Love Letters from Montmartre is about an author who doesn't believe in love anymore after losing his beloved wife. Before she passed, Helene made Julien promise that once she was gone he would write her a letter for each year of her life. He leaves the letters are her grave and something magical begins to happen, leading to a possibility of new love.

I really liked that this book was about a widower, because I feel like most stories about someone finding love after their spouse has passed are about widows. It was interesting to have the story be about Julien and how he not only deals with his wife being gone but also with raising their son. I also loved the idea of writing letters and leaving them at the grave. It's a tragically romantic idea and I really liked it.

Although this has aspects of romance, it's more about Julien rediscovering the joys and potential of love. It's about him learning how to live again and be open to life in general, with love as an added bonus. Also, the Paris setting just really made it even more romantic; the book was almost the embodiment of the phrase "Paris is for lovers". I really enjoyed this sweet, slightly heartbreaking story.

💔How to overcome grief and find new delight in life & love: sublime!💞🤗

What a lovely, moving, heart-felt story! I just could not put it down as Julien, a widowed writer with a four-year-old son finds coping with his young wife's death so impossibly difficult until the last wishes task she set him takes hold.

I can't think of a single thing I did not like about this book. The writing flows easily, the emotion is palpable, and all of the characters have individuality and substance, right down to dementia-plagued Uncle Paul and his jealous but forebearing wife. The main mystery in the story gave enough clues along the way for me to be pretty certain of the answer, but I have to admit that I was kept guessing right through to the big reveal and confession. With a setting like 🗼Paris, with all of its sights and cozy cafes, how can you go wrong? And, despite the sadness at Helene's passing, there are joyous moments, my favorite being young Arthur's impromptu 🎨art collaboration with his little girlfriend.😄

This was my first time reading a work by this author and I would not hesitate to read more by Nicolas Barreau.

Thanks to Sky Horse Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review and the opinions expressed are my own.

This is an unusual and touching novel of grief and recovery told in letters. Julian's wife Helene made him promise to write her 33 letters after her death (really? I thought but then...). He's mired deep in his grief and doing his best to care for his son Arthur. He's a novelist who is unable to write and then one day, during a visit with Arthur to Helene's grave, he starts to compose a letter. And then another and another. He hides them at the cemetary but one day the letters are missing. How Julian and Arthur come out of their shell- partly due to Sophie, a young stone mason- will make you smile. While this could have been a very sad read, it's actually quite hopeful. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. The past can lead you to the future.

I received a free copy of Love Letters from Montemarte in exchange for an honest review. What a neat story. It was very emotional, and the letters kept me engaged throughout. I couldn't wait to find out who was taking the letters, and placing into the hidden compartment of Helene's grave. This was definitely a unique plot, and what made it even better is the backdrop of Montemarte which is one of my favorite locations in Paris.

Great read. One I would definitely recommend to friends and family.

LOVE LETTERS FROM MONTMARTRE was a well-paced story that, for me, missed the mark with poor execution. While initially I grieved along with the main character, Julien, he quickly went from grieving to being a little too over the top as he writes his letters to his dead wife.

I felt that Julien and the story were meant to be funny but it never reached that place for me. It felt more sad than anything.

I did enjoy many of the other characters. Julien has a wonderful best friend who frequently brought Julien back from the edge. Julien's family was also very likable as they dealed with his Uncle Paul who suffers from dementia. There was a wonderful depth to that side story that was perfectly done.

The setting of Paris was done well. The imagery and aromas jumped off the page and brought me back to my days in Paris.

Overall, LOVE LETTERS FROM MONTMARTRE is an okay read but told with love for Paris and Montmartre.

I love the idea of love letters, When I was first dating my husband and we were living 1300 miles apart we sent each other a letter every single week. I think it was one of the most romantic periods of our relationship. This story hit me in the gut because The main character made a promise to his dying wife to write her 33 letters when she dies each one signifying one year of her life. Basically she tells him that he will be better for it. He doesnt believe her but he does it anyway. This book showcases one way to deal with grief. Letter writing can be very helpful.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. While it wasn't a perfect read I liked seeing the growth of Julien Azoulay through his grief. The letters were so well written, they were probably my favorite part of the entire book.

Thank you for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time I read Love Letters from Montmartre. I have listend to the german edition as an audio book in 2018. Normally I hardly ever read the book a second time. When I saw this version on Netgalley, I couldn’t help but download it. Reading it for the first time it was very emotional for me. Two years later, it was no different. I went through all the emotions again. For a long time I have been thinking about how to put my thoughts and feelings about this book into words. As I write this review, tears are pricking my eyes.

For the writer Julien Azoulay, a world falls apart when his beloved wife Hélène dies of cancer at the age of thirty-three. He withdraws, wallows in self-pity and considers himself the unhappiest person in the world. Only for the sake of his four-year-old son Arthur, Julien gets up every morning and fulfils his fatherly duties. A writer’s block also prevents him from keeping his promise to Hélène, whose last wish was to receive a posthumous letter from Julien for every year of her short life.

