Such a fun and enjoyable story. Probably one of my favourites this year.

I mean who doesn't love an enemies to lovers/forced proximity?

Give it a go you won't regret it!

This book was such a cute romantic comedy! The setting was beautiful, it made me want to book a flight to France. I liked our main characters, Merry and Noah, and I thought they had great chemistry and funny banter. There is a mystery subplot, which only added to the story and made me like it more.
Things I didn't like were the quickness of loving someone, it felt very unrealistic. And the book was a bit longer than it needed it to be, some scenes were unnecessary and ridiculous (rat, lobster). Maybe I'm just too much of a realist.

Read if you like:
- Forced Proximity
- Only One Bed
- Enemies to Friends to Lovers
- Mystery subplot
- RomCom vibes

Full review with book aesthetic and more will be posted on my instagram page @milasreadingcorner on April 7th 2023

Thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

French Holiday - Sarah Ready

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

𝘓𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

🏰 🕶️ 💖

Merry and Noah wind up at the same crumbling castle in France, each on a holiday meant to be alone. Merry is in search of falling out of unrequited love with her best friend Leo who just married her sister, while Noah is in search of answers from his past.

If you love these tropes: Forced proximity. Friends to lovers. Miscommunication. Handsome MMC. 😍

This book was more than just a love story. It was comical and spicy and also had a mystery story line woven within where Noah tries to find out what happened to his mom who disappeared years before. I kept holding on to when Noah and Merry would finally get together and it did not disappoint. 🥹

Also don’t miss the personification of Louis the lobster which had me laughing. 🦞 😂

Thank you to NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, and Sarah Ready for my advanced review copy. Don’t miss this book on its pub day on 4/26/23!! 💖

Fun and wonderful - a really good romcom. Utterly readable and delightful with characters that are so well defined and articulated.

I am a huge fan of forced proximity, especially when it is enemies to lovers. It just works for me. When Merry needs to get away after her sisters wedding, her godmother asks her to stay at her French chateau. Sounds perfect, right? Well, when she gets there….the last person she expects to bump into is Noah. The best man and her worst nightmare!

This book was full of charm, with two likable main characters. I really felt like we got to know them both and it was such a fun ride to the end. We also get a two for one story with Camille and Pierre mixed in. Even though I knew immediately how the mystery Noah was trying to solve was going to play out, it was fun how it all came together. Overall a delightful read!

Bottom Line: Read it!

**I received a copy of French Holiday from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

The love of Merry's life, Leo, is getting married... to her little sister. Merry struggles after the wedding and her godmother offers her an escape, a three month trip to the French countryside to look after her chateau. Merry takes the chance to escape only to find Leo's best friend and her biggest enemy, Noah, is also staying at the chateau for the summer. A great set-up for the enemies to lovers story that unfolds.

The French Holiday was my first book by Sarah Ready and I definitely enjoyed it enough to pick up another. It was a light and easy to read rom com with some really sweet moments. The mystery aspect kind of came out of nowhere for me and I wasn't a huge fan of it, but it wrapped up nicely. Overall, I would recommend this to a friend.

Thank you Swift and Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced e-copy of this book.

What is better than a cute enemies to lovers and unrequited love romance based in the French countryside? The answer is nothing.
This book made me super happy! It was cute, fun, and charming.

The characters had so much depth to them and in turn were a delight to read about. I felt like I was cheering them all on, I wanted them to find love and feel loved.

Sarah Ready knows how to write, I felt like I was there alongside the characters. It is a story you truly feel immersed in.

Love, love, love it and would recommend it highly!

I wasn’t a big fan of the story in the beginning but it quickly got much better! It wasn’t so much an enemies to lovers because Merry had a good attitude. I loved Noah! He was so good for her and good to her.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5/5

What I liked:
• Merry and Noah’s bickering.
• The humorous scenes and lines.
• The deep conversations and sweet, sincere moments.
• The plot being more than just a simple romance.

When I found this arc on NetGalley, although the synopsis caught my attention, it was more the cover that pulled me in. At first, I thought it would be a simple enemies to lovers romance, but it was so much more, which I think is why I read this is just a day! The journey of Merry’s learning about receiving and accepting love was beautiful and the discovery to Noah’s past was emotional to say the least! This delved in to many different areas of love, which was refreshing and had me reflecting a lot. Everyone has a different meaning of love and this showed exactly that. If you’re looking for a sweet, heartwarming, emotional, beautiful story, French Holiday is the one to pick. I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy once released and in the meantime, exploring more of Sarah’s work.

