Such a great progression of Merry and Noah's relationship. A few parts felt a little unrealistic (like Leo and Angela's engagement), the overall story continued to get better as it went on. By the end I was caught up in the romance and loved the way Noah's story came together.

This was a really sweet book! Merry and her sometimes antagonist and sometimes love interest Noah have great chemistry. The setting of a crumbling chateau in the gorgeous French countryside worked so well for their story. There was also a little bit of mystery thrown into the mix. I read this partially on ebook and audio.

French Holiday by Sarah Ready is a totally wonderful book filled with unrequited love, found love, different types of love and a crumbling castle in France along with a little mystery and magic. This story has humor and unexpected surprises that will keep readers completely engaged. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommended.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this! Set in paradise, rats and all, with a little mystery, and a slow burn romance, it's a wonderful novel.
The relationships are real, and the characters are lovely. Even Louie...
Was a lovely HEA.

After a disastrous few weeks, Merry is saying au revoir to New York City and bonjour to France. More importantly, saying bonjour to a French castle bestowed to her by her (fairy) godmother. The only problem? Her nemesis is also staying there. What could possibly happen between the two of them within these castle walls, not to mention the French countryside?

This was so cute. I felt for Merry especially in the first chapters. She just couldn't seem to catch a break from life. Then in comes Noah, her best friend's groomsman. After a somewhat misunderstanding, they start to room with one another. Normally, I don't particularly care about enemies to lovers, but this was so good. I loved their banter and how we got to see how these characters grew from the first page to the last page. My heart ached for Noah as I read further in the book and Merry, when she realized as time went on, what she wanted. The descriptions made me feel like I was actually there with Merry and Noah and the friends they made along the way.

If I had one complaint, it did lean a little too much into the rom-com tropes. I'm not one for all the tropes and I felt that sometimes they were a bit much, but it didn't detract from the story for me. Overall, an excellent weekend read to simply get away for a little bit.

Thank you Swift and Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Where have I been that I have never read a Sarah Ready book? I just finished French Holiday and I must tell you that I laughed out loud so many times throughout this book! This story was hilarious, but it had some serious parts too. Merry DeLuca is in love with her best friend, Leo, but he is marrying her beautiful, little sister, Angela. Merry has always taken care of Angela and given her anything that Angela wanted. And Angela wanted a lot of what Merry had.

After the wedding, Merry is feeling low and her bohemian godmother gives her the gift of a three month stay in her old French chateau. Merry takes this as a sign to restart and rebuild her life. Unfortunately, upon her arrival, she finds her nemesis, Noah Wright, is already staying at the chateau. Noah is Leo’s best friend, and he has hated Merry ever since he met her no matter how hard she tried to make friends with him. Merry doesn’t understand it, but she finally gives up and returns the feeling.

They get off to a bad start at the chateau but agree to both stay and avoid each other as much as possible. You are probably thinking it doesn’t sound so funny so far, right? Well, coming up are three of the funniest situations you will ever experience involving a cucumber, a “kitty” and a lobster dinner. Yes, you heard that right. Trust me.

As time progresses, Merry and Noah start to become friends, but Noah has secrets and when Merry starts to feel more she needs to know what they are. Noah also is feeling more, but is Merry over Leo?

This is a wonderful book full of laughter, fun, sweetness, compassion, and love. Many thanks to the publisher, Swift and Lewis Publishing, and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read it in exchange for my honest opinion. I gave it four stars!

💕 ARC REVIEW 💕
French Holiday by Sarah Ready

This book deserves all 5 ⭐️ and would honestly give it 10 if I could!

Description:
Merry’s best friend and the man she has been in love with for years is marrying her sister. Following the wedding, she decides that she needs an escape plan to get out of her everyday life and get over him once and for all! But, fate has a different plan for her and once she arrives at her god-mothers French Rivera chateau she is faced with Noah. The man that she hates and supposedly hates her. Will they survive the next 3 months living under the same roof?

My thoughts:
I absolutely loved every second of this! Merry is such a fun and independent and ridiculous character. She is relatable and kind and someone you could easily have a good time with!
Noah is the perfect mix of mysterious and intriguing. A strong character that you quickly fall in love with!

