I found the characterization in this novel a little uneven. Rafe was up and down and so unstable. I couldn't understand why Francesca would subject herself to such nonsense. The descriptions of the dresses was great but i wouldn't recommend this to someone looking for a light, romantic read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review. And apparently, the title has changed since I originally asked for this book.

Let me start by saying that I really have no idea why I requested this book. The older I get, the less I seem to be into your average romance novel...but I guess I loved the cover enough to ask for it. I didn't even know it had anything to do with Paris, which for some reason I am insanely infatuated with, so that was a bonus. Anyway, this is actually NOT your average love story so it worked out well for me all the way around. Fran owns the Whispering Dress Boutique, which is not your ordinary wedding dress shop. Fran has talent that enables her to match the perfect dress to each bride. She "feels something" from each dress, almost like it wants her to understand the journey it has been on and who it is meant for next. She puts a lot of time into researching each dress and she wants to know everything about it. She meets Raphael at an estate sale where she finds a very rare dress. The dress belonged to his mother and has so many bad memories associated with it that when she tells him what it is worth, he still wants no part of it. And they really do not get along at first so, of course, you know that they will end up together in the end. I personally loved everything about this book but I know many people will be put off by the clichés or the craziness or what have you. But the back stories I loved, the wedding dresses themselves I loved, the parts in Paris, I loved...I almost want to sell everything I own and start my own thing somewhere even though I know Jack about what a wedding dress might be worth. This one touched me.

I loved the premise of the book- the vintage dresses, the stories behind them and the emotional connection they induced, Overall a good read, because at times the storyline was flat and the characters didn't intrigue me, yet at other times I was drawn into their story and couldn't put the book down.

I received an advanced copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

The Whispering Dress Boutique by Louisa Leaman
Source: NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark
Rating: 2½/5 stars

**MINI-REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: I’m absolutely on the fence with this book and there is nothing that is going to tip me over to one side or the other. Here’s the split for me: I really enjoyed the bits and pieces about the dress shop and the history of each of the dresses, but I had real issues with both Francesca and Rafael. While I generally enjoy a two broken souls come together story, I simply couldn’t get past both Francesca and Rafael’s generally bad attitudes. Neither were able – in a reasonable amount of time - to move beyond their respective pasts to see what was right in front of them, the possibility of a happy and fulfilling future. Outside of the terribly interesting dress information, I simply found the characters too angsty to be likeable. At the end of the day, loved the dress information, really disliked the characters which leaves me in the middle and on the fence!

This was a cute book. The story flowed well and the dresses added an interesting twist to a fairly predictable love story. The characters were a bit flat to me, but overall interesting concept for a story. Fans of the hate to love trope may enjoy this.

While I had great big pie-in-the-sky hopes for this novel, unfortunately, it fell a little short of the mark for me. While the premise of the story is absolutely delightful, I didn't find it entirely engaging. The characters irked me, the drama and romance seemed disingenuous, and it felt a little flat. The chemistry, while flashing hot in places, also fizzled a little and didn't seem strong enough to build a relationship on. It could have been a dynamic rags-to-riches type of class-bending romance, but was just... mediocre? I wasn't convinced of the HEA or even the HFN aspect of the epilogue and while I didn't mind reading the book - it was still a way to pass the time - it just didn't grab me as a must-recommend. Regardless, my thanks for the opportunity to read a copy and share my opinions.

Francesca has a wedding shop filled with vintage dresses. Francesca has an amazing talent, she can match the perfect dress to each bride. Fashion is very important to Fran, but it’s about more than fashion. There’s a magical element to it. Fran feels something like whispers from the dress. She feels like the dresses want her to understand their journey and who they are meant for. Fran puts a lot of time into researching each dress. She wants to know about the original owner, she wants to know what that woman was like and she wants to know it’s from a happy marriage.

When she finds a dress for a woman, she somehow knows what the woman is missing and able to find the dress that can provide it. A self conscious bride is matched with a pink dress with feathers. Fran knows that this dress will make the bride feel confident.

