Wow! What a surprise. I really enjoyed this book. After seeing her best friend and secret crush marry her sister our main character Merry needs a hard reset in her life. After quitting her job and reaching out to an over the top family member she finds herself heading to France. Unfortunately her best friend's best friend, who happens to strongly dislike her (the feeling is mutual), Noah also happens to be staying at the same French villa.

This book is full of twists, turns, and tons of laughs. The author does a great job keeping you laughing and focussed on the rom-com elements (enemies to lovers, one bed trope, etc.) with so much more building behind the senes. I loved that even after the potential relationship happens there is still more to the story. It kept the characters from feeling one dimensional to me and I found myself really rooting for them individually as well as together as a couple.

Overall, I recommend this book for anyone looking for a light hearted rom-com with a hint of wanderlust. Thankyou NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

A sweet enemies to lovers story. Set in France but isn’t described much. A story about different kinds of love

From the description and the cover, I expected this book to be light and fluffy, but it was a bit darker and more mysterious. Though it was unexpected, I appreciated it for that.

At the beginning, I pegged this as a predictable, Hallmark-movie type plot, but I was wrong! The characters surprised me, and I really enjoyed the mystery elements as you learned more about Noah's background and his search for answers. The banter and chemistry between Merry and Noah was sparkling, and it was fun to see them move from antagonists to friends to lovers.

I enjoyed the exploration of unrequited love and the different ways that can manifest in someone's life. Part of this exploration deals with difficult parental relationships, so mind the content warnings if that is a problem area for you. Though it deals with some challenging emotions and situations, overall this story is on the light side. I would recommend for a deeper than you might expect, but still fun, romance in a picturesque French setting.

4⭐️

The love of Merry’s life is marrying her sister. How much worse could life get? Well it does. First Merry spends a very drunk night with her nemesis and then loses her job, welp. So Merry decides to take up her aunts offer to stay in her Chateau in France for three months. Until she arrives and finds her nemesis, Noah, already at the castle, with her aunt giving him the same free three month stay. Noah refuses to leave the Chateau, so they are stuck together, and even better the luxury castle is actually falling apart.

French Holiday is a single first person POV, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, one bed, forced proximity, slow burn, with some spice, romcom!

I loved this book! Merry is going through a midlife crisis, been there, and needs to escape life and live in a fairytale for a little bit, also been there. Merry’s chemistry with Noah is so good and adorable! They are literally the perfect match. The side characters were also very enjoyable, especially Aunt Jupiter, she was hilarious! This book features a little bit of a mystery as well, which brought a lot to the story! When you read so many romance books, they can be predictable, and this addition of a mystery was a great way to keep me on my toes and keep the story interesting!

I received an audiobook version which was narrated by Kelsey Navarro, would did a wonderful job! She kept the story moving and really added to the emotions and humour of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for an advanced audio copy for an honest review.

I feel like I want all romance books to be like that: lighthearted and deep at the same time with a hint of mystery. I love how the story went and how we got to know about some characters' past. I also love the foreshadowing even though I didn't pick up anything. The story took a completely different turn and I loved it even more than I expected.

Thanks to Netgalley for the Audio( which was the first book I EVER listened to on audio). I totally was here for this book listening. The Narrator was really good she did all the voices and the accents perfectly. She might have been better than the narrator (me in my head) The comedy was off the hook I found myself laughing hysterically till I coughed (thank you allergies)

I love following Noah and Merry on their French holiday adventure. With a crumbling castle, a ghost story, and a lobster, it sure makes for a wildly hilarious story. The secondary characters were also wonderful. And the mystery part was entertaining and fun to try and solve along with the characters.
Overall, this was such a fun read.

Kelsey Navarro did a wonderful job narrating. Her voices for each character were distinct which makes it easy to follow the story.

A super fun enemies to lovers with a twist of mystery that's intriguing enough to keep you involved for more than the romantic elements. There are also bits of family drama, French references, and self-discovery. And I can't forget the fight with a lobster! I really enjoyed it and recommend it if you like romantic comedies.

I really liked listening to this audiobook. I’d say 3.5 stars- it caught my attention even for being so far fetched. Perfect amount of 🔥.

[Actual Rating 4.25] French Holiday is my seventh read by Sarah Ready as I have read six novels from her Soul Mates in Romeo series. I like Ready’s style of taking simplistic storylines and make them seem like more for the reader. There are some moments in almost every novel that border on the ridiculous, but they are surrounded by many other “calmer” great ones. This story begins with 28-year-old Meredith (Merry) DeLuca at the wedding of her sister, Angela, to her best friend, Leo, after the two shared a whirlwind romantic beginning. While Merry is trying to be happy for the couple she can’t help but feel heartbroken as she has secretly been in love with Leo for the past four years and never worked up the courage to tell him. Merry has also felt inadequate to her “prettier” and “more perfect” sister, so this wedding day is tough on her.

