Very slow and not pertinent start which threw me for a loop already. Then all the characters just 'happened', things were moving but nothing was happening... Not my kind of pace and thus wasn't my cup of tea. The writing was also too 'telling' and for me

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This was a lovely and easy feel good feel, with a good storyline and nice characters. a Lovely bit of escapism

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book

The premise of this book is super interesting. However after having this book to finish I am going to DNF'd for now at 24%.

As much as the characters seem nice and the friendships seem genuine. I just struggled with getting into this story.

I'm definitely going to try again in the future and hopefully I'll finish it. I'm sure it's a perfect summer read. I'd definitely recommend that other people try it.

(I will come back and edit this if I ever get further, and for right now it isn't the book for me)

I loved this book! Perfect holiday read and the escapism we all need. A great story, great characters in a beautiful setting - what more do you need! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book

Meredith, Steph and Jo are best friends, who used to go to school together. Now they are experienced, mature women living their own lives: Steph and her husband David run a B&B in a village in France, the same village Meredith used to visit with her father as a child. She is now a powerfull businesswoman, who now decides to buy the chateau she has always admired with her father, leaving her lucrative career in Far East behind. Jo is in Basingstoke, actually reeling from her husband’s betrayal and upcoming marriage. Meredith’s purchase brings all the women together again and they decide, with help of Jo’s daughter, Sophie, to make the chateau a wedding venue. However, life is not all plain sailing – there are relationship problems, betrayal, hurt feelings and also a meddling group of ex – pat ladies who not only lunch together, but also want to know everything and interfere wherever they can.

There were plenty of characters in this book but they were strong enough, however, what I didn’t appreciate too much, was the fact that the author has overdone some of them, stereotyping them too much for my liking and already dooming us to liking or not liking them, there was not another option for you as a reader. You are literally told by the author what to think about them, especially those „bad“ ones, who feel a bit too grotesque and exaggerated. Nevertheless, they were colourful and very different and yes, they annoyed me now and then but I think it’s a good sign, right, it only shows that they all grew on me and yes, I was keeping my fingers crossed for them. I think that Steph was my least favourite character, I felt I didn’t know her good enough to understand her, there was too little about her life with David to completely get her and her actions. This whole snapping, being angry with David – it didn’t work. Either get help, Steph, or stop acting like diva, pretty please. She – they all – were mature women, so really I was expecting something more from her. However, they were actually like a breath of fresh air and I enjoyed their shenanigans and interfering, because they really wanted only good things. Experienced and often already burned, they were careful and it was lovely to see them coming out of their shells, leaving their comfort zones, daring.

There were moments that the book felt a bit too chopped – it was focusing on one thing and then suddenly moving to another. It also tried to bring many subplots together, jumping between the characters and while mostly it worked, sometimes I had a feeling that the author simply wants to spread herself too thin and it felt too overdone, unrealistic and unnatural. And there were also so many characters! Till the end I was not able to differentiate some of them, especially those with the names beginning with „M“, Meredith, Mandy, Margot… however altogether they were distinctive enough to know who is who. The end focused too much on the wedding, I think, I didn’t feel satisfied with it, I’d rather read more about Stephanie and David than on the short storm and tipping the flowers over – although Ronnie deserved it very much.

Altogether, I liked „A Very French Wedding“, it was entertaining and I loved the setting and it had this feel – good factor. The descriptions of the food were delicious and the adventures of the friends hilarious and also poignant, with more depth to them than expected. It is an axcellent summer read, filled with romance, weddings, wine, food and sunshine. Light – hearted, uplifting, though sometimes too short on descriptions between the scenes and characters and taking a shortcut, but still really worth reading if you are looking for something light and relaxing. I enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed this book, in particular the fact that the main characters were more ‘mature’ than the usual 20-something this genre usually features. Featuring several middle-aged ladies, and one similarly aged man, as the main characters was a breath of fresh air. It also featured the daughter & son of two characters, so ‘young love’ also featured, but the ups & downs of the love lives of the older characters had so much more depth than standard storylines with younger characters.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book, great stories featuring throughout as we follow the lives of three friends who have all changed their, very different, lives by moving to France; with two building a wedding business in an amazing sounding chateau near their friend’s chambre d’hôte.
A great book for the summer, full of romance, sunshine & wine.

