The French House Share by Gillian Harvey

                                                                                                                             

 Ebook:  346 pages Kindle Edition

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction 

Publisher:  January 25th 2026 by Boldwood Books

Source: NetGalley

First Sentences: 'Do you want to do the honours?' Pete held up the ridiculously enormous key that had been handed to them by the agent an hour earlier.

Setting: France

Review Quote: ‘Gillian Harvey’s books are the ultimate treat… Witty, emotional, endearing… Her books are everything!’ Goodreads Reviewer

My Opinion:

'The French House Share' is the fourth title I have read and enjoyed from Gillian Harvey and I only discovered her writing in 2024. Her novels offer the reader a dose of escapism and transport them to France.

Isabella, (Bella) the protagonist of this emotional story is in her early thirties and for the last eight years has along with her husband been living a dream life in France.  Forced to unexpectedly relinquish her rural B and B she decides that the last thing she wants to do is leave France. To enable her to stay she manages to obtain a job in a hotel in Paris and a room in a house share in Versailles. Unfortunately she has been telling a few white lies to facilitate the job and the room and one would suspect they start to catch up with her and make life even more complicated. Will she be able to sort things out and actually enjoy the new life she has made for herself.

A read that will transport you to France and lift your spirits as you find yourself encouraging the protagonist to be optimistic as she sets about taking chances to make changes in her life, though maybe not always in ways one would personally approve of.

With thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the opportunity to read and review.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

Bella’s living her dream life, running a beautiful, rural French B&B and has finally put her past behind her. But when her husband suddenly asks for a divorce, everything changes.

Forced to abandon everything she’d built before, she finds herself moving to the beautiful town of Versailles, where she takes a job working in a hotel, and moves into a chaotic house share.

At first, it doesn’t feel like a problem that she can’t seem to convince her young housemates she’s older than them – it’s quite nice to pretend she’s in her 20s again. But when it becomes clear her new boss has also hired her under false pretences, she starts to wonder if she’s gone from living the dream to living a lie.

Despite the chaos though, she starts to feel that spark return. Even more so when handsome American landlord Brad arrives on the scene. But with so many secrets – now and in her past – how will Bella’s new start end?

Previous Review:   The Riviera House Swap.   The Little Provence Bookshop.  

 The Bordeaux Book Club

Author Profile:         

                                                                             

                                                            Courtesy of  Goodreads

Gillian Harvey is a British author and freelance writer, currently living in Norfolk, England with her husband and 5 children. She writes contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France where she lived for 14 years.

Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Gillian Harvey - Author Website.    Goodreads Author Profile    Facebook Profile

Instagram Profile.   Twitter Profile

The Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey

                                                          

Ebook:  314 pages Kindle Edition

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction 

Publisher:  March 2024 by Boldwood Books

Source: My Kindle Library via Amazon 

First Sentence: George was just stepping out of the cafe, takeaway coffee in hand, when he saw Grace appear in the window of the tabac opposite.

Setting: Bordeaux,  France

Review Quote: 'As delightful as it is moving – a true gem of a novel... enchanting, wise and wonderfully uplifting' Isabelle Broom - Author

My Opinion: 

Gillian Harvey is a prolific author who writes escapist stories often set in France. I only discovered her writing last year and ' The Bordeaux Book Club' is the third title I have read.

As the title tells us the novel is set around a Book Club in Bordeaux France when an eclectic group of ex-pats come together in a bid to make new friends.  The group consists of Grace, a divorced strong willed woman with an organised life, who is the instigator of the club. Leah, struggling with a moody teenage daughter and a seemingly depressed husband, living a life style she is not really enjoying. George a builder in the area whilst helping a friend with a renovation project. Alfie a sixteen year old who has only joined to please his Mum. Finally Monica, a new Mum finding herself struggling with motherhood and very lonely as her pilot husband is often away. This motley collection of individuals find the Book Club discussions draw them together as friendships and support networks form.

Real life dilemmas dealt with in a compassionate story. Just like the last title of hers that I  read I found this to be a touch of escapism that will appeal to those looking for a quick mood enhancing read.

Previous Review:   The Riviera House Swap.   The Little Provence Bookshop

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

Love books? The Bordeaux Book Club is seeking new members!

When Leah and her husband moved to France, it was with the dream of becoming self-sufficient. But in truth, it’s not the ‘good life’ she’d imagined, as three hours of digging barely yield a single straggly carrot. Worse, her teenage daughter is acting up, and her husband seems to find every strange excuse under the hot French sun to disappear.

So when her friend entreats her to join the new bookclub she’s forming, Leah decides it’s something she will do for herself. The chance to make new friends, to drink a few glasses of wine, and to escape into stories that take her miles away from the life she’d thought would be her own happy-ever-after.