One day, Fran finds the most amazing dress she’s ever seen at a house about to be sold. The son of the original owner, Rafael, gives the dress to Fran. He has no attachment to it.
Fran can’t understand how this man was willing to throw away his mother’s wedding dress.
He seems like a rich, snobby jerk to Fran. She tries to get the dress’ history from him but he insists that he wants nothing to do with it.

Fran and Rafael can’t totally understand it but they did feel something for each other shortly after meeting.

I really enjoyed the magical realism aspect and the fashion talk. I wanted Fran to be happy. Sometimes she pushed too hard, I think, but I definitely liked her more than Rafael. I feel like he was supposed to be a bit of a Mr Darcy type but he came off a bit hot headed at time. Though he had very good reasons for not wanting to talk about his family.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thank you!

Enjoyable book. Unlike many romance novels it wasn't entirely predictable and I liked that. I think I would have liked more about Rafael's sister in the ending of the book instead of a sentence or two. I'm thankful to Netgalley for this ARC. The Whispering Dress Boutique comes out in the U.S. in May 2020.

I thought this was a really cute read. The romance was a bit expected and there wasn't any particularly surprising plot twists or anything, but I really enjoyed the premise of the story. Seeing Fran's love of old wedding dresses and fashion was exciting, particularly since that carried into the descriptions of her own everyday dress. The history of the Colt wedding dress was interesting and the exploration of ideas around love/marriage felt realistic as well. Both characters had "troubled" pasts, particularly when it comes to love and relationships, and it is this struggle that is kind of central to the two characters' relationship with each other. This isn't my go to type of book, but was enjoyable to read.

An exquisite novel, beautifully written and heartfelt. The writer did a wonderful job depicting the characters. Highly recommended.

I really wanted to love this book, but overall it fell flat for me. I enjoyed the premise about the dresses, but the romance itself felt forced to me. It was all very meh. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Initially, I was intrigued by the context of the story - a woman who runs a bridal shop that identifies a vintage gown for brides, and who comes across a dress with a mystery. That mystery of the dress and its history, as well as the descriptive language about all the fashion, that kept me engaged. The dresses were intriguing characters.

The actual characters, like Francesca and Rafael? Unfortunately, I could not get behind their story. I tried, and had moments where it seemed headed down a good path. But then it took a turn - an unrealistic activity (like the willow tree event), or dialogue that seems extreme and gets brushed over (he says cruel things after Paris which never gets addressed and she somehow seems to forget and blame herself for, for example), and I just lost interest again. The pacing lagged a little in the middle, and then the story got almost comically out of place later on (the celeb bride bizarreness, following up with other recent brides, the rushed epilogue).

Overall it wasn’t a bad read, just not what I was expecting.

****
I received an advanced copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Francesca Delaney owns a bridal boutique, The Whispering Dress Boutique, which specializes in matching one-of-a-kind vintage dresses with the right bride-to-be: something bright for the bride who doesn’t like to take centre stage, something simple for the bride who is too flashy, etc. She carefully researched the stories and provenance of each gown she brings into her shop. One day Fran comes across a gorgeous, one-off designer gown and is drawn to it, as well as the son of the owner of the dress.
I loved this book! It crossed all the wants off my list: romance, fashion (especially vintage), some magic, London. An amazing debut novel from Louisa Leaman!
Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for the digital ARC and opportunity to review.

Mix together a splash of Pride and Prejudice with a bit of a brooding Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights and you have Raf. Then there's Fran, the wedding dress whisperer who some may call a bit eccentric. Put them together with a bit of suspense and mystery all concerning the history of a Colt family wedding dress and you have a book that you will not put down until it's finished.
This book is well written, with interesting characters you want to learn about. I would recommend this book to book clubs as well as it being a great curl up on the couch with a cup.of tea for the afternoon read. Really a great book!
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

It is a captivating story about two broken people who are reluctant to let anybody into their hearts. They both have their own reasons; one has a horrible family history to make him question the very existence of true love; the other was betrayed and hurt by someone she had trusted. There is a pinch of mistery as well in the book and very interesting supporting characters with their own stories. I really liked it. It kept me reading into the night.

