After the death of her Aunt, Larisa returns to her small hometown to handle her aunt’s estate. Larisa’s life is kind of a mess. She was fired from her job, her relationship with her boyfriend basically fell apart and she’s having a hard time coming to terms with her mother having dementia. When she comes to town and passes The Little French Bridal Shop and she decides to go in. I mean what harm can come from trying on a wedding dress just for fun.

Oh how I wish I had enjoyed this book but sadly I did not. The whole fake wedding thing was kind of interesting in the beginning but it got old fast. I was not a fan of the main character Larisa at all. She lied to the people around her even though she was given multiple opportunities to just tell the truth. She was just using her lies to hide behind what she was feeling and yes I know that it was kinda the whole plot of the book but it just felt so drawn out. Larisa did have some character growth towards the end of the book. I just wish that it had happened sooner.

I also felt like Jack’s story was kind of an after thought. I know he was an important part of Larisa’s past and he was the caretaker of the her aunt’s house for year but I wish his story was integrated a little better.

Overall the book was just ok which makes me so sad because I so badly wanted to love this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance digital copy of this book!

*I received a advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This book has all the ingredients for a cozy chick lit story, but it never seems to comes together for me. I think it's a question of writer's craft to make the storytelling and the story compelling, not just the later. There are missed opportunities for humor that would have gone a long way toward making this story more engaging.

I enjoyed this book. It was well written. Having worked with dementia patients it was interesting to see it from a family members point of view. It did make me feel uncomfortable in parts of the book. But it was a great eye-opening story

The Little French Bridal Shop by Jennifer Dupee is an emotionally difficult book to read. Jennifer presents several life problems that confront hard to admit and talk about challenges to good people. She has characters who were loving parents faced with their lack of love for each other. She shows the emotional toll of the spouse and child of a mother deteriorating through dementia. She touches on lives whose love was blocked and unfulfilled. Jennifer Dupee shows the reader solutions that her characters have found for coping and moving on. Well worth reading.

3.4 Stars
There is no doubt that I was attracted to this novel by the title. I read a lot of psychological thrillers and thought this might be a fun break ~ (However, psychological thrillers are actually fun reads for me).

Story starts when Larisa’s aunt dies and she return to settle her aunt’s estate Kent Crossing is small seaside village in Massachusetts (no not France ~ which it what I was thinking when I picked up this novel). Additional it is where she spent so much time when she was growing up.
She is near 40 and just lost her job and just broken up from a long term romance ~ states she will never get married!!!

When she sees the perfect wedding gown in the window of the Little French Bridal Shop she cannot resist going in and trying on the gown and actually buys it. She tells a little white lie. Only now everyone wants to know more about the wedding plans including vendors. Her mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s so has no idea what everyone is talking about; of course, she would have been confused if she didn’t have the disease. Aww I don’t mean to make light of Kittie’s situation. In fact, I was sure she is younger than I am and the conversations with her family are heart-breaking.
Awww ~ I did like this better than I thought!! That is after I got over that it wasn’t a romance story in France.

I always enjoy reading the author’s” Acknowledgements” in addition to thanking supporters I think of it as ‘inside scoop’ into the story. She starts by saying her kindergarten report card stated that she didn’t want to talk to anyone; all she wanted to do is sit in a corner and read!!

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for professional review purposes only. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 9, 202

Planning a wedding is stressful, but sometimes it can be a way to escape reality. However, Larisa takes it too far, planning a wedding without a groom. Since her mother's diagnosis, she’s been escaping from her life in various ways. Larisa is struggling even more after her beloved Aunt Ursula died - Ursula's shadow is always present in this story, and her house, Elmhurst, is the stage where Larisa comes to terms with herself. Larisa's struggles illustrate well that feeling of being overwhelmed with life. This story is a romance, but also a family drama - you learn more about yourself, about the ways in which a family comes together, as well as what can keep them apart. I thought this book would be a light read, but I would now highly recommend it. But don't go into it thinking that the story revolves around a bridal shop - that's just the catalyst.

When I picked this book, I was expecting a lighthearted romcom. Although I enjoyed the story in parts, I did not quite like the book. I thought the writing was engaging, but I wish the plot could match up.

