Cover Image: The Perfect Dress

The Perfect Dress

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Member Reviews

I loved this to the point that I brought for my mother, who also adored it!

Fran is my favourtite character and I must admit I am rather jealous of her luck with dresses.

This is one of my favourite escape stories now.

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Vintage wedding dresses, potential romance and a cute cover all stack up to make The Perfect Dress by Louisa Leaman an easy, lighthearted read.

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As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot...

This is an enjoyable, light read. The classic combination of vintage wedding dresses and romance made for a delightful change from some of the dark crime thrillers I normally choose.

Recommended if you are a lover of vintage clothing and are looking for a cheerful light read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

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I just could not get into this and I honestly can't work out why. I've picked it up numerous times but just cannot stick with it. The concept is lovely, the cover is gorgeous and the writing is good, there's just something that isn't clicking unfortunately.

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I really enjoyed this book. Adored the descriptions and provenances of the wedding dresses. Loved the characters and the story.

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A pleasant easy read. An enjoyed the vintage theme and the romantic plot. One to easily relax with,

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I read this book whilst on holiday and it was the perfect beach read. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. I love a dark brooding male, this character is either done well, or over the top, or without depth, in this book it was done very well. The book made me laugh, cry and be interested in every page. I will certainly read any future books by this author

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Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Great book. I loved reading it. Very interesting and covers alot of information

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This was a lovely read I really enjoyed reading this book. This is not my usual genre of book but I found it a delight to read.

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I actually enjoyed this much more than I expected to, a feel good read. The idea of matching the dress to the person is a great idea. Funny, sad, charming, it was everything

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Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fran's dress shop sounds heavenly. I love the idea that she researches the history of the dresses and fits them to the customer.. Quite a romantic story evolves in her own life when she finds a perfect dress in a house clearance.

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An enjoyable read, really liked all the details on vintage dresses. It was interesting and seemed very well researched. The characters had depth although they never really seemed to be a matching pair. Discovering the history of the dress did add a real depth to the story although I was disappointed as the ending seemed a bit rushed.

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I can't remember the last time I got through a book so quickly - I couldn't put it down! Such a great book - I was hooked right from the start. It is the wonderful story of Fran and her obsession with vintage wedding dresses. Her shop sounds like a real wedding day treasure trove - dresses, jewellery, accessories etc, all with history and a past. Fran spends hours researching the previous owners / wearers of the dresses so that she can ensure the best possible match with a new bride as she feels that every dress has an energy to it.. I was completely drawn in to her life and thought she was a fab character.
The story centres around her business but one dress in particular which she finds in a house clearance. The owner of the house is there at the clearance and sees her in the dress when she cannot resist trying it on. Although they don't appear to get on at that first meeting, they find their paths crossing again and all I can say is things develop from there.......! I loved the pace of the story - it kept moving and there was very little repeating, which I have found in some other books.
As for the outcome, well, I couldn't spoil it for you but I would say that there were a few twists and turns along the way and it didn't quite turn out how I expected...… I can't recommend this book highly enough - I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book in return for an honest opinion, which I can confirm this is.

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This was a good fun read; well-written although slightly predictable at times. It dragged a little at points. Would recommend.

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An absolutely charming book that gives you insight into different perspectives and personalties. I enjoyed this much more than I expected to ... I picked it as it seemed a bit different... but I was particularly drawn to the character of Fran.

4*

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Thoroughly enjoyed this romance. From start to finish it's a swoon full of love
Thank you to netgalley and the author and publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC for my honest opinion

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An intriguing romance story with a splash of good humour for good measure. Hard to put down, couldn’t wait to read what happened next with each character.

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The Perfect Dress by Louisa Leaman

The story is about Fran who sells special vintage wedding dress with stories of their own to tell and her journey to find those dresses is quite extraordinary. When attending a country house clearance with her best friend and colleague Mick she finds ‘the dress’. Whilst there she meets and has a spat with Rafael who wants nothing to do with the dress and throws it in the skip. Then the journey begins to find the history behind the dress.

A well written book about a journey about people ,vintage dresses ,life and the twists that face us all.

A can’t put down book . Fabulous read well done Louisa!

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Women’s fiction centred around a particular specialist shop – the quirkier and more specific the better – generally works very well for me. As well as learning about the ins and outs of the type of goods on sale, and following the adventures of the proprietor and staff, we also get to meet a wide cross-section of the customers, who tend to be as eccentric as the former category of characters, and as individual as the goods on sale. Having said all that, I find that I prefer this book’s UK title of The Perfect Dress to the more genre-explanatory US one of The Whispering Dress Boutique, although that is the name of the business around which much of the plot takes place.

