I have read many of Katie Ffordes novels and I am sorry to say this wasn’t one of my favorites. It is difficult to put a finger on the reason for my disappointment. I thought that the whole concept was fairly weak and I just wasn’t as enchanted by the characters and plot as I have been on previous occasions. Probably worth a read but be prepared for slight disappointment. Sorry.

When you want a light, frothy romance, Katie Fforde always comes up trumps. Alexandra goes to France to be a nanny to the children of Antoine. She's a bit daunted at taking on the role but figures that as she had lots of nannies herself, she would know what makes a good one.
Likeable characters, improbable story, but it doesn't really matter if you just want to escape for a while.

A gentle read, the kind an older lady would enjoy as it’s more of an old-fashioned kind of romance, not filled with sex, smut and swearing!! In that sense it made a refreshing change as many books these days seem to rely on these things far to heavily at times... Katie Fforde clearly recognises that there is no need for steamy, raunchy love stories, going in this book with a much softer approach to romance; in some respects like an author of a classic, when love and romance was a slow process...and so much more beautiful to read!
The characters within the book are wonderfully brought to life, Katie Fforde building each character gradually to give the reader a brilliant visual image in the mind... This is a tale rich in description, an uncomplicated plot, with all the feel of a fairy tale...I loved it!
Many thanks to NetGalley for my e-copy of this book, this is my unbiased review.

A nice, gentle romance but not my favourite Katie Fforde novel. I found it a bit more farfetched than usual and at times the dialogue seemed stilted and unnatural. Still a lovely summer, poolside read and my thanks go to Netgalley for my early copy.

Another wonderful story by Katie, we are back in the 60's again following the life of Alexandra who we first met in 'A wedding in the country'. This is a standalone book so you do not need to read the first book to enjoy the story, but if you do, it will give you a deeper insight into some of the characters..
Alexandra has to go to finishing school in Switzerland and en-route through Paris she finds herself with a job as a nanny who ends up in Provence looking after three children. We are shown how Alexandra or 'Lexi' nutures her brood and brings out the best in everyone. This is a perfect Katie Fforde story, you can allow yourself to be immersed and taken on a lovely ride through rural 1960's France.

This was a lovely feel good read set between Paris and a beautiful backdrop of Provence.
The story is set in the 1960’s. Alexandra is on a pit stop in Paris before she has to stay with her relations in Switzerland. She doesn’t want to leave and ends up getting a job as a nanny for a Comte’s family in Provence. At only 20 years old she lied about her age and found herself looking after older children than she was expecting. The family live in a chateaux and miss their Father Antoine terribly whilst he goes away for work. Alexandra finds herself falling for her boss but are his feelings mutual?
I loved the way the author wrote about the Chateaux and the land surrounding it. It almost felt like a character in itself. I was so immersed in it and could imagine every bit she has described.
The story was an easy read but just didn’t have a lot of drama or suspense and I was able to guess the ending. That aside I’d recommend it as a summer read. 3.5/5

I think I hve read everything tht Katie Fforde has written! They are all gentle slightly predictable stories, but I felt that this book had more depth than some of the earlier ones.
Being about the same age as the 'heroine' Alexandra at the same time in the 60s i well remember the ups and downs of Society. Alexandra , a wealthy heiress takes off into what seems like a dream world, with a job as a nanny to a French Comte. the children are ghastly, the chateau isnt much better, and Grandmere is appalling. However, Alex triumphs over all. (It is a bit of a fairy story at times!)
I wish we had seen a bit more of Provens as what was described was lovely.
I did enjoy this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.

Such a beautiful, heartwarming story full of great characters and a beautiful chateau in southern France. It was lovely reconnecting with Alexandra and David again following their previous adventures and I loved how their relationship continued. Alexandra is one of my favourite main characters written by Katie Fforde and I loved how she grew in confidence and found her own way with the family and life in France.

The first 20% or so felt like an effort to get into but I’m A huge fan of Katie Fforde’s so I stuck with it. I’m so pleased I did because what followed is the most enjoyable story.

Alexandra is a very wealthy twenty-year old orphan, on her way to Switzerland to finishing school in 1963 when she decides to take a little detour in Paris. A series of fortuitous coincidences lead to her obtaining a job as nanny to a divorced Comte's three children in rural Provence, the basic qualifications being the ability to speak English and drive a car, she may have added five years to her age as well.