Most of the characters in the story were lacking in personality, especially Larissa and Jake. To some extent, I could understand Larissa's denial about her mother's (Kittie) dementia. She did not want to accept that she was slowly losing her mother to a disease with no cure. But there came a point where she could see her father struggling to take care of Kittie, and instead of helping him or even trying to understand her father, she chides him for relying on deception, while she herself was fooling so many people. She redeems herself in the latter part of the story, though. But I still had other issues with her character. I couldn't tell who Larissa was, there was nothing to describe her personality. There is a passing commentary that she is pretty, but apart from that, I couldn't tell who she really was as a person. She seemed confused, deceptive, and not wanting to accept reality.
Jack Miller was also very confusing. He and Larissa seemed to share similar character traits. He seemed highly confused about his marriage and about Larissa. I couldn't quite wrap my head around his obsession with Elmhurst. I understand he took care of that house for a major part of his life, but I did not understand how he could claim the house as his own for being its caretaker.

I liked Larissa's attempts at bonding with her mother. I liked her journey from denial to accepting her mother's illness and developing a bond with her.

Regarding the romance part, I thought Jake and Larissa worked better as friends than lovers. I couldn't feel any chemistry between the two and there weren't many scenes between them. I think I would have liked the book more if Larissa had mended her relationship with her mother, while trying to figure out her life, instead of turning back to romance. I thought they both needed to figure themselves out before getting into a relationship.
I am mostly disappointed because I was excited to read this book and I thought the plot had so much potential.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE LITTLE FRENCH BRIDAL SHOP
BY JENNIFER DUPEE

This book was received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, let’s start with the cover!! It’s a gorgeous picture of a bridal shop. The colors are magnificent!! The title tantalized my Francophile self.
Worthy of my attention from the start, however, this is not a Francophile read!

Our main character is Larisa Pearl,who returns to her aunts home ,that she inherited.
We can relate to Larisa because she struggles with a breakup, death, friendships and life experiences.
She makes some decisions that are selfish and intentionally hurtful to others. Larisa learns to deal with these misfortunes she bestowed upon herself. She is seeking and looking for clarity in life and love. Her pain within is real and her actions demonstrate this.
Throughout the story she grows and learns about life. Larisa’s mother has dementia. Her father is a wonderful caretaker to her.
Larissa learns to endure some of life’s experiences and deals with grief.
She wanders into a bridal shop to try on gowns. She finds a magical beautiful gown. The town learns of a supposed wedding. Many in the small community want to be involved in the festivities. All sounds great, however, she is not with a partner she wants to marry.
She weaves a web of lies and eventually needs to face them. She comes to terms eventually with family and friends and how to turn the wrongs around.
You will find yourself rooting for her to make things right in her life.
Read to find out what happens. Cheer her own and learn about yourself while reading her choices in life. You’ll question her reasons and choices.
I found this novel to be a very quick read.
Enjoy!

Eh, this story wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. I wanted to love it but I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters and the storyline was a bit choppy for me. I did enjoy the setting with the home, Elmhurst, and parts of the story were relatable but most of it was just off for me.

I seem to be in the minority here of people who didn't really love this one.

I'm all for a fluffy beach read, all for flawed characters, all for dynamic, frustrating, plucky heroines, but I was not all for The Little French Bridal Shop. If I'm honest, I toed the line of not liking this at all. I didn't like the emotional unfaithfulness of the main characters, I didn't like having to keep up with all of Larisa's lies, and I didn't like the tangled web that this book became, not because those things bothered me, but because they didn't actually serve any purpose. Larisa didn't really grow as a character for most of the book, and I was just wholly unconvinced of the quasi-romance, or whatever that was. I think my main issue is that while these relationships and issues are at least somewhat realistic, they're too rushed to be executed well. I don't mind portrayals of actual issues that people have—failing marriages, lies that compound to the point of eruption, emotional infidelity, the stress of just...life—and in fact I tend to enjoy books that are willing to tackle the messier, more unappealing bits of peoples mistakes, but this missed the mark for me.

