This book was like sipping sunshine on a cozy morning. The Village Café in the Loire wraps you in charming visuals, warm friendships, and the gentle healing power of good food and community. I felt like I was walking down cobblestone streets, smelling fresh pastries and blooming flowers as I turned the pages.

Alice was a delight. Her slow journey from heartbreak into rediscovery felt real and heartfelt. Watching her pour her love into reviving the village café and connecting with locals and travelers alike was the kind of emotional comforting I crave. I loved the quiet, thoughtful moments like her first taste of lavender honey or a heartfelt chat with a neighbor.

The pacing was soothing. Steady, but never boring. It unfolded like a warm breeze, revealing new characters, small-town secrets, and soft romance at the perfect pace. It’s not plot-heavy, but the character interactions and personal growth hit the heart in a big way.

If you’re craving a tender, lighthearted escape full of delicious descriptions, gentle romance, and quieter emotional highs, The Village Café in the Loire is a lovely treat. I closed the book feeling full and content, like I’d just had the best croissant and a chat with a new friend.

When Becky Thorne’s career path takes an unexpected twist, what will she do? This book of easy to get to know characters and a great storyline will have you hooked from start to finish, I laughed, I cries, I loved it.

This was a lovely warm hearted story set in the beautiful Loire region of France.

Best friends since childhood Becky and Amber live busy professional lives but don’t realise a change is in store for them both. When Becky is left a cafe in France by an aunt she travels there with the intention to sell it once she has ousted the sitting tenant.

Lovely characters and a beautiful setting, this was a warm and thoughtful read which I really enjoyed and will definitely be recommending. There is romance and many true life situations that will resonate with readers when making different and difficult life changes.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Becky is stressed and needs to take a month off from work. This might be the perfect time to visit the little cafe her Great Aunt left her.
This is an easy to read book. The book deals with starting over and trying something different. It has some light romance too.

Gillian Harvey is a new author to me and I'm very pleased that I stumbled upon The Village Café in the Loire. I was drawn in by the pretty cover and fell in love with this warm, feel good escape to rural France.

Career driven Becky has a five year plan, but being signed off work with burnout isn't part of that plan. Becky isn't stressed with work, she's stressed because she's inherited a café in France from her Great Aunt, complete with a sit in tenant who refuses to move. Becky decides to use her time off work to travel to France and get the tenant to move so she can sell the café and get back to her life. But life in Loire has a few lessons to teach Becky.

I found Harvey’s writing style to be witty and engaging, capturing the beauty of rural life with warmth and humour. I especially enjoyed the friendship between Becky and Amber and loved their old fashioned movie nights.

Overall I found this to be a charming, uplifting read about fresh starts and following your heart. An ideal book to curl up with when you need a little sunshine.

Thank you to Boldwood Books for providing me with a complimentary digital review copy.

Being something of a Francophile, I love reading novels that are set in France & Gillian Harvey is one of my go-to authors when I want to do this, so I was excited to have the opportunity to read an advanced copy of her latest book.

Becky is a career woman; strongly encouraged by her dominating mother, she has a five year plan to achieve her career objectives which leaves her with little time for friends & hobbies. When she receives a letter from a solicitor in France she understands that her great aunt Maud has died & bequeathed Becky her cafe in the small French village of Vaudrelle. Becky sees this as an opportunity to help fund the purchase of the flat she’s been longing for. When forced to take leave from work due to burnout, Becky takes the opportunity to go to France, view the cafe & sort things out with the tenant so she can sell it.

When I first met Becky, I really didn’t like her; her focus on her career plan meant she was hard & selfish with little time even for Amber, her best friend since childhood. When she got to Vaudrelle, Becky spent little time getting to know Pascal (the tenant) or the village before hatching a plan to refurbish the cafe & sell it & quickly got on with things. As the story progressed, she did get to know Pascal & the village better, & began to mellow & become more likeable - the village worked its magic on her, just as Maud had hoped.

I really enjoyed this book; I loved the descriptions of the village & its people, finding myself picturing & sensing the sights & aromas of the village & surrounding countryside. The characters were believable & realistic in all their flaws. The story drew out some really important themes, about finding your own path in life & not letting other people choose for you; about doing what you enjoy, it’s not just about the money & status. Most important of all, when Amber had a crisis Becky finally realised the importance of close supportive female friendships & that this is a two way process. My main criticism, if it can be called that, is that the story left me wanting more; I’d read about Becky & Amber’s struggles to get to a certain point in their lives, and I wanted to know where their stories took them next.

