Book review of The Little Swiss Ski Chalet by Julie Caplin

The Little Swiss Ski Chalet by Julie Caplin

The Little Swiss Ski Chalet

It’s time to pack your bags and head to the breathtaking, snow-covered peaks of the Swiss Alps for velvety hot chocolates, delicious cheeses and a gorgeous love story…

Food technician Mina has always believed that chocolate will solve everything – and it’s just what she needs when her latest relationship mishap goes viral!

So with her bags packed and a new determination to sort her life out, Mina decides to drown her sorrows with the best hot chocolate in the world at her godmother’s cosy Swiss chalet. Chocolate: yes. Romance: no. Until she has a run in on an Alpine train with a mysterious but oh-so-gorgeous stranger…

 

The Little Swiss Ski Chalet Julie Caplin

My Review

I almost turned this book down, as its location is the wrong side of the Alps, but the mention of chocolate in the description tempted me too much. Wow! All I can say is this is one of those times when I’m glad I gave way to temptation. It is a deliciously heart-warming book that I devoured like a box of my favourite chocolates. It comforted and cossetted me, sending waves of pleasure, just like when you take that first bite of soft-centred chocolate and the different flavours and textures create fireworks from your mouth to your brain and beyond.

Mina had my heart from the disastrous party, that saw her pack her bags for her godmother’s chalet in Switzerland, leaving sleazy Simon for dust. She hopes a few weeks staying with Amelie will help her decide what she wants to do with her future. What she discovers fills her heart, as she witnesses Amelie’s attention to detail with her guests, but also fills her head with ideas of her own. 

Luke was adorable, with many hidden surprises, but although he believes in the serendipity that caused their paths to cross, he has plans that might not fit with Mina’s newfound passion and direction. The chemistry between Mina and Luke melted every part of me and for someone who vowed never to return to the ski slopes, this book almost had me yearning for a cross-country ski adventure of my own. 

What a treat for all the senses this book was. A stunning location, characters who felt like friends, love, chocolate and lots of cake, what more do you need to pull you out of the winter blues?

 

Purchase Links 

http://amzn.to/3jU2lKy 🌎 http://mybook.to/SwissSkiChalet

 

Julie Caplin

Author Bio 

Julie Caplin, formerly a PR director, swanned around Europe for many years taking top food and drink writers on press trips (junkets) sampling the gastronomic delights of various cities in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Copenhagen and Switzerland. It was a tough job but someone had to do it. 

These trips have provided the inspiration and settings for her Romantic Escapes series which have been translated into fifteen different languages.

The first book in the seven strong series, The Little Café in Copenhagen, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

 

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Book reviews French Village Diaries

Book review of The Chalet by Catherine Cooper

The Chalet by Catherine Cooper
Published by Harper Collins 31 October 2020

My review today is for The Chalet by Catherine Cooper, a crime thriller set in a luxury chalet in the French Alps. 

In one day, lives were changed forever, but who really knows the truth and who is out for revenge?

 

I’ll be the first to admit I am normally more of a rom-com kind of reader, but I must have a dark side too as death, murder, deceit and all sorts of other nasties in this book had me hooked.

 

In the late 1990’s, two brothers and their girlfriends are on a ski holiday together. There is tension and rivalry between the brothers and following an afternoon of off-piste skiing, only one brother returns to the chalet. The events from this holiday change the lives of those involved forever. Some move on, seemingly putting the tragedy to the back of their minds, some never stop looking over their shoulder and some are ruined, completely. 

 

In another chalet, twenty years later, two couples become snowed in while events spiral out of control around them. They are all very different characters, some I warmed to, some I did not, but they all do their best to hide their pasts and their real reasons for being where they are just now. 

 

The mixture of timelines, different stories and emotionally charged situations, cleverly woven throughout the book, kept me guessing as to who was linked back to the fated family ski holiday, and what part they had played in the tragedy. Some of the topics covered were brutal, but there was humour too, especially for those (like me) who have given skiing a try but were never born to be naturals. I loved following Louisa’s first days on the slopes with her boyfriend, as it brought back so many memories of my first skiing trip, coincidently, also in the late 1990’s.

