I can see this book will have fans. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. There were parts I liked, mostly the setting and the godmother. Noah would have been a better main character than Merry, especially if Merry was not his love interest. I just wasn't buying it. She's a twit. There were too many side stories that wouldn't have been missed.

4.5 Stars. Merry has been in love with her best friend but he falls instantly in love with her sister. At their wedding Merry and the best man, Noah, who have always hated each other continue to clash but do share a kiss. Merry’s aunt offers her the chance to escape to chateau in France and Merry accepts only to find when she arrives that her aunt has also offered it to Noah. The chateau is in disrepair and the pair must share a bed and they become friends then fall in love while trying to uncover the mystery behind a painter in the region who disappeared.

It’s a romance set in a French chateau, I was always going to like it. I really liked both Merry and Noah and found both their journey’s to be interesting and full stories. While this book is all in Merry’s POV, it is very much Noah’s story as well. I found the A and various B plots to be compelling in a way that many books I’ve read recently have not been, making this book feel like a much fuller story. The only negative for me was that much of the drama felt over the top to the point of bing melodramatic, but it didn’t ruin the book for me. Overall I was very entertained and will have to keep an eye out for Sarah’s next book.

I listened to the audiobook more than I actually read it and really enjoyed myself. Kelsey Navarro was a wonderful reader. She did the voices well enough that I could always tell who was speaking and also managed to do very well with the French which is a skill a lot of narrators do not have.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Ready’s French Holiday was such a sweet, funny romance. Thank you NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Trigger warning: death of a parent.
I absolutely loved the setting of this book. The prose was so vivid I felt completely transported to a crumbling chateau in the French countryside. It truly felt like an escape from reality.
Merry and Noah are just wonderful together. I could identify with a lot of Merry’s struggles in love and in life, especially as a young woman. I love how her relationship with Noah blossomed so naturally. And Noah, well, he’s just an amazing book boyfriend. Grumpy yet sweet and sensitive is my favorite combination. I really hope we haven’t seen the last of Merry and Noah because I love them so much.
I highly recommend this book and it is available on April 26.

When she runs away to a french castle to recover after her sister married a guy she loves, but someone is already there 🤫 I had zero expectations, but this book sucked me in! It’s not only about romance, but there is also a bit of a mystery and local legend, and what convinced me the most is that you can absolutely feel the french cottage core and almost smell and taste the food: fresh bread, cheese, wine… Don’t read it on an empty stomach! As a lover of french countryside - I recommend it as a perfect read for holidays in France.
I took away half a star for the ending - it felt a bit extreme to my taste, but overall I enjoyed it a lot and read in one go.

I loved reading this book! It had the perfect balance of romance, with a bit of mystery too.

When Angela, Merry's sister, marries Leo (who Merry is in love with), she decides to go to France and stay in her godmother's chateau for 3 months. Only, it isn't just her staying there, there's also Noah who is Leo's best friend and he is working on his travel documentaries there. Merry and Noah are forced into close proximity when there turns out to be only one bed!

This is a great enemies-to-lovers romance book, which I adored reading. The character development of Merry was really nice to read, watching her become more confident in herself. I loved Merry and Noah's relationship, and was rooting for them throughout. The book was really well written, and had good length chapters which always helps! Would definitely recommend reading.

French Holiday is a great beach read. Haters to lovers, crumbing French chateau, plus a bit of mystery!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Okay, so this is official the most wholesome, softest, emotional, romantic, understanding, comforting, & humorous romance I've read so far this year.

Merry & Noah's relationship was serene, perfect, and full of cute animosities. I loved how they started off as enemies but slowly became so much more, especially how cooperative & understanding both were. The maturity of these was commendable. Every scene of theirs was so so soooooo romantic & I had goofy smile throughout.

I can't begin to describe how FULL & beautiful the romance was. Both Merry & Noah dealt with so much unrequited love that made the love they had for each other multiply.

Not only the romance but the sub-plot was one heck of a kind. I mean, it's been ages, I feel when sub-plots like this kept me going except for the romance. Honestly, this book was so poetic & the backdrop of the French countryside was an added bonus.

If you love 27 Dresses+Bridget Jones' Diary+The Italian Job (by Kathryn Freeman), then this is exactly your book. Even if you don't like either of these, STILL READ THIS BOOK.

