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

Not recommending to students, but I will to adult friends. 
I am torn about a rating. I’d say it started out as a 4 and then ended up closer to a 3. While I don’t mind a happy ending, I could have lived with just ONE of the plot lines staying un-tied-up. I get so sick of the gorgeous man and the unassuming girl with whom he falls unprecedentedly quickly heads over heels for! And this story was better than others at making her a real person...maybe at the expense of his development. 
However, I loved the setting, obviously. And I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of people and places and even weather. That’s probably my favorite part of the book. 
And, it’s probably just a quirk if the electronic ARC, but the lack of obvious endings of and beginnings to sections or chapters bugged! Hope that’s fixed for publication. 🤓💜📚

Serviceable romance. Protagonist's internal monologue was a little wearing after a while. Would have liked a section on the other store owner's experiences but the author is too caught up in the alleged allure of Paris.

When a small-town bookshop owner agrees to a short-term bookshop swap with a Parisian friend the result is nothing like the romantic ideal she imagines. This tribute to bookshops and Paris is a light, quick read with a bit of romance. Readers will enjoy the glimpse behind the scenes of running a bookstore and the descriptions of Paris. Recommended for fans of Jenny Colgan.

This was an entertaining light read. Although the ending was predictable, the idea of changing lives with a friend in Paris is intriguing. Sarah's persistence paid off.

What would your answer be if a friend called from out of the blue asking you to swap lives/jobs for a while? Would you say yes without asking many questions? Would you jump at the chance to live in Paris for a while, running a wonderful bookstore or would you cling to your small, safe life in a small town? 

I could see myself saying yes if given a similar situation - friendships, taking chances, and becoming a better version of oneself is not always safe but almost always rewarding.

This book was received as an ARC from HARLEQUIN - Romance - HQN in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have always loved book involving small towns and little bookshops because of the genuine plot and the real characteristics each main character possesses. This time it involved the bookshop owner Sarah getting an opportunity to exchange locations with her friend Sophie who owns the bookshop in Paris. In for what she thought was going to be an experience of a lifetime turned borderline nightmare, when she engages with rude customers and risks her relationship with her boyfriend Ridge even more. That still does not stop her and she is determined to get the shop and her relationship back on track and have the experience of a lifetime. I loved how Rebecca Raisin used the most appropriate vocabulary to transport the reader to Paris and in the bookshop to take this ride along with Sarah. This book was perfect for a little cheer and pick me up and counting our blessings for the lifestyle we have.

We will consider adding this title to our Romance collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This book was ok - cute quick read love story with predictable ending. Was hoping it was more like the book The Music Shop.

When a super-speed reader doesn't have a car for a month due to a predatory car insurance industry, you can get a LOT of reading done!!			
			
I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  			
			
From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.			

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 snowfall 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.

While reading it I had a great sense of deja-vu that I had already read it and that is may have been a re-print coming out. Goodreads confirmed it to me ... this book is coming out AGAIN in January 2020 so that was why I recognized it. And loved re-reading it - as a matter of fact, it is already in our library.  This is a sweet cosy read that any lover of travel and bookshops will adore: it is a pleasant read and anyone in search of an enjoyable read should look no farther than Rebecca Raisin's shelf of books.
			
As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by "Social Influencer Millennials" on Instagram and Twitter) so let's give it some amazing French 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀

Sarah Smith is a small-town girl. Opening her own bookshop at 19, she lives between the pages of romance books. She has great friends, and a hot journalist boyfriend as well.

One day out of the blue, her friend Sophie from Paris, calls to suggest they swap places for six months! Running each other's shops and taking a break from their own lives to experience what the other is lacking. It doesn't take long for Sarah to hop on a plane for Paris and diving into Sophie's shop, Once Upon A Time.

Upon arrival, her bag, luggage, and passport are lifted. The shop is in disarray and one girl, in particular, is out to get her. The shop is doing awful financially and Beatrice is not helping the situation at all. No one has a schedule, books are taken at will, and her hot boyfriend is on assignment and nowhere near Paris!

So far she feels out of her comfort zone and hated by the entire staff. But with help from a couple of good guys and gals, she just may pull off making a go of the shop and a go of her relationship. 

Paris, the city of lights, love, and possibilities! Are there struggles? Oh, yes. But in the end, I think it may work out just fine.

A pleasure to read.

