The Little French Guesthouse

Description:  Sun, croissants and fine wine. Nothing can spoil the perfect holiday. Or can it?
When Emmy Jamieson arrives at La Cour des Roses, a beautiful guesthouse in the French countryside, she can’t wait to spend two weeks relaxing with boyfriend Nathan. Their relationship needs a little TLC and Emmy is certain this holiday will do the trick. But they’ve barely unpacked before he scarpers with Gloria, the guesthouse owner’s cougar wife.

Rupert, the ailing guesthouse owner, is shell-shocked. Feeling somewhat responsible, and rather generous after a bottle (or so) of wine, heartbroken Emmy offers to help. Changing sheets in the gîtes will help keep her mind off her misery.

Thrust into the heart of the local community, Emmy suddenly finds herself surrounded by new friends. And with sizzling hot gardener Ryan and the infuriating (if gorgeous) accountant Alain providing welcome distractions, Nathan is fast becoming a distant memory.

Fresh coffee and croissants for breakfast, feeding the hens in the warm evening light; Emmy starts to feel quite at home. But it would be madness to walk away from her friends, family, and everything she’s ever worked for, to take a chance on a place she fell for on holiday – wouldn’t it?

After reading a few crime novels (mostly very good) The Little French Guesthouse made a lovely contrast. It was funny, warm, sad, poignant and very satisfying.

I found myself quickly becoming immersed in the story. There is no slow introduction. The first page starts with Emmy’s shocking discovery on the roof terrace.

Emmy and Nathan are spending two weeks at a beautiful French guesthouse in the Loire region run by Rupert and his wife Gloria in the hope that a break from work and stress will re-energise their relationship.

A few days into the holiday Rupert collapses in front of Emmy clutching his chest. She goes searching for his wife and is shocked when she finds Gloria and Nathan ‘romping’ on the roof terrace.

Rupert is taken to hospital where he is found to have angina but he has also damaged a ligament in his leg when he collapsed and can barely walk. This is a problem because Rupert did all the cooking. It would seem Gloria is just there to meet and greet and look decorative.

A few days later, shortly after important guests have arrived who are very demanding and will expect the very best of food and service, Nathan and Gloria have run off together and Emmy feels sorry for Rupert and ends up helping out by shopping, cleaning, cooking under supervision rather than returning home early.

What starts out with Emmy feeling she has to help Rupert run the guest house for a day or two until he can arrange for other help leads to her staying on for the duration of her holiday and then being asked to extend it by another week.

In a very short time she has made new friends and she feels settled and comfortable. She helps Rupert but also takes time to relax in the beautiful surroundings. There is even some love interest.

All too soon Emmy has to go back to her well paid job in the UK. . Rupert comes up with a plan that would enable her to relocate to France and help him run his business and perhaps cultivate her own business interests. There is much agonising as Emmy considers her options.

I like the writing style.  Helen’s description of the guesthouse and its surroundings is wonderful. I really wanted to be there, in fact I felt I could be there, sitting reading in the peaceful garden, the bees humming, the gardener working somewhere nearby or enjoying the town on market day with all the noise, bustle, smells, having coffee, chatting. Sounds idyllic.

The characters were well drawn and easy to visualise. Caring, thoughtful, hardworking, capable Emmy who mucks in when things need done and endears herself to everyone. She sounds wonderful, someone you would want to be friends with. Owner Rupert I think is usually larger than life, congenial, friendly, appreciative, well known and respected in the area.

Nathan came across as arrogant, snobbish, mean, selfish – not so much of a sympathetic character! Gloria seemed more self-centred, lazy, and probably a little past her prime. I got a sense she was disappointed with her life at the guest house.

I liked the fact that all the characters are easy to visualise. The writing was so good.

This is the first book I have read by Helen Pollard but I’m sure it won’t be the last. It is everything it says on the cover: The perfect feel good summer read.

Author’s website:    http://ift.tt/1OtCKXC

TRYING TO CATCH UP!

I've only just realised, I've read at least 5 books (possibly more) since I last posted here.

September has just galloped by.

I had a wonderful time singing with the Big Big Sing Community Choir at Glasgow Green for Proms in the Park (the last night of the Proms) and we even appeared live on BBC2 Scotland.

Two days after that I left for a week's holiday in Spain.  I did plenty of reading but no time for blogging!

I have recently been reading crime/thrillers/mysteries.  I enjoyed them all although they were all very different.  I was given advance copies via Netgalley but two of them have still to be published, one on 6 October and the other on 20 October so I'll put these in a separate post.


The first was The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan.

There are at least two stories going on here. On his last day at work Inspector Chopra encounters a distraught mother whose son has been found drowned and the body brought to the police station. No one seems to be investigating the matter. In fact Chopra's superior wants the case closed, saying the boy drowned. Chopra thinks the death could have been the result of foul play and wants to investigate.

On that same day Chopra had received word that he had inherited a baby elephant. When he arrives home from his last day at work the small baby elephant has been delivered. The problem is Inspector Chopra and his wife Poppy live on the 15^th floor of a tower block in Mumbai. However Chopra is one of these people who seems to be able to deal with anything that comes along. His wife Poppy seems the strong quiet type. Although they have been married for a long time they have no children but they obviously love each other.

Naturally Inspector Chopra continues to investigate the boy's death unofficially and uncovers some terrible goings on. You don't know who can be trusted and who is 'on the take' and/or involved in criminal activities.

I love the way the various threads of the story are interwoven. While investigating the boy's death he is also trying to find out how to help the baby elephant, now named Ganesha. The little elephant has a part to play in the unfolding investigation.

Also, unknown to his wife Poppy, he has been preparing for his retirement. All she knows is he take regular phone calls from someone but doesn't speak to her about them. Then when his investigation starts and he leaves the house, sometimes for several hours, she starts to think he has another woman.

I like the Chopras. They seem a charming couple.  Although it is a stand alone book the story ends leaving a door open for further books.  I'll be looking out for the next book!

It reminded me a little of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (only very slightly, not a copy) although that was set in Botswana and the protagonist was a strong, sensible young woman and not a hardworking retired police inspector. If you liked that series of books by Alexander McCall Smith then you would probably like this book.

Her Final Breath by Robert Dugoni is the second book in a series of three.

I haven't read the first book but that didn't prevent me getting drawn into this story. There are references in Her Final Breath to events and characters in the first book but Her Final Breath can stand alone.   I thought this was a great book right from the start and having read it, I now want to read My Sister's Grave.

Tracy Crosswhite has returned to work as a detective following the retrial of her sister's killer and becomes involved in the investigation of what turns out to be a number of murders of young women in the North Seattle area.

It would also appear someone is out to get Tracy.

The suspense begins almost immediately - no long drawn out introduction to the characters before anything happens - and the tension is maintained throughout.

Clues are pretty scarce but there may be a link to an older homicide in the area.  However Tracy's attempts to investigate this further are thwarted by her boss at every turn.  Does he have something to hide?

There are lots of suspects along the way (and red herrings) but I didn't manage to guess the identity of the serial killer.

This is definitely one of these books that keeps you reading through the night just to find out who the serial killer is and if Tracy will be targeted next.