I constantly laughed through this book and felt like I could easily be Merry with all the things that happen to her in the castle! Louis, I’m looking at you! And I’m pretty sure we can all agree that bugs are a big no.

Overall, I would gladly reread this and I cannot wait for it to come out so I can add it to my shelf!

Thank you Swift and Lewis Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I quite enjoyed French Holiday by Sarah Ready. The concept is simple - after her longtime crush Leo marries her sister Angela, Merry DeLuca quits her job and takes her godmother Jupiter up on her offer to stay in a French chateau, sort of a "flight plan" for three months. There's only one issue: Jupiter also leased the place to Noah Wright, a travel documentarian, Leo's best friend, and Merry's enemy. Well, and the other issue: there's only one habitable bedroom and one bed.

Slowly, Merry and Noah open up to each other (as they see it, the stakes are low since they don't like each other and will be strangers again soon enough), But the more they get to know each other, the closer they become. And when Merry starts to help Noah on the secret mission he's come to France for, their hatred turns to friendship and then more.

As with any sweet romance novel, there's some cheesiness at play. But this one stood above for me since there was no classic third act breakup - the point of this book was to see two people open up about their vulnerabilities and work together to heal some long-seeded personal trauma. Any miscommunications were far in the past and easily resolved. I felt like Merry and Noah were compatible as written, and even the expedited timeline of their romance felt as authentic as one can in a book like this. Some plot points felt a little unrealistic to me, but I finished the book feeling happy, and that's always the goal.

Highly recommend for anyone looking for a sweet and not too saccharine read. Some open door steam, although not too spicy or graphic. Gorgeous descriptions of France and the food. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Josh and Gemma make a baby is one of my favorite books! I was very excited to see that Sarah came out with a new book.
This book did not disappoint. I thought the M.C. had fantastic character growth throughout the book and I felt myself relating to the M.C. at some points. Overall, it was very cute and funny. I found myself laughing out loud many times.
One aspect of the book that I did not like, was the MC's sister. I found her quite annoying and frustrating at times. I thought the advice that she would give the MC made me roll my eyes a few times.

I will definitely be rereading this when I need a lighthearted rom-com.

Thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing for an arc

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishers LLC for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I liked this book, but thought it started off a little slow. The characters were interesting and fun. Merry was a bit obvious about her crush on Leo, and hence Noah's animosity. This is a sort of enemies to lovers book. Merry and Noah end up sharing a delipidated castle. This book has a bit of mystery, romance, and wine (loved the descriptions). 4 stars

French Holiday is a wonderful contemporary comedy novel written by Sarah Ready.
Where the maid of honor and best man at a family wedding end up in France on a three month holiday in a rustic, yet beautiful crumbling castle. Let the merriment begin!
This book was perfect to intrigue my mind with the intrepid characters and delightful teasing dialogue. The love scenes were not graphic, but described titteringly perfectly.
This storyline was woven beautifully and meaningfully with a satisfying ending
Perfect for a Lifetime Movie. I’d watch it.

Sarah Ready’s latest novel French Holiday was a great combination of a laugh out loud comedy, romance, and mystery.

After watching the man she loves walk down the aisle with her sister, Merry is certain she needs an escape. So when she’s offered a chance to stay in a French chateau, she knows she can’t turn it down!

When she arrives, she’s floored by the natural beauty of France and the stunning chateau with five turrets. It all feels like a dream come true, until her one night stand groomsman Noah shows up. She accosts him with a cucumber and this was already after I had laughed aloud at least four times.

I should warn that not everything in this book is lighthearted. There’s a great deal of loss explored in the book, which only enhanced the romance for me. However, I wanted to put the warning out there.

Merry has a bit of Amelia Bedelia in her. She just has some unfortunate luck at times that has such great comedic effect. I listened to most of the book thanks to @PRHaudio and the narrator was fantastic. I did also read some of it on my kindle, but I highly recommend the audio! I love when books make me laugh and smile as I read.

I have never read a book by Sarah Ready before. I feel lucky to now read through the rest of her novels!

