Tag Archives: romance

Hot Romance Books For 2024

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The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love by Katherine Garbera

The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love is the ultimate witchy rom-com, set in a magical bookshop and featuring the perfect enemies to lovers romance. Readers who loved The Ex Hex and The Pumpkin Spice Café will love this bewitching storyline, and its spicy romance scenes. Out now.

As a lonely foster child, Serafina Conte sought refuge in handmaking journals – and writing her wishes into their pages. Now, in the witchy shop she shares with her two best friends, her journals have catapulted into the spotlight and are rumoured to manifest remarkable things.

But her plot hits a twist.

After the death of her mentor, Ford Sitwell, her only comfort is the box of antique books he left her. Except Ford’s suspicious grandson, Wes, wants them back! Sera won’t back down, but it’s clear Wes is seeking more – an emotional connection no book can replace. So, he offers to work in her shop for six weeks if she’ll help him get closure by sharing memories of his late grandfather.

Wes may seem grumpy, but he is devastatingly good looking…and maybe even kind. Surely nothing’s going to happen between them, or will Sera’s story take her where she least expected?

The (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy Janovksy

For readers of Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston and The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, The (Fake) Dating Game is the sizzling, laugh out loud romantic comedy where the fun of a reality show competition meets the undeniable chemistry of two men who are only dating for the cameras. 

Things are not going well for Holden James. His chance to audition for his favourite game show, Madcap Market, should have been great – a tribute to his mum, who died six years ago. Instead, he’s destroying the minibar in a grim hotel room… recently dumped and sliding into misery. But at least he has room service. It even comes with a sexy (smart-ass) concierge who arrives with pizza, Monopoly, and rather distracting forearms.

All Holden knows about Leo Min is that he’s beautiful, unexpectedly sympathetic, and the chemistry between them is off the charts. Maybe it’s even enough to convince the show’s casting directors that they’re a real couple. And if they can win the competition and the huge cash prize, all of Holden’s problems – his broken heart, buried grief, and complete lack of money and direction – will be solved.

Of course, nothing ever works out as planned. And love is an entirely different game…

Love Game by Emma Rae

Set in Wimbledon, South West London with a lot of real setting, this one was of particular interest to this SW Londoner.

Can a player on the court be a keeper at home?

Elle’s love language is food. But finding the right kind of work in her industry is difficult. After multiple different stints and temporary work, she lands her dream role: a personal chef to huge tennis star, Nicky Salco. It’s just a bonus that he’s handsome and athletic…but totally off limits.

The pressure is on, and not just in the kitchen. As Nicky trains for hours on the court for Wimbledon, Elle treads carefully around his brutally judgemental fiancée, while also trying to ignore her own boyfriend’s cheating habits.

But the temperature rises when Nicky’s training leads him to get hungry late at night and Elle is the one tasked with keeping his belly full. Despite being worlds apart, their late night rendezvous seem to lead to more than what they intended.

Should they risk the lives they have already built, for the lives they truly want?

A sizzling, forced-proximity sporting romance that fans of Hannah Grace and Ali Hazelwood will fall head over heels for.

It’s out on May 24th and I loved it. Great characters and setting.

Still Unwritten by Caroline Khoury

Loved this. Great characters and story. Drew me in from the first page.

Forty-eight hours to find her passion. Seven days to find his way back on stage. One chance to take a risk on love.

If Fran doesn’t nail this audition for a major TV role, she’s officially done as an actress. She just needs to tap into her inner seductress… who doesn’t seem to exist.

Enter stage right: Jae-seung.

To Fran, he’s just her landlord’s ridiculously hot nephew, helping her rehearse. To the rest of the world, Jae-seung is lead singer of global sensation, JYNKS – and he’s missing in action.

Together, they embark on an international journey of discovery: Fran, to track down her estranged mother and unlock her tightly guarded heart; Jae-seung, to continue (reluctantly) with his tour rehearsals. The chemistry between them is off the charts. But Jae-seung’s life is in South Korea, under strict contracts and constant scrutiny. Would a fling unleash Fran’s passion, or break the heart she’s learning to open?

A fast-paced, forbidden romance for fans of Helen Hoang, Lindsey Kelk and Ali Hazelwood.

Frenemy Fix-Up by Yahrah St John

Accountant Colin Anderson is a workaholic. Shay Davis is finally living her dream of owning a yoga studio. They may have gone to school together – but that’s where their similarities end. He’s Mr Corporate, hustling late into the night, while she flows through sun salutations and half-moon poses.

