Author: Glynis Astie- Published: May 2017 by Tikinou Publishing
- Category: ChickLit, Contemporary, Family, Novella, Books, Reading, Book Review
Sydney Durand, the quirky yet lovable heroine of the French Twist series, is back for one final instalment in a very special novella.
As the wife of a gorgeous and romantic Frenchman and the mother of the most angelic boy ever, Sydney is living a life of sheer perfection. She’s gone through quite a bit to achieve this charmed life, and now nothing is going to bring her down. Or so she thinks.
French Roast rounds out the French Twist series, set a few years after the end of French Fry and Sidney is back…full on. Becoming a mother has failed to relax the over anxiousness and her slight(ish) neurotic tendencies are still very much alive and well.
The story begins with young Luc’s first day at kindergarten and Sidney is not coping very well with the prospect, imagining all sorts of problems Luc might be having without his mama. Diplomatically, Louis elects to take Luc to the bus stop before returning to comfort his crazy (in the nicest possible way) wife.
Count to ten, Sydney. The first day of school is scary enough without having your mother melt down before your very young eyes.
The arrangement works well and a routine is established, with Louis walking Luc to the school bus in the morning while Sydney picks him up from aftercare. Life is good in the Durand household and to make it even better, after Syd’s birthday celebrations Louis presents her with a family heirloom. His grandmother’s antique bracelet has been given as a keepsake down through the women of the family, when a daughter is born.
Once again my husband had thrown me for a loop. Leave it to him to answer me before I had even asked the question.
French Roast is a poignant, but no less entertaining, finale to the series. There are laugh out loud moments and others that bring tears to the eyes. We get to spend a lot more time with Sydney’s engaging and close knit family as they navigate life’s highs, lows and a devastating blow that rocks the very foundations of the family unit.
Glynis Astie has created a wonderfully diverse mix of realistic, engaging characters, and situations which are easily identifiable, written with humour and heartfelt emotion. It’s been a pleasure to follow Sidney’s journey. The family dynamics are shown to great effect as they help and support each other. The casual, conversational writing style is relaxed and easy to read.
I chose to read and review French Roast based on a digital copy of the book supplied by the author/publisher.
About Glynis Astie
Glynis never expected in her wildest dreams to be a writer. After thirteen years in the Human Resources Industry, she decided to stay at home with her two amazing sons. Ever in search of a project, she was inspired to write the story of how, in only six short months, she met and married her wonderfully romantic French husband, Sebastien. The end result became her first novel, French Twist.
As this was just the beginning of their epic love story, Glynis continued to chronicle their adventures in the sequel, French Toast, and the final installment in the series, French Fry. After she finished milking her life story for all it was worth, she decided to write straight-up fiction with Gamer Girl, which infused her beloved chick lit with a hint of fantasy. She then realized there were a few ounces left in her real-life French fairy tale, and added French Roast to the mix. She is currently considering writing a prequel to the series, and is therefore questioning her definition of “final installment.”
When Glynis is not writing, she is trying to keep the peace amongst the three men and two cats in her life, finding missing body parts (Lego pieces are small!), supervising a myriad of homework assignments and keeping a tenuous hold on her sanity by consuming whatever chocolate is in the vicinity.
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Reblogged this on meatdoesntgrowinmygarden.
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Thank you 🙂
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War mir, wie immer, ein Vergnügen 😉
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😀
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From time to time I like to use my mother tongue 😉
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That’s no problem while I can Google 😉
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Great review. I Love to read the laugh out loud moments in books every now and then specially as I read so many crime novels.
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Thank you. Yes, it’s a perfect read when you need a rest from murder ;-D
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Cathy, this sounds like a wonderful, quick read. I can definitely relate as I cried each time one of my three guys started school, but not in their presence. I have a couple of Glynis’ books in my TBR and I’ll be adding this one. Great review.
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Thanks, Michelle. It’s been a lovely series, all the more so because it’s based on Glynis’ life. If she’s anything like her alter ego she must be a joy to know.
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