I requested to read and review this book for free from Swift and Lewis Publishing LLC. This book will have laughing, possibly some tears, some angry moments. The story line has romance, mystery and some drama. Is love at first sight a thing or is it just lust? How do you know if you are meant to be with someone? Merry is girl that has always put everyone else needs first when is she going to decide her needs come first? Noah has a hard time trusting due to things out of control. Can these two find happily ever after? Will it be with each other or with their neighbors? Can what you dream up be reality? This book is for a mature reader and can be read anywhere.

I really enjoyed this romantic comedy, there were a few moments in the beginning that I didn't sit well, as explained below, but once the story moved to the main setting in France, I was hooked. I really enjoyed the blossoming friendship/relationship between Merry and Noah and how Merry’s opinion of Noah changed after spending more time together. I really liked the discussions about the different kinds of love, and how relationships with parents can affect a relationship later in life. I liked the mystery of Noah’s past and the setting was super swoon-worthy, it made me want to book a flight to France.

The beginning of this book was a rather rough start for me, with the author using insults like demented and schizophrenic - it just pulled me out of the story and I think there are better insults to use than these two mental illness/illness related ones. The second being the timeline of the sister’s pregnancy didn’t really make sense, she knew she was pregnant after 2 weeks?

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
Your classic summer Romance. A chateau in the countryside of Annecy, France, filled with good food, wine and handsome men. The perfect combination. I loved that there was a deeper layer behind Noah. Which really added to the story. You could feel the spark between their denial. It is quite a slow burn and it could have easily been a lot shorter than the 450 pages. I felt like more could have happened and it was too quickly wrapped up. But overal a really enjoyable read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short chapters
French Chateau
Confined space Romance
Character built

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮—𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯.

𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯—𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦.

𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩.

Where to begin? This book was great! I adored our two main characters and the slow burn, building relationship they had. The landscape and foodie details we received as they wandered around the French countryside was brilliant. I was also very impressed with the author’s writing style. You’ll get hooked and read in a few days, easy. There were several parts I actually laughed out loud because it was so funny (the rat, lobster, and dye incidents to be specific). Typically the books I end up ranking as “5 star” have the perfect blend of heart warming, humor, a little angst, and sweet romance all wrapped up in a nice little package… This book was it. I will most definitely be reading her other books!

“At the end of your life, it’s not what you did that makes you happy, it’s who you loved and who loved you.”

Rating: 5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was adorable; a very easy, quick romcom that was actually funny (rare, I feel.) I loved the characters I was supposed to love and despised the ones I wasn't. I loved the character development of Noah. The setting was divine.... It was amazing. Highly recommend.

Merry is in love with her best friend, who also just so happens to be marrying her sister, and hates his best friend, who she ends up having to live in a crumbling French chateau with for three months. I think you can guess what happens…

I loved the writing style of this book, it was super easy to read with a quick, punchy writing style and short chapters that kept the page turning.

There were fantastic, crazy side characters, an underlying mystery, a hilarious incident with a lobster and overall love, in all its many nuances.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I haven’t read the Josh and Gemma books by this author so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I absolutely loved it. Merry, after seeing her unrequited love Leo marry her sister and quitting her job, escapes to her godmother’s chateau in France for three months for some alone time to get over Leo. A dream right?! Until she sees her nemesis Noah staying at the chateau as well.

It’s a sweet romcom with enemies to lovers and close proximity tropes. It was funny (the lobster!) but also dealt with the heaviness of childhood family issues. This book had me hooked until the end, dreaming about spending time in the French countryside with a baguette and fresh cheese. Je suis amoureux!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really fun read.

A huge Thank You to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for my advanced e-book and audio copy of French Holiday!

What I Enjoyed-

✨The Cover Art- Super Cute. The cover art really caught my attention first and then I realized it was Sarah Ready. It's all I really needed to know before diving in.

✨ The Audio- Kelsey Navarro was frickin fantastic.

✨ The Entertainment Factor- I am here for the drama 🤣. This book was so entertaining. I was never bored.

Why This Book Lost a Star 🌟

The Romance- The Romance wasn't BAD but the progression of the relationship was just unrealistic to me.

Overall- This was a great read / listen. This is my third Sarah Ready book and every single one has been a hit. I can't wait to read whatever she decides to release next. ❤