This book is a fun and spicy summer read! The author really did a wonderful job at mixing romance with women’s fiction, not an easy feat. The gorgeous cover is the perfect gateway into the book’s stunning summer setting in the French countryside.

I loved all the supporting characters but I definitely related to the Type-A Leah. Her anxiety and self-esteem issues were very believable, even though she was a highly sought-after brand consultant.

Yes there is an age-gap romance here but Théo is truly an “old soul” who seems much older than his chronological age. He is THE perfect book boyfriend.

I read this book with a chilled glass of Sancerre and I can’t think of a better way to pass a summer afternoon!

(𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.)

I have MUCH to say about A Perfect Vintage!

I quite like Chelsea Fagan and consider her someone of great taste and wisdom and her book contains all the details I'd expect:
1. Characters with histories, cultures, and personalities that believably impact the way that they act, interact, and interpret experiences. Every character had a mix of positive and negative qualities, they made good choices as well as bad ones, and sometimes the bad choices had serious consequences and sometimes they didn't! That felt very true to life.
2. The above makes for situations that result in realistic and compelling conflict. I have never written a book, but I imagine this is one of the hardest things to do, because I have read so many books, even ones I liked, with pretty contrived conflicts. A Perfect Vintage is not one of them!!
3. Considering Lea's devotion to her business, a very reasonable amount of attention in the book is devoted to details she cares about and that are important to her work: design, food, experiencial details! I loved this!!! I have read many books with characters that either (a) have an interesting job that they supposedly care a lot about, but the book devotes suspiciously little time to describing their work, or (b) have an interesting job, but the details provided are either very inaccurate or so ridiculous that I think they're really bad at their job. This is a pet peeve of mine (especially in the romance and romance-adjacent genres). Thank you, Chelsea, for making Lea so competent at something so cool. I loved imagining all the spaces and experiences Lea was working so hard to create at the chateau.
4. A really solid understanding and portrayal of French people and culture. I am American, so maybe a French person would disagree with me, but I have lived and worked in France. Not only did I find that A Perfect Vintage accurately portrayed what it's like to be American and navigating French culture and relationships, but certain details and observations I actually found really enlightening and brought new understanding to my own past experiences. You can really tell that Fagan has spent many years gaining these insights, and has cultivated deep relationships with French people. My only complaint on the France/French culture side was that I wanted a bit more specificity to the sense of place in the Loire Valley (it's a big region!) but I'm being nitpicky.
5. Finally, the romance was HOT and fun and delightfully escapist. The tension building was top tier. The age gap was navigated really thoughtfully, and I usually really dislike age gap romances.
6. The resolution didn't feel rushed.

A couple less glowing observations:
1. The main characters in this book are not all likable, all the time. Lea is sort of aloof and comes off as pretty pretentious at times (we get it, you're chic and cultured!) but I didn't mind it too much. Underneath all that it was clear she was really caring and kind. Stephanie, on the other hand, kind of shocked me to be honest. I can't imagine essentially forcing my best friend to take me and my daughter on their months-long work trip, then immediately striking up a romantic relationship with their client, while avoiding dealing with my own impending divorce proceedings. It was truly shockingly bad behavior, I can't really see her as a good friend to Lea or frankly a good parent to her own child. I really wanted to root for her but her choices made it hard to see her as anything but selfish most of the time.
2. I found the first 1/3 of the book or so a bit slow to grab my attention. I think it's worth the wait, but it took me a while to get fully engaged.

Overall, I fully recommend this summer read! I can't wait for all my friends to get their hands on it so I can talk about it more!!

Thank you so much to Orsay Press and Chelsea Fagan for the advance copy.

This book is such a fun summer read. While light, there were heavy moments and topics. The French countryside was a beautiful setting for this story. Théo was the perfect book boyfriend and makes you swoon and Lea falls for those swooning moments.
I read this so fast and loved every minute of it. It was so fun and I wish I was able to visit the hotel they created.

I LOVED this book. This is EXACTLY what I want in a summer/beach/pool read. It is vibe-y, addicting, sensual, and messy. The food and scenery descriptions had me entranced and made me feel like I was right there in the story.

I felt a lot of the same *vibes* as "The Idea Of You by Robin Lee" in that this was an "older" female protagonist and there is sooo much pining and tension without it actually being very steamy. And The Idea Of You is one of my all time favorite books so that is a very high compliment to Chelsea Fagan. ;)

I think this would make a fun summer book club pick to discuss over sparkling wine with your toes dipped in the pool (preferably in the back of your bestie's France mansion, if you have one of those).

Thank you SO much to the publisher for the advanced copy. A PERFECT VINTAGE is out 6/6.