From then on, the young widower’s centre of life is located in a small, very old cemetery in Montmartre in the north of Paris, where he once met the love of his life and only a few years later had to bury her. Both the efforts of his caring mother Clémence and the attempts of his best friend Alexandre to get him out of his lethargy fail. When Julien finally writes the letters ge places them in a secret compartment in Hélène’s gravestone in the Montmartre cemetery. One day the letters disappeared. Instead, Julien finds strange symbolic answers, a stone heart for example, or cinema tickets, a bouquet of flowers… From now on, Julien is faced with a mystery. No one knows about this hiding place and the promise he made to his wife … Will Julien decide for life and love?

With The Love Letters of Montmatre, Nicolas Barreau has once again proven what an outstanding storyteller he is and not without reason one of my favorite authors. With sensitive words and a fluid, pictorial writing style, he captivates the reader with the first sentences and guides him gently and cautiously through the plot which impressed me deeply. Anyone who has ever had to mourn the loss of a loved one will immediately identify with Julien. The heartrending grief, the worry about the little son, the constant hopelessness are so well described that not only Julien suffers terribly, but the reader as well. I have suffered with him, because this pain is not unknown to me either.

Only little by little does Barreau masterfully allow glimpses of light to enter his protagonist’s life, slowly changing the lives of Julien and Arthur, relieving the pain of grief and bringing hope back into their hearts. Bittersweetly he lets father and son wander through the city of love, at whose heels the reader clings to experience and absorb the French laissez-faire. The visits to the cemetery and the quotations from Heine’s works make the reading both romantic and sad, and touch the reader’s heart as much as the letters addressed to Hélène. These letters left me speechless, because they were so full of love, and yet so infinitely sad and endlessly encouraging at the same time.

Barreau always conveys a message with his stories, this time it is about hope and looking ahead. No one can tell a love story as sad and romantic at the same time as Barreau. I was captivated by the story from the first page and that didn’t change until the end. The Love letters of Montmatre is simply incredible! The book has an almost magical effect in its intensity, in that it shows us life in all its fullness, I can’t say it better: this book breaks the reader’s heart and puts it together all over again.

3.5 Stars. This was a heartbreaking, but sweet read and set in one of my most favorite cities in the world. I really enjoyed the story overall, but the format just read a bit stunted to me for some reason. The imagery was beautiful though and the ending left me feeling hopeful. Thank you to Netgalley and Skyhorse Publishing for the ARC.

Julien Azouly is a famous romance novelist, becomes a widower when his wife dies at thirty-three leaving him to raise their young son alone. Before her passing, she challenges him to write her a letter for each year of her life.

Little did Julien know that this plan would lead him to live and love again. It's a very realistic, bittersweet story. It reminds me of P.S. I Love You. It's certainly a book filled with a rollercoaster of emotions.

Flowing with Parisian atmosphere and dream-like sequences, LOVE LETTERS FROM MONTEMARTRE is the perfect novel for die-hard romantics. While the premise alone was enough to pull me in, the beautiful prose and genuine emotion really carry this novel-it is raw, it is real and drips with eloquence that could bring even the hardest heart to tears. The premise is simple: After his wife dies at thirty-three and leaves him alone to raise their young son, Parisian writer Julian Azouly starts to feel that all is lost, including his ability to write. Before she died though, Helene made him promise her something: he is to write thirty-three letters, one for each year of her life. It makes sense that author Nicolas Barreau grew up in Paris because he absolutely nailed the atmosphere-every page made me feel like I was transported into the narrow streets and dainty cafes, a perfect opportunity for escapism for perhaps a lonely heart wishing for something more. This is one of the most touching novels I've ever read and cannot wait for it to be officially released.

This was probably one of the book I looked forward to reading,. Having been to Paris and having fond memories of it, I thoroughly enjoyed. Julien who now widow promised his wife he write a letter each year. This is probably one of the most relaxing books I read. I enjoy the slow pace, the happiness, the loneliness, the heartbreak and grieving expressed.

“Come, my love, be mine again. Like once in May."

A sweet, serene story of finding love again after loss. Although there wasn't anything ground-breaking about this book, and indeed at times it was rather predictable and saccharine, it was an enjoyable read - truly it is a love story to Paris, and the setting is beautifully described. The characters feel real, their emotions believable, but this just lacked a little bite for me.

Julien Azoulay is just scraping by. Not so long ago, life could not have been better: Julien penned an award winning novel, he and he red haired angel Helene were happily raising their baby Arthur, life was good. Then Helene got sick, very sick. On her death bed, Helene makes one last bequest of her soul mate; that after she passes, he promises to write her 33 letters, one for each year of her life. When Julien asks her why she would want him to do this, she will be dead, what good could it possibly do? She disagrees and makes him promise to do it. When the book begins, six months have passed and Julien has yet to write one letter .... His publisher is after him to see some work on his next novel .... His mother AND his best friend Alexandre are coaxing him to rejoin the world of the living ... and his son is the only one who keeps him going. When Julien finally starts writing the letters, life starts to change ...