 

This very quickly became a book that was difficult to put down as I did my best to second guess who was guilty, while waiting for the plot to fall into place. I loved it more than I was expecting and now that winter has arrived, I can recommend you cosy yourself up in your favourite reading corner and while away your time, virtually snowed in at a luxury chalet in the French Alps.

 

French Village Diaries book reviews

  

Lockdown diaries day eighteen, guilty pleasures

Paris portraits, 1998, aged and wrinkled, like us

Day eighteen, Monday 16^th November 2020

 

Guilty pleasures

Monday morning, the sun is doing its best to shine, the kitchen smells of freshly baked cake and in a brief nod to life before Covid-19, I appear have the house to myself. There is just the reassuring hum of muted voices coming from behind closed doors to remind me that I’m not really home alone, just that the men are busy with their online worlds, in their respective dens. I am free to flit from task to task, and roam from room to room as I choose. 

 

I play that annoying game of putting the washing out, then notice the sun has been replaced with a hovering dark cloud, so bring it back in, then when the dust motes in the bedroom dance in the sunlight, I put it back out once more. I get back to rearranging my books in the bedroom, then realise the portraits we had done in Paris in 1998, (you know, the touristy sketches from the street artists in Montmartre) hidden away for too long in a dark corridor, actually look pretty good dusted off and placed on the chest of drawers. Aged and wrinkled like us, they offer a glance back to our youth and a time when France was a holiday destination not a home. 

 

There are still too many books to sort through and decisions to make on who stays and who goes. After a shelf or two, where I’d lovingly picked up so many and made promises I couldn’t keep about reading them next, I turned to my kindle and the book that was becoming increasingly difficult to put down. The characters all doing their best to hide their pasts and their real reasons for being where they are just now. Their different stories weaving through the book, emotionally charged situations and decisions made in the past that have repercussions on the future had me hooked. In one day, lives were changed forever, but who really knows the truth and who is out for revenge? Oh, I whiled away a good bit of my afternoon snowed in at a luxury chalet in the French Alps waiting for the plot to fall into place, doing my best to second guess who was who. Of course, this did mean that I wasn’t doing what I should have been doing, but there is always tomorrow to get back on track.

 

Days like today are my guilty pleasure, as I’m sure any bookworm will agree and it’s nice to break from routine every now and then. I sometimes wonder if certain things have become too routine at the moment, especially mealtimes. Without realising it Saturday night has become homemade pizza night, Sunday night, risotto, Monday, a spicy vegetable couscous, Tuesday, lasagne and Thursday, moules frites. That only leaves two nights of variety or surprise. Then again, as no two meals I serve up are exactly the same, even if I’m following a recipe, I guess it’s not too bad and I know they are all healthy and homecooked. 

 

Frugal meatballs

I think as a treat this week, to spice things up a bit, we’ll have homemade meatballs in a homemade spicy tomato sauce, served with spaghetti. Not tonight, as my late yoga class means I need a lighter meal on a Monday, but as our diet is now mainly vegetarian, contains hardly any processed foods, and is low in salt and fat, meatballs (like lazy days spent in books) are a rare treat. 

 

I tend to make them in large batches and freeze in portions, so I always keep an eye out for the short-dated burgers and sausages in the supermarket anti-waste fridges. The last batch I made were great value. Six pork and veal sausages, reduced to 1.50€ and eight pure beef burgers, reduced to 5€. Four of the burgers went straight in the freezer and four into the meatball mix with the skinned sausages, crushed garlic, homemade pumpkin and chestnut purée, a grated apple from the orchard, black pepper and piment d’espelette. 4€ of minced meat made twenty-five meatballs, which will be enough for five individual portions which works out at 0,80€ a portion. The best thing about them is that every batch I make is a different mix of meats, flavours and spices. Do you have a naughty but nice family favourite, served up for special occasions?