When she arrives in Provence Alexandra is daunted at first by the surly children, the marge chateau and the complete lack of responsible adults. It appears that the Comte's three children (Henri, Felicite and Stephie have allowed to run wild, no tutors, no school and little Stephie can barely read.

At first I was disappointed that Katie had decided to write a new 'series' loosely based on a group of young women who meet at culinary school in the early 1960s but I am starting to see that her signature romance of sheltered, virginal young woman and worldly man works better when set in an historical context, even if as another reviewer noted, there is very little in this book to suggest it was written about the past.

Soon Alexandra is dealing with three rebellious children, her employer's ex-wife Lucinda who wants to send her children to an English boarding school, and Lucinda's mother Penelope who has very old-fashioned ideas about what is correct behaviour for her grandchildren. But Alexandra soon wins over her charges with cakes and brings in her old friend David, together with his travelling companion Jack to help teach the children music, mathematics and Shakespeare.

Katie Fforde romances follow a fairly predictable formula and you either enjoy it or you don't. Her heroines are generally young and inexperienced (maybe briefly previously married to an older man, but only ever one previous romantic partner), they are artistically gifted, artists, pastry chefs, musicians etc, often dominated by an older relative, current fiancé, boss etc and victimised by elegant, stylish but spiteful other women for being young and beautiful. Now having watched Escape to the Chateau I know that restoring outbuildings, let alone a chateau, takes months of back-breaking work and is not achieved in a few weeks by a twenty-year old in a boiler suit with an Hermès scarf as a belt but in my imaginary world where the sun shines every day, the locals are charmed by an English accent, and amazing produce is available on every corner I do believe.

I admit I found the first 15% quite difficult and I left the book for four weeks, but when I picked it up again I raced through it. Also, Katie doesn't skimp on the ending, everything is tied up in a lovely bow.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and I accept that the hero is perhaps no more than a distant figure (like the father in an E. Nesbit novel) but I find that preferable to some of her previous heroes who have been a little problematic for me.

Anyway, if you want a gentle romance set in Provence with a LOT of wonderful food, two weddings and lots of wholesome fun then you need look no further.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a nice easy read which ambled along gently. A tried and tested theme of girl Alexandra (young 20 year old heiress) meets boy Antoine (mid 30 year old count) and their lives end up crossing. Alexandra (Lexi) becomes a nanny/companion by mistake to Antoine’s three children and lives with them in an old Château. After navigating his ex wife, the children’s grandmother and all manner of people who have not very nice things to say about her, Lexi slowly falls in love with Antoine and his children but will he fall for her?

Always love a Katie Fforde novel. They are somewhat predictable, but always leave me feeling smiley and happy, and this one did exactly the same. Made me want to jump in the car and drive all the way down to beautiful Provence

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

I normally love Katie Fforde's books but I found this was very disappointing. I can't believe that I am being critical of this accomplished and well loved author but I just found so many flaws and weaknesses in the story that I was thrown out of it.

Firstly what was the point of setting the book in 1963?. There was little sense of this being a different era.
We know that 'the past is a different country' and yet there was little to give us a sense of what life was like in the early 1960s.

The heroine Alexandra was from a privileged background, (despite losing her parents and having such awful relatives), and was an heiress - who takes time out to act as a nanny in the south ot France.

Leaving aside the totally unbelievable way in which she got the job and was able to handle the three children so well and so quickly, the story had a lot going for it. Alexandra was. well drawn and her developing relationship with the children was very well done. I liked the brief evocation of life in Provence - the markets etc but I don't feel enough was made of the Provencal setting.

My main problem was with Antoine - the hero. He did not make a proper appearance until a quarter the way through the book and then his character was so underdeveloped that he came across as a bit of a beta, a wimp! Both his ex wife and his business partner, who were absolute bitches, seemed to be able to manipulate him very easily and the way they both behaved towards Alexandra was so awful that I could not believe Antoine did not protect her.

It must have been a trial for Katie Fforde to research this book set amongst the countryside and a beautiful sounding chateau in gorgeous Provence!

Set in 1963, Lexi finds herself taking care of 3 children at a chateau in Provence. Although she has been hired as a nanny -shades of 'Sound of Music?'- she finds herself taking care of the whole household,

Sheer escapism, warm and well drawn characters gave me an easy, enjoyable read,

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House UK Cornerstone for the chance to read and review.

