Review: Return to the Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard

Series:  La Cour des Roses #2

Title: Return to the Little French Guesthouse

Author: Helen Pollard

Publisher: Crimson Romance

Published: August 26th, 2016

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5

My Review

Having decided to return to the little French guest house, Emmy Jamieson just isn’t anticipating all the problems awaiting her. With the departure of Gloria, many arrangements she had made prove not to have been recorded. With Rupert still reeling from his wife’s adultery with Emmy’s ex and his medical problems, nothing is going to be straightforward. As a sleepwalker causes unexpected problems,ma mammoth family reunion for far too many people needs organising and, to top it all, Gloria returns!  What a first season this will prove to be – complete with possible romance that Gloria will also endeavour to ruin. You’ll just have to read this brilliant novel to discover what happens and how things are finally resolved!

This author is a highly talented artist, painting vivid images in the imagination of her readers, bringing to life in full colour the characters, scenery and events in this rural French landscape. She made me want to hug some of the characters – and for a few others to use what my family refer to as my “teacher voice” to get them to see sense or reprimand them! I wanted to all of these for the heroine, who took me through the whole gamut of emotions at different points in the story. There are some laugh out loud moments – you just have to giggle when a critic inadvertently exposes himself to an elderly lady twice! Coping with the Thomson invasion creates more than a few headaches and laugh and t loud incidents. Through it all, Alain is such a superb character, quick to forgive, heartwarming and considerate- the antithesis of some of the others! I’ve loved escaping to this delightful community and really hope there are more stories to come in this series!

Many thanks to NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this superb novel.

Description

Blue skies, new love, and a glass of Bordeaux . . . what could possibly go wrong?

When Emmy Jamieson leaves her life behind and moves to La Cour des Roses, a gorgeous guesthouse amidst vineyards in France, everything is resting on her success as the new guesthouse manager.

Looming in the calendar is the biggest booking ever, when the entire eccentric, demanding Thomson family will descend for a golden wedding anniversary. With airbeds on the floor and caravans in the garden, La Cour des Roses will be bursting at the seams.

Emmy knows she’s up to the challenge, especially with the support of the gorgeous Alain, the half-French, half-English, caramel-eyed accountant. But she hadn’t counted on a naked, sleepwalking travel blogger, or the return of owner Rupert’s venomous ex-wife Gloria.

Gloria has a few things to say about Emmy’s new role, Rupert’s finances, and the unsuspecting Alain, which send everybody reeling. Just when Emmy can see a future for herself of endless sunshine, true love and laughter, are her dreams about to be ripped at the seams?

Fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Nick Alexander will want to join Emmy for a glass of wine as the sun sets on the terrace at La Cour des Roses.

Buy Links:    Amazon (UK)         Amazon (US)        Barnes and Noble

Other posts concerning this series and author include my review of the first novel in the series, The Little French Guesthouse
and a guest post by the author entitled
The long journey to The Little French Guesthouse