Growing up in the very rough suburbs to Paris, Célie was always determined to make something of herself, unlike her drug-dealing low-life of an older brother. Apprenticing herself to a baker, the brightest part of her day was always when her brother’s friend Joss came to walk her home. Pretty much at the moment Célie had worked up the courage to confess her massive crush on him, Joss broke her heart into a million pieces by going off to join the French foreign legion. Five […]
A Romance with Chocolate and Caramel and Eclairs oh my!
So I got there. Again, it just takes the right romance, and all that is wrong with the world can disappear for a few blissful hours. I usually prefer historical to contemporary romance, but this one (especially combined with The Chocolate Kiss) take the delicious cake! This time it’s Jaime Corey (younger daughter of the billionaire Corey family from previous books) and Dominique Richard, wild man of the high end Parisian chocolatier industry. Jaime is in Paris recuperating after being beaten in Africa, and finds […]
Have Fun Storming the Castel
Five years ago, Joss Castel* left Celie and everything he knew behind to join the French Foreign Legion. He wanted to be more for her, better, to lay the foundation of a life together outside the tenements they had grown up in. The only problem is that he did not tell Celie any of this. Joss held himself in a self-made friends-only space until they could start their a life in a new place. He was her closest friend and the person she adored. All […]
My What Big Teeth You Have
As mentioned in my other reviews of her books, Laura Florand builds on fairy tales in her works and this one was no exception. Sometimes, I can’t quite tell which story she is referencing, and truth be told it doesn’t matter, but in this case it was Little Red Riding Hood. I know because it is quite explicit and Florand didn’t manage to tone it down as much as she did in other stories. At some point, I am going to have to make a […]
Escapist romance with roses instead of food
Layla “Belle Woods” Dubois has just won a Grammy for her Indie rock album, but is fleeing to the French countryside in a desperate hope that she will find some inspiration, or there won’t be a second album any time soon. She’s “accidentally” drowned her phone in a fountain and is hoping to stay away from press attention and the demands of her producers for long enough that she can write some new songs and rediscover her love of playing. Visiting the house she’s inherited […]
Contemporary Romance Made of Roses and Deft Escapism
Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand
Welcome to my autobuy list, Laura Florand. With her newest contemporary romance, she has guaranteed that I will be making ready and willing contributions to her income for the foreseeable future, pages and reviews unseen. In the first novel in her new series, La Vie en Roses, Florand has again mixed lovely escapism with sincere romance and, for the first time, a wonderful dose of humour. Her books were not previously morose, but this one has a conviviality that just adds to the fun, Once […]
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