I like this book at times but at other times I almost stopped for no other reason than I was just not too sure where this author was taking the character. In parts, the descriptive storytelling was a bit too much for my liking and it caused a stop in the flow of the stories for me. I had hoped the ending was going to be different than the one we got but it was a HEA.

I had great hope at the start of the book as I love the book story swap and Paris.

It was so enjoyable following Sara on this journey. From small town book store to the Once Upon A Time book shop on the Siene in France. She really had a lot of obstacles that she had to deal with a long the way, but she made the decision, left her comfort zone, and really embraced life! She was content in her small town life, but something made her take this risk and when she traded bookshops with a friend in France, she turned her whole life upside down. I really liked reading about her coming into her own and taking control of things, making new friends, enjoying the sights in France and figuring out her love life.

This was a great end to 2019!! I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I picked it because it looked like a quick easy read and celebrated the holidays in Paris. What could be more wonderful than Paris at Christmas?!? One of my favorite trips was to Paris and I figured it would take my mind off things. Rebecca’s research was well done. The story took me back to my time there right down to the smells and the creak of the floors in the old buildings along the Seine. It certainly took my mind off the trials and tribulations of the last year and set me up for a great start to 2020. Although this is a re-release, you should find it very current in feel and appropriate for any time of the year.

The story is of the emergence of a young woman into her own. Sophie takes a chance on swapping bookshops with a friend in Paris and sheds the fears of a lifetime that have stifled her love of books and people. In the new shop she learns how to speak up for herself and ideas. She also discovers she’s stronger than she thought. The one part of her life that seems to get worse in Paris is her relationship with her boyfriend. It seems he is nowhere near settling down and his absence leaves her facing fears of him straying, or that she loves him more than he loves her. She questions everything until she is strong enough to press him about his absence and where he saw himself with her. The changes for Sophie opened up her heart and her world to so much more than she had in her little shop in America.

If you’ve ever been in a long distance relationship this book will definitely speak to you and feel like you are there again. It’s an emotional read that will have you wondering how you lived without seeing Paris, just once. Do you struggle with the way direction your life is going? This might be just the ticket to inspire you to made some changes be those large or small, but change all the same. I’m feeling that way after reading such an inspiring novel and I’m also dreaming of Paris. This will definitely make my Top 10 of 2019 list just for the sake I felt something change in my heart over the course of the read. Not all books touch me like that, so it is definitely memorable.

Such a cute, fun little story. This was the perfect read during the winter months. I love books like this!

A cute love story with cozy settings and strong characters- an awesome read! I was sucked in immediately and couldn't put it down; if you're looking for a romance with atmosphere and are a fan of quaint book shops this is a must read.
I can't wait to read more by Rebecca Raisin in the future!
Check it out!

read this novel in about two days near the beginning of last month, which was about five months after I was approved for it. By the end of the digital advance reader copy, I was quite happy that the publisher was tardier in archiving than I was in reading.

Part of the reason that I delayed reading this book was because it was 416 pages, which is a lot of cozy romance for me to handle. However, once I opened my file, I discovered that this digital advance copy actually contained two novels, roughly 200 pages each. I could handle 200 pages of cozy romance, postponing the second novel until I was ready to handle more. The first novel was the titular Little Bookshop on the Seine; the second novel was the precursor, The Bookshop on the Corner.

Both books were classic cozy romances, although The Bookshop on the Corner was more so than The Little Bookshop on the Seine. From the first chapter of each, I felt like each was destined to end with a happily ever after. Because of that feeling, I didn’t put much stock in the drama and tension that the author attempted to build, especially in The Little Bookshop on the Seine. The bitchy Parisian bookseller was bound to have a heart of gold. The untouchable Parisian bookseller was bound to find love. And, of course, the seemingly wayward boyfriend was bound to end up settling down with the protagonist. As for The Bookshop on the Corner, I already knew from first having read the second novel in the series that the two main characters would end up together. So reading that novel was just a mater of waiting and watching for it to happen.