But the book club is a strange group of misfits. There’s prickly Grace, who lives alone and seems to know everybody and like no-one. Buttoned-up Monica, who says her husband is away and appears to be parenting her baby all alone. Handsome builder George, who has barely read a book before. And Alfie – who is a full two decades younger than everyone else, and is hiding a devastating secret…

As the stories they read begin to bring the new friends closer together, Leah is about to discover that happy-ever-afters don’t always look how you expect them to…

Author Profile:         

                                                                             

                                                   Courtesy of  Goodreads

Gillian Harvey is a British author and freelance writer, currently living in Norfolk, England with her husband and 5 children. She writes contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France where she lived for 14 years.

Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Gillian Harvey - Author Website.    Goodreads Author Profile    Facebook Profile

Instagram Profile.   Twitter Profile

The Little Provence Bookshop by Gillian Harvey

 

                                                     

Ebook:  306 pages Kindle edition

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction 

Publisher: October 2024 by Boldwood Books

Source: My Kindle Library via NetGalley

First Sentences: It was the same every morning, even Sundays in the high season. At seven o'clock the bell tower opposite would ring out, rousing Monique from her bed, and she'd wash, dress and make her way to the apartment's small cuisine, fill the copper kettle and with on the gas.

Setting: South of France

Review Quote: I inhaled this gorgeous novel in two greedy sittings. Escapist, romantic and deliciously atmospheric.’ Nicola Gill, author

My Opinion: 

Gillian Harvey is an author I only discovered earlier this year when I read The Riviera House Swap. She is a prolific author who writes escapist stories often set in France.

The story centres around Monique the mysterious bookshop owner and Adeline a young English woman who has taken a job as her assistant in the shop. Having recently discovered that she is adopted with a French birth mother Adeline has moved from England, to take this job in France to try and come to terms with the revelation. Along with her daughter Lilli they quickly settle in and Adeline discovers some surprising things about herself along the way.

A touch of escapism that will appeal to those looking for a quick mood enhancing read.

With thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the opportunity to read and review.

Previous Review:   The Riviera House Swap

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

 Everyone’s story has some magic. You just have to turn the page to find it… As the sun rises over the little Provence village where single mother Adeline has escaped with her little girl Lily, she breathes deeply. This is their new beginning. Here, she can forget the lies her family told her. Here, she can start her story again.

Later she opens the door to the town’s tiny bookstore, where she is to work, ready to meet the mysterious owner Monique for the first time.

She expected an ordinary bookshop. But this bookstore feels somehow different… magical. Breathing in the smell of books, she feels a jolt of something. It feels like a new chapter beginning.

As she gets to know the villagers – including the handsome Andre and friendly Michel – she starts to believe in the magic of this new start. But can a runaway like Adeline ever find what she’s looking for? Or is a happy-ever-after just another fiction?

A totally gorgeous, escapist, romantic novel – set in rural Provence – by the bestselling author of A Year at the French Farmhouse and The Bordeaux Bookclub.

Author Profile:         

                                                                                    

                                Courtesy of  Author Website

Gillian Harvey is a British author and freelance writer, who writes contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France where she lived for many years with her husband and five children.

Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Gillian Harvey - Author Website.    Goodreads Author Profile    Facebook Profile

Instagram Profile.   Twitter Profile

The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey

                                                   

Ebook:  326 pages Kindle edition

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction 

Publisher: June 11, 2024 by Boldwood Books

Source: My Kindle Library

First Sentences: Nina poured herself another cup of coffee from the expensive percolator and sighed as the rich aroma of her new favourite blend hit her nostrils.

Setting: France

Review Quote: ‘Wonderfully warm and enchanting… With empathy, insight, and humour… Will delight readers seeking their own escape.’ Natalie Jenner, author

My Opinion: 

Gillian Harvey is a prolific and popular author who writes escapist stories often set in France, where she lived for fourteen years. This is the first novel of hers that I have read and I doubt it will be the last.

The female heroine Nina recently divorced and forty has decided that her life is somewhat dull and predictable. She decides it is time for her to do something spontaneous, which for her is unknown. A decision to do a house swap in France for a month and see if she can reconnect with her first love, leads to a journey of self discovery.

Humour with a touch of romance that I found a quick dose of escapism. Recommended if that is what you are looking for at the moment.

With thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the opportunity to read and review.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

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 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? A gorgeously escapist story for fans of The Holiday, from the bestselling author of A Year at the French Farmhouse.

Author Profile:         

                                                                                    

                                Courtesy of  Author Website

Gillian Harvey is a British author and freelance writer, who writes contemporary, uplifting and emotive fiction, often set in France where she lived for many years with her husband and five children.

Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Gillian Harvey - Author Website.    Goodreads Author Profile    Facebook Profile

Instagram Profile.   Twitter Profile