review: Summer at the Little French Guesthouse (Helen Pollard)

please note that this is the third book in the La Cour des Roses series by Helen Pollard. The other books are:
The Little French Guesthouse (book 1)*
Return to the Little French Guesthouse (book 2)

When I read about the third book in the La Cour des Roses series by Helen Pollard I was really delighted. Although I’m not that into France and the French language I enjoyed reading the first two books. They felt like a holiday and books which make me feel comfortable are good ones. So you can guess that I was happy that I was allowed to read the advanced review copy thanks to NetGalley.

Maybe you feel the same way about reading a book from a series: it’s like meeting old friends. Set again in France at the countryside and with a mix of English and French people, but more English, with good food and wine, the series is a perfect summer read. It’s about family, friendship and helping them.

In the last book Alain, the handsome half-English, half-French new boyfriend of Emmy, proposed to her. In my opinion, that was a bit early since they met only a few months before, but okay. So “Summer at the Little French Guesthouse” is mainly about the wedding and the planning of it, but also about trouble in the family. Emmy’s mother wants everything to be perfect and so the only thing she has on her mind is the wedding. Emmy feels again like a teenager when her mother told her what to do or what not to do. But instead of talking to her mother about her feelings, Emmy doesn’t say a word about it to her mother.

The other trouble is in Alain’s family. As we learnt from the previous books, his ex-wife, Sabine, is married to his brother, Adrien, and they have two children. Something is bothering Sabine and the children are often with their grandparents or, just for a few days, with Alain. The children beginn to love Emmy und she appreciates that. So Emmy learns from them that their parents are arguing and feel very sad and confused about it. So with the wedding just a few weeks away and a bossy mother Emmy has much going on in her head.

I think the story is a bit too long as it drags on and on. But there was a twist I didn’t see coming near the end. It caught me by surprise but finally there was a bit more tension.

I would love to give the novel 5 stars out of 5, because I love Helen Pollards books, but I can “only” give it 4 – or 4 and a half.

The book will be published next week.

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