Vintage clothing aficionado and self-styled ‘wedding dress whisperer’ Francesca Delaney prides herself on matching every bride who visits her shop with their perfect dress, even when it is nothing like the outfit they had imagined themselves getting married in. Having picked herself up from the ruins of her own almost-wedding – at which she wore a most unsuitable dress and was jilted at the altar – with the help of her best friend Mick, who also has his own distinctive style of dressing, Francesca has no interest in romance for herself, but instead revels in the romantic dreams of others. All that begins to change when she and Mick attend a house clearance in Epping Forest, where Francesca finds a very rare designer wedding dress stuffed into an old case and through it finds herself involved in the life of its previous owner’s son.

Rafael Colt survived an unhappy childhood and is now the public face of the philanthropic foundation established by his grandfather. With the sale of his mother’s possessions and then the house in which she lived so many years in seclusion, he hopes to turn his back on the past altogether. So he is less than happy when one of the antique dealers attending his house clearance starts asking him questions about his mother’s wedding dress, which he thought had been thrown away years ago. Rafael has no answers for Francesca – his mother stopped speaking soon after her wedding, and he never once heard her voice – and the dress almost ends up being carted away in a skip.

When Francesca returns later to retrieve the dress from the skip, she finds herself embroiled even deeper in Colt family secrets, when she encounters Rafael’s sister. Still entranced by the dress, even though she now knows that the last bride to wear it didn’t achieve her happy ever after, Francesca sets out to find out more about both the dress and Rafael. Her obsession with the dress, not to mention the looming spectre of her past relationship failure, threaten to ruin any chance the pair have of finding happiness together, especially after Francesca’s meeting with the son of one of the designers who produced the dress – originally for Rafael’s grandmother – and more uncomfortable Colt family secrets are revealed.

Eventually, Francesca decides to follow through on a challenge Rafael set her early in their relationship: to track down the three customers who had most recently invited her to their weddings and discover whether their marriages have lasted. What Francesca learns teaches her a valuable lesson about the real power of finding the perfect dress, and gives her the impetus to send her ‘perfect dress’ onwards to its rightful home.

I found a lot to like in this book. The shop’s clients and their dresses were lovingly described, as were Francesca and Mick’s fashion choices. I found Rafael and his sister annoying at times, but I loved the slow reveal of the stories behind various of the dresses that Francesca bought and sold. I’ll be looking out for more from this author.

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.Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest #Theperfectdress #netgalley

Fran Delaney owns the vintage wedding dress shop called "The whispering dress." This is not any old shop, Fran researches her dresses history and matches its lessons (Whispers) to what that bride needs. When her assistant Mick invites her to a house clearance, often the place where dresses are found, she sets eyes on the grumpy Rafael Colt. The heir to the house and dress Fran finds. Will she get more than she bargains for? Can she allow herself to find love?

The cover and title drew me to this book. The beautiful wedding dress on the front was whispering to me to read on! Promising me a romance.

I have also found out this is Louisa's debut adult romance novel.

Although this book is a romance read. Their are some emotional subjects included such as divorce, affairs, marriage for visa, being left at the alter and death amongst many more. However the author very cleverly Incorporated this into the historical part of the book preventing the issues from drowning Fran and Rafeal.

Fran was a character that you rooted for. Many times you were shouting at her choices and decisions. You wanted her business to work and in every situation could see the best in her as much as she didn't believe it. This was nicely done and shows that people believe in us even if we don't in ourselves.

I absolutely loved the dresses history and getting to know the true dress. When given to a bride you could really identify that the story would help them. A great addition.

Furthermore the writing style is difficult to get into in the beginning. Making it have a very slow start. However once you power through the first few chapters it feels like the writing style changes. Although I'm sure I just got used to it!

The narrative changes multiple times per chapter eg paragraph for Fran, paragraph for Rafeal and then next paragraph back to Fran. Even though this does slow it down every so often throughout too. Although gives a rounded story.

Furthermore some parts of the story you were waiting for more. Eg Particularly when Rafeal calls Fran about the interviews. The reader knows Fran didn't let go of this information but she never tries to ask Rafeal to believe her. Then suddenly at the end he is at the house and without talking these serious things through they are automatically already been put behind them!

I found this book very hard to rate. What was given to the reader was solid and the book built a beautiful story based particularly around the dresses history. As well as providing some emotional narratives around pasts and these clouding the present. However there remained parts which slowed the book down and where the reader is left wanting more. Therefore I feel this book is a 3.5 Stars out of 5. As opposed to a solid amount of stars

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