Ridge for most of the book when people ask her about where her "lover is". I am like Liz Lemon, the word lover bums me out.

The writing I thought needed to be tightened up. A lot. The book started to feel very repetitive. Also the months seemed to go by too fast and all of a sudden it was Christmas. The flow was just up and down. I think adding in that side-plot of the letters that Sarah found and read with a random author she met added nothing to this book.

I already mentioned that this book reads as if it's the second in a romance series, and it does. The author acts as if you should know who everyone is and how Sarah met Ridge, etc. It got aggravating after a while. I felt like I missed a prequel or something. When I went investigating I found that the stand-alone book about Sarah before this was called "The Bookshop on the Corner" and is the first book in that series called "Bookshop." I don't know why Raisin spun off this character from the other series for this new one, but it just doesn't work for me.

The setting of Paris at times was well done, but this book could have taken place anywhere after a while since most of the book takes place in the bookshop and has Sarah dealing with nasty customers and/or workers in the store. I needed something uplifting to read about. Heck, go explore the countryside, get some wine, something. When I get more of an experience of Paris by watching the Highlander series, the author has gone way off track.

The ending just kind of plops down and everyone gets a Happily Ever After.

This is a perfect book to curl up with at xmas time...lovely setting, great characters, a heroine you can root for. I haven’t read any other books and sometimes I felt a bit out of the loop, but not enough to detract from the story