So when a health scare pushes Colin to make a few life changes, he knows where to turn. If he’s going to alter his work-life balance, he’ll need the right woman – and to do that, he must prioritise his health. Who better than Shay to help whip him into shape so he can win back his high school girlfriend?

The catch is, she only has ninety days to do it. And they can barely stand each other. But as their sessions start to heat up the studio, Colin and Shay move further and further away from what they thought they wanted…

***

Perfect for fans of:

Frenemies to lovers 🔥

Spice 🌶️

Opposites attract ❤️

The Devil in Blue Jeans by Stacey Kennedy

Deal with a devil

Moving to Montana to buy a dive bar with her two best friends sounded like the perfect plan to Charly Henwood. And after her cheating ex-boyfriend destroyed their relationship and their nightclub, she’s determined to focus on herself, her friends, and their business.

But it turns out the regulars resent newcomers swapping their craft beer for an extensive cocktail menu. Especially The Naked Moose’s previous owner, Jaxon Reed. The last thing Charly needs is a cocky cowboy telling her how to run her bar, or her life. But they make a deal – if Jaxon agrees to be the prize in a charity auction, Charly will make the bar a little more cowboy-friendly.

Except Charly finds herself doing battle with a man who is determined to win her over. And if her resolve goes up in flames, her heart is sure to follow…

***

Perfect for fans of:

Enemies to lovers 🔥

Small-town settings 🏡

Cowboy romance 🤠

ROMANTIC FICTION MATTERS

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To launch Frost magazine’s support for #RespectRomFic, Sara-Jade Virtue, Brand Development Director, Fiction, for Simon & Schuster UK explains why the campaign is important and reveals her favourite romance books.

There is NOTHING I enjoy as much as a Big Love Story. Preferably on the page rather than on a screen, whether the love is of the romantic, familial or friendship kind, I adore j’adore and have done all my adult life.

Which is why I feel so passionate (no pun intended) about the #RespectRomFic movement I’m leading, and why it’s so important to me. For far too long the contribution to the literary landscape of the books written by the authors writing in the Romance & Saga space has been at best ignored, at worst dismissed. And yet these are the books that dig into the very heart (every pun intended) of the human condition, love. Love is what makes the world go round and these ten novels from my all time favourite dessert island reads list, show love in all its glorious forms – escapist, romantic, heart-warming, heart-breaking, laugh out loud funny, moving, poignant and painful.

Lily and the Octopus (Steven Rowley) – a heart-breaking, charming and unforgettable novel about life, love and long walks.

These Days of Ours (Juliet Ashton) – a gloriously irresistible romance about what happens when the person you love can’t be yours.

Letters to the Lost (Iona Grey) – a poignant, absorbing and tender story of love and loss.

Together (Julie Cohen) – a bold, breath-taking and compelling love story that manages to be as complex as it is compelling.

Rescue Me (Sarra Manning) – heartfelt, funny and wonderfully uplifting, this is total joy from start to finish.

The Last Letter From Your Lover (Jojo Moyes) – passion, loss and romance, and arguably in my Top 3 Favourite Novels Of All Time.

Seven Days in June (Tia Williams) – an extraordinary novel that manages to be both utterly hilarious and completely heart-breaking.

The Photographer of the Lost (Caroline Scott) – a vivid story of forbidden love and longing, this took my breath away.

When We Were Young (Richard Roper) – incredibly moving, hilariously funny, utterly heart-breaking.

The Man I Think I Know (Mike Gayle) – redemption, love, trust and second chances. Incredibly moving, funny and clever.

The stats back up the importance of romantic fiction too – here are some figures taken from publishing industry bible, The Bookseller, with the numbers provided by Nielson.

In 2022 Romance & Sagas had its second best year ever at £53m, only bettered by the Fifty Shades bonanza of 2012 (£68.3m).

This is way up from the more normal value of £25m, which is still seriously significant in terms of the market as a whole.

These figures exclude love stories coded as General & Literary Fiction, for example Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (£2m), Marian Keyes’ Again Rachel (almost £1m), Elena Armas’ The Spanish Love Deception (£851k) and Beth O’Leary’s The Road Trip (£459k).

The Sunday Times bestseller list has no category for romance, yet in 2022 the top twenty contained no fewer than six books that could be regarded as romantic fiction; four by Colleen Hoover, including the top selling novel of all, It Ends with Us, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley.

