Summer at the French Café

Two and a half stars. I must preface this review by saying that while I generally love Sue Moorcroft's UK-based novels I have a less enthusiastic relationship with her novels set abroad, despite that I requested this book when it came up on NetGalley. Kat(erina) Jenson works in a bookshop/café in Parc Lemmel in Alsace, France. The owners Reeny and Graham were very kind to her when she first moved to France, giving her somewhere to stay etc, and she has been fiercely loyal ever since. Now Reeny has cancer and Graham's mother is ill in the UK so the task of managing the bookshop falls squarely on Kat, which she relishes. Kat's stepbrother Solly has recently also started work in the park, after being sacked as a teacher for drunken rowdiness on the school steps, as a groundskeeper. Kat and Solly have not been close previously as Solly's mother Irina has always made it clear that she is jealous of any time that Kat spends with Solly, or her father Howard, even though Kat only saw her father at weekends. Even Kat's mother showed her less attention when she remarried, prioritising her new husband's young daughters who were traumatised at their mother's death. Then after her own mother's death, her step-father and his daughters moved away, leaving Kat all alone. Kat hasn't had much time to spend with Solly so far as she has been too engrossed with her French boyfriend Jakey, until shocking truths are revealed about who he really is. Despite her heartbreak and shock, Kat soon finds herself attracted to Solly's housemate Noah, who has moved to Alsace from the Dordogne to try to find his ex-wife Irina and daughter Clemence who abruptly up and left with his ex-wife's new (controlling) husband Johan with no notification. But given her history of being thrown over for other people and their children, will the situation with Noah be any different? Sorry, I tried to like this but I found it incredibly slow. Also, Kat was such a victim of absolutely everyone she knew that I started to feel that maybe she was partially to blame, like those people who are 'bullied' at every single job they have - at some point you have to ask are they oversensitive or are they themselves acting unreasonably and getting upset when they are called out on it? I've said it before but this time I mean it. No more overseas romances from Sue Moorcroft for me. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

While I was reading Summer at the French Café by Sue Moorcroft, I was transported me back to my visits to Paris, sitting at outside at a café, sharing a chocolate treats and a drink with my hubby, while people watching or reading a book. It was easy to transfer my memories to imagining myself at Livres et Café the shop that Kat Jenson manages. Although her life was far from idyllic, she faces cheating boyfriends, difficult new relationships, uneasy family relationships, and strained working situations. Family, friendships, and relationships, good or bad, are focused on throughout this story. I enjoyed the relationship between Kat and Noah as they moved from friends to lovers. It was wonderful to see the depth of attraction they had for each other both emotionally and physically, although they definitely had some challenges to test their commitment. There were some complicated family situations for both Kat and Noah and there was a strong focus on family throughout the book. Both had experiences of broken relationships and recognized the challenges that resulted from blended families and the compromises that sometimes had to be made. This novel is not a light, summer read, as it takes on a number of difficult topics; child abduction, domestic violence, childhood trauma, stalking and harassment. There is the slimy cheat of a boyfriend which leads to some rather vindictive revenge and causes Kat a lot of worry regarding the cyber security of the shop. A good friend has cancer, and this is not glossed over, with Kat showing love and concern for her friend. A controlling, almost abusive, relationship is also revealed. Each of these issues add a depth and understanding to the story. Ms. Moorcroft wrote an emotional, wonderful, heartwarming novel that should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with family, family, love, the magic of friends, and a colorful cast of secondary characters. Her vivid and visual descriptions of the Alsace region of France made me long to visit. I highly recommend Summer at the French Café to other readers. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.