Given that we are in lockdown and are unable to leave the state, let alone the country, it was great to travel vicariously through the pages of this gem. A great story of friendship and new beginnings that kept me laughing and wanting to read more.

A group of school friends' lives take them in different directions but eventually all paths lead to France.

A lovely read which transports the reader to chateau life and a romantic castle where people change and lives take on new and exciting challenges.

This was a really good read. Easy story to follow, charming setting and great characters. Really enjoyed it.

When Meredith decides to buy a chateau in France she needs help renovating it, to turn it into a wedding venue. So she turns to her old school friends for help.

A lovely read for a winter Sunday to take your mind off what is happening in the world right now.

Another lovely book to read. This one was set in France, as the title suggests. It was so good and very easy to read. I got through this one very quickly as I found I couldn’t pit it down and kept sneaking a few more pages in during the day. I loved the characters and the descriptions of the chateau which in France are so beautiful. I would love to read more from this author. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Friends since school, Steph, Jo and Meredith, whose lives have taken different paths over the years.
Now, Meredith decides to buy a chateau in France. But she can’t do this on her own, so she asks her friends for help.
The chateau needs to be brought back up to as it was, and then she wants to have it as a wedding venue.

In a nearby village, Thera more on offer than just sun, wine and food, when a chef and his son, who run a restaurant after leaving New Zealand. There’s also the local ladies lunch club and a British bulldog named Nelly.

It seems that there’s something going on between one of her friends and her husband, can she find out what before it’s too late for their relationship and help them.....

Will Meredith get the wedding venue she’s dreaming of, or had she bitten off more than she can chew......

A lovely romantic read, dreams of owning your own chateaux in France really can come true along with a wedding business, loved the setting, loved the characters and really enjoyed the storyline

If you're looking for a light read, this is it. I loved the setting, plus the story about the takeover of the Chateau. I also loved Meredith's dog. She was a character. Of the four main female (human) characters, they were all nice enough, but I never felt much in the way of emotion from them. That, combined with short scenes, flitting from one character to another, I never felt as though we got into the detail of anything. Take Steph and David. We never actually went back to them and were just given a hint that all would be well. For me, I wanted to hear them talk, really talk. I also thought that the three women who took over the Chateau seemed to move in and get themselves sorted very quickly. They sent for their belongings we were told. What about their properties? What was happening to them? Also, Meredith bought the place, and the other two women were supposed to be her partners, but did they buy in? They seemed to bristle whenever Meredith made decisions, but she was the owner. There was no talk of a formal partnership. This is what I mean about a light read. I did like it, but question how realistic it was. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you love Escape to the Chateau then this is the book for you! Meredith enlists the help of her lifelong friends to help her renovate her newly purchased chateau in the Dordogne but things don’t go quite to plan! If you're looking for something to kick a reading slump or if you just want a fun, romantic book to sweep you off your feet this summer: look no further. This was such a good book.

I really enjoyed this book! It follows interweaved lives of expats and french nationals living in Bratenac, France. The characters are all engaging and meaty enough that you get pulled into all of their stories, and how they're all interlinked is very clever! It's an easy read that I looked forward to picking up every day - by then end I felt very attached to the characters and would quite like to read. sequel! I love the little bits of french dialogue that give it a level of authenticity and how descriptive the writing is, painting a very clear mental image for me!

it's a feel good book, with twists and turns that keep it interesting, but ultimately it's got happy endings! The story allowed me to indulge my 'Escape to the Chateau' inspired dreams of buying a beautiful old chateau and turning it into a wedding venue.!

This was a good beach read and enjoyed it. I really liked the characters within the story, and love the fact the story was set in France.

When Meredith decides to buy an old French Chateau and turn it into the best wedding venue in France, she enlists the help of Steph and Jo, two old school friends. With their first wedding on the horizon, the friends are hoping for the perfect day. But with a blushing bride, an attention seeking mother of the bride, and a femme fatale searching for love, can they pull off their first wedding without encountering any hitches?

A great, lighthearted, and fun book with an excellent cast of characters which made for an easy and enjoyable read.