The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey
The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey
Would you swap houses with a stranger?
Nina has always played it safe. But when her divorce papers come through on her fortieth birthday she decides enough is enough.
She’s always chosen the sensible route, staying in her stable job and marrying her rather boring ex. In fact – she realises – she’s chosen security over excitement for years. Ever since she refused to elope with her first love: beautiful, poetic, thoughtful Pierre, the man she met aged 17, on her French exchange. The only man who ever made her heart race.
Maybe it’s time to take a few risks?
Impulsively she goes online and finds another kind of French exchange… a house-swap. She can’t imagine what French businessman Jean-Luc wants with her terraced home in rural England, but she can’t wait to stay in his beautiful, spacious, bougainvillea-strewn villa on the French riviera.
She’s not just there for the house though. She’s decided to find the love she missed all those years ago. But will Pierre still be the man of her dreams after all this time?
As two lives collide, will love bloom on the French riviera?
The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey
My Review
Nina has hit crisis point. Her divorce papers smother the 40th birthday cards on her doormat, the house she shared with her ex has been sold, so she’ll have to move back to her parents, and she’s lost the excitement for her steady, reliable job. I felt for Nina. Her best mate Bess has a husband, children and a job she loves, everything Nina is missing, plus she’s always there with a listening ear and sound advice to help pick Nina back up. It’s no wonder Nina finds herself looking to the past and Pierre, hero of the life-changing French exchange when she was 17.
Taking a break from work and returning to Cagnes-sur-Mer, just along the Mediterranean cost from Nice, gives her the time to think about her future as she dips her toes back to her teenage past and reflects (a lot) about her life choices. I loved the alternating chapters that relived her memories of the French exchange and the letters exchanged between her and Pierre. Swapping houses with Jean-Luc gives her independence and space to plan what comes next, with the bonus of his family on hand, if she needs a friendly face or a favour. Some of the best bits of this book for me were the plotting that went on about how to find herself ‘just by chance’ at the same location as Pierre.
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| The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey |
If you want to know if Nina was successful, you will have to read the book, but I will say Cagnes-sur-Mer opened her mind and heart to what she really wanted from life, and I finished another Gillian Harvey book with a smile on my face. So far, Gillian has only written standalone novels, but I really think there is plenty of milage in these characters to return one day (fingers crossed).
If you need the pick-me-up of sunshine on the Riviera, an inspiring emotional journey and a heroine who learns a lot about herself, then let the magic of The Riviera House Swap whisk you away.
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Gillian Harvey
About the author
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 such as A Year at the French Farmhouse and A Month in Provence.
I am a great fan of Gillian’s novels, and you can read my previous reviews here:
A Year at the French Farmhouse
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| The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey |
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