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: NATALIE NORMANN ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM SUMMER ISLAND

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When I was asked if I could write a contemporary romance set in Norway, I jumped at the opportunity. I didn’t have a story, but I knew the perfect setting.

I love islands, but I couldn’t make up my mind which one of my favourite places to use, and I ended up making my own fictional island. From that, came Summer Island with it’s quirky characters and the best part of Norwegian summers.

It was the perfect place for a romance between two people with broken hearts who think they have lost what they loved most.

Ninni Torp comes to her beloved island to heal from the biggest shock in her life, only to find there are bigger suprises in store for her.

I also had great fun dropping a big city boy in an unfamiliar environment. Jack Greene arrives from London to sell the farm he has inherited, and finds the experience more than a little strange.  Like here in this scene, where he gets into a rowing boat for the first time.

 

Jack looked at Frikk with a wary expression on his face. The dog looked back at him, ears up, tail down.

‘Are you sure he’s friendly?’

‘Are you scared of dogs?’ Ninni smiled at him.

Jack kept a watchful eye on Frikk. ‘No, not really. I’m not used to them, that’s all. We never had any pets. My brother is allergic.’

Ninni turned to Frikk. ‘Say hello to Jack, Frikk.’

The dog lifted a paw and Jack, after a moment’s hesitation, shook it. ‘That’s pretty good,’ he said and smiled.

Ninni laughed. ‘He has excellent manners. Better than most people, I think.’

She climbed into the boat, keeping it steady by standing with her legs apart. ‘Come on, Frikk, jump in.’

The dog looked at Jack, seemed to grin at him, and then jumped. Ninni grabbed him and lifted him to the front. She looked up at Jack. ‘Come on.’

Jack hesitated. ‘Are you sure that thing is safe?’

‘My word, you are a scaredy-cat. Don’t worry, if you fall while getting into the boat you can’t drown. That’s what the life jacket is for.’

She held out a hand, but Jack ignored it. Copying her, he carefully stepped into the boat, then sat down. He stretched out his hands and grabbed hold of the gunwale on both sides.

Ninni didn’t say anything. It wasn’t nice to make fun of someone sitting in a boat for the first time, no matter how hilarious he looked. He seemed so sure of himself on land and now he sat there, staring at the water as if it was going to attack him.

She sat down in the aft and pulled the cord to the engine a couple of times. It spluttered and then started.

The wind was coming from the south and the water was a bit choppy. The bow jumped on the waves and Frikk had a grand time barking at them.

Jack turned pale.

Ninni leaned forward. ‘Are you seasick?’

‘No.’ He shook his head, then turned a shade greener.

 

I can’t even express how much fun I had writing the two books in A Very Hygge Holiday: Summer Island, and the sequel Christmas Island.

SUNDAY SCENE: DEBORAH CARR ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE BEEKEEPER’S WAR

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I’ve always dreamt of owning a folly and specifically to have one as my writing space. I’ve also always loved the thought of having a walled garden where I could grow vegetables, fruit trees and flowers. I don’t have either of these and doubt that I ever will but there was nothing stopping me putting both of them in a book. It had to be the right book though and when I was writing my latest historical novel, The Beekeeper’s War I knew this was that book.

The Beekeeper’s War is set during the First and Second World Wars when Pru Le Cuirot, a young Jersey girl and her friend go to work as nurses in a beautiful manor house in Dorset being used as a hospital for recuperating injured soldiers. Later in the book Pru’s daughter Emma goes to stay at the manor and discovers an unfriendly beekeeper tending to his beehives in a beautiful walled garden. When Emma arrived she was told to enjoy the grounds but stay away from the folly, which is why she went looking for someone to speak to and ask where the folly is so she that could avoid it.

Not wishing to go where she shouldn’t, Emma decided to ask someone so that she could avoid the folly. She spotted a walled area to her right with a painted wooden door, so she doubled back on herself and went to look inside. It was slightly open so she entered, relieved to see someone working at the far corner. It was a beekeeper. He would know where the folly was, surely.

‘Hello?’ Emma called. He didn’t seem to hear her as he stood pointing a metal container with smoke coming out of it at one of the hives. She walked closer to him and called out to him once again. ‘Excuse me?’

