We have a special treat on my blog today as we wish Happy Release Day to Rebecca Raisin for her gorgeous new book The Little Bookshop on the Seine. I have an excerpt from the book to whet your appetite, then you can head off to Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo or Sainsbury's and buy the whole fabulous book for yourself.
Happy reading y'all and Happy Release Day, Rebecca!
La
Vie En Rose
Bookshop
owner Sarah Smith has been offered the opportunity to exchange
bookshops with her new Parisian friend for 6 months! And saying yes
is a no-brainer – after all, what kind of a romantic would turn
down a trip to Paris…for Christmas?
Even
if it does mean leaving the irresistible Ridge Warner behind, Sarah’s
sure she’s in for the holiday of a lifetime – complete with all
the books she can read!
Imagining
days wandering around Shakespeare & Co, munching on croissants,
sipping café au laits and watching the snow fall on the
Champs-Élysées Sarah boards the plane.
But
will her dream of a Parisian Happily-Ever-After come true? Or will
Sarah realise that the dream of a Christmas fairytale in the city of
love isn’t quite as rosy in reality…
A
deliciously feel-good Christmas romance perfect for fans of Debbie
Johnson and Julia Williams
*****
Now here's your special treat: an excerpt from The Little Bookshop on the Seine. Make sure you follow the whole blog tour and come back to visit on my stop on 1st November.
******
My email pinged and
I dashed over to see who it was from. That’s how exciting my life
was sans Ridge, an email was enough to make me almost run, and
that was saying a lot. I only ran if chocolate was involved, and even
then it was more a fast walk.
Sales@littlebookshop.fr
Sophie, a dear
Parisian friend. She owned Once Upon a Time, a famous bookshop by the
bank of the Seine. We’d become confidantes since connecting on my
book blog a while back, and shared our joys and sorrows about
bookshop life. She was charming and sweet, and adored books as much
as me, believing them to be portable magic, and a balm for souls.
I clicked open the
email and read.
Ma
Chérie,
I cannot stay one
more day in Paris. You see, Manu has not so much broken my heart,
rather pulled it out of my chest and stomped on it. The days are
interminable and I can’t catch my breath. He walks past the
bookshop, as though nothing is amiss. I have a proposal for you.
Please call me as soon as you can.
Love,
Sophie
Poor Sophie. I’d
heard all about her grand love affair with a dashing twenty-something
man, who frequented her bookshop, and quoted famous poets. It’d
been a whirlwind romance, but she often worried he cast an appraising
eye over other women. Even when she clutched his hand, and walked
along the cobbled streets of Paris, he’d dart an admiring glance at
any woman swishing past.
I shot off a quick
reply, telling her to Skype me now, if she was able. Within seconds
my computer flashed with an incoming call.
Her face appeared on
the screen, her chestnut-colored hair in an elegant chignon, her lips
dusted rosy pink. If she was in the throes of heartache, you’d
never know it by looking at her. The French had a way of always
looking poised and together, no matter what was happening in their
complex lives.
“Darling,” she
said, giving me a nod. “He’s a lothario, a Casanova, a…” She
grappled for another moniker as her voice broke. “He’s dating the
girl who owns the shop next door!” Her eyes smoldered, but her face
remained stoic.
I gasped, “Which
girl? The one from the florist?”
Sophie shook her
head. “The other side, the girl from the fromagerie.” She
grimaced. I’d heard so much about the people in or around Sophie’s
life that it was easy to call her neighbors to mind. “Giselle?” I
said, incredulous. “Wasn’t she engaged – I thought the wedding
was any day now?”
Sophie’s eyes
widened. “She’s broken off her engagement, and has announced it
to the world that my Manu has proposed and now they are about
to set up house and to try immediately for children –”
My hand flew to my
mouth. “Children! He wouldn’t do that, surely!” Sophie was
late-forties, and had gently broached the subject of having a baby
with Manu, but he’d said simply: absolutely not, he didn’t want
children.
The doorbell of her
shop pinged, Sophie’s face pinched and she leaned closer to the
screen, lowering her voice. “A customer…” She forced a bright
smile, turned her head and spoke in rapid-fire French to whoever
stood just off-screen. “So,” she continued quietly. “The entire
neighborhood are whispering behind their hands about the love
triangle, and unfortunately for me, I’m the laughing stock. The
older woman, who was deceived by a younger man.”
I wished I could
lean through the monitor and hug her. While she was an expert at
keeping her features neutral, she couldn’t stop the glassiness of
her eyes when tears threatened. My heart broke that Manu would treat
her so callously. She’d trusted him, and loved him unreservedly.
“No one is laughing at you, I promise,” I said. “They’ll be
talking about Manu, if anyone, and saying how he’s made a huge
mistake.”
“No, no.” A
bitter laugh escaped her. “I look like a fool. I simply cannot
handle when he cavorts through the streets with her, darting glances
in my bookshop, like they hope I’ll see them. It’s too cruel.”