Book review of Christmas in Chamonix by Sasha Wagstaff

Christmas in Chamonix by Sasha Wagstaff

Christmas in Chamonix

When life goes downhill... head to the snow-capped Alps for roaring fires, apres-ski and festive romance.

Lily Jackson loves Christmas. She also loves her childhood friend Jamie, but when her plan to kick-start their romance goes drastically wrong and her job gets her down, Lily decides it’s time to make changes. A job opens up in snowy Chamonix and egged on by her best friend Imogen, Lily decides to go for it.

As Lily settles in with the eccentric Devereux family at their gorgeous boutique ski hotel, she starts to confront her past. But when she meets handsome ski instructor Luc, who hates Christmas, Lily might have taken on more than she can handle.

Can Lily make a new life – with or without skis? And can she get Luc to see how truly romantic Christmas can be?

A heart-warming, feel-good romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Holly Martin, Carole Matthews and Tilly Tennant.

Christmas in Chamonix tour banner

My review

Poor Lily, stuck in a rut at work and living a romance that exists only in her head. To begin with she came across as a bit of a dreamer, however as soon as she struggled onto skis for the first time, I connected with her. As someone who came to skiing late in life and was about as un-natural at it as it’s possible to be, I felt her fear, her confusion about finding herself in this strange ski-lovers world and her sense of achievement when she began to master the basics thanks to patient instructor Luc. A new beginning in Chamonix was just what she needed, and I couldn’t help but want her to find happiness in her work and love life, but I also enjoyed a good laugh at some of the situations she found herself in along the way. 

This book has a lot going on with mini plots to follow alongside Lily’s journey of getting to grips with her past. From the story of her sister’s new romance, to the mysterious undercurrents behind the scenes at the Devereux family boutique hotel, and not forgetting trying to ignite the Christmas spirit in her knight in shining armour on the ski slopes. All this plus Chamonix in winter, the magic of the snow-covered mountains, comforting hot chocolate, delicious melted cheese and a heartfelt family Christmas celebration in France - what's not to love!

This book is a lovely Christmas getaway with tears, laughter, Christmas cheer and French mountain comfort food to make your stomach rumble as you read.

Purchase Link 

https://lrd.to/christmas-in-chamonix

Sasha Wagstaff

Author Bio 

Sasha Wagstaff learned foreign languages, and imagined she might eventually get a glamorous job speaking French. After climbing her way up the banking ladder, Sasha started idly mapping out the beginnings of a novel on an old laptop. When she realised her characters were more real to her than dividends and corporate actions ever could be, she left her job to become a writer. She also writes under the pseudonym of Ella Harper.

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It has been a funny month

It's been a funny old month. Four weeks ago Ed had just started his two week winter holiday, Ade was working in the UK and the weather here in France was lovely. I was busy preparing and packing for a weeks skiing in the Pyrenees with Ade's parents. It was an exciting week with lots to look forward to.

Three weeks ago and we were in the Pyrenees, the sun had just appeared after a snowy and cloudy weekend, but Ade's parents had unfortunately already left for the UK. His Nana had suffered a stroke and her final chapter of life was drawing to a close. The mood was subdued, but the lovely town of Luchon and it's friendly people were doing their best for us. The accommodation issues we had encountered just before leaving home (see here) were almost resolved and Ed and Ade were having lots of 'man' time together up the mountain. It was a week that didn't go to plan, but we made the best of it, as Nana would have wanted.

Superbagneres Pyrenees

Two weeks ago and things were quite hectic. There was a mountain of post-ski washing to do, the dog needed a vet appointment, the courgette and tomato seeds needed sowing, Gizmo the Mini Cooper needed attention to get through his CT (MOT) and we were packing again for a return to UK.

A week ago we were in UK spending time with family and preparing for Ade's Nana's funeral. Despite the obvious sadness of the event it was also a bonus 'family' week. We had time together and made the most of it. For Ed this meant clothes shopping with Grandparents, playtime with his young cousins, ten pin bowling, meals out, baths (no such luxury here) and late nights. I was also able to enjoy a spot of retail therapy and even had time to meet a friend for coffee. Despite not having seen each other for years, coffee was just as chatty as when we used to meet daily with our prams and babies too.