The next thing she knew, she was being pushed roughly from behind. Emma shrieked as she fell forward, landing hard on the stone pathway. She gritted her teeth as pain shot through her right knee, and, sitting up, she turned to see who had attacked her.

‘Buddy!’ the man bellowed. ‘Get down, now!’

Emma saw a large bouncy dog that looked like a cross between a Labrador and something else.

The man tapped his thigh and the dog loped over to him. ‘Are you hurt?’ he asked, hurrying over to her.

Emma raised her hand. ‘I’m fine,’ she insisted, not sure that she was, and rubbed her sore knee. She got to her feet.

The man stared at her. At least she presumed he was staring at her. It was a little difficult to see though the beekeeper’s hat with the black mesh obscuring his face.

‘Did you want something?’ He didn’t seem all that friendly all of a sudden, which was odd, seeing as it was his dog that had pushed her over. Maybe he was simply surprised to see a stranger in the garden.

‘Um, I was wondering if you could help me.’

‘Should you be in here?’

‘Yes.’ She realised that entering the walled garden hadn’t been the clever idea she had imagined it to be.

‘Really?’

She wasn’t sure what business it was of his but, wanting his help locating the folly, decided to appeal to his friendlier side. If indeed he possessed one.

 

The Beekeeper’s War is out on July 21st. Find out more about my books at deborahcarr.org.

SUNDAY SCENE: KATE G SMITH ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE LOVE NOTE

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I grew up in Norfolk, so setting The Love Note here felt natural to me. It’s a beautiful county with rural villages and easy access to the vast stretches of glorious coastline.

Based in a fictional Norfolk village, The Love Note follows my main character, Maggie, as she sets about sorting the family home after her mother’s death. There, Maggie finds her mother’s wedding dress—which she’d been told was missing—and hidden inside are love letters written in French.

Maggie enlists the help of Nick, an old school crush, to help her decipher the letters and hopefully find her missing father. And one of my favourite scenes is where Nick asks for a favour in return.

He picks Maggie up in a battered old Volvo

‘So,’ I say, clicking my belt on, ‘where are we heading and what’s the big secret?’

Nick laughs and throws his arm over my seat to reverse back out onto the quiet country lane.

‘No secret,’ he says, his tongue between his teeth as he concentrates, ‘If there’s one thing you need to know about me, Maggie, it’s that I’m not a massive social communicator. No social media, very few texts.’

Nick winds down his window and I do the same. It’s the first week of September and the air is thick with the dust left behind from the combine harvesters. It whips through the car, sending my hair flapping all over the place.

As they drive on, Nick explains to Maggie that it’s his mum’s birthday, he needs help with the preparations, and they’re off to check out the venue.

He shifts gears and indicates to turn into an even smaller country lane where the grass verges seep onto the road and attack from both sides with long spindly fingers of soft wild wheat.

We park in front of an old barn with traditional Norfolk flint and red bricks which are somehow managing to hold themselves up despite their jaunty angle. A modern addition of floor-to-ceiling windows down one side give a view of the rustic interior.

When they head inside, Maggie gets carried away with ideas.

‘I can just imagine it lit up with a million fairy lights along the back wall, reflected in the window; tables with freshly picked wildflower bunches and candles in jars. I can picture your mum in a flower headdress like a giant daisy chain or a . . .’

I stop talking because in all my excitement of picturing the barn how I would love to see it, I realise I have no idea if Nick’s mum even likes flowers or if she gets bouts of hay fever that would mean she’d look like she was crying through her whole party if I cover the place in floral displays. Nick is staring at me, his face giving nothing away.

‘Sorry,’ I say, digging the toe of my ballet flat into a worn dip in the brick.

‘No, no that’s perfect. That’s exactly why you’re here.’ He is still watching me, and for a beat I watch him back.

He reaches into his pockets and hands me a small bag of pistachios.

He remembers.

I take them and thank him warily, remembering how I used to always have a bag of these with me at school to pick on throughout the day.

 

I love this scene, not only because I can lose myself in the Norfolk countryside, but also for the glimpse into the blossoming friendship between Nick and Maggie.

 

Find me in my Facebook group for writers https://www.facebook.com/groups/writingittoday

TWO EVOCATIVE AND INNOVATIVE DUAL TIMELINE ROMANCES FROM ONE MORE CHAPTER

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Dual timeline romances based around the First and Second World Wars are tremendously popular, but these two new summer releases from One More Chapter break the mould: Deborah Carr’s moved between WW1 and WW2, and Eva Glyn’s is set in the former Yugoslavia, a theatre of war in the 1940s that is barely mentioned in modern fiction.