However, this was a decent example of the cozy romance genre. Everyone got their happily ever after ending. There was no profane - or even edgy - language. There was no intimacy aside from kissing on page. Everything was soft, smooth, and easy going. So it was a nice change of pace from my super hectic daily life.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Little Bookshop on the Seine was an enjoyable romance that I read in a day. I love stories about bookshops so this peaked me interest from the start. This is a “becoming” story of an introverted bookshop owner from a small American town. The main character, Sarah, is quite comfortable with her life, as is, but is wondering if comfort equals complacency. When Sophie, Parisian friend and fellow bookstore owner, suffers a romantic heartbreak she proposes that she and Sarah switch bookshops for a while. With Sarah’s reporter boyfriend away on assignment, anyway, she agrees to the switch. Two days later, Sarah is off to a Paris. While Sarah enjoys the sights, sounds and tastes of Paris, working at Once Upon a Time is not what she accepted. Surly employees, mysterious theft, and a worrying over her relationship with Ridge, Sarah is homesick and disappointed in herself for the way she handles things. As she perseveres, week after week, Sarah finds a strength and a voice she didn’t know she had. Sarah makes new friends and positive changes to the bookstore and her wardrobe! When Ridge and Sarah are finally reunited for Christmas in Paris, Sarah gets her beloved HEA. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for this delightful ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2 Stars / 1 Steam Fans

I don't even know where to start with this review. I should begin by stating that I really liked the beginning of this story. It gave me 'The Holiday' feels with Sarah switching bookstores with her Parisian friend during the holiday season. Upon Sarah's arrival at the Paris bookshop, she finds that she is out of her element. Sarah has to find a way to keep pace with the bookshop's sales but also build structure. The introduction of so many characters got a little frustrating because the story felt as if the reader should know about the characters already. As the story continued, the more I lost interest in any of the characters, especially Sarah and her love interest. I don't even want to start to get into my dislike for Sarah's relationship mentioned throughout the story. In many ways, Sarah was just a doormat and took whatever she was told as truth when it was evident that her boyfriend was a douchebag!

Video review available in Week 6 Feb 2 – 8 weekly book reviews.

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I greatly enjoyed this book. I do love books set in Paris, bookshops, libraries, and tea shops (oh, and bake shops), so they had me at "Bonjour". Fun!

I wanted to like this book so much but it just wasn't what I was expecting and it felt depressing. I loved the idea for the plot, what bookworm doesn't love stories featuring book stores? But I didn't like the main character or how stressful everything was. I want to escape into a book, not read about things that make me stressed out too. I did enjoy the parts about Paris and thought that those were well done. Overall though this wasn't the book for me and I will likely pass on reading anymore in the series.

Rebecca Raisin's books have been on my radar for awhile now but, for some reason or another, I just never picked one up. That changed when I had the chance to review the newly rereleased The Little Bookshop on the Seine. It seemed like a perfect read for me as it featured a (bit too) dreamy bookshop owner who travels to Paris to explore a brand new world and tries to jumpstart her stagnated life.

Here's the synopsis:
It’s The Holiday on the Champs-Élysées in a great big love letter to Paris, charming old bookstores and happily-ever-afters!
When bookshop owner Sarah Smith is offered the opportunity for a job exchange with her Parisian friend Sophie, saying yes is a no-brainer—after all, what kind of romantic would turn down six months in Paris? Sarah is sure she’s in for the experience of a lifetime—days spent surrounded by literature in a gorgeous bookshop, and the chance to watch the snow fall on the Eiffel Tower. Plus, now she can meet up with her journalist boyfriend, Ridge, when his job takes him around the globe.



