When thirty-one-year-old Natalie Bright’s boyfriend dumps her and immediately gets engaged to his ex-girlfriend, she escapes her heartbreak and moves to the charming village of Chamillon on the Île de Ré.
She’s determined to build a new life there: writing about farmer’s markets for a local magazine, exploring the local vineyards on her bike, and taking advantage of the sunshine. And in the Café Belle Vie she finds a bustling community – including new best friend Charlie – and a near-constant supply of cakes.
All in all, things are looking pretty good.
So when a blast from the past – her teenage crush Jay Merino – suddenly turns up in Chamillon, Natalie’s thrown. She’s sworn off men ever since she moved to France, but she and Jay have a connection that stretches back years.
But could taking a chance on an old flame complete her new life – or ruin everything she’s worked so hard for?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Escape to the Little French Café to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Karen Clarke's new book Escape to the Little French Cafe is a delightful read with a beautiful, bright and colourful cover which really does catch your eye. Set on an island called Lle De Re off the French coast we follow the story of Natalie Bright. She is an ex-pat living with her father on the island. There has been trauma and upset in her past and she fled to the island to escape everything and to have time out to think about and get over the break up of her relationship with ex-Matt. That's not to say Natalie is a character full of doom and gloom and always pondering over what might have been. Instead I found her to be refreshing and a breath of fresh air and not because she had this most perfect, idyllic life living in France. Rather more that she was down to earth and honest about her situation and that she was a character that the ordinary person could easily relate to. She had her faults and plenty of worries but underneath it all I could see she had ambition and drive but she just hadn’t been afforded the chance to prove she could make it in the world of journalism which she was clearly so passionate about.
Given the title of the book I thought the sole focus would be on a cute little café in France and all the characters that go there and we'd then follow some of their storylines or maybe the café would get into trouble and need someone to come along and save it from closing. This was not the case at all and it was brilliant that this didn't happen as I am becoming ever so slightly jaded of books that recycle this storyline over and over again. The only fault I would find with the book overall is perhaps the title is misleading and I would hate for people not to pick up this really enjoyable read for fear they are going to get the type of story as outlined above.
The café was the place where Natalie did some of her work and where she was supported by friend Charlie. His mother and owner of the café, Dolly, would love for something to develop between the pair but there was no chance of that happening. Instead the book took on a brilliant slant as Natalie wants to further her career and when a person from her past makes a reappearance in the most unusual of circumstances she finds herself wrapped up in a lot more than she bargained for in her quest to write a piece for Monsieur Julliard and his well known and respected magazine Magnifique.
I loved Natalie as the main female protagonist. She herself was well aware that if she wanted to go further than the dizzying heights she has reached in her career of writing columns for the local ex pat magazine than she would have to go out there and seek the opportunities. No one was going to suddenly knock on her door or ring her phone offering her her life’s dream. If you want to achieve something you have to get yourself out there but the question remained how could she do this? Balanced alongside Natalie's plan to get the scoop of the year was lots of comedic laugh out loud moments which just added to the overall tone of the book and really one word I would use to some up this book is fun. I rarely if ever use that word in relation to a book but that's how I found this story to be, it wasn't all about the romance although there was plenty of it here. I never felt it was being rammed down my throat or there wasn't endless back and forth over will they won't they?
Yes I was interested in the final decision but I found myself far more enjoying Natalie's experiences and the emotions she goes through in order to secure the big interview. Nicolas Julliard who I found to be very sleazy and overbearing kind of had Natalie held over a barrel. Secure the interview with the elusive movie star Jay Merino or else you never stand a chance of writing for my magazine. It didn't help either that superstar journalist Fleur whose pieces have graced many a magazine and whose stories have gone viral was another source of competition for Natalie. Up against such stiff opposition would Natalie ever be able to meet Jay let alone get him to open up about both his personal and professional life?
Natalie can't believe her good fortune when she hears that Jay Merino is filming the Max Weaver series of films on the island. She sees this as her golden opportunity to impress Nicolas. She 'knows' Jay from an encounter in the past when they were younger but things have changed so much since then and did she take far more from their meeting than Jay did? Something happened when they met at a party all those years ago and the encounter has never left Natalie's mind although she may have gone on and done different things in her life there is still that niggle there.
Jay was a total enigma who was very much a closed book and kept everything to himself. I felt he was vulnerable and not always happy. I just wanted to give him a big hug. I loved how we didn't get to know too much about him and that he wasn't a male character who was always out to try and impress Natalie. He wasn't constantly running after her more so it was the other way round but for professional reasons. Jay remained true to himself throughout the book, what you saw was what you got but Natalie wants to get that little bit deeper and see beneath the mysterious shield that Jay has created for himself. Why has he done this? Why does he never give interviews? Natalie wants to get to know the real Jay. It may have started out for Natalie as just securing an interview in order to further her career but it turns into so much more. This was all just so lovely to read about and the fact Karen Clarke threw in plenty of twists and turns throughout the story really held my interest throughout. Sometimes I find myself becoming a bit frustrated that nothing is happening in a book or else little sub-plots are thrown in for no reason at all but here I felt everything was fresh and the plot moved along at a great pace.
Natalie's passion for writing shone throughout the story but when events conspire against her and things are sent her way to test her that are much more than misunderstandings I wondered would she be able to weather the storm? Her integrity and loyalty were called into question and everything that ensued had me wanting to shout out at certain characters that this isn't meant to be happening. That Natalie only had good intentions and she should never be doubted. Having said that the little twist towards the end I would never have guessed the culprit and the reasons for the mayhem and the testing times that ensued.
I can't fail to mention Natalie's Dad Marty who seems to be going through a bit of a crisis when it comes to dating and his next move on the romance front. He was just a gem of a character, a real gentleman who seemed to be fumbling along following the separation from his wife several years ago and all I wanted was the best for him. He was like a teddy bear who needed support and only to be loved. His storyline was just so touching and I was glad it didn't descend into a farce making him the fool where everyone laughs at the ridiculous antics he could have gotten up to on his dating journey. Instead it was all so lovely and real and I desperately wanted Mart to find some sort of happy ending.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Escape to the Little French Cafe. The beautiful setting really helped to conjure up images of the characters and what they were going through in my head and the plot was something new and exciting. I didn't feel like I was reading a storyline that I had read numerous times over in as I do with so many books in this genre. Natalie was a down to earth girl who readers could identify with as she wasn't too dissimilar to people who would read this book. I think the fact she was a writer helped me to love her even more and that she wasn't written in a way as to be far fetched and over the top. The same could be said for the overall storyline it didn't come across as being implausible or have me throwing my eyes up to heaven at some of the madcap things that happened. Instead they were fun and hilarious and they meshed well with the more emotional side of things.
This was a quick read but despite that I felt everything ended at just the right point and that there weren't filler in chapters or scenes just to bulk up the word count. I would love to read more about Natalie so hopefully Karen Clarke may mention her in future books no matter even if it was just a brief paragraph or two. Does Natalie fulfil her quest? Does she learn some important life lessons? Can she crack Jay's tough exterior. Pick up this delightful, charming story to discover all the answers.
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