 

The Beekeeper’s War by Deborah Carr, reviewed by Eva Glyn

An unusual dual timeline in that it is set during the First and Second World Wars, but I enjoyed The Beekeeper’s War all the most because of it.

I have read Deborah Carr books before and she is so skilled at recreating believable and accurate historical settings and characters, without ever beating you over the head with it. The history just flows as the natural backdrop for her story, which is of course how it should be but is nonetheless not easy to achieve.

The novel opens in 1916 when two friends from Jersey, Pru and Jean, are nursing wounded soldiers. Despite herself, Pru begins to fall for a handsome airman Jack who visits Ashbury Manor and is a close friend of the son of the house, Monty, who is a patient there. Jack is still very much on active service and the book opens with a scene of him escaping his German captors a year later, so we know this affair is not going to run smoothly.

In 1940 Pru’s daughter Emma finds herself at Ashbury to stay with her mother’s friends, determined to unlock some secrets from the past. To say more would spoil this story and that I don’t want to do, because it is such an enjoyable read I’d like you to find out for yourself.

 

An Island of Secrets by Eva Glyn, reviewed by Kitty Wilson

I raced through this novel over the course of two days and was thoroughly swept into the story of Guy and Ivka, as well as that of Leo and Andrej. The only drawback being that it ended too quickly and I should have savoured it.

It is written as a dual timeline and is seamlessly woven together as Leo goes in search of answers to outstanding questions her elderly grandfather has about his time in Yugoslavia (as it was) in the Second World War. I found the story of Guy as an SOE operative on the isle of Vis truly compelling and Eva Glyn writes with a sensitivity and insight that comes across on every single page. She truly bought home the scenes where Guy witnessed the horrors of war and I was totally pulled into the story as he battled with the choices he had to make.

From the very start of his first meeting with Ivka I was so invested in their relationship, they seemed like a natural good fit and I couldn’t help but respect the courage both of them showed on a daily basis. In fact, all the characters were written in a way that had you aware of their flaws but thoroughly rooting for their success.

But for me the most outstanding element of this fabulous novel was Eva Glyn’s way of conjuring the isle of Vis in the reader’s mind, she had me there seeing and smelling and feeling the scenery and made me feel that I could truly inhabit her characters’ world.

Overall, I found this novel to expertly crafted and cannot recommend it highly enough, it is a deeply impactful and emotionally powerful read and the story of Guy and Ivka in particular will stay with me for a very long time.

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: VICTORIA SPRINGFIELD ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE ITALIAN HOLIDAY

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Choosing a favourite scene from my debut novel The Italian Holiday was rather like choosing a favourite pasta sauce or flavour of Italian gelati – impossible not to keep changing my mind!  My unlucky-in-love heroine, Bluebell has always wanted to visit Italy but taking her granny’s place on Loving and Knitting magazine’s trip isn’t quite what she had in mind.  When she realises she has picked up the wrong suitcase at Naples airport, Bluebell is horrified – until she discovers the colourful, confidence boosting dresses inside fit like a glove.

Bluebell and her unlikely new pals stay at the fictional Hotel Sea Breeze in Minori, a charming seaside town just along the coast from Amalfi.  I first visited Minori in 2015, and my then-boyfriend and I loved it so much we ‘eloped’ there to get married two years later.  Exploring the area whilst on honeymoon, I knew that it would make the perfect setting for a story of unusual friendships, finding love when you least expect it – and how the right dress can change your life.

My protagonists explore the gardens in Ravello, take a boat trip to Positano and visit unforgettable Capri but I have chosen a day trip to Sorrento, in the first part of the book, as my favourite scene.  The women are up early ‘despite their late night dancing on the seafront’ and assemble ‘by the reception desk, chatting away, clutching a mixture of sun hats and cardigans just in case the fine June day turned out to be too hot or too cold.’  Bluebell and her new friend, 72-year-old Miriam, holidaying abroad for the first time since her husband’s death, swap stories at the back of the coach whilst little Evie is busy with her ‘top-secret knitting project.’