Book : A Perfect Vintage
Author : Chelsea Fagan
Pub Date : 06 Jun 2023

Thank you NetGalley, Orsay Press LLC & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love the cover of it book screams summer and a rich lifestyle!! I love this cover!!! I was so excited when I got the opportunity to read and review this books. Entering summer—this book is the perfect way to begin.

With how the author wrote this book! The older woman—younger man aspect was fabulous and the romance was just the right amount to not feel overwhelming or too much. You felt as though you are with the characters and they love through the story line. These characters are well written/developed.

This book is a 4 star for me and I will recommend this to friends of mine for an all around amazing summer read. Turn on a curated playlist for this book, imagine you’re at a French chateau by the pool with a pair of sunglasses, drink in your hand and let this book devour you!

I really loved this. I was the perfect beach read that should be in everyone's Hamptons or South Beach travel bag. It hit all the right notes for me. I hope to see it on a lot of book tables and face outs this summer.

I have followed the author on social media for a long time, and I really appreciate what she does for financial literacy & transparency! I was excited to see what kind of book this would be. That said, I’ve tried to keep this as an unbiased review.

The beginning of this novel was quite pretentious—honestly, it was dripping with the “girl-boss” energy that the author mocks on social media. There are so many descriptions of how rich the main character is and how her wealth defines her decisions (expensive clothes, refined drinks& decor, expensive taste for her job). I guess in the beginning, it just stood out as really trying hard to establish a chic, refined taste that came off as maybe inauthentic (something the book goes on to describe as a cardinal sin in French culture). Honestly, it made me feel disconnected from the characters (as I’m neither chic nor refined!!)

I think that the story was much better in the second half when the relationship between Theo and Lea picked up. While I felt distanced from the characters at the beginning, I realized that I was actually upset during the fights with Stephanie & the family. There is a light commentary on the double standard of age differences in relationships where the man is older vs if the woman is older. I do wish that this had been explored further and that there were not so many odd time jumps at the end.

Overall, this is mostly a light summer read, but it was a little harder and disjointed to get into at the beginning!

I ended up loving this book so much more than I was expecting to! The author created a wonderful cast of characters, whether you loved them, or hated them, they were so well defined that they felt real. This is not your typical love story. I did find myself cheering for Theo and Lea. I loved Lea. She is a great protagonist - I wish she was a real person. I love that the author gave us a peek into the other characters stories as well. I had a difficult time putting this book down, and that really hasn't happened to me in a bit. Thank you to the author for writing a book that has been one of my favorites of the year so far. Cheers!

A beautiful romance novel. Absolutely perfect for summertime! It will stick with me! I highly recommend reading this book!

A huge thank you to @netgalley, Orsay Press, and @faganchelsea for an advanced readers copy! The story is about Lea Mortimer, and her ten week work assignment to transform the Levesque family’s hôtel chateau in the Loire Valley of France. Drama, complexity, and illicit affairs all encompass this romantic novel. The imagery of French cuisine and culture were beautiful and had me wishing I was in France, instead of Florida. It was such a fun, summer read!

This was a great read!

* In the beginning I was trying to figure out why stephanie wanted to go on vacation so bad with her daughter and why Lea just couldn’t say no. That’s a huge ask to take someone and their daughter to an international summer long trip for nothing while she is trying to work.
* You get the feeling Lea had some type of relationship with one of the house owners in the beginning. There’s huge tension between her and Gabriel that leads you to wonder do they hook up? Isn’t it usually the characters who despise each other than fall in love in the end? Sorry I’m a true enemies to lovers-lover!
* The sexual tension in the first 40% of the book is real 🥵🥵🥵
* No offense but the best friend/cousin blow up was so satisfying. It’s everything I was getting annoyed with while reading the book.
* Stephanie’s self riotousness bothered me so much during the ending of the book. Entitled much? Who gave you this opportunity in the first place?
* The ending was perfect. Lea coming full circle with herself was just what I needed to continue being envious of her amazing lifestyle.

I really enjoyed this book, BUT I felt like the ending happened so quickly! Maybe that's me being selfish and wanting to see what happened between the two characters. Also, I felt like a lot of the characters were a bit pretentious. I didn't fall in love with many of them, but I was rooting for them in the end.

This gave me The Idea of You vibes with a happier ending. Romantic, a bit sexy, and a bit mysterious.