A cute heart-warming story set in the 1960’s. Alexandra ends up taking a chance of a lifetime to be a nanny of three children in Provence. The story includes many likeable characters as well as the characters that you love to loathe.

I liked Alexandra and Antoine’s relationship throughout and we all need best friends like David. The French setting was really nice as well, with some French language included in a lot of the dialogue.

I found some of the dialogue a bit cringy at times and I did end up forgetting the story was set in 1963 - I felt the era wasn’t made entirely obvious throughout most of the book. I kind of felt that the romance of the story was rushed a bit at the end as well - it was very slow and then everything happened in the final chapters.

But I still found the book to be an enjoyable and easy read

A nice easy read, heart warming storyline but somewhat predictable.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I have read a few Katie Fforde novels, and although they are a little predictable, they leave you with that feel good feeling that comes with a happily ever after. A Wedding in Provence was no exception.

Alexandra is a great character: brave, adventurous and kind. I enjoyed reading about how her relationship with the children she looked after changed and developed and how she won them over.

Set in the sixties in France, in the times of finishing schools and before much of the technology we take for grated today gave this story an authentic feel.

Overall, a fun and enjoyable read with some wonderful characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Century for providing me with an ARC.

I normally enjoy Katie Fforde but I'm sorry to say that I found this too twee and I didn't enjoy it.

This is another feel good novel from Katie Fforde which doesn't disappoint. The story is fairly predictable, but none the less enjoyable as we see the young Alexandra trying to have some respite from her domineering relatives whilst wondering if she has taken on more than she expected when she accepts a job in Provence.
An enjoyable read.

Katie Fforde’s latest novel ‘A Wedding in Provence’ is a refreshingly energetic read and a nod to an era where young ladies, raised by nannies and destined for finishing school, was a very real thing.

It’s 1963 and free-spirited heiress Alexandra has 24 hours in Paris before jumping on a train bound for finishing school in Switzerland. She bumps into Donna outside the Sacré Coeur, and there begins a chain of events that leads her to gaining employment from the handsome Le Comte de Belleville. He has ‘dark eyes fringed with long lashes’ and a ‘mouth that curled at the corners’. It comes as no surprise that she finds him ‘almost impossible not to fall in love with’.

Cookery school-trained, with ‘colloquial and rustic’ French, Alexandra is to take charge of le Comte’s – Antoine’s – three children in a chateau in Provence for a month. Orphaned herself at a young age and ‘supervised’ from afar by relations living in Switzerland, Alexandra has always fended for herself in the family home in London. Now she has to care for children who view her ‘with a mixture of hostility, resentment and defiance’.

With a get-on-with-it mindset, she throws off her pearls and stiff dresses and adopts a barefoot Provençial lifestyle. Soon, however, she finds herself up against Antoine’s former mother-in-law, Grand-mère, who wants to move in and educate the children so they ‘do not grow up as savages’. Yes, she really does say that. She also says she ‘doesn’t think people should be fat’. Ooph. She is a woman of her time.

This bohemian story rolls along energetically, hardly pausing for breath, a cast of colourful characters gathering in the chateau as the story builds.

Alexandra is a sweet, kind girl, who means well and is blessed with seeing the positive in most things, which is an attribute you don’t see much of these days. She is likeable and her spirited, less conventional side adds a little pizzazz. With relatable challenges that keep her on her toes – Antoine’s over-bearing ex-mother-in-law and his haughty ex-wife, a prickly love rival, the upward battle of building trust with children who have all but been neglected – Alexandra’s character develops gently and convincingly.

Themes of long-lost love and the search for family security are involved, and homosexuality is also given its own story thread during a time when it was illegal to be homosexual in Great Britain.
And, of course, we wait to see if Alexandra falls in love.

Katie Fforde paints an accurate portrayal of 1960s privileged, upper-class society where pearls, champagne and cookery courses mask a lack of emotional intimacy within families and the acceptance of sexual aggression towards women.

Simple, country Provençial life is pleasantly portrayed through descriptions of the landscape, markets and food, and provides a relaxed backdrop for stiff-natured characters to change.

‘A Wedding in Provence’ is enchanting. Most of all it is escapist and fun.

Thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for a copy to review.