Before beginning the rest of the story, it made me really question Merry’s relationship with both her sister and Leo. It is clear Leo did not know about her romantic feelings, but it is unclear about Angela. The couple get engaged after one day together, but it bothered me a lot that they got together in the first place without checking in with Merry first. Other people may feel differently, but even if Merry did not have any romantic feelings involved, both Angela and Leo crossed the line. For me, I would have preferred Leo and Angela to be left out of the rest of the story as I wrote them off. Unfortunately, this did not happen in the actual novel, but it did not take away from my enjoyment of the writing. While they are included more, the main story does focus on Merry’s three month stay at a French chateau after her godmother, Jupiter, gifts it to her. (I would love to be given a free stay at a chateau!) When Merry arrives, she is surprised to find another guest is already there and this guest happens to be famous travel documentarian (and Leo’s best man), Noah Wright.

The novel is narrated by Kelsey Navarro who does a great job at telling the story from Merry’s POV. Since the reader sees Merry’s side, they do not get to see what is going through the heads of the other characters. Noah seems to have a lot more going on than meets the eye, but, like Merry, the reader has to wait and have everything be revealed in time. I loved these two characters getting to know each other and slowly become more vulnerable with the other. I also loved how their lives integrated with their French neighbors, Pierre, and Camille. They were fun additions to the story, and I love how they played a role in Merry’s journey to moving on. The French setting provides a nice escape for Merry to explore and grow. There are a lot of details about her day-to-day for her time in France, so this may not be for everyone. I enjoy Ready’s writing, but there were a few moments that I felt could be streamlined a bit. Overall, this was a nice easy yet still very enjoyable read.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

I absolutely LOVED this story. It was so different and unique and just hilarious and fun. I love a good romance book with hijinx and this had it in spades, but it also had tender moments too and I loved the combination. I could probably have listened to another hour of Merry and Noah's story. This is definitely going on the list of one of my favorite books this year.

French Holiday by Sarah Ready

Rating: 4 Stars

I received an advanced listener copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What would you do if you just watched your sister marry the man you are in love with? You would run and try to escape, right? Well that is exactly what Merry did. When she got the offer from her Aunt Jupiter to go stay in her French Chateau for as long as she wanted, she jumped at the chance. Little did she wasn't the only one.

This book was pretty great. I loved the setting and the adventures Merry went on. I think it was a great escape for her. I also loved how her Aunt up-sold the Chateau. I can't wait to read more by Sarah Ready.

Kelsey Navarro narrated this book and of course she did amazing.

Audiobooks are hard for me to review because I listen to them while doing other things (cleaning, working out, cooking, trying to fall asleep, etc), so I don’t ever feel like I can review them in the same way that I review books that I have physically read and given 100% of my attention to. That being said, I still wanted to upload a mini-review.

I really enjoyed this! It was fun and entertaining--there was both drama and mystery--and I found myself anticipating being able to pick up where I left off. Although both Merry and Noah deal with some heavier family troubles, I would say that overall this was lighthearted and laugh-out-loud silly (because of the cast of characters) with immaculate summer in the French countryside vibes. Also, the narrator did a great job!

This was just okay.

I feel like it started off with such strong self deprecating feelings (trying to be humorous) that just made me feel like everyone just HATES the FMC.
Which also comes off as incredibly misogynistic as well. The tone from the beginning made me feel unsteady and unsafe.
There is one way that a female can be horrible ie: Fleabag. A hot mess, making all the wrong decisions, yet we are still on her side, hoping she chooses right, hoping she gets her win. This book though, I just felt like her self hate wanted to be mirrored into my own.
As I am not a writer I cannot truly give advice on how to write a better "hot mess" type of FMC. But this missed the mark. I just felt icky. The lingering feeling just tainted the rest of my experience as well. Which made me sad.
This is a ME thing, to everyone that enjoyed this book, I am truly happy for you.

French Holiday is a perfect mix of humour along with emotional and passionate love interests. The character Merry was well narrated and suited the role providing an appropriate level of enthusiasm and expression. The tension between Noah and Merry is crafted to be an initial acquaintance of hate but during their time in France they are forced closer together. The scene with the lobster is hilarious!

