Denise Noël

Pascale goes to work as Etienne's caregiver. His parents don't seem to realize he's alive most of the time. As Pascale calms him and loves him he starts to feel comfortable around her and others. Pascale also brings out a different side of his father. Trying to keep the family's secrets as her love for Remi, the father, deepens she ends up in a bad spot. How will she get through it and continue her life?

I liked this book. The mystery was not too deep and I did figure it out as well as the plot planned to bring Pascale down. This was one of the few times I figured it out long before the ending. I liked Etienne also as well as how Pascale handled him to give him the confidence of love (giving and taking.) I enjoyed the scene where Etienne thinks he's seen the genie of the pond. Perfect!

I look forward to reading more of this author.… (meer)

Bookstore owner Rosemary Bally meets film director Yves Delorme when he comes into her store looking for a book about the area (Fontainebleau, France). They become friendly and Yves persuades Rosemary to do a few stunts for the film he is making in and around the Fontainebleau forest. One day police come on the film set. They are investigating a series of break-ins and thefts from the nearby estates and country homes and ask the film crew some questions and then they leave.

Rosemary was raised on an estate called Clermont. Her late mother was dear friends with the Arnaud’s (the owners of the estate) and Rosemary grew up with their son, Thomas Arnaud, and lived in the gamekeeper’s cottage with her mother until she died. After her mother’s death Rosemary moved and started her own bookstore business with money she received from her mother’s will.

Late one night Rosemary goes to Clermont to visit Thomas. On the way she finds a wrecked car (on the dark deserted road) with a dead man inside. (This scene looks just like a stunt she has been working on in the film Yves is directing. But she can tell this time it is real.) When she arrives at Clermont, she tells Thomas and his mother about the car accident. But when she goes to show them where the wrecked car is, the car is gone. Did she imagine it? Or is she losing her mind? Rosemary is beginning to get suspicious of Yves, Thomas, his mother. Why are the Arnaud’s suddenly so secretive? What are they trying to hide? Who can she trust?

This was a fun and enjoyable book. I liked Rosemary, she was sweet, innocent, and a bit too trusting and naïve at times. Thomas was dark, brooding, handsome, and mysterious. Yves was tall, bearded, friendly, and looked like a Viking…

An entertaining Mystique from the 1980’s with a nice setting (Fontainebleau, France.)… (meer)