I'm torn between love and 'ehh" with this book. The premise is a strong one. Fran is a wedding dress boutique owner, and more than that, she believes in whispering dresses--dresses that tell a story by their previous owner, that carry lessons forward for the brides who wear them. That, in and of itself, makes for a cool story and concept. She meets Rafael, a rich boy with family issues, who is glad to see his mother's wedding dress taken away and sold--but is reticent to share the story of the dress, which Fran desperately needs to be able to sell this dress to an unexpecting bride in need of a dress to change her life.

The love story between Fran and Rafael however didn't feel completely natural to me. As individual characters, they were all right. but Fran's incessant obsession with dresses was a bit of a turnoff and Rafael's love of her whimsy felt a bit forced. With less emphasis on the dresses and less examples of Rafael being a jerk, the story would have flowed smoothly.

But overall, it was a good story and a great concept. I did smile at a lot of heartwarming moments and feel touched at the way Fran grew into her character. Would recommend this book for a good escape.

Francesca owns an unusual bridal shop where she matches the dress to the person. She stays impartial until she is totally captivated by a dress she finds at a house sale. She wants to know its history, and the man. Romance.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I was really excited to read this title- the cover is pretty, the summary sounded like a perfect, sweet romance. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and read it before the 10 or so I already had in my to read pile. Maybe I built up my hopes too much because this fell so flat. I found the characters to be aggressive and off-putting with actions that were hard to conceive someone actually doing. Fran was so intrusive and outspoken that I kept wanting to tell her to shut her mouth. It's fine to have opinions and to stick up for your beliefs but she kept hammering her point of view to the extent of being rude and intrusive. The love interest was thus hard to buy into- why would two people so quickly fall in love after constantly belittling and insulting one another at every meeting. It just wasn't believable and was hard to get behind- why was I cheering for either of them?
I did really like the idea of these beautiful vintage wedding gowns being given to the right bride to pass on the wisdom and insights from the previous owners. Nice idea, just wasn't enough to carry the story of Fran and Rafeal. I was so disappointed in this one. Great idea gone wrong.

I started this one thinking it was a fun, mystery/fantasy kind of book but it starts as a massively cliched romance book. Think "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" except she sells bridal dresses but is perpetually single and unloved. I made it through the first utterly formulaic chapter where she encounters the dark, handsome, moody, rude, rich man with the brooding eyes and she finds the priceless antique wedding dress that is exactly the sort of thing she sells and is the dress of her dreams, tries it on in the moody man's house that he's packing up because his mother has died, gets caught (what a surprise) by said moody man who silently admires her curves and how beautiful it looks on her with a sneer, and then he is condescending and obnoxious while she is sweet and embarrassed (ooh, how sexy, in that 1950's "I really want to be dominated and infantilized" way) and he gives it to her with disdain. She hems and haws because it's so expensive and should be sentimental even though they are there because everybody is cleaning out the house and taking things for free (all businesses are invited, others have already stripped the place, we've established that the guy is rich, and everything left will go into the dumpsters) and then he finally tosses it in a dumpster and commences to get in a big argument with his sister. Our heroine then leaves the priceless dress of her dreams in the dumpster because (horrors!) there's a heated argument going on, and drives off in a hurry with her token gay male best friend. She leaves the priceless antique dress of her dreams that was handmade by a legendary designer in a dumpster because two people are yelling at each other and she doesn't feel right taking a dress the guy has told her to take and then tossed in the garbage -- even though she makes her living selling used dresses and this one is worth a fortune? Oh good grief. I just don't have time for this nonsense. :) I cannot bear reading characters who are this annoying. Sorry, DNF so I'm not giving it a rating publidly. It'll be a great read for others, it's just not my cup of tea.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

A gentle, slow romance with history and character. A Whispering Dess would be wonderful...
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for allowing me this arc