But her expectations cool faster than her café au lait soon after she lands in the City of Light—she’s a fish out of water in Paris. The customers are rude, her new coworkers suspicious and her relationship with Ridge has been reduced to a long-distance game of phone tag, leaving Sarah to wonder if he’ll ever put her first over his busy career. As Christmas approaches, Sarah is determined to get the shop—and her life—back in order…and make her dreams of a Parisian happily-ever-after come true.
I think I might have been burned just a little bit by high expectations. I had already seen some glowing reviews from bloggers I trust so I went in expecting something fantastic - which may have been a mistake. The book was really sweet and a nice read but it didn't completely wow me.

Sophie (the owner of the Paris bookshop who came up with the whole swap idea) is completely unreasonable. I was so frustrated with how she was reacting to the issues Sarah was facing. What did she expect would happen? And even though it was part of her story arc, Sarah's inability to stand up for herself - at first - was hard to read. Maybe it's one of those cases of it's hard to read because I sometimes feel like that too and it's a part of my personality that I'd like to work on. Too much psychoanalysis for a book review? Moving right along!

The other thing that nagged at me a little was that, while this is a stand-alone novel, it does follow a novella about Sarah and how she and Ridge originally started dating. Do I think you need to read it first? Not necessarily. I didn't, after all (though I learned I do have it on my kobo and have for some time...). But there were a few moments when I felt Raisin was relying too heavily on readers already knowing Sarah (and her past), Ridge, and the girls at The Gingerbread Cafe. I also felt like Sarah, at times, used British phrases instead of American ones. She calls a macaron a biscuit, for example. Americans (or Canadians, even, and we use a lot of Britishisms) would not use "biscuit" to refer to a cookie. A weird thing to bother me, perhaps, but bother me it did.

I did adore the people Sarah met, and connected with, in Paris. Raisin created some wonderful characters and I was fully invested in all of their lives. Even Beatrice who was completely awful to Sarah (side note: I totally called Beatrice's secret and am shocked none of the characters figured it out). It was just a wonderfully fun cast of characters who were so great to read about.

And the setting! Swoon. I've never been to Paris (it's on the never-ending bucket list) but I kind of felt like I was there with Sarah, experiencing the city for the first time. Plus, the magic of the bookshop was just...oh, it was wonderful. I wished I could explore Once Upon a Time (and Sarah's shop in small-town Ashford, too!) and run my hands over the spines to see what sorts of stories the books would want to tell me.

All in all, The Little Bookshop on the Seine was sweet and heartwarming. Rebecca Raisin has created a character and a story that is a love letter to both book lovers and Paris.

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About the Author
Rebecca Raisin is the author of several novels, including the beloved Little Paris series and the Gingerbread Café trilogy, and her short stories have been published in various anthologies and fiction magazines.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Harlequin, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration for the purposes of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*

I was super excited for this one but honestly it was a huge let-down for me. The writing seemed forced at times, especially when she’s trying to be a boss to the employees. The dialogue didn’t seem realistic to me. The character development seemed stale and the plot dragged the same plot points over and over.

I didn't realize this was a Harlequin book, which really isn't my thing. I should have known when I saw the male lead was named Ridge. This was definitely not for me.

While talking with her friend Sophie, who owns a famous bookshop in Paris, Sarah agrees to swap stores for six months. For Sarah, it’s a no brainer, she’s never been to France and now she’ll be able to explore the famed streets while still doing what she loves.
The day Sarah gets there, she realizes that she might be in over her head. With a huge customer base, the store’s almost always busy. The moment she walks in the door, she’s inundated. Not even stopping to rest, she jumps right in. But, it’s not just the number of customers that has Sarah constantly on the go. She’s dealing with employees who basically come and go as they please and refuse to work a set schedule, Sophie’s bookkeeping is a confusing mess for her, and the sheer amount of work that goes into running a shop as big as the Paris one.
While dealing with the day to day business of an extremely busy shop, Sarah’s missing her boyfriend. Ridge is a freelance reporter who travels the world, wherever the next breaking story is. She’s not been able to spend a lot of time with him and most of the time it’s replying to his voicemail with one of her own, or it’s replying to emails.
When money repeatedly comes up missing from the till, and sales that are plummeting, Sarah needs to figure out who’s stealing, and how to make the store profitable again before her time in Paris comes to an end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I will admit that the beginning didn’t pull me in right away, but I pushed through and am so glad I did. I fell in love with the way the author described Paris, the bookstore, and especially Sarah’s encounter with Vincent Van Gogh. The writing is compelling, and the characters are wonderful, and a story that eventually pulls you in and keeps you in until the end. I can’t wait for the next story in this series.
**I received an ARC from Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