Thank you NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing and Sarah for accepting me as an arc reader in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute book. I was going in thinking this was going to be a simple romance book, but I was so wrong this is so much more. I loved the small touch of mystery.
Poor Merry must stand on the side lines and watch her sister marry the person she loves. After that who wouldn’t want to escape to a castle in France!!
I really enjoyed how the characters interact with each and how their story progresses. Noah is book boyfriend goals. I like how their enemies to friends to lover’s story develops throughout the book. I do wish Merry could have gotten over Leo and moved on from him a lot faster.
All in all, I like this book and I recommend it to everyone who is looking for a lighthearted and romantic read. I can’t believe this is the first book I have read from author Sarah Ready been?! I’ll be reading her other books!

SPOILERS

French holiday is a story about a girl (Merry) whose sister is marrying her best friend aka her first love. She’s the brides maid and absolutely hates the grooms best man (Noah). The wedding was the first chapter of the book so it doesn’t really focus on any of that but rather her and Noah’s relationship.

She decides to to France, as a form of escapism from her reality of having a terrible job, love life being horrible and the one man she truly loved was married to her sister.

I love how Merry was such a good sister, and her love for everyone else. Her character was so wholesome and she was very straight forward about things. She did over think slot but she definitely spoke her mind.

This book was meant to cover enemies to lovers however the enemies part cut very short and there was more friendship. I would definitely say it was enemies to friends to lovers. They were friends for a VERY long time before becoming lovers. the mmc was secretly pinning over her so was it really enemies to lovers? Also include forced proximity and one bed trope which I am a SUCKER for.

I loved the way France was described, it made me want to go visit myself. I was ready to book a one way ticket to see all the castles and soak in the scenery.

This book was also quite rom com and the most absurd and silliest things (Louis specifically) happening. also loved the plot twist and the scene with Noah and his dad, it made me shed a tear🥺

There was SO many things this book unpacked - specifically trauma they both faced as kids and growing up. Murder accusations and the whole mystery plot was a nice touch to the book. It didn’t just focus on their relationship but everything around them.

The discussion about love and everyone’s perspective and how their own life changed their meaning of love. That touch was really nice and I love a book with second couple, Pierre and Camille were just ADORABLE. It was kinda confusing how Camille went from flirting with Noah to Pierre unless she was trying to make him jealous.

The spice was very limited definitely closed but there was one scene that did talk about it however it was child like when I read it as if a 13 year old on wattpad was writing it and I did cringe. This book should’ve kept the spice more up to their imagination and let it be a romantic YA book.

This book was quite fast paced no tragic heartbreak. It was cute and soft.

I would rate it 2.5 out of 5 however I can’t so I rate it a 3.

French Holiday
Sarah Ready
Pub Date: April 26, 2023

This was my first book by author Sarah Ready and it won’t be my last! I absolutely adored French Holiday and read most of the book in one day!

French Holiday is the perfect enemies to lovers and close proximity romance! I absolutely loved the character development and found myself wanting to visit France NOW because of how beautifully the author described the scenery.

When Merry’s sister marries her best friend (and love of her life) Leo, she knows she needs an escape plan, so she quits her job and decides to move to the French countryside for three months to live in a castle. All sounds perfect, until she realizes famous travel documentarian, Noah Wright, the best man from her sister’s wedding and the worst person she has ever met, is also living in the same castle. Will the two be able to survive three months living together?

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good enemies to lovers trope!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Swift and Lewis Publishing, Sarah Ready, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of French Holiday!

Posted on Goodreads on April 2, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
Posted on Instagram (full review) on April 26, 2023: https://instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Posted on Instagram (mini review) in April 2023: https://instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Posted on Amazon on April 26 2023

I was actually really impressed with this book. I was expecting a standard romance but this was so much more. It had a really good and interesting story along with great side stories and characters which makes the flow of the whole book really nice. The characters were all very good with great back stories. My favourite scene was the one with the lobster, hilarious! Definitely recommend.

I traveled to France with this book for sure. I loved this book so much that I was engaged from the start. I feel like this book will be on the top charts for 2023. It was one of my complete five favorite romance novels I've read this year. It was fast-paced, and I enjoy the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope, and this one delivered. I LOVED Merry and Noah's chemistry. It was well-developed, and the characters were very enjoyable. It was the novel we didn't know we needed. SO GOOOD!

Merry is a kind young woman that just wants things to go right for her. Even after a childhood spent feeling like she was #2 behind her little sister, and her parents separating with her dad leaving, she still found a solid job and a solid best friend. But now her best friend (whom she’s also in love with, met and fell in love with her sister, she’s forced to be the bearer of bad news to multiple people at her job, and when she decides to escape it all she finds herself living in a crumbled down chateau with her nemesis, Noah.

