Book review of All in Monte Carlo by Anna Shilling

All in Monte Carlo by Anna Shilling

All In Monte Carlo by Anna Shilling

Four women, four ways to revenge…

 

A Monaco insider reveals what life is like in the world's richest and most secretive enclave, where revenge is best served with a glass of champagne.

 

Wedged between Southern France and the Mediterranean Sea, the miniature principality of Monaco is a place for aspiration, for comic extremes and for outrageous personalities. Where a businesswoman gets her favourite Chanel suit flown in by private jet. Where Hôtel de Paris serves breakfast to a drunken socialite in a prison cell. Where two Gucci-clad women are behind a string of burglaries.

 

Against a backdrop of cocktails on superyachts, looking fabulous and feeling empty, this tongue-in-cheek tale revolves around four relatable women who meet by chance in Monte Carlo. After sharing their tales of betrayal, they set up a book club as a cover while they settle each other’s scores. But revenge, like life, doesn’t always go to plan…

 

The book cover has been designed by one of the UK’s leading illustrators, Patrick Knowles. Knowles is best known for his cover designs for Julian Fellowes and Anthony Horowitz, as well as for Prince William and Kate’s wedding calligraphy.

All in Monte Carlo by Anna Shilling

 

My Review

As they live their extraordinary lives in Monte Carlo, four women from different backgrounds, Abigail, Barbara, Lucinda and Polina, meet by chance and form an unlikely friendship. They are a mixed group, one at the top of her game, one with ambitions to win a full Monte Carlo lifestyle, whatever it takes, and one who is more down to earth. Getting to know each other, they share their woes and soon realise they all know someone who needs to learn a lesson. Under the guise of meeting for a book club, they plot their revenge.

 

The first thing I realised as I started reading was that my rural French village life is a world away from anything Monte Carlo has to offer. The designer names that pepper the storyline went way over my head and the extravagances left me in a cold sweat, so it would be fair to say I struggled a little with this book to begin with. It’s redeeming feature was that it is based on real experiences from four women who have lived life there to the full. Their tales are far-fetched and extreme, but I guess that is what makes life in the Principality so unique, and it certainly kept me turning the pages.

 

To enable their plans to come to fruition, their various talents are used to best effect, and the results are very Monte Carlo! I shall say no more, but I certainly wouldn’t want to upset any of them. If you are looking for a book to take you away from the mundane life that most of us lead, take a peek into the Monte Carlo world, from the safety of the pages of this book. 

Purchase Links 

 

WHSmiths 

Waterstones 

Amazon   

Troubador 

Author Bio 

 

Anna Shilling is the collective pen name for four women who lived in Monte Carlo. A magazine editor, an aristocrat, an UHNW businesswoman and a private banker formed a book club and shared funny, shocking tales together about life in the principality. The magazine editor wove a fictional plot from their tales into this novel.

 

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All in Monte Carlo by Anna Shilling

            

Book review of The French Château Escape by Gillian Harvey

The French Château Escape by Gillian Harvey

The French Château Escape by Gillian Harvey

Click: buy... a fifteen bedroom chateau

 

Condition: ‘may require improvement’

 

It seems like a good idea. Sell everything we own. Swap our modern little London flat for an entire chateau in the middle of France.

 

It’s always been our dream. And now it’s coming true. Because who wouldn’t want this?

 

As I use the rusty key to open the big, creaking wooden door of the fairytale chateau that’s officially our new home, I wonder: what could possibly go wrong?

 

Turns out my grasp of the language isn’t brilliant but I’d guess that the French for this is probably: L’EVERYTHING.

 

As the French sun blazes overhead, one thing’s for sure: it’s going to be a year to remember...

The French Château Escape by Gillian Harvey

 

My Review

You know how much I love a château in France, well, it’s no surprise that I also have a thing for books set in French châteaux too. Imagine my delight to discover there is château at the heart of latest book from Gillian Harvey, whose romantic novels set in France, I’ve fallen in love with. This one was a much anticipated and very much enjoyed read, that had the added bonus of being set near Angouleme, which is almost on our doorstep. It’s always exciting to read a book set in our lesser known, but equally beautiful area of France.

 

In this emotional and entertaining read, Emma and Mark, fall under the spell of a château that needs their love, attention, and a lot of their money. I know all too well the leaks, creaks and noises, that come with château life - and I only work in one rather than having the responsibility of maintaining one. It would be fair to say Mark was the captain of their dream, motivated by his need to protect Emma, whose health was suffering with the stresses of her job in the UK. I know he meant well, but really, the endless jobs and French paperwork that come with an old building, what was he thinking.

 

When reality hits, things get a bit strained, but what I really loved about this book was the emotions it stirred in me when a new Emma began to emerge from the ashes of a bit of a disaster. As she learned to live with what she, and everyone else, had always thought of as her weaknesses, she soon found herself and her strengths, and that put a huge smile on my face. It is wonderful to have a knight in shining armour to protect you, but it’s a powerful feeling to realise you are stronger than you believed.

