Book Review | One Summer In Monte Carlo @rararesources

A review to round off the week and I needed a bit of a change of pace from the last book I read.

Monte Carlo means different things to different people; a billionaires playground, overflowing with glitz and glamour but also where dangerous secrets hide.

For Nanette Weston, and her then fiancé, F1 racing driver Zac Ewart, their dream life came to an abrupt halt 3 years ago following a car accident which Zac walked away from, but left Nanette being airlifted back to the UK, never to return and never to see her fiancé again.

Monte Carlo was a place she wanted to forget, not revisit. But when her friend and employer, Vanessa asks Nanette to look after her children in the Principality for a few months, Nanette knew she had no choice but to return.

As the F1 circus once again comes to town, with Zac in pole position, mistakes of the past, leave legacies for the future…

Amazon | Goodreads

I have been in need of a bit of light escapism so when this book came on my radar I was excited to jump in. I have to say that every time I read a book set outside the UK I remember how much I am itching to travel again and that was in full force reading this book. I am now desperate to go to the south of France and eat all the food and drink all the wine, this is in part down to the beautiful setting that the author captures easily but vividly. I’ve never really been that attracted to the glitz and glamor of Monte Carlo but I have to say after reading this book when I get the chance I am considering a trip there and seeing the fancy yachts.

Nanette’s story was an interesting one, she has a past in Monte Carlo but we don’t immediately get all the details of what happened and this really pulled me into the story but actually what I really ended up enjoying was Nanette getting the chance to leave the past behind her and find new friends and new love, which I really liked because it was a slow burn relationship and allowed her to feel ready to move on.

Surprisingly there was a lot of the book that was devoted to Vanessa and her trip to the Amazon, which I was a bit unsure of at first because I was really getting into Nanette’s story and at first didn’t see what they were adding to the story but actually the more they occurred the more I enjoyed them and there is a reason why they have been included. There is also a bit of excitement in the story with Mathieu’s unusual behaviour and him being around some dodgy characters, it definitely added a bit of light suspense and drama.

There was a slight annoyance for me throughout the book at points the dialogue between characters was a little stiff and sometimes things were over-explained, as an example there were quite a few instances of Nanette talking to family and close friends and referring to her ex-fiancé by his full name, it just seemed really formal and added this sense of detachment between characters. I think it was just because it didn’t happen all the time so that when it did happen it really jilted the flow of the writing for me.

This book was just what I was looking for with a beautiful setting, wonderful characters and some interesting surprises along the way One Summer in Monte Carlo is perfect for a bit of escapism.

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 14 women’s fiction titles, including Villa of Sun and Secrets and A Riviera Retreat. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

This book was previously published as Follow Your Star by Jennifer Bohnet.

Reviews of other Jennifer Bohnet books

The Little Kiosk By The Sea