Blog Tour & Book Review: A French Affair

Today, I’m excited to be on the blog tour with my book review of A French Affair by Jennifer Bohnet.

Book Cover Notes:

What will be will be…

Belinda Marshall’s idyllic teenage life in Brittany, France, fell apart when her parents dramatically separated and her mother took her back
to England.

Fast forward thirty-five years when Belinda’s world is once again turned upside down. It’s the week before Christmas and Belinda’s employer ‘surprises’ her by asking for her help to rejuvenate their latest investment, a run-down campsite in Brittany.

Memories and anxieties that had lain dormant for years suddenly begin to resurface. As secrets from a lost life threaten to overwhelm her, there is a realisation that maybe she wasn’t told the whole truth by her mother all those years ago.

Can Belinda reconcile her emotions and find happiness once more in the place she so loved and called home?

My Thoughts

When I read the cover notes for this book, I knew instantly this was going to be a Touring Tails favourite. I was pleased to be invited to join the blog tour to provide a book review of A French Affair. It has everything I love:

Travelling and camping
Visiting France
Dog-friendly (‘BB’ the Tibetan Terrier travels everywhere with his owner Belinda)
A hint of the beautiful French language – ‘Bonjour, une cafe au lait, sil vous plait’ (I’m currently learning French so I loved that the author added subtle french greetings and place names.)

At the beginning of the story we are introduced to Belinda Marshall, a busy manager and chief troubleshooter for a small chain of hotels in Devonshire. One morning she is called into a meeting with her boss and told that she has been assigned a new project. Rather than a new hotel to renovate, this time it’s a run-down campsite in Brittany France.

Having recovered from her initial surprise, Belinda eventually agrees to visit the campsite to assess how big a project it is. With plans to reopen the campsite ready for the summer, Belinda believes her boss has lost his marbles, but she’s good at her job and knows that if she can’t do it no-one can.

With her little dog BB at her side she packs up and heads off to Camping dans La Foret in Brittany France. A place that has lots of childhood memories for Belinda, a history she has tried to forgot. Now she may have to face up to what happened and ‘lay the ghosts to rest’ once and for all.

Whilst Belinda concentrates on the new camping project, she meets several of the locals. First there’s Fern, an English widow and the owner of the auberge (B&B) that Belinda stays at. They soon become firm friends.

My Kindle has highlights of Fern’s delicious food. I wanted to sit in Fern’s shabby chic French Kitchen, drinking coffee and eating her Kouign-amann. A traditional Breton cake, which sounds and looks amazing (I had to Google it :-).

Next up Belinda meets Alain, the existing campsite manager, which her boss Nigel had conveniently forgotten to tell her about. Alain is a french man with a serious attitude problem. Then there’s Anouk, Fern’s 90 year old mother-in-law. Feisty, utterly incorrigible and very French. Having lived in the area her whole life, Anouk proves a very useful resource during Belinda’s research into her childhood past.

Summary

An utterly charming story and beautifully written. A French Affair transformed me to a summer of camping in Brittany. What a lovely escape for a while.

If, like me you’re not a fan of romance novels then don’t be put off by the title of this book. This is a story of one women’s journey as she comes to terms with her childhood history and a family scandal. Also, it’s a journey on finding her new purpose in life following a divorce and her daughter growing up and leaving home. I didn’t want Belinda’s story or the book to end.

Highly recommended. I hope the author shares more of Belinda’s camping life in Brittany soon. Please 🙂

About the Author

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 14 women’s fiction titles, including Villa of Sun and Secrets and A Riviera Retreat.

She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

Thanks to Rachel @rararesources for inviting me on the tour. Also thanks to @jenniewriter and Boldwood Books publishing for my digital copy of the book. All views of this book review of A French Affair are my own.

I hope you have enjoyed my book review of A French Affair.

I would love to hear from publishers or authors with books that may interest our readers. Whether paperback or e-books (mobi preferred format). As long as they relate to travel, places, camping or animals they would fit well. I like to find new authors to follow and support.

Please feel free to contact me with review requests.

@TouringTales x

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