When the guide they are due to meet in Sorrento is taken ill, down-to-earth Brenda comes to the rescue and leads the others on her own tour, exploring the via San Cesareo where ‘boxes of soft peaches and oversized knobbly lemons were piled up beneath canopies hung with waxy red chillies…Italian mothers bargained with stall holders and remonstrated with recalcitrant children.  Overhead, strings of colourful flags criss-crossed the narrow street.’  Down in the marina, they feast on ‘bruschette fragrant with oil and garlic, topped by the brightest chopped tomatoes with shredded basil…peppers and aubergines cooked until they were soft and velvety.’

The women, near strangers until now, begin to gel and the reader gets a hint of the adventures that lie ahead.  Spotting a wedding in the cloisters where the glamorous outfits are a far cry from ‘the sturdy pastel two-pieces worn at a typical English wedding for fear of upstaging the bride,’ Bluebell wonders if she is quite as cynical about love as she likes to think she is.  Meanwhile Miriam gets a ‘faraway look in her eyes’ perhaps thinking of handsome Tommaso who runs Minori’s Trattoria di Napoli where the women ate the previous night.

After their busy day in Sorrento, the ladies are looking forward to an early night except for Bluebell who has a date with ‘tight-trousered’ hotel waiter Andrea.  Bluebell plans to wear a special outfit from the mystery suitcase: ‘the prettiest dress of them all.’  Later that evening, the ‘orange, full-skirted number covered in big white poppies’ will attract the attention of an intriguing young man, sending Bluebell and Miriam on the trail of the mysterious girl in the poppy-print dress.

 

The Italian Holiday and A Farmhouse in Tuscany are published by Orion Dash.  Victoria’s new book, set in Lucca, The Italian Fiancé is out August 2022.

Twitter: @VictoriaSWrites

 

 

 

PUBLICATION SPECIAL: SUMMER AT THE FRENCH CAFE BY SUE MOORCROFT

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As the saying goes, this is the first Sue Moorcroft book I have read, but it won’t be the last. On the face of it, Summer at the French Café is a happy ever after holiday read, but actually the book is far more.

So, what makes it stand out? The sense of place, certainly, and I love that. As I read I could actually see every place the author described; Parc Lemmel, the bookshop café at the story’s heart, the local villages… and without a single sentence of overblown description. All I needed to know was dropped seamlessly into the narrative in an exceptionally skilful way.

But more than the quality of the writing, I love the fact there is a very serious issue at the heart of the book, one that isn’t squashed or skimmed over in the search for a happy ending, one that is dealt with in a sensitive and realistic manner. That issue is emotional control; how it can be used in relationships, the reasons people accept it, and the dangerous patterns that mean it can echo across generations and years.

I asked Sue Moorcroft why she decided to tackle this insidious form of coercion…

“I’m interested in human behaviour, so when I read about control within relationships, I wanted to write about it. It provided the perfect secret behind central character Noah giving up his life in Dordogne and moving across France to Alsace. I write love stories, so the mystery had to be nuanced rather than a simple jeopardy.

I remembered someone who, when she lost her husband, refurnished and redecorated her home. I’d never come across that reaction to widowhood. She explained, ‘He liked to be the one to choose. But now I can.’ To me, this put their relationship in a whole new light. When we’d invited her out and she’d said, ‘I’ll have to check,’ had she meant with her diary? Or with her husband? When we’d picked her up, he escorted her to the car and looked inside to say, ‘Good evening’. How old-fashioned and courtly, I’d thought. But was he checking she was going out with who she’d said she was? If so, did this behaviour make her feel cherished?

Or did she resent it and feel controlled?

She also once mentioned that she’d married young and that her (by then deceased) dad had been a similar man to her husband…

I’ll never know if I jumped to conclusions, but my suspicions informed the background I gave Noah’s ex, Florine. When Florine’s controlling father died, she felt adrift. Attentive Yohan came along, telling her what she looked best in what he liked so that she could like it too, and she felt secure again. But leaving Noah for Yohan pitched her into a very different relationship.

The interesting thing about control, and which provided the nuances I was after, is that it doesn’t have to involve a traditional bully. Yohan doesn’t hit Florine or her daughter Clémence – he loves them. In fact, he almost suffocates them with his love, wanting constant knowledge of where they are or to have them with him, using his anxieties over them to cut them off from others, so he can bask in their undivided attention. His behaviour stems from his own insecurity and immaturity. Mix in a little self-importance and selfishness, and you have a controlling man. Yohan isn’t a main character, which means that Summer at the French Café is not his story – but the plot around Noah won’t work without him.”

 

Jane Cable