Another adorable book by Ready! She really knows how to write these rom coms! Merry’s sister just married a man who has been Merry’s best friend, Leo, who she has been secretly in love with for years. To get away from everything after losing her job and her sister’s marriage, Merry heads to France for 3 months, to a Chateau in the countryside. As she arrives there, Noah Wright is already there. Noah is friends with Leo and Merry is convinced that he hates her. They decide to share the chateau, the only problem is, there is only 1 bed. What do you think happens? There were some cute twists, a little bit of steam and a mystery to top it all off. This was a quick cozy read that was fun and I loved the chemistry between Merry and Noah. I will say some of the parts were cheesy, but I welcomed them with open arms. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and a bit of banter, which I love. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrator did a great job.

#FrenchHoliday by @sarahreadyauthor is an #enemiestolovers, #forcedproximity #romance that really is super cute, and fun. I really liked Merry as the lead character. Even Noah grows on you because we've all met him 😁 The narrator of the audiobook, @kelseynavfoster is wonderful. Her voice draws you in and there were no strange pronunciations or weird inflections.

J'adore French Holiday. It was an original enemies to lovers storyline that flowed nicely.

When Merry DeLuca finds herself stuck sharing a French castle with her nemesis, Noah Wright for three months, she's sure they may kill one another. Yet, they find a way to make it work. Then gradually they seem to become friends.

Merry's sister just married her good friend and long-time crush. Noah is his best friend who picked up on Merry's unrequited love. Instantly, Noah treated Merry with disdain and borderline hostility. They survived the wedding and had made some questionable decisions after the reception. Then Merry thought she was free of him until she shows up in France and finds him at the small castle that her godmother owns. Apparently her godmother, Jupiter was confused and told them both they could use it. When neither of them agrees to leave, they have to find a way to stick it out together.

Since they are "only friends who aren't really friends," they feel comfortable telling each other things they normally wouldn't tell someone else. Through this sharing, they both find out secrets about each other that are pivotal to how they've become the people they are.

There were some points in the book that felt unnecessary and drug a little bit but for the most part I truly enjoyed this story. I really like both Merry and Noah's characters.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I thought the narration was very well done and made the listening experience an enjoyable one. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the e-book and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to review them both and the opinions contained within are my own.

4.5 stars
This book caught me off guard in a good way. I was interested in the story but didn’t expect to be as swept up by it as I was. Merry and Noah are such interesting, captivating, relatable characters. They grabbed my attention from the very beginning. I loved their romance and the growth that each did throughout the course of the story. Many of the side characters – both human and none – added to the fabric of the story. The story line involving Merry’s sister I wish had more to and was done slightly differently as at times it didn’t feel right to me, like something about it was missing. Overall though, I really enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading more by this author.

I listened to this book on audio. I liked the narrator and found her easy to understand and follow.

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

Exactly what a romantic comedy should be, French Holiday by Sarah Ready was a true delight.

Enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, one bed trope, gumpy/sunshine...am I talking your language yet?

Well, "enemies" might be a touch too strong of a descriptor for the simmering animosity between our two main characters, Merry and Noah, but friends they are not.

As per the blurb, the story begins with Merry's younger sister walking down the aisle with Leo, the man Merry has been secretly in love with for the last 4 years.

Not. Good.

And it doesn't help that his surly best friend, Noah, has noticed her pining and longing looks and has told her she needs to "get over it".

Freaking. Rude.

Well, she's going to get over it because she's moving to France! So there! Well, for the summer, at least. After all, she can't be expected to stick around and watch the man she loves in the honeymoon phase with her own sister. But luckily, her godmother offers her the chance to get away. She's bought a chateau in France that needs checking up on and so it would kill two birds with one stone to have Merry go there for a few months.

Couple of problems though.

1. The chateau is in crumbling disarray, basically inhabitable.

2. Noah has been told he can stay there too! (He's a somewhat famous travel documentarian).

From here, what follows was an absolutely delightful rom-com with a lot of charm, romance and French flair. We have a few slightly over-the-top comedy moments with a lively lobster, but this book also had quite a lot of depth, introspection and character growth as well.

It even kinda sorta had a bit of a mystery to it, too!

And I guess if we're being really technical about the tropes, this is an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, which is quite the journey to go through with our two main characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I found it to have the perfect balance of heart and heat and I really enjoyed the French setting.

I listened to the audiobook which had fabulous narration by Kelly Navarro.

Thank you to Netgalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for providing the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've also posted a quick Booktok review (link below).

https://www.tiktok.com/@lynseyisreading/video/7226448542880075035