NetGalley/ January 07, 2020 Harlequin

I feel like I missed out on something by not having read the first book in the series prior to this. It felt like a lot of the story (in the first half) had previously happened - off the page - and it made me feel less connected to the characters. The writing style wasn't my favourite; we got every little thought of Sarah’s and sometimes that felt a bit rambling instead of intriguing. It was an okay read but I also wasn’t in love with it, to be honest.

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin


Sarah Smith's life is fine. She runs a bookshop in a small town in America.she has a boyfriend called Ridge who is a journalist and never home, a few good friends and her books who she loves. Her life is fine but not great, not exciting.


When her online friend, Sophie, who owns a bookshop in Paris by the Seine asks her to do a swap for a while, as Sophie needs to get away from a cheating boyfriend, Sarah quickly agrees. 


Sarah has dreams of sitting in Paris reading more books, and exploring the home of great art and literature, and the capital of love, but will the reality be the same as the Paris of her imagination?


I enjoyed it, and read it very quickly. I didn't give it 5 stars because it didn't feel at all real or plausible, but a very sweet story.

I liked Sarah and I felt for her, being thrown into running this shop in Paris and no one treating her with respect. I didn't like how Sophie treated her so horribly after it was she who asked to switch places. Sophie knew things were going on besides just her heartache and she could have given Sarah more warning. I loved the bookshop and the lovely descriptions of Paris. This was a cute and cozy read.

There is always something wonderful about reading a Rebecca Raisin book, even though you’re meeting the characters for the first time you always feel like you’ve known them for years. This new novel, The Little Bookshop on the Seine is just as wonderful as all Rebecca’s books and I read this in 2 days it was so compelling. If you’ve read The Gingerbread Cafe series you will be very happy to meet up with some old familiar faces.
Sarah Smith owns a little bookshop in Ashford Conneticut and has always been quite shy with really only having her beloved books as companions. But with the help of her friends from the Cafe across the street, she has a fun filled life and a wonderful boyfriend called Ridge, a hunk of a man who’s a freelance journalist, madly in love but always rushing off to investigate the next big story. It’s in one of these moments when Sarah is feeling in a rut, lonely because Ridge has hardly been around that her friend Sophie skype’s her from Paris. Sophie is equally downhearted and in desperate need of a change and suggests the two women swap bookshops for 6 months. Sarah will go to Paris and work in Once Upon A Time, the bookshop on the banks of the Seine and Sophie will take over Sarah’s shop in Ashford. This amazing plan sounds simple enough in discussion, but when Sarah arrives at Once Upon A Time things don’t exactly go to plan and Ridge seems incommunicado, so quiet, softly spoken Sarah has to deal with mutinous staff, missing money and a whole host of other issues, all by herself.
Once again a wonderful read by Rebecca Raisin.

A lighthearted read about a young woman who, for six months, exchanges working in her own bookshop in Ashford in Connecticut for the ‘Once Upon a Time’ bookshop situated near the River Seine in Paris.  She finds that she has taken on more than she bargained for, plus her long time journalist boyfriend seems to be very Illusive and can barely spend any time to chat to her on the phone.

This story was just a little too fluffy for me, although that doesn’t mean to say I didn’t enjoy it.  I enjoyed reading about the bookshop itself.  The title initially drew me to the book.  I loved the descriptions of the shop itself, the different floors and the literary references.  I also enjoyed reading about Paris and taking a tour along the many streets surrounding the shop.  It’s nicely written  and the imagery was excellent.  Paris is one of my favourite cities, it definitely has its own aura.  However, I found the characters a little two dimensional, somewhat cliched.  The plot was quite predictable and the ending was too neatly tied up for me, too convenient.  

I think this book would make a great beach read,  accompanied by a cocktail of course!   Mine’s a Mojita - cheers!  It’s a pleasant, well paced and easy to absorb story, just right for a bit of escapism.

The Little Bookshop on the Seine, by Rebecca Raisin, is contemporary women’s fiction that blends romance with books and travel. A delightful pick for those who love reading, stories and wanderlust - it’s a fun book with a holiday theme. 

Sarah owns a bookshop in the sleepy, small town of Ashford. A chance opportunity to swap her bookshop for another, living and working in Paris for six months, is the story’s catalyst for a romantic European holiday adventure. The descriptions of the sights, sounds and tastes  of Paris are delectable, with Paris becoming another character in the novel that one can’t help but love. Sarah  is charming and real as she struggles to find herself amidst the city, the bookshop - and figure out her relationship with boyfriend Ridge. Readers will root for her while falling in love with Paris and its treasures. 

A light, happy read that will get you in a festive mood, The Little Bookshop on the Seine is a literary treat for those who dream of a Parisian holiday.