A deliciously slow forming book. It builds up a story with a tantalising expectation. Then delivers.

Well written and extremely pleasant way to spend an afternoon and morning.

Thanks to Netgalley, Virginie Grimaldi

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a book to just fall in love with. I loved everything about it the setting, the characters and the uplifting story.

The setting of a retirement home is an unusual one but this home is so full of vitality and fun that I found myself wanting to live there. There always seemed to be something going on, some activity for the residents to do and when there wasn’t there were little social groups forming getting up to all sorts.

The reader gets the chance to know a lot of the residents very well which makes for fascinating but also slightly poignant reading. I’ve never given much thought into getting old but this book addresses a few harsh realities and some of the residents stories were very emotional. It definitely makes you want to embrace life and make the most of it while you can.

My favourite character was Julia and I enjoyed following her on the journey she goes through in the book. It was great to see the effect that working at the home has on her and I did enjoy seeing her blossom throughout her stay there. She’s a very real, natural character that is prone to making mistakes but is able to laugh at herself and doesn’t take these mistakes too much to heart. Her brilliant descriptions of the things she gets up to is wonderfully done and often had me in stitches.

This isn’t a fast paced book but it doesn’t need to be as the fantastic setting and characters help to draw the reader in so they feel involved in the story. I was soon fully immersed in the book reading the book in record time as I wanted to find out what on earth would happen next.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I can’t wait to read more from her. If you like funny, emotional and uplifting books, filled with fabulous characters you’ll love this book. It’s one I’ll be recommending to everyone!

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Headline publishers for my copy of this book. This one is going on my keep forever shelf!

A lovely summer read about the power of love and friendship. Well written and enjoyable, an escapist read.

What a beautiful book, the setting is just lovely and the gentle humour is great fun to read. This is an easy book to love and I would probably read it again (which is rare for me), it' has a good heart and the story is a sound base of love and discovery

When Julia leaves Marc in Paris she needs a new job to begin to resolve her life problems and she ends up in Biarritz at Ocean View a series of apartments for senior citizens .As she uses her training as a Psychologist to work with the inhabitants and from them she learns a lot about her own problems and life itself. A beautifullly written novel full of humour and pathos. A wonderful read!

Julia is a psychologist looking for an escape from the difficulties in her life caused by grief at the death of her father. Her escape takes her to a retirement home in Biarritz as a temporary psychologist for the residents of the home. As she starts to settle in, form new friendships with colleagues she finds her views of love, life friendship and ageing are challenged and turned on their head.by the residents.

I think if retirement homes were like this in real life we wouldn't be so frightened of growing old ourselves. The setting seemed to good to be true and unrealistic (unfortunately). This was part of the challenge with the story but otherwise this would be a good holiday read.. It does try to remind us that however old we may appear to be we all have stories to share of past loves and experiences.and that appearances can be deceptive!

It would be a good book to use with book groups to open us a discussion around ageing

I was rather undecided about this book when I started reading. I instantly took the main character Julia and the style of writing, but then Julia quite quickly found herself working at a retirement home. This is where I began to struggle (I blame belonging to a book club: its made me over analyse books!) as i’ve never known a retirement home like this one. I thought maybe the French had this style of retirement homes as i’ve never really heard of one like this in the UK? I struggled to picture the residents of this home: one minute they sounded very frail and elderly, the next moment they are down on the beach. However, once I came to terms with this conflict in my head, I totally took to the book. I loved all the characters, found it funny, heartwarming, sad, nostalgic and I galloped through the book to the end which came as a total surprise. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a great romantic holiday read with colourful characters and an ending you will not see coming.
Thank you Net galley and Headline for giving me the opportunity to read and review this lovely book

This is something of a different genre/ style to what i usually read and enjoy and i was totally immersed with it once it got going, that being said i was reading this slower than other books so it did take me a little longer by reading a little here and there...
Julias father has died and her Grandmother has dissapeared somewhere... and she lets herself go somewhat by attanding parties etc but to save herself she answers an announcemnt in a retirement close to where shes from.
There are lots of characters in this book so singling one out is difficult but the residents at the retirement home bring soemthing to the story thats unique and fun.
You say many different emotions occur throughout the book such as fun, joy, sadness, anger. with each of the characters she turns things around and makes you wonder how she did this in her writing. The ending was a little too abrupt for me but i guess i can understand why she choose it that way.

This is a beautiful story. Julia escapes from Paris and takes a job as a psychologist in an old peoples home. She is grieving after her father dies suddenly and her relationship with her boyfriend breaks down. She brightens up everybody in Oceanview and learns a lot about herself. This is a lovely read with a few surprises thrown in.

This was a reall enjoyable read.
It is centred around Julia, who leaves Paris to work in an old peoples home Biarritz. A great bunch of characters are living there, and still enojoy life.
Twist at the end of the story that I wasn't expecting!

First of all... thank you Ms Grimaldi for making the main character a psychologist... as one myself i fell we are sooo underrated!
Julia's starting over was hard for her as it is fr anyone after a hard time, but she manages to pull through and really does start to find love in the little things
Its a warm and fuzzy read! relatable and real characters...
Fab cover (to feed the cover junkie in me)
**** 4 stars!
~ Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for my ARC~

This is a lovely book and highlights that age doesn't stop you from embracing life and love. Reading Julia's story as she finds her new way after things crumble for her is wonderful. And did not see the ending coming but loved it.

A fantastic feel good summer read. Great characters and setting