Thanks to Netgalley & Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book

Becky has been forced to take leave from her high-powered marketing job in London. She's inherited a cafe in the Loire, along with a friendly tenant whom her aunt had been helping. When she's forced to take time off, she heads to France to deal with the cafe and the tenant. She'd like to sell it and make a profit, but part of inheriting it is staying in France for a little while before making the decision.

I enjoyed the friendship between Amber and Becky, as well as how they supported each other, and Pascal, who proved to be very insightful. It was an interesting perspective on the health effects of stress and how it can affect your life. I'd love to see a sequel to this story and see where it goes.

Thanks to @boldwoodbooks, @netgalley, @rachelsrandomresources, and the author for this arc.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my review copy. These are my thoughts:

Becky was on track to a successful life. Until a phone call about the cafe she inherited from her great-aunt in France, has her loosing her temper at work, and she is put on medical leave for a month. Add insult to injury and she decides to head to France to try and personally resolve her café troubles. What was supposed to be an easy in-and-out situation (two weeks tops), turned into quite the adventure.

Harvey delivers an entertaining, funny and heartwarming story. I have to say, I was not expecting the narrative to unfold the way it did. I did not see the plot twist coming!

I didn’t really like Becky at first. She was very much not self-aware and somewhat self-centred. She was too caught up in the loop of her demanding work life and personal drama. She was also insecure and wanted to please her mother. But her character grew immensely throughout the story and I found myself rooting for her to find happiness.

I loved Pascal. He was the quiet voice of reason when Becky could do with a different perspective on the situations that were bothering her. He never imposed his views on her and at the same time, was a soothing presence.

I loved her friendship with Amber and how they found their way back to each other.

The humour in this book was very funny. From the expressions Becky’s mother used, to Pascal’s jokes and the banter and romcom references between Becky and Amber.

This book reminds us that success and achievements, though perfectly good goals, may not be what makes us happy and that sometimes, to have less but do something we love instead is more valuable. And that it is also ok to lose our sense of direction and to change, in order to find ourselves once again.

☕Forced to slow down & smell the coffee😌

A story that I couldn't find the strength or inclination to put down, this Gillian Harvey novel was a treat. It's a mixture of women's fiction and romance with an easygoing Frenchman. Female lead Becky's life's trajectory has been dominated by her mother's ambitions for her, something that has ended up in stress and a month's enforced leave from her executive job in advertising, which she unsuccessfully fights. But it gives her the time to tend to some business in a small town in France where she learns that big bucks and stressful competition are not prerequisites for a good life.

Becky's relationship with her roommate/best friend is tested and the reason for mom Cynthia's aversion to a relaxed lifestyle, especially when it's connected to a gift from Great Aunt Maud (who abandoned a lucrative London career in the law to run a small coffee shop in rural France), eventually comes out. Finding out more about Maud's life after London was good, too. I was just a bit surprised that it took so long for them to figure out the seemingly perfect arrangement for all involved.

The overall mood was more cozy than reflective, plenty of doing along with the self-examination. Just the right number (fairly small) of named characters, great plot and well-developed characters. I got a kick out of Becky and Amber's love of quoting romcoms, and their reference to Rick Astley made me laugh. A pleasure to read. Not my first novel by the author and definitely won't be the last.

Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Review shared on 7/6/25 on Waterstones and Goodreads, and with Barnes & Noble and BAM. To be shared with kobo and Google Play after publication.

Who wouldn't want a break to the Loire? After reading this, I certainly wish I could! It felt entirely relatable with the stress of full time work and high internal expectations l. Though it was a lovely read, it did also make me consider whether I'm taking enough time for rest and relaxation myself!

A must read for escaping the read world and losing yourself in a little French village complete with a DIY project!

I love this authors books as they always transport the reader to idyllic French settings and this time we are transported to the Loire Valley. This was an emotional story of second chances and forgiving family for what has happened in the past. It also explores the topic of burnout which is something that isn’t always talked about despite it becoming more prevalent in todays society.