And yet, it earned my three stars. All three for one reason: this was a superb portrayal of what it is like watching someone you love deteriorate from Alzheimer's. I noticed several other reviewers have mentioned the same thing, but if you've never experienced it you can believe me when I say this book was pretty spot on. It was difficult to read just because it was the most effective part of it. Both form the perspective of the child, and in observing the primary caretaker (her father). It was easily the most effective writing in the book, and easily what garnered the most sympathy from me for Larisa. Full marks for how that was handled.

Thank you muchly to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

****Coming March 9, 2021****
Thanks to Netgalley, I was chosen to be an reviewer.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️When Larisa returns to her great aunts home town after she has died, she steps into The Little French Bridal shop because she thought it would fun to try on dresses even though she had just broken up with her longtime boyfriend. When Larisa doesn’t have the heart to tell the shop owner, Mrs Muldoon, she isn’t getting married, she makes up details about whom she is going to marry and when. Word spreads quickly in this small town, can Larisa pull off a wedding or does she end up making a fool of herself by getting tangeled up in her own lies. This debut author will having you turning the pages to find out. This author brilliantly writes about the important topics of dealing with a parent with dementia and mid life crisis, while weaving it into an engaging story. Sometime you have to lose everything In order to figure out what you want in life.

No matter how many times, either by omission or outright lies, Larissa finds true happiness in her hometown after years away. After inheriting Aunt Ideals she decides to fix it up and stay although that wasn't her original intention. Once her eighth grade teacher decides Larissa is a bride to be ,Larissa is life becomes an entangled mess which makes for a very fun read. Descriptions of the area, the old house, daily events are well done. I look forward to more by Ms Dupree.

Based on the title, I was initially very intrigued about this read, thinking it'd be a fun romance read. However, it was not and I just couldn't get into it. The book has an extremely long exposition and feels like it too, and in the end, it just feels boring to me and I couldn't get into this one. Time bounces between the present and flashback scenes for each main character, Jack and Larisa, rather abruptly and it's just confusing as a new reader. The characters are really flighty who don't know what they want, which makes them hard to relate to. Also, the title is misleading because this book is not about the shop as one would expect, it's just the location she purchases her fake wedding dress from. I'm sure this book is meant for someone, however, that is just not me.

I received this book "The Little French Bridal Shop" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I can see Larissa getting caught up in the lies because it is a small town and everyone knows everything about everyone. Once it started she didn't know how to back out. So I took this as more of a fun story (not realistic but fun). So if you go into the reading of this book with that attitude you will like it. I can see that she didn't want to hurt anyones feelings so she kept going on with the lies. That didn't bother me at all, like I said a fun read. It was a cute story.

The Little French Bridal Shop by Jennifer Dupee

In this heartfelt debut novel, can a woman discover her true self and find love between her lies?

This book was okay, but not exciting.. I did enjoy the characters. It showed us how dementia, death, and relationships were handled.

Thank you Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for reviewe.

The Little French Bridal Shop revolves around Larisa Pearl. Who while tying things up, walks out of curiosity to the little french bridal shops door. She's almost forty who looks back towards the past and just came out of a serious relationship. Goes through sad and happy memories. She ends up out of curiosity going into the little french bridal shop and runs into her middle school teacher Mrs. Muldoch. Who out gets her to try on wedding dresses and starts getting noisy and assumptive.

Larisa is going through a lot in life part of it is tying up her aunts house deciding whether to sell or not. She I feel is a bit delusional and not totally realistic about life problems. Especially when it comes to family life and locals. I think she would be happier to make it all disappear. It is very sad in many ways not very happy and cheery.

I personally did not enjoy this book. I found the characters to be too illogical for my taste. It doesn't make sense to me why a woman with no interest in getting married would try on dresses and then actually pay for one. I also didn't feel like Jack's feelings for Holly were realistic. I know other people have enjoyed this book though and I hope it does well!

The cover of this book leads you to believe that you will be wrapped up in a charming romance. I found it to be untrue. I really found the characters unlikable with little redeeming qualities. This was not a book that I’d recommend., though I’m sure some people will like it.

This was a great read! The characters were written so well that I was pulling my hair out, waiting for Larisa to grow up, but it was so raw and so real I could not put it down. A great, fun read!

I liked this book, but it was inconsistent at times. Sometimes I understood where Larissa was coming from. But then there were times she seemed immature. I liked the plot, it was just a little too up & down for me.