Book Review: French Coast by Anita Hughes

Pages: 304

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: April 7, 2015

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Serena has the job she's always dreamed of and Chase, the man her heart never dared to. As a new editor at Vogue, she bags the biggest interview of the year with Yvette Renault, the infamous former editor of French Vogue, in The Carlton-InterContinental Hotel during the Cannes Film Festival. She eagerly jets off to France while Chase stays home, working with her father, a former senator, on his upcoming mayoral campaign. Everything feels unbelievably perfect...until it doesn't. The hotel loses her reservation hours before her big interview. Serena fears that she'll have to go home without her story, but then she meets Zoe, a quirky young woman staying in the suite below Yvette's who invites Serena to stay with her. Serena is grateful for her mysterious roommate's generosity, but it seems that there's more to her story than meets the eye. To make matters worse, soon after arriving in Cannes, Serena learns a shocking secret about her parents' marriage, and it isn't long before she begins to question her own relationship.With her deadline looming and pressure mounting, Serena will have to use her investigative journalism skills, new friendships, and a little luck to get her life and love back on track. Fast paced and impeccably written, French Coast will draw readers in to the intoxicating world of the Cote D'Azur. Hughes' beautiful prose and sense imagery bring the food, fashion, and feel of the ocean to life in this audacious new novel."

Serena is the daughter of a California senator and is quite accomplished in her own right. She is a features editor for Vogue magazine. Her life seems like rainbows and sunshine, especially when her boyfriend, Chase, asks her to marry him.  And to top it off, things are going well for her at work. She has been offered the assignment of interviewing the former French Vogue editor, Yvette Renault, while she is staying in Cannes. Things start going downhill from there though. She arrives in Cannes at the posh hotel to find out her reservation is missing and there are no available rooms. Thankfully, she meets Zoe who lives in a fancy suite with rooms to spare. Zoe tells Serena to stay with her and in return, Zoe hopes that Serena will teach her to be chic and a thing or two about fashion.  While starting her work in Cannes, Serena gets the news from her fiancé that her father's indiscretions are being covered in the newspapers back home. Obviously this sends Serena on a tailspin as many of her family's secrets are being uncovered publicly and to top it off, Chase isn't too happy with the latest revelation as it may hurt his aspiring political career. As Serena interviews Yvette about the ups and downs of her life, she can make connections to her own and undoubltly, Serena realizes that there are some changes she needs to make. French Coast by Anita Hughes is an indulgent summertime read and perfect for vacation. It's light, it's sexy, and fans of fashion will absolutely love all the descriptions of the fabulous clothes.

Serena is a fun protagonist in French Coast. She is chic, educated, and talented to say the least. Plus, the girl has a great wardrobe. My heart hurt for her when she received each piece of bad news, but I wasn't sad for too long, because of the location and her assignment at hand.

Yvette's piece of the story was equally satisfying in French Coast. I was dying to find out how things ended up for her.  I loved how Hughes connected Yvette's story to Serena's and how Serena was able to find comfort or even advice on how to move past roadblocks within your life. 

The subplot with Serena's newfound roommate, Zoe, was also fun. Zoe has some family secrets of her own and both girls quickly become friends. While I wasn't as invested in Zoe's subplot in French Coast, I was curious about how it would all play out.

I loved seeing how the "other half" lives in French Coast.  The lifestyle, the delicious food, the fancy drinks, the elaborate parties, the French Rivera, the designer clothes were all on point. If you love high fashion and glossy magazines, then you'll appreciate French Coast and Hughes' attention to detail. On the other hand, if you don't appreciate fashion, the description of the clothes the endless name dropping of brands may bore you.  

French Coast had some steamy scenes that I wasn't expecting. If you enjoy romance in a beautiful location, you will thoroughly enjoy this aspect of the story; however, be forewarned, there is the issue of cheating. 

So, if you are looking for a chick-lit read to bring with you on vacation, check out French Coast, especially if you appreciate fashion. It has romance, secrets, family drama, a beautiful location and couture....perfect for a summer's day.