 

There are lots of surprises in this book that catch Emma and Mark out, and I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into their life. If you’re a fan of Dick and Angel and their French château adventures on British TV, you will love this book.

 

Purchase Link 

Gillian Harvey

 

Author Bio 

 

Gillian Harvey is a freelance journalist and the author of two well-reviewed women’s fiction novels published by Orion. She has lived in Limousin, France for the past twelve years, from where she derives the inspiration and settings for her books. Her first title for Boldwood, A Year at the French Farmhouse, was published in September 2022.

 

You can read my reviews to her previous novels here:

A Year at the French Farmhouse

One French Summer

A Month in Provence

 

Social Media Links

 

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Twitter

Instagram 

Bookbub profile 

            

The French Château Escape by Gillian Harvey

 

  

Book review of The Last Train from Paris by Juliet Greenwood

The Last Train from Paris by Juliet Greenwood

The Last Train from Paris by Juliet Greenwood

For Iris, each visit to her mother in St Mabon’s Cove, Cornwall has been the same – a serene escape from the city. But today, as she breathes in the salt air on the doorstep of her beloved childhood home, a heavy weight of anticipation settles over her. Iris knows she’s adopted, but any questions about where she came from have always been shut down by her parents, who can’t bear to revisit the past.

 

Now, Iris can’t stop thinking about what she’s read on the official paperwork: BABY GIRL, FRANCE, 1939 – the year war was declared with Nazi Germany. 

 

When Iris confronts her mother, she hits the same wall of pain and resistance as whenever she mentions the war. That is, until her mother tearfully hands her an old tin of letters, tucked neatly beside a delicate piece of ivory wool. 

 

Retreating to the loft, Iris steels herself to at last learn the truth, however painful it might be. But, as she peels back each layer of history before her, a sensation of dread grows inside her. The past is calling, and its secrets are more intricate and tangled than Iris could ever have imagined.

 

The year is 1939, and in Paris, France a young woman is about to commit a terrible betrayal…  

 

A beautifully written and addictively compelling historical novel about the terrible choices ordinary people were forced to make in the horrors of World War Two. If you loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Nightingale, you will devour this book.

The Last Train from Paris by Juliet Greenwood

My Review

Iris is back in Cornwall, at the cottage she grew up in, listening as her mother painfully begins to reveal their past. 

 

As the story unfolded, we alternated between Nora’s war in England and Sabine’s in France. Sabine and Nora met in pre-war London and by the time Nora arrived in Paris to study to be a chef, their letters had created a special friendship. I bonded easily with these two strong and independent women, and admired their determination to succeed in the male dominated worlds of journalism and high-end catering. Their time together is cruelly torn apart as war is declared, but their parting moments mean their futures will be forever linked, no matter the pain and suffering this will bring them.

 

From Paris and the refugees fleeing south from Occupied to free France, and the land girls working in the countryside, to the London bombings, this book painted so many pictures of the tragedies of war and the effects on the families it broke apart. I was often overwhelmed trying to process the emotions it left me feeling, but loved the mystery as actions were tantalisingly revealed, that would be revisited later as the pieces all fell into place. It was gripping.

 

This book, more than many others I’ve read, really punched at my heart with the atrocities of the war and the dangers faced by ordinary mothers doing their best in the most difficult of times, their only goals to survive and protect their babies.

 

If you are looking for a powerful historical novel to lose yourself in now the nights are longer and darker, I can’t think of a better one than The Last Train from Paris. 

 

Purchase Link 

Juliet Greenwood

Author Bio 

 

Juliet Greenwood is a historical novelist, now published by Storm Publishing. Her first novel was a finalist for The People’s Book Prize and two of her books reached the top 5 in the UK Kindle store. Juliet has always been a bookworm and a storyteller, writing her first novel (a sweeping historical epic) at the age of ten. She lives in a traditional cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales, set between the mountains and the sea, with an overgrown garden (good for insects!) and a surprisingly successful grapevine. 

 

Social Media Links

 

Storm 

Website 

Facebook 

Twitter   

Instagram 

 

The Last Train from Paris by Juliet Greenwood

What readers are saying about Juliet Greenwood:

“This was fantastic! Perfect for a Kate Morton or Lucinda Riley hangover, this book will draw you in and won't let go until you've read the last page. This book was unputdownable – fascinating characters, excellent writing, and a plot that keeps you turning the pages. I loved every second of it." Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I found myself reading chapter after chapter, unable to put it down. A first-time read by this author but certainly not the last.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“For readers of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley, this book will be one of your favorites… A historical novel that will keep you reading until the end.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“An absolutely brilliant read. I could not put it down…I loved how the war changed everyone and it was a gripping story... I really loved it. Cannot recommend it enough.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Did everything that I was looking for… it left me wanting to read more from Juliet Greenwood.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