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littlebirdbooks 's review for:
A French Affair
by Katie Fforde
It has been a while since I sat and read a Katie Fforde. I came across A French Affair when doing my weekly shop and couldn’t resist buying it! I’m happy I did as it was a pleasant, light-hearted break from what I have been reading.
A French Affair focuses on Gina Makepiece and how her life changes when her eccentric aunt leaves a request in her will. Gina, and her sister Sally, have to get involved in The French House antiques that she grew to love so much. The usually sensible and safe Gina throws herself into the venture (more so than her sister) after her freelance PR work isn’t as busy as she’d like it to be. This is the fresh start away from London (and ex Egan) she needed. However she gets more than she bargained for with the broody and pessimistic Matthew Ballinger.
Before I started the novel I had an idea on how it was going to end. Fforde follows a structure that she works wonderfully; I also like that I know exactly what I’m going to get when I see the name Katie Fforde on a beautiful cover. I must admit when I saw the premise centred on antiques I was slightly wary as I didn’t think I would be able to get into it. However I was surprised that despite this I couldn’t put the book down.
I greatly enjoyed the balance of personality between Gina and Matthew. Some of their interactions were humorous and had me smiling. It was nice to see the character development of them both (especially Matthew) as the novel continued. I wasn’t too crazy about the sister Sally, there were moments when I really couldn’t stand her. However I felt the sisterly relationship between her and Gina was well written. A minor character that I loved, on the other hand, was Nicholas and I would have loved to have seen more of him. Another character I would have liked to have seen more of (even though I hated her) was Yvette. She was mentioned a lot and her presence was felt, however I just would have liked to have seen her interact more with the other characters.
Despite reading this in one day I can’t quite remember if the loose ends with Egan and the money were tied up. I was so wrapped up with the ending that I forgot what happened with that particular storyline. Events towards the end of the novel felt a little rushed, however that also added to the tense feeling of time running out.
Like with other Katie Fforde books I wasn’t disappointed. I would certainly recommend this book, however Love Letters still remains my favourite Fforde!
A French Affair focuses on Gina Makepiece and how her life changes when her eccentric aunt leaves a request in her will. Gina, and her sister Sally, have to get involved in The French House antiques that she grew to love so much. The usually sensible and safe Gina throws herself into the venture (more so than her sister) after her freelance PR work isn’t as busy as she’d like it to be. This is the fresh start away from London (and ex Egan) she needed. However she gets more than she bargained for with the broody and pessimistic Matthew Ballinger.
Before I started the novel I had an idea on how it was going to end. Fforde follows a structure that she works wonderfully; I also like that I know exactly what I’m going to get when I see the name Katie Fforde on a beautiful cover. I must admit when I saw the premise centred on antiques I was slightly wary as I didn’t think I would be able to get into it. However I was surprised that despite this I couldn’t put the book down.
I greatly enjoyed the balance of personality between Gina and Matthew. Some of their interactions were humorous and had me smiling. It was nice to see the character development of them both (especially Matthew) as the novel continued. I wasn’t too crazy about the sister Sally, there were moments when I really couldn’t stand her. However I felt the sisterly relationship between her and Gina was well written. A minor character that I loved, on the other hand, was Nicholas and I would have loved to have seen more of him. Another character I would have liked to have seen more of (even though I hated her) was Yvette. She was mentioned a lot and her presence was felt, however I just would have liked to have seen her interact more with the other characters.
Despite reading this in one day I can’t quite remember if the loose ends with Egan and the money were tied up. I was so wrapped up with the ending that I forgot what happened with that particular storyline. Events towards the end of the novel felt a little rushed, however that also added to the tense feeling of time running out.
Like with other Katie Fforde books I wasn’t disappointed. I would certainly recommend this book, however Love Letters still remains my favourite Fforde!