The story itself is fun and interesting with lots of great characters but this book tends to drag on. There was a lot that happened but at the same time it was also repetitive in a lot of areas. I think if the story had been cut down it would have flowed a lot better and kept everything moving forward. I did really enjoy not only Sarah’s character but the other people at the Paris bookstore. The journey of the bookstore was my favorite part of the book and I loved how it started and how everything ended up.

As I mentioned above this book does have a romance element in it but I classified it as a contemporary since the romance takes a back burner to Sarah’s journey of finding herself and of course the bookstore. I also didn’t care for the bit of romance that we did have. I don’t have anything against long distance relationships and while I have never been in one I don’t think this was the healthiest representation of one. I would have rated this book higher if Sarah’s romance hadn’t been a part of her story.

My Thoughts
I was invited to participate in the Blog Tour for this charming little book and I was happy to accept. Here are my pros and cons for The Little Bookshop on the Seine:

Pros

1. I love books about books and book readers and book lovers and book stores! This book has all of that!! Plus, part of the story takes place over Christmas… in Paris! I’m not a huge romance reader, but this book ticked so many boxes for me that I enjoyed it!
2. If you are an introvert and a book lover you will probably easily connect with the characters in this story… and particularly with Sarah. Sarah almost could have been based off of me! Some of the things she says about what reading and books mean to her really struck home for me and definitely made me connect to Sarah. I might have been a little more “take action” than she was in the book, but I really felt like I could understand her situation and how she responded to the things going on in her life.
3. The descriptions of Paris were sublime! I’ve been to Paris once – way back in 2005 – and I loved it there. Reading this book brought back my own memories of Paris and now I really want to go back!
4. I also loved the descriptions of the bookshop! The store just came to life for me and I could imagine myself spending hours and hours there!
5. Honestly, if you are a fan of the romantic Christmas movies that come out each year, then you will definitely like this book.

Cons

1. Considering the length of the book, I felt like there was a little bit of a stall in the middle of the story. We kept getting the same storyline repeated – Ridge isn’t calling, the store is losing money, what am I doing here, the employees won’t listen to me – and it got a little boring.
2. The ending felt a bit rushed, particularly considering the stall I mentioned above, and it wasn’t what I was personally hoping for, but it guess you could still say it was a happy ending.
3. There were a few plot points I didn’t like, mostly involving making Sarah seem like she was stupid. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to give anything away, but I didn’t think the situations were even pertinent to the overall story, so I’m not sure why they had to be included.
4. I thought the whole plot line with the found letters from the unknown “Pierre” was pure filler and added nothing to the story overall.

Summary
Yes, This book is cheesy and romantic. No, it is not going to be considered a classic someday. But it was a cute story, a nice distraction, and it entertained me for a few hours while I was reading it. It is a cute romance with the typical and expected complications that must be overcome, but in general it worked and was a pleasant read. Plus, it had a Happily Ever After! Like I said earlier, if you are a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, you will very likely enjoy this book.

This book is the first in the Little Paris Collection by the author and it was originally published in 2015. The other books in the trilogy are The Little Antique Shop Under the Eiffel Tower and The Little Perfume Shop Off the Champs-Élysées.

Thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN – Romance (U.S. & Canada) for a free electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Smith doesn't realize she needs a change in her life, something that will shake things up and maybe give her a different view. She runs a bookshops she loves and has always dreamed of owning. There's the great boyfriend, although she doesn't get to see him as much as she would like. She has friends that are always there ready to bring some sushi e to her day. What could be better? When an unexpected call from a Parisian friend gives her the opportunity to make another dream come true she immediately says yes! Who wouldn't want to live in Paris for a few months and run a business there, one just like her own. Sarah jumped at the chance but soon begins to wonder if she made her decision in haste. She decides not to let fear over take her and change wait to experience all Paris has to offer. The excitement and her expectations take a dive when she gets lost after being in Paris a short time. Things don't seem to be any better when she starts working at the bookshop and realizes that the staff is rude, show up when they want, and don't seem to take her seriously. She soon believes that this trip was a mistake and can't wait to get back to her world and business. She decides to stick it out and with the holiday approaching looks forward to putting up her own touches and hopefully bringing forth the Christmas spirit in her staff. Will she be able to turn things around and make her dream of a lovely Christmas in Paris come true? This was a great read showing that when things get hard and don't go your way you should never give up. Dreams are what we make of them, when they veer in a different direction.that doesn't mean we should give up on them, just change how we see that dream.

The Little Bookshop on the Seine was a charming, delightful and heartwarming story that allowed us to not only learn all about Paris, but also seeing the wonderful friendships in both Ashford and Paris, as well as a nice romance that has a happy ending.

3.25 stars. The Little Bookshop on the Seine is a sweet story about friendship, pushing beyond comfort zones, and making dreams come true. I had every intention of reading this one over the Christmas holidays, but I wasn't able to get to it. I also began this book unaware that the characters, Sarah Smith, the owner of a bookshop in a small town in Connecticut, and her beau, Ridge Warner, were introduced in another book by Rebecca Raisin, The Bookshop on the Corner, a book that covered their meeting and romance. I liked Sarah from the beginning. What book lover wouldn't? She loves her bookshop, her books, her friends, and Ridge. Maybe in that order. But I couldn't help feeling that I was missing so much about her story having not read the first book. For instance, I didn't really like Ridge. He seemed schmaltzy and too good to be true, but this story really isn't about romance and it took me a few chapters to figure that out.

Once Sarah switches bookshops with her Parisian friend, the story takes off. The reader gets to experience Paris for the first time through Sarah's eyes, and it is just how it should be, beautiful and overwhelming. I enjoyed that things didn't go smoothly for Sarah and she struggled with the Parisian bookshop, Once Upon a Time, which was very different from her small, quiet bookshop in America. I appreciated that she had to grow, rely on herself, and trust her instincts. Romance is actually not the focus of this book, which was at first confusing, but then refreshing.

While I did enjoy Sarah and her story, there were side characters that were flat and inconsistent. It felt a bit like the book had been rushed and still needed a good editing. But it did make me want to visit Paris immediately. And pick up The Bookshop on the Corner to see if my opinion of Ridge would change. I would recommend this quick read if you're looking for something light on romance and heavy on the Parisian atmosphere, which makes it a perfect read for the holidays, too.

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin, for providing me an advance copy through Netgalley.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the first book in the Little Paris collection, but the original story – where Sarah meets and falls for Ridge – is actually at the end of the book, so you might want to start there. I didn't and still enjoyed the book. It might have helped me understand why she was so considerate of his (in my opinion) less than stellar behaviour towards her.

I enjoyed the idea of a bookshop owner from sleepy USA doing a shop swap to a busy Parisian English bookshop. She certainly wasn't really prepared for the business side of things, and I did question how much help she had been given to make things better – the owner may have had a broken heart and wanted a change, but her cruel attitude to Sarah was a little odd. In fact, all the way through, it was like Sarah was the brunt of many people's issues, and yet she muddled along regardless. It was a little disconcerting, although I happily read on, as superficially it was fun to experience some of Paris alongside her and see it from her viewpoint.

Overall it is a sweet read, and it does have a satisfying conclusion, but I am not sure I could have kept my cool like she did when faced with so much dismissive behaviour. My favourite part was the story inside the story with her and the author. I may well look out for the next one, as I am curious to see how the bookshop fares in the future.