We all love a story of new beginning and the dream of leaving our corporate jobs to find a new life in a little village in France but unfortunately this time I could not get attached to the main character Becky.

She’s probably one of the most annoying characters ever written, she’s self centred, spoiled and entitled, and having a controlling mother that pressured her during her whole life is not excuse to ignore or being sh*t towards the only few people that are still beside her.
The story wants to show that sometimes we only believe we’re living the life of our dreams but instead we need to step back and re-centre, which is all good and well in theory. But I think the author has been a little too good and forgiving towards Becky… Everyone can make mistakes but in real life it takes more than one “I’m sorry” to make up for years of terrible behaviour towards your so-called friends.
Amber, Becky best friend and “love of her life” (not in a romantic way! as remarked again and again and again…) gets completely ignored by her for years and yet she’s ready to forgive her straight away. I’m all about a good story of friendship, don’t get me wrong, but this time something was off unfortunately…

Thanks Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange of an honest opinion.

The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The perfect book to take to the beach . The setting which give you the vacation vibe in France. The story is slow paced so you can relax and unwind without having to think to hard as you bask in the sun.

Becky has a stressful job and she snapped one day causing her Boss to make her take time off. So she heads to France to sell a cafe she inherited from her great aunt. But it doesn't go as smooth as she thinks it will. It comes with road blocks she needs to figure out if they are worth it.

Pre-order this book for a July 12th release day and receive in time for vacation.

This book has a lot to answer for, I now want to quit my job rum off to France and find a cafe to work in! Seriously though lovely read and I could picture the café perfectly. A wholesome read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks

As the only child of a highly successful woman, Rebecca was raised with the understanding that success and status are everything. When she unexpectedly inherits a cafe from her aunt in France, she originally heads out there in hopes of making some quick cash before returning to her high-speed life. But will a look at the slower side of life change Rebecca's mind?

This was a cute read. There was not a lot of depth to the characters or topics discussed, which I believe was the goal. A lighthearted, hopeful summer romance read is exactly what you get from this. I enjoyed my time reading this but will probably never think about it again. The setting was perfect, I liked the male love interest and how the romance began, but I don't think this is a story that will stick with me, therefore I gave it 3 stars.

Enjoyed reading. Loved how Becky discovered what was really important, including her friend Amber.. An important reminder that money doesn’t always give happiness.

I kept thinking how much deeper and more descriptive this book could be. The characters and storyline fell so incredibly flat and forced. Ugh.

A modern romance with a burnt out young executive who is signed off work with stress. She coincidentally inherits a cafe in Provence so is able to travel to supervise the sale of the property to fund a city apartment. During the course of the book she learns the value of friendship, freedom, self expression and happiness versus the corporate culture of the city. The ability to do this whilst being underwritten by wealthy relatives is only briefly discussed but this is a romance novel so the point isn’t pursued. Light summer read.

First of all, I want to say that the setting of the story is just divine - a cute village in France, perfect!

A great summer romance overall. The characters are so real, the whole stress and burnout is pretty close to many of us nowadays.

Also, I loved the whole friendship story; female friendships are amazing, and it’s always great to see them in stories.

A wonderful read, enjoyed it a lot.

This was a really fabulous read!! Imagine being so wrapped up in your career that when you're signed off with burnout, you're begging the Dr to reconsider!! That's where Becky finds herself - always putting work first and herself last.

it's also at this time that she finds she's been left a cafe in the Loire, by a great aunt she knew little of, so her first thought is 'get it sold asap'! With time off from work, she takes the plunge to travel over to see it in person - and that's where the fun and problems start!

The cafe is at the heart of the community so she faces resistance with her plans and changes, and there's also a sitting tenant who seems very at home in the cafe. She soon finds that he was very close to her great aunt, so learns more about this woman, Maud, and the more she learns the more she warms to her. Her mother is very reluctant to talk about Maud, and is also pushing Becky to get back to her career as she's always been about money and work.

the more that Becky has to 'slow down', the more she begins to see the joy in life and that was wonderful to see her embracing this different style of life and pace. And her friend Amber has some choice words for her too and I really enjoyed her character as well as she gave a different perspective on Becky as a person. Loved the shock twist too!! A must read!!