Last Christmas with Nana

This week, life is back to normal, whatever that is. There is another mountain of washing awaiting my attention, but the weather isn't great for drying. On the plus side the first courgettes have germinated, which is almost as exciting as seeing the return of the first swallow. Spring and its promise of growth and new life is almost here and there is certainly lots to do in the garden. We'll always have fond memories of Nana and her lovely send-off that was a true family occasion and celebration of her 89 years. Let the cycle of life continue.

My Love Hate Relationship with Skiing

Skiing was something I first agreed to in 1996 as my boyfriend at the time, who was a sporty type, really wanted to give it a try. We had a good friend who skied every year in a group organised by his parents so we arranged to join them. This turned out to be the first ever holiday with my inlaws as our friend is now my husband!

Skiing in my 20's - not a cool look

Skiing and I have a love hate relationship. I would love to be good at it, love to feel the excitement as I swoosh effortlessly down the pistes, looking elegant and laughing joyously with Ade as I go (cue hysterical laughter from Ade as he reads this bit). However it is not like that at all. I struggled to begin with to feel comfortable and stay upright and pure fear rather than excitement is how I feel when going fast under any mode of transport, especially downhill on skis. I'm sure Ade's parents must have wondered who this unfit, whinging, hopeless skier was, but they were too nice to say anything.

Ade is a superb skier and was also very patient with me on my first few ski trips. I am not a natural sports person and apart from a love of yoga in the last five years and road biking in the last two years, the only sport I was good at as a kid was swimming. Skiing and I didn't hit it off well. After throwing a huge hissy fit in 1997 and stomping out of ski school on day one Ade became my personal ski instructor. In fact I don't think anyone else in the world would have had the patience to get me down the mountain. His Mum and Dad were always waiting at the bottom with a vin chaud or a hot chocolate as my reward. While love never blossomed on the ski slopes we certainly learned a lot about each other and I'm sure if I hadn't gone skiing all those years ago I wouldn't be the person (or wife) I am now, or be living the life I'm now living and writing about. For that, skiing, I thank you.

Skiing in my 30's - an improvement

Ed and Ade on the slopes

Now, after an eleven year break, I am older, fitter, slimmer and more confident and was up for giving skiing another chance, despite feeling no need to conquer mountains just because I am in my 40’s. My heart did leap a little as Ade and Ed skied off out of sight, on what looked to me a seriously steep black run, (Ed assured me it was a green) but I know Ed couldn't have been in safer hands. I'm pleased to say Ed skis far more like his Dad than me and they both had a great time on the slopes. As for me there is always next year as I think we will try to make it a regular holiday. I doubt I will ever be a great ski partner for Ade, but maybe Ed will.

Ed looking cool!

Pyrenean Ski Trip

Unfortunately, despite the planning and us all arriving safely and settling into our temporary (but lovely) accommodation things were set to change.

The first change was the weather. Sunday morning was full of snow and bitterly cold, especially at the top of the mountain where icicle moustaches formed on our lips as we waited for Ed to finish his first morning at ski school. This wasn't quite the blue skies and sunny, snowy peek view we were expecting.

More worryingly we also received a phone call from the nursing home where Ade's Nana lived and the news wasn't good. In the early hours of Sunday morning she had suffered a stroke. Sunday seemed to pass in a blur of snow flurries and phone calls and ended in a meal together that would be our last with Ade's parents for this holiday. Due to Nana's worsening condition they returned to the UK on Monday morning.

Grandparents Rule No 1 - of course you can  boy!

