Review: French Coast by Anita Hughes

french coastTitle: French Coast by Anita Hughes
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 301 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Serena has the job she’s always dreamed of and Chase, the man her heart never dared to. As a new editor at Vogue, she bags the biggest interview of the year with Yvette Renault, the infamous former editor of French Vogue, in The Carlton-InterContinental Hotel during the Cannes Film Festival. She eagerly jets off to France while Chase stays home, working with her father, a former senator, on his upcoming mayoral campaign.

Everything feels unbelievably perfect…until it doesn’t. The hotel loses her reservation hours before her big interview. Serena fears that she’ll have to go home without her story, but then she meets Zoe, a quirky young woman staying in the suite below Yvette’s who invites Serena to stay with her. Serena is grateful for her mysterious roommate’s generosity, but it seems that there’s more to her story than meets the eye. To make matters worse, soon after arriving in Cannes, Serena learns a shocking secret about her parents’ marriage, and it isn’t long before she begins to question her own relationship.With her deadline looming and pressure mounting, Serena will have to use her investigative journalism skills, new friendships, and a little luck to get her life and love back on track. Fast paced and impeccably written, French Coast will draw readers in to the intoxicating world of the Cote D’Azur. Hughes’ beautiful prose and sense imagery bring the food, fashion, and feel of the ocean to life in this audacious new novel.

Review:

Set in Cannes, French Coast is another glitzy and glamour filled novel by Anita Hughes. Centered around the fashion industry, this charming story is a delightful escape from everyday life.

When the story opens, Serena Woods is on top of the world. She has a highly satisfying career as a features editor at Vogue and she has just been offered a dream assignment. Her politically ambitious boyfriend just proposed. Her parents are still crazy about one another and they are enjoying a quiet life now that her father has retired from politics. But Serena’s perfect life is about to take a unexpected detour after a shocking secret about her parents is revealed.

Although the timing is less than ideal, Serena is not about to turn down the opportunity to interview Yvette Renault, the former editor of French Vogue.  Things are off to a bit of a rocky start when she arrives at the luxurious hotel only to learn that there is a big problem with her reservation. A fortuitous meeting with another guest solves her predicament but she soon learns all is not as it seems with her mysterious roommate, Zoe.

But Serena’s luck seems to be changing after she begins interviewing Yvette. She is soon enthralled with the details of Yvette’s illicit but intriguing relationship with novelist Bertrand Roland. However, her elation is quickly tempered when her family is at the center of a very public scandal. Heartbroken by her fiancé’s reaction to the exposé, Serena throws herself into her assignment while at the same time helping Zoe resolve a family issue.

French Coast is a fast-paced and engaging novel with a lovely cast of likable characters. The setting is quite lavish and Anita Hughes brings the opulent surroundings vibrantly to life.  The storyline is interesting and full of unexpected twists and turns. It is an overall enjoyable and entertaining read that offers a fascinating look into the lives of the rich and famous.

1 Comment

Filed under Anita Hughes, Contemporary, French Coast, Rated B, Review, Romance

One Response to Review: French Coast by Anita Hughes

  1. Timitra

    Thanks for the review Kathy