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That Holiday in France by Rhoda Baxter - Blog Tour

Saturday, June 6, 2020


Hello! I am thrilled to welcome you today to my blog for my stop on this blog tour! I hope you will have a look around while you're here.

I read A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika last year (the link is my review) and really enjoyed it. Rhoda Baxter is Jeevani's pen name, so when I saw the chance to join in this blog tour I jumped at it as I wanted to read something else by her. This is a really cute novella and was just what I needed after feeling like I'd slogged my way through the last couple of books I'd read. I read half of this in bed last Thursday evening, and then on Friday morning my partner was in a work meeting so I ate crumpets in bed while reading the rest of this, with sunshine and fresh air pouring in the window. It was lovely!

This novella is about a young woman called Ellie who is in a relationship with Luke. They have been together for four years since she was seventeen, and seem to have the rest of their lives mapped out. They'll move in together, and get married, and have some kids. Ellie doesn't actually mind this prospect, but then she's invited to her friend Sophie's wedding in France.

Luke is determined that she won't go, that it's a waste of "their" money. He basically forbids her, and she realises for the first time that she's quite scared of him. She breaks up with him.

Ellie's dad is equally displeased about her plan to go to France. He is distrustful of foreigners ever since Ellie's mum ran off with one, and he and Luke have similar ideas on life in general and what the rest of Ellie's should look like.

However, Ellie really wants to see her friend get married so she sets off. In London, she meets up with Ash, another friend of Sophie's who Ellie knows from school and from around the village, but isn't really friends with - especially because Luke was always nasty to him if they met him in the pub or something. Ash is completely dishy and encourages Ellie to come out of her shell a bit more when they're in France. But Ellie totally isn't looking for anyone else so soon after Luke, is she?

There's a lovely romance, and a lovely end part of the book, too, which happens after Ellie returns from France. In France she shows off her baking skills by making amuse bouches for the wedding, and this becomes something she can use when she's back in Yorkshire. I liked Ellie - I thought she was a plucky kind of heroine and I wanted her to be happy. I loved Ash, and I liked the Yorkshire setting and the setting of her workplace in the bakery/cafe.

I'm giving this four out of five and would recommend it if you need a bit of lovely, holiday, sunshiney romance!

Here's the official blurb of the book:

When Ellie’s boyfriend forbids her from going to France to attend her best friend’s wedding, she decides she’s had enough. She dumps him and goes to France by herself. But travelling alone is scary and Ellie realises how reliant she’d become on the men in her life.
On holiday, she learns to trust her own judgement and grows in confidence. Just when she decides she doesn’t need a man to complete her, she meets Ash, who is everything her ex wasn’t.
But is Ellie willing to give up her new found independence and link herself to another man?
  • Friends to lovers
  • Heroine asserting her independence
  • Summer in France
  • Tiny puddings
That Holiday In France is a standalone story set in the little Yorkshire village of Trewton Royd. Ideal for fans of Mhairi McFarlane or Sophie Kinsella.


Author Bio:

Rhoda Baxter writes romantic comedies about strong heroines and nice-guy heroes. Having studied microbiology at university, Rhoda likes all things science geeky. She also loves cake, crochet and playing with Lego. She lives in Yorkshire with her young family and wishes she had more time to bake.
You can find out more about her (and get a free book by signing up to her newsletter) on her website. 
Twitter @rhodabaxter

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