The beautiful cover and constant hype for this book made me really excited to get a copy from Netgalley, but it ended up falling flat for me. I loved the setting and the premise, but the characters felt one-dimensional and mostly were unlikeable, the relationships felt forced, and the chapters dragged on for too long. I couldn't connect with most of the characters, and felt myself getting increasingly frustrated with Lea and Stephanie especially - I thought they were both incredibly immature - as I slogged through the book. I almost gave up on it many times, but wanted to finish it to give a fully honest review. I thought this would be a light, fun read, but it felt like it was trying to toe the line between fun summer read and serious novel. I would give this author another try, but I don't think I'd recommend this book.

This book absolutely blew me out of the water, which I wasn’t expecting at all! I loved all the shenanigans that all of the characters got themselves into. Lea and Theo are so worth rooting for, but I am so glad this wasn’t a typical romance novel. So refreshing!

Lea is a great protagonist, and the cast of characters was so well put together. I’m so glad we got to be a part of their stories as well.

I was always dying to pick this book back up, which hasn’t happened in a while. Thank you Chelsea for writing one of my favorite books of the year and for getting me out of a reading slump. I want to be you when I grow up!

Want to insert a little HGTV into your wealthy family drama and forbidden love? A Perfect Vintage has you covered! As we follow a hotel designer spending the summer leading the remodel of a chateau into a world-class luxury resort. She brings the two closest people in her life along with her and they make her work easier and more complicated.
Lots of characters and relationships to explore. However one of the relationships is problematic and I never could quite bring myself to root for them even though I know that was the intention. This is a great book for your beach bag, easy to read by the pool and feel transported to Europe for the afternoon. Special star for the love of spreadsheets that was evident and amazing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orsay Press for the advanced copy of this book so I could share my thoughts with fellow readers!

Wow. One; this book got me out of my reading slump. WOW. Two; This is one of the best summer books with just the right amount of everything I have read. The romance. The characters. The humor. Rich French family drama. This book has it all.

Setting ~ Loire Valley in the France countryside. First of all... if someone writes a book that is set in France, I will immediately add it to my TBR. The setting of this book was just incredible. I could see, smell, and taste France just from reading a chapter. I would crave to read this book when I had to do something else. Ex. Showering, school, work. All I could think of was finishing this book!

Characters ~ I have never read a book about a MC with the job Lea has in this book. And I really enjoyed it! I would get excited every time she completed something off her list. Lea was a great MC to follow. Even though she was judgmental at times, she always did what she wanted / needed to do. #badass

All in all if you were to pick up one summer book this summer; CHOOSE THIS ONE!!! The cover? (Might I also add) IS STUNNING. This book is vibrant. Sexy. French *chefs kiss*. Drama filled. Stressful in a 'I can't put the book down' kind of way. I felt I was in the book while I was reading. Oh hey, don't mind me just doing some wine tasting over here.. But seriously ADD THIS TO YOUR SUMMER TBR!!!

I was drawn in by the BEAUTIFUL cover, intriguing set up, and of course being a fan of the author's other projects. The strongest part of this book for me was the setting. Spending 350 pages in the south of France at a chateau in the summer heat had me living my best season 2 of White Lotus fantasy. I was craving Aperol spritzes like my life depended on it the entire time.

Because of the writing style and some of the decisions the main character was making, I found myself forgetting at times that I was reading a romance novel. It felt more like a general fiction/lit fic about a woman imploding her life and being pretty mean to the people around her. It definitely didn't have the typical tone or arc of a romance novel I was expecting. That's not necessarily a bad thing, however, I found the MC unlikeable enough both in general and in the context of her romantic relationship that I was rooting against the main couple getting together which feels a little contradictory to the romance genre and perhaps like this book is being slightly miscategorized. It also felt a bit overwritten at times, and while helpful at first to paint the picture of old money luxury, I found the extremely detailed descriptions of character outfits and hotel decor to be a bit distracting by the end.

My overall rating is a 2.5.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Perfect Vintage was a fun summer read. Makes me want to spend the summer in France and visit a fabulous chateau hotel like the one Lea and the Levesques are renovating. I appreciate NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was far and away one of my favorite reads this year!

I rarely give 5 stars, but I think Chelsea Fagan really captures what it is to be a woman who is: strong, competent, independent, and intimidating. A Perfect Vintage is a great example of what the women’s fiction genre is but also welcomes and embraces the romantic elements that made this book hopeful AND spicy.

I will spare you of a summary of the book, but if you love:
- strong female leads
- rich family drama
- rich family drama in Europe
- rich family drama in France
- forbidden love

Then this is your book,

a perfect summer read. lea is a fabulous heroine to read she's so cool and sexy she is living The Dream ughh saw myself (at 24) in her (minus the coolness) and my bff in stephanie so i know her resentment was Felt. then throw in some family drama and i'm sold 👌 thanks to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for this arc!