Deciding to make the best of the situation, she starts exploring the local community, meeting a handsome man to spend time with, cleaning up her new home, and trying to become acquaintances with Noah. Slowly learning more about each other they become friends and learn to like spending time together. That leads Noah to sharing something important about his past and together they work to try to solve a mystery he’s been working on for over a decade and build a stronger relationship as a result.

Merry is a light character, but not flighty, easy to root for and quirky. The self discovery theme is easy and the romance storyline of friends to love comes together nicely (with a little spice). This was a sweet and engaging read; I kept wanting to come back to it.

3.5 Stars French Holiday by Sarah Ready is a vacation rom-com set in a beautiful, but dilapidated French chateau. After Merry DeLuca’s younger sister marries her best friend and unrequited love, Merry is in dire need of a change. Just as Merry quits her depressing HR job and her sister announces her pregnancy, Merry’s godmother asks if Merry will temporarily move to France to look after her chateau. Three months in a beautiful French chateau? Yes please! The chateau is beautiful on the outside, but it’s what’s inside that sends Merry spinning: an old run down estate and Noah Wright. Noah was best man at the wedding and he’s made it clear that he doesn’t like Merry or the fact that she’s been pining over their shared best friend. It seems that Merry’s godmother forgot to mention that she’s renting the chateau to Noah while he spends time researching and writing for the next season of his wildly popular travel series. Merry and Noah agree to make peace for the time being and try to avoid each other while both living in the chateau. Easier said than done when there’s only one bed.

This was a fun and breezy rom com. The word count made it seem like it would be a lot longer, but the action kept the story going. I liked the bit of mystery surrounding the chateau, a disappeared artist, and even Noah himself. I wasn’t expecting that element of the story, but it was a delight. Recommend this one for a fun read with a romantic HEA!

I loved this book! This was my first book by Sarah Ready that I’ve read and it definitely won’t be my last. I loved all the characters she created in this universe and that they were more than just side characters, she gave them reason and depth and background.

The story of unrequited love is so good and how that can take many forms. I think we can all relate to Merry and having feelings for that friend who doesn’t see you as more than a friend and how painful that can be.

One of the things I loved about this book is how so much of the book the characters actually like each other! Often in enemies to lovers so much of the plot is them fighting and it was super nice to see a different approach.

I loved this book and will definitely be recommending it to my friends to check it out when it’s released on April 26th and picking up some more Sarah Ready to read!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4* A funny, somewhat exhilarating, moving novel about love, required or not.

Angela's the little sister, the one everybody loves at first sight.
Merry is the older, kinder one and she too is under her sister spell: it happened since she cast her eyes on her, she can't help but let her have all she wishes for: from her first bike to Leo, her best friend, who's she's secretly in love with.
Angela and Leo are getting married and Merry can't stand her life anymore, so when her eccentric godmother offer her the opportunity to use her French castle to have a flight from her life, she gives in.
Everything in France seems wonderful: the scenery, the smell, the colors, but soon Merry discovers that all that glitters is not always gold, the romantic and wonderful castle is stony, dirty and falling apart on the inside and, most of all, her godmother didn't share that Noah, Leo's best friend and Merry worst enemy, has just rent the castle and they're going to share it.

Merry is lovely, kind, compassionate and brightly hopeful; Noah is more grounded, a bit aloof and not so easy to read, but has a bright and popular public persona. They're the perfect couple of main characters for a novel like this.
There's plenty of funny, if not crazy, moments and I had plenty of laughter, with cucumber and lobster used a prop.
There's also some insightful moment about what love means, what's worth or not in love and what it should really mean to be loved.
It's sort of a contemporary gothic novel, mixed with most of the typical rom-com scenarios.
This book is lovely written and checks all the marks you might imagine while reading the plot and more, I would totally recommend it for a holiday, a self-dedicated day or a little escape from everyday life.

Thanks Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for providing this as an Arc in exchange of an honest review.

I was intrigued by the cover and synopsis of this book so I requested the advanced listeners copy. I enjoyed this book off and on. I was hooked for the first 20% and then the main character mistaking a rat for a kitten in her bed was the first red flag for me. There were several other ridiculous things that happened and that just turned me off. I found the characters likable so that’s why I decided on a 3 star rating.

I really enjoyed this one. Its equipped with some of my favourite tropes. We have enemies to lovers, one bed and forced proximity. Such a fun and easy going read.