This aside, I would still recommend this book and I would definitely read another Katie Fforde having enjoyed so many of her previous books. The food descriptions had my mouth watering when reading about the lovely French pastries and delicious meals. This is a perfect holiday book so if you are off to the sun get a copy and take it to the pool or beach. A chance meeting in Paris leads to her being employed as a nanny to three French children who live in a chateau in Provence. Set in Provence in the middle of the 60’s you are just transported straight into the chateaux with Alexandra, having the confidence to take on the job of nanny to three kids just days after arriving in Paris at just 20 is inspiring and tells you a bit about the kind of character she is.

Soon, however, she finds herself up against Antoine’s former mother-in-law, Grand-mère, who wants to move in and educate the children so they ‘do not grow up as savages’. This book has a great cast of characters, from the old fashioned, rude and somewhat cruel ex-mother in law, to the ex-wife herself, poor Alexandra is really thrown into the thick of it with her new job in Provence. Now she has to care for children who view her ‘with a mixture of hostility, resentment and defiance’.Alexandra is a lovely character and her relationship with the three children is lovely although slightly reminiscent of The Sound of Music. Smegenims visiskai atjungti lengva atostogine romantika 👌🏻 tobulai klisinis scenarijus, kur durniau ir nesugalvosi: nudrengtoj pily gyvenantis neturtingas grafas vaikams pasamdo 20mete auklyte, kuri pasirodo dar ir yra dideliu turtu paveldetoja. The characters are well drawn and believable, and there is a strong sense of time and place, with France in 1963 vividly depicted. The Chateau where they live is almost a character in itself and definitely feels like a real place that I can imagine visiting and the surrounding area of Provence is also well detailed. Alexandre is an orphan, and largely brought herself up when her parents died, with the aid of some remote family members, and various governesses and companions.

So, after a trying week at work I had a date with my sofa and the book on the Saturday and I wasn’t moving! She has three children: Guy, Francis and Briony and didn't start writing until after the birth of her third child. This book is like a lovely, warm hug in front of a toasty fire, It's essentially The Sound of Music story, with less music and just enough original details so that it is not merely derivative. I can’t fault anything in this book, I can only fault Katie herself… for not writing more than one book a year! Her relationship with them is the main focus of the story, with the romance almost taking second place.It is always a pleasure to escape from the real world into a Katie Fforde book, and this is no exception, though I still like her early books the best.

I feel like the story is centered more around Alexandra's relationship with the children (which was EVERYTHING) rather than a romance with the count, but the ending tied it all up neatly and made my heart so happy! Katie Fforde’s latest novel ‘A Wedding in Provence’ is a refreshingly energetic read and a nod to an era where young ladies, raised by nannies and destined for finishing school, was a very real thing.Katie lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England with her husband, some of her three children and many pets.

Alexandra enlists the help of her good friend from England - gay something still illegal in England and her in turn brings a friend. I had to give it three stars as I didn't feel the plot was entirely original, a Chateau instead of a castle, a gay friend and fellow employee, dressing the house and having a traditional Christmas and skating on the lake and even relations concerned that they should inherit.En-route from England to a finishing school in Switzerland, she stops off in Paris for a few days and finds herself accepting a job as a Nanny.