<i>Thank you NetGalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.<i>

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Merry DeLuca has a big problem! It is her sister Angela and Leo’s wedding. Leo and Merry have been friends for at least five years but secretly she has always loved him, and she has never had the nerve to tell him just how she feels … now it is too late. Leo’s best man is the man Merry just despises the most, famous travel writer Noah Wright. With all the drama at the wedding and turmoil at work Merry’s godmother offers Merry the use of her newly acquired French Castle – time for an extended vacation and find a man for herself. However, once she arrives her nemesis, Noah has rented the castle from Merry’s godmother Jupiter, he is in France researching French Castles. Neither Merry nor Noah plan to leave.

I had such high hope for French Holiday, I so enjoy contemporary romance books and this one started out with some fun characters and the enemy-to- lovers did not last for long. But the book was just too long- at least it felt that way, I did not feel Merry and Noah had much chemistry as lovers and there were too many silly side stories such Louis, the lobster. While this was a pleasant read, it just wad not a book that was memorable.

Thank you, Sarah Ready, Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on April 26, 2023.

thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing for this E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

i ate this UP. so easy to read and i loved merry & noah’s characters sm.

this book is extremely lighthearted and so easy to read. i loved sarah readys style so much!

but can we fr talk about how terrible leo is as a friend & angela as a sister? i wanted to give them a piece of my mind for merry bc wow

merry is so matilda fr & i am so glad noah loves her the way she deserves 🤍

i would definitely recommend this one!!

Romance

Utter perfection! This author will now be a go-to author for me.

Merry has been in love with her best friend for years. On the day she planned to tell him about her feelings he meets her sister and falls head over heels in love. On the day of their marriage, his best friend- Noah, tells her she needs to get over it as there is nothing worse than unrequited love. She might listen to the advice if she liked Noah in any way. Since the first day they met, she has been on his bad side.

Her godmother offers up her chateau in France as a way to escape her life. She sees it as the perfect opportunity to get herself together. The problems occur when she arrives in France. Her aunt has also told Noah that he could stay at the chateau while he writes a book.

You know what is going to happen in the enemies to lovers romance, but Ready does a tremendous job of developing the relationship organically. Nothing is rushed and shared experiences only serve to solidify this relationship.

I loved it! Great beach or summer read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this novel.

The first 40% of the book did not impress. Once the mystery aspect started unfolding I became much more interested. There were a lot of eye roll moments for things Merry said, she came across as not being very smart several times and I don’t think that was necessary. Her shock about eggs not being refrigerated as one example. Also, what is up with the use of the word puce over and over? This wasn’t my favorite read but it was entertaining enough to finish.

This travel romance is perfect for someone who likes close proximity, only one bed, hate-to-love, etc, type romance tropes -- which definitely was me! I really appreciated that the main characters modeled strong communication with each other, while maintaining fun banter with each other throughout. I would absolutely read more of their life together, as well as other books by Sarah Ready.

This was a pleasant read. I didn’t hate it and found that it had a nostalgic late 90s/early 00s romcom feel at times but it was a little too predictable for my liking.

This story was delightful and a real escapist read!
The story begins with Merry participating in the wedding between her sister Angela and her best friend (and secret crush) Leo. Merry has been in love with Leo for 4 years and is stagnating in her job. Angela and Leo come back from their honeymoon and announce their pregnancy at the same time that Merry's job is falling apart. Enter Merry's flighty godmother Jupiter who offers her the opportunity to run away for 3 months to a French chateau that she has just purchased.
Merry takes her broken heart to Annecy, France to live in a local chateau and find out what will make her happy. Upon exiting the taxi, she discovers that Jupiter has also rented to Leo's best friend and Merry's enemy Noah. Noah is a famous travel documentarian who is in France to research his next travel special and book. Sparks fly and the plot catapults from here with zany adventures (the lobster episode was one of my favorites), flirty neighbors, lots of local scenery and a surprising mystery. Both Merry and Noah have unfortunate pasts that are dealt with lightly but compassionately.
This story made me want to book a trip to Annecy! It was like a travel recommendation and love story in one.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my honest review.