Sophie held up a hand, and turned to a voice. She said au revoir
to the customer and spun to face me, but within a second or two, the
bell sounded again. “I have a proposal for you, and I want you to
really consider it.” She raised her eyebrows. “Or at least
hear me out before you say no.” Her gaze burned into mine as I
racked my brain with what it could be, and came up short. Sophie
waved to customers, and pivoted her screen further away.
“Well?” I said
with a nervous giggle. “What exactly are you proposing?”
She blew out a
breath, and then smiled. “A bookshop exchange. You come and run
Once Upon a Time, and I’ll take over the Bookshop on the Corner.”
I gasped, my jaw
dropping.
Sophie continued,
her calm belied by the slight quake in her hand as she gesticulated.
“You’ve always said how much you yearned to visit the city of
love – here’s your chance, my dear friend. After our language
lessons, you’re more than capable of speaking enough French to get
by.” Sophie’s words spilled out in a desperate rush, her earlier
calm vanishing. “You’d save me so much heartache. I want to be in
a place where no one knows me, and there’s no chance for love, ever
again.”
I tried to hide my
smile at that remark. I’d told Sophie in the past how bereft of
single men Ashford was, and how my love life had been almost
non-existent until Ridge strolled into town.
“Sophie, I want to
help you, but I’m barely hanging on to the bookshop as is…” I
stalled for time, running a hand through my hair, my bangs too long,
shielding the tops of my eyebrows. How could it work? How would we
run each other’s businesses, the financial side, the logistics? I
also had an online shop, and I sourced hard-to-find books – how
would Sophie continue that?
My mind boggled with
the details, not to mention the fact that leaving my books would be
akin to leaving a child behind. I loved my bookshop as if it were a
living thing, an unconditional best friend, who was always there for
me. Besides, I’d never ventured too far from Ashford let alone
boarded a plane – it just couldn’t happen.
“Please,”
Sophie said, a real heartache in her tone. “Think about it. We can
work out the finer details and I’ll make it worth your while.
Besides, you know I’m good with numbers, I can whip your sales into
shape.” Her eyes clouded with tears. “I have to leave, Sarah.
You’re my only chance. Christmas in Paris is on your bucket list…”
My bucket list. A
hastily compiled scrappy piece of paper filled with things I thought
I’d never do. Christmas in Paris – snow dusting the bare trees on
the Left Bank, the sparkling fairy lights along the Boulevard
Saint-Germain. Santa’s village in the Latin Quarter. The many
Christmas markets to stroll through, rugged up with thick scarves and
gloves, Ridge by my side, as I hunted out treasures. I’d spent many
a day curled up in my own shop, flicking through memoirs, or travel
guides about Paris, dreaming about the impossible…one day.
Sophie continued:
“If you knew how I suffered here, my darling. It’s not only Manu,
it’s everything. All of a sudden, I can’t do it all any more.
It’s like someone has pulled the plug, and I’m empty.” Her eyes
scrunched closed as she fought tears.
While Sophie’s
predicament was different to mine, she was in a funk, just like me.
Perhaps a new outlook, a new place would mend both our lives. Her
idea of whipping my sales into shape was laughable though, she had no
real clue how tiny Ashford was.
“Exchange
bookshops…” I said, the idea taking shape. Could I just up and
leave? What about my friends, my life, my book babies? My fear of
change? And Ridge, what would he have to say about it? But my life…it
was missing something. Could this be the answer?
Paris. The city of
love. Full of rich literary history.
A little bookshop on
the bank of the Seine. Could there be anything sweeter?
With a thud, a book
fell to the floor beside me, dust motes dancing above it like
glitter. I craned my neck to see what it was.
Paris: A Literary
Guide.
Was that a sign? Did
my books want me to go?
“Yes,” I said,
without any more thought. “I’ll do it.”
The Little Paris Collection:
The Little Bookshop on the Seine
The Little Antique Shop under the Eiffel Tower
The Little Perfume Shop off the Champs-Élysées
Also
by Rebecca Raisin
The
Gingerbread Café trilogy:Christmas
at the Gingerbread Café
Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café
Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café
The Bookshop on the Corner
Secrets at the Maple Syrup Farm
Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café
Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café
The Bookshop on the Corner
Secrets at the Maple Syrup Farm
Amazon
UK click here
Amazon
US click here
iBooks click here
Nook click here
Kobo click here
Sainsbury’s click here
Rebecca
Raisin
is
a bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write
them. She’s been widely published in various short-story
anthologies, and in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing
romance. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous men who have
brains as well as brawn is falling in love with them – just as well
they’re fictional. Rebecca aims to write characters you can see
yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about
relationships, and, most importantly, believe in true,
once-in-a-lifetime love.
Follow
her on twitter @jaxandwillsmum
Website
rebeccaraisin.com
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