Book Author: Sarah Ready
Book Cover Art and Illustration: Elizabeth Turner Stokes
Audiobook Narrator: Kelsey Navarro
Book Publisher: W.W. Crown an Imprint of Swift and Lewis Publishing, LLC
Publisher Website: www.wwcrown.com
Author Website: www.sarahready.com
Author Social Media:
www.facebook.com/sarahreadyauthor
www.instagram.com/sarahreadyauthor
Book Copyright: Sarah Ready 2023
Book Page Count: 454 pages
Book Available in: Paperback, Jacketed Hardcover, eBook, Large Print, and Audiobook
Book Category: Fiction: Romance; Fiction: Romantic Comedy; Fiction: Chicklit; Fiction: Women’s Fiction
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-954007-50-5
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-954007-48-2
Large Print ISBN: 978-1-954007-49-9
eBook ISBN: 978-1-954007-47-5
Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-954007-56-7
Author Sarah Ready writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy. Her books have been described as “euphoric”, “heartwarming” and “laugh out loud”. Her debut novel The Fall in Love Checklist was hailed as “the unicorn read of 2020”. Sarah writes stand-alone romcoms and romcoms in the Soul Mates in Romeo series.
One (crumbling) French castle. Two enemies-at-first-sight. The holiday of a lifetime.
Merry DeLuca has a problem—a big problem. Her sister just married her best friend and the only man she’s ever loved. Her life is rapidly spiraling down the drain and she doesn’t have an escape plan.
So when Merry is offered a three-month holiday living in a romantic castle in the French countryside she leaps at the chance. Merry knows her French holiday will fix everything—there will be mouthwatering pastries, delicious (meaningless) flirtations, and languid strolls through vineyards at sunset. Her holiday will be perfect.
At least, Merry believes that until she arrives and finds Noah Wright—the best man at her sister’s wedding and the worst man she’s ever known—staying in her castle.
Famous travel documentarian by day and arrogant devil by night, Noah refuses to leave the castle. Which means that Merry and Noah are stuck together in France, in a crumbling castle, in a holiday where nothing goes right. Not for Merry and not for Noah.
So they strike a truce—they’ll live as cohabitating friends for three-months, and then they’ll amicably part ways, never to see each other again.
But the thing about friendship? Sometimes secrets are uncovered. Mysteries revealed. Hearts laid bare. And friendship can start to feel a lot like caring. A lot like love. It can even make you wish that the holiday never has to end.
"Ready (The Fall in Love Checklist) whisks readers to the South of France for a saucy enemies-to-lovers romance… This is a winner."
“Ready has written a tale that deliciously taps into its French trappings. Merry enjoys pungent cheeses and the attentions of
a handsome local art gallery owner called—but of course—Pierre. Yet this novel also includes psychological nuances that
enrich what could have been simply a rather glossy and superficial story. Lead couple Merry and Noah are sketched out
with childhood backstories that explain their wary natures. Even secondary characters Angela and Leo return for their own
revealing twists, including one on the Lovers’ Bridge that figures prominently for several reasons in the tale. The mystery
weaving through this romance gets overly convoluted at times (What took Noah so long to get to this chateau?). There are
also a lot of rather fortuitous, just-in-time entrances by other characters who block Merry and Noah at critical moments. But
overall, it’s hard to resist a story with a female hero who reprieves a lobster and realizes that Angela’s appropriation of
what Merry first desires is a pattern (“I know that look. It’s the red bike look”). The novel’s final moments, which bring
together the characters in an emotionally satisfying way, update the book’s opening scene. Merry and Noah would
certainly make for engaging detectives unraveling mysteries in future installments. His roaming adventures could be aided
by her mediator skills, which come in handy during a tense moment with Pierre in this tale. Indeed, Ready perhaps hints at
this future with Merry’s final note: “Don’t forget to watch his latest episodes, where we travel to all the most romantic
locations in the world—the Amalfi Coast is next.”
A charming dramedy featuring a promising sleuthing duo.”
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