As you can imagine the mood was a little down, especially for Ed who was really looking forward to being spoilt by his Grandparents for a week. The dog also had a sulk before leaping on me and nibbling me in what I'm sure was a protest display reprimanding me for being careless and losing half of our pack. For the first few days she had a habit of approaching people she thought were Ade's parents and wagging her tail in excitement. Thankfully after meeting some nice families at the lake who shared their duck bread with her, a little girl who fed her most of her pancake and a man at the market who sliced her some local speciality ham (at 34€ a kilo) her mood improved. She and I spent our mornings walking and the sunny afternoons in a deckchair on a snow deck enjoying the sunshine and the view. Mini also became accustomed to her daily trip up the mountain in a four man télécabine and loved looking out of the window at the view.

Mini in the Télécabine

The plan had been for Ade's parents and I to take it in turns dog sitting and skiing, so being two men down meant no skiing for me. However as I have a love/hate relationship with skiing and I got a nosebleed just from being at the top of the mountain, this was probably no bad thing. Mini and I still enjoyed lots of walking and fresh air and I discovered there are many more things to do in Luchon than just skiing, but more on that later in the week. Although I will admit, despite the exercise, eating the good, hearty mountain food like tartiflette and not skiing wasn't great for my figure.

Unfortunately we did get a call later in the week to let us know that Nana had passed away, but at 89 we all feel this was a great age and we are glad she didn't suffer for too long. She was an important part of many lives including 9 great grandchildren, 4 grandsons and their wives, a son and daughter-in-law and a daughter and son-in-law. RIP Nana.

Not your normal holiday planning

There are always things to do before going on holiday but there are some things you don't need the week before you go away.

One thing I really didn't need was to find fleas on the cat and flea bites on Ed. Never mind, 50€ for dog and cat flea treatments, one bathed dog and lots of wash loads of bedding later and I think I got it sorted. At least we took a clean flea-free dog on holiday with us.

View from our room with Ade's parents hotel opposite

Another thing none of us needed was the phone call the day before we left to say there would be no power in the apartment for the first three days of our weeks holiday. Imagine scenes of mild panic! A cup of coffee and a quick think later and we worked out finding short notice accommodation for five plus a dog would not be easy, so Ade's parents booked themselves a hotel and luckily we found an apartment. Coincidentally their hotel was in the same group as our apartment and was situated just next door, perfect!

I know for a ski holiday snow is important, but what we really didn't need was to be packing the car in temperatures of -3 with snow falling around us. It was a hindrance to the packing and having it swirling around us for most of the six hour journey to the Pyrenees was a little stressful. For Ade squeezing in ski boots, bulky ski clothes, towels, bedding, a large dog and dog bedding was fun, but what he didn't need was me packing three huge bags of 'basic' food provisions. These included two cakes and a quiche freshly baked the day before. I am the sort of person who never makes a long journey without provisions. I could also tell he wasn't too impressed it took me a good two and a half hours to be ready to leave the house, and not a minute of that was spent on make up. By the time I had fed and watered the animals, placed protective mats over any surface 'inconti-cat' might think of sleeping on, cleaned the toilets, put the dishwasher on, packed the picnic, put the bins out, swept the floors, checked and double checked too many things to mention and it is amazing how time flew.

Salmon risotto, beautifully presneted

One thing that obviously was normal was hitting the road south, on a Saturday, in the French school holidays. Just like the geese and cranes that have been making their way north these past few weeks we felt we were on some sort of migratory route. Ours was just one of hundreds of cars packed full to bursting and heading to the mountains. This made for some spectacular traffic jams especially on the Bordeaux ring road. I love Bordeaux, however I am not so keen on the stationary/slow moving ring road, despite the aerial displays of herons and cormorants to entertain us. To add to the excitement of the journey Ade's parents kept texting their progress, just like they do in a Top Gear race. We were like Jeremy Clarkson in the car and they were like James May and Richard Hammond using public transport to get to the same location. Despite an aeroplane, a bus, a train and another bus, they made it an hour earlier than us, thanks mainly to the delays on the Bordeaux ring road. It was great to see them, settle in and have a lovely meal together. The perfect start to what turned out to be a less than normal family ski holiday.

Pear and chocolate dessert