"He is unprepared for what will happen, just as unprepared as anyone can be for the arrival of happiness and love, and yet, both of them are there."

Nicolas Barreau"s, #lovelettersfrommontmartre, takes the reader to destinations in #Montmartre (some of which),even, the locals have not yet visited. It is the first novel by Barreau for me and after reading it I want to read all of his previous novels. Cosmo says - "Once more, Nicolas Barreau is writing about love, soft and magical." If you are looking to spend some quality time wandering the streets of Paris (and Montmartre in particular), buried in a love story, then this book is for you!

Thank you #netgalley for this e-ARCof #lovelettersfrommontmartre, in return for my honest review. 5stars! In bookstores May 5th, 2020.

Brief synopsis from the book cover:

Julien Azouly, the famous French writer of beautiful romance novels, has stopped believing in love. When his beloved wife, Hélène, dies at the age of thirty-three, leaving him alone to raise their young son, Arthur, he is so devastated that he loses faith in the happier side of life—and along with that his ability to write.

But Hélène was clever. Before her death, she made her husband promise to write her thirty-three letters, one for each year of her life. Six months after the funeral, Julien finds himself standing in the most famous cemetery in Paris, the painful first letter in his hand. Little does he know that something strange—and wonderful—is about to happen.

My rating:

Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

General fiction
Women’s fiction

Review:
The story is a bit sad at times. It’s not all sadness though. It also a bitter sweet side to it a feeling full of hope and promise for the future. The book is nicely written, the characters are well developed and feel realistic as they show real emotions, such as love, pain, sadness and grieve. The plot is sound and the main theme is how do you cope with the loss of your partner, the process of grieve, moving on and in time new love.

Overall a nicely written story with characters who are true to life. Sad at times but with a positive message.

Review copy provided by NetGalley at no cost to me
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3.5/5

After the death of his wife, Julien Azoulay is having trouble moving on. Before his wife died, she asked Juljen to write 33 letters to her, one for every year that she lived. Not understanding why or having the stamina, Julien hesitated at first. He didn't know that Helene had a plan, one that would cause Julien to live and love again.

Love Letters from Montmarte is reminiscent of P.S. I Love You. This book sends you on a journey of love, loss, and love again through 33 love letters and an unexpected mystery. You will feel Julien's love throughout the entire journey.

In these dark times, everyone can use a little hope, and Love Lettera from Montmarte delivers just that! Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions!

The moment I read the premise of this novel I knew I had to get my hands on this story and I am ever thankful that I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a love story within a love story. Julien has lost the love of his life, his wife Hélène, and in his devastation has lost his passion for all of the things he used to love - including writing. If not for his precious son, he'd be lost to the world entirely. Except his wife didn't want that to happen. Hélène made Julien promise to write her thirty-three letters after her death. He doesn't understand why she wants him to do this, but a promise is a promise and so he begins writing to her and thus begins the start of a new chapter in his life. One he never saw coming, but one I enjoyed being along for.

Julien was exactly what you'd expect; heartbroken and hopeless. But he was also clearly a loving man to the woman he lost and remained a loving father to his little boy. He recognized how lost he was and wanted to get himself out of that dark place if anything for his son, but his struggle to connect with the real world again was realistic. As someone who has dealt with the loss of loved ones, I know this isn't something you just pick back up from. So seeing him go through these very real emotions, witnessing him cling to the memory of his wife while simultaneously meeting new people and becoming part of something inexplainable. I was transported to France through this novel and enjoyed rooting for Julien. It was hard not to want the best for him. I would recommend this to any friend - especially one with a romantic and hopeful heart!

A slow start to this book, but more than worth persevering.
A sad story of loss and grief, with little spots of light shining through the dark. A very satisfying happy ending. I really recommend this book.
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#netgalley #lovelettersfrommontmartre

3.5 stars
Very enjoyable reading experience! This tells the story of Julien and his process to honor his wife's dying wish - 33 letters, one for each year she was alive.

I liked that this explored the grieving process from the husband's perspective. And the "mystery" about the letters really drove me in the second half of the novel. I also think that this had a strong sense of place - I felt like I was wandering down the streets of Paris alongside Julien.

** Copy of ebook received through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

Somewhat of a romantic comedy about an author who writes romantic comedies. But not really a comedy at all. Overall, I felt it was trite and did not offer enough depth to really grab me. A quick and easy read though.

Reading this book reminded me of the film PS: I love you.
It's such a heartwarming read of a man who fulfills his wife's last dying wish and in so doing- you grieve, love, laugh, wonder and in a way live through his letters.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.