This book was a complete roller coaster. There were new plot points left and right, but it all made sense which was quite amazing. There were so many tropes between Merry and Noah and so many more added in once Pierre and Camille’s relationship came into play. I do always love following more than one relationship in this sense, it just makes the book more than just a regular romance.
I feel like once the small mystery aspect was introduced close to the end of the book the book ended up rushing to get to the end. A few things were left unresolved but other than that I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Swift and Lewis Publishing for an eARC of this book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Steam Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (one very descriptive open door scene)
Trigger Warning: parental abandonment, house fire, brief mention of loved one with cancer

Merry DeLuca has always lived in the shadow of her sister Angela. So when Angela marries the man that Merry has secretly loved for four years, Merry knows it's time for things to change. She quits her job and leaves for 3 months in France, thanks to a godmother who owns a vacant chateau. Little does Merry know, the man she hates- Noah Wright- is also staying at the chateau to work on a travel book. As these two figure out how to live together, they slowly begin to discover that maybe they don't really hate each other. And Noah is keeping a secret that will change everything. Can Merry come away from France with a new outlook on life and even a new romance?

This was another delightful read from Sarah Ready! It was part rom-com, part mystery, and had two emotional back stories that brought tears to my eyes. Merry and Noah started off with a fun enemies vibe that slowly turned to friendship and then a fiery romance. I loved Camille and Phillipe- the neighbors who helped Merry and Noah. And Merry's sister was a bit of a villain who learned her lesson in the end. The mystery that came into play in the second half kept the story from dragging, and I loved how it all played out. I was also thankful that there wasn't a third act breakup, although there were definitely several moments that had me worried about whether Noah and Merry would work things out. I'm looking forward to whatever comes next from Sarah Ready!

Thank you Netgalley and Swift and Lewis Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book was so cute and FUNNY!!! I had such a great time reading this. Unrequited love? Check. Castle in France? Check. One bed? CHECK! Pet lobster? Uhhhh…check? Merry is dreading walking down the aisle. Her sister is marrying her best friend aka the guy she’s loved in secret for years. So when her godmother offers her the use of her very own French castle, Merry jumps at the chance to escape her life for a few months.

Only it’s not empty. It’s already occupied by none other than Noah, Leo’s best friend, her nemesis, and the guy she woke up naked in bed with the night after her sister’s wedding. Determined not to let this derail her plans for a fresh start, Merry agreed that Noah can stay. Especially once she gets a good look at the castle she’s residing in and woof…she is not impressed.

They spend more and more time together, meeting Pierre and Camille, their neighbors, and exploring the city of Annecy, eating cheese and baguettes, drinking wine that tastes like starlight, and generally living their best summer lives while occasionally bickering and maybe/maybe not falling in love while trying to convince themselves that they aren’t.

And listen y’all, this was laugh out loud funny at times. The scene with the lobster had me cry-laughing, it was a real giggle fest! Noah frustrated me for a while with his brooding and bending over BACKWARD to make sure Merry knew that there would never be anything between them, all while he loved her I’m secret. Swoon, seriously, the things he said to her!

“When I first saw you, you were the first bright thing I’d seen in years. You were the beginning of the end for me.” “Were you in unrequited love with me?” He laughs. “No. I was just in love with you. I knew you’d love me back sooner or later.”

So yeah, loved this loved them love love!

The French Holiday is a delightful, fluffy, whimsical read. I adore Merry and the slow build between her and Noah. I love the mystery of Noah's parentage and the folklore around the chateau. Sarah Ready excellently detailed the setting, from the atmosphere of the chateau to smell of the rain, it felt like a little vacation. Overall I really enjoyed this one, it kept my attention, made me laugh, and let me escape life for a bit.

French Holiday has an exciting concept and a fun-looking cover. I appreciated the author’s choice to move away from Paris and actually set the plot in a completely different part of France: le lac d’Annecy! At least, it’s a great choice to stand out, even though you still get your fair share of French clichés, like the food, the guy with an old-fashioned name and the castle. It’s a light feel-good read with potential. I’m just a bit disappointed because I wasn’t swept up by the story. I couldn’t sense the chemistry between the two main characters, so the plot didn’t feel as engaging as it could’ve been, for me at least.

French Holiday by Sarah Ready
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Merry is soooooooo happy for sister to get married. If only it were to any other guy than her best friend that she has been secretly pining for the past four years. And so she is escaping to a French chateau….only to find that the awful best man is already settling in there as well.
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What I liked:
-This book was super fun from the beginning to the end. Merry was our loveable heroine who had a goal, and Noah was the grump who had his own goal that he did not want Merry’s help with.
-The scene with the lobster was hilarious.
-I really enjoyed Noah’s back story, as crazy and unbelievable as it was.
-Pierre and Camille were our fun locals and they added a lot to the story.
-I wanted to go to France the whole time mostly to eat all the food they kept talking about. 😍
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️