Meet Me in Monaco audiobook

A delightfully sweet romance layered with historical fiction, life lessons, and difficult choices. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️SUMMARYThe beautiful actress Grace Kelly is visiting the Cannes Film Festival in May 1955 where she is relentlessly pursued by a British photographer. Kelly enters a perfume shop where she is tucked away in an office by the shop’s owner, Sophie Duval just as the pursuing photographer enters the shop. Because of this act of kindness the two women form a bond that lasts a lifetime.Sophie, a struggling perfumer, confronts the photographer, James Henderson and sends him on his way, but before he leaves he snaps a quick photo of the shop owner. In the days and weeks that follow, James can’t seem to forget his encounter with Sophia. He sends her a copy of the photo. After dealing with the death of a good friend, James is given the coveted assignment to cover the wedding of the century, and sail with Grace Kelly’s wedding party to Monaco. Before sailing to Monaco he sends a letter to Sophia requesting a date. Perhaps a romance will bloom!REVIEWMEET ME IN MONACO smells as delightful as the Duval parfumerie in Cannes. You can just smell the scents of jasmine, violets, lavender and tuberose wafting from the shop’s beautiful glass bottles, on the streets of Cannes and from the fields of Grasse, where Sophie’s family has grown their flowers for generations. I couldn’t stop myself from inhaling the pages.Sophie’s character is smart, confident and independent, while James is an enigma, surprisingly sensitive at times and aloof at others. Grace Kelly’s meeting and marriage to Prince Rainer, and her interactions with James and Sophie are expertly woven into this cleverly layered fairy tale/romance. The writing was enjoyable and the story was full of life lessons, difficult choices and enlightening information about the creation of fragrances, and head, heart and base notes of perfumes. One of my favorite parts of the book is James’s evident love and dedication to his ten-year-old precocious daughter, Emily. This pleasurable book would pair well with a glass of wine, a cheese tray and a lavender scented candle. Readers of romance will enjoy this light and bright story. Thanks to Edelweiss for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publisher HarperCollins PublishingPublished July 23, 2019Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Cannes, 1955. Sophie Duval is a struggling perfumer, who is hoping to come up with a luxury fragrance that would be her break through.James Henderson is a struggling photographer from England, who is in Cannes, chasing Grace Kelly to get that one shot that changes your future. But at this time, for him it’s to photograph a Hollywood icon or lose his job.Grace Kelly trying to fend off a persistent British press photographer finds shelter at Sophie’s boutique. Thus, the connection is made among those three people. The story is woven mostly between Sophie and James, intertwined with snippets of reports for Herold magazine about Grace Kelly’s progress in her career and personal life – from a Philly girl to Hollywood Queen to becoming a princess.The historical background is very light as I think it was put under HF genre as it involves Grace Kelly, but for most of the part this is a story of a French perfumer and British photographer, who got connected by Grace Kelly appearance in Cannes.I’m not into romances, but there is something warm about those two characters, who both have careers they love and there are other people involved in their lives they love. However, the last 20% is overwhelmed with love and the frenzy of Grace Kelly wedding. I lost interest in those two characters at the end.Nevertheless, it is a quick and enjoyable read, told with crisp prose, perfect for summer.

👑 👑 👑 👑 👑As soon as I heard about this sumptuous novel, I wanted to get my hands on it! Princess Grace! The Prince! Their wedding! And an entrancing connection between Sophie Duval, a perfumer who protects Grace from paparazzi in Cannes, and British photog James Henderson, who falls hard for Sophie. I love, love, love this exotic Côte d’Azur tale, already named one of Popsugar’s best beach reads. Highly recommended for historical fiction fans, lovers of romance, and the legions enchanted by the legendary Grace Kelly. #MeetMeInMonaco #PrincessGrace

When I heard the amazing writing team of Hazel and Heather had a new book AND it was set against the backdrop of the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, I knew I had to read it! Filled with glamour, history and romance, Meet Me in Monaco is a page turning must read!

A chance encounter with actress Grace Kelly at Cannes during the international film festival in 1955 changes two lives forever. She dashes into the boutique parfumerie owned by Sophie Duval to avoid pursuit by an avid member of the paparazzi. Sophie directs her to her office where the actress can sneak out the back door. Meanwhile English photographer James Henderson rushes in looking for Grace and confronts Sophie. All he needs is a photograph of Grace to keep his boss happy but settles for a snap of Sophie instead. When Grace contacts Sophie to thank her and ask for a gift for her sister, the two begin a lasting friendship which may just save Sophie's struggling business. When James develops the photo he took of Sophie, he realizes he'd like to see that attractive woman again. He is fortunate enough to be among the newspeople included when the actress meets Prince Rainier of Monaco for the first time and as the famous couple's relationship develops, he has a front row seat for much of it. The love story of Grace and her prince always seemed like a fairy tale when I was a child. What fun to read how it all unfolded through the eyes of Sophie and James told in alternating chapters. There are also news articles sprinkled here and there, written by reporter Angeline West, to fill in some of the details. Very nicely-written piece of historical fiction. I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity to spend time in Provence and learn more about a fascinating woman.

Sophie Duval, a perfumeur in Paris, gets her big break when she is chosen to create the wedding perfume for Grace Kelly for her marriage to Prince Rainier. This love story between Sophie and English news photographer, James Henderson, unfolds against the pageantry of a royal wedding.The book includes the in-depth story of Kelly's and Rainier's whirlwind romance and wedding, which I found interesting since I knew little about it already. Though it was a subplot, it did overpower Sophie and James' story, but I don't think it took away from the book as a whole. Sophie's and James' lives at the time were very much entwined with the Princess'.I really enjoyed the history and the romance between the two main characters. This is just the type of historical fiction I love. It was well-researched and rich in history and covered an incident I knew little about. I would recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction and I am going to suggest this one for my historical fiction book club.Thank you William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this advanced reader copy.

There were two reasons I had to get my hands on Meet Me In Monaco ASAP* Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb wrote one of my all time favourite books Last Christmas in Paris* Grace Kelly! Enough said.Thanks to Harper Collins for giving me for giving me a copy of this book for review consideration. As always, no matter what the source of the book, you get my honest, unbiased opinion.My ThoughtsI adore old fashioned Hollywood Glamour and the backdrop of Grace Kelly and her marriage to Prince Rainier more than satisfied my fairytale notions. However we also got to see the more shadowy sides of her life which satisfied my celebrity gossip side.Sophie, a perfumer, and James, a reporter, are the two main characters in the book, and I loved the quirky, unconventional tale that played out between them. They are like cat and dog, and it most definitely was not love at first sight.The descriptions vividly transported me to the shuttered streets of Cannes. I could imagine the paparazzi traipsing after Grace everywhere, desperate to capture an unposed shot of the soon to be Princess. And I felt like I was walking through the sunny, perfumed flower fields of Grasse when Sophie visited home. Definitely a book to fill up all your senses.Between the fab setting, the glimpses in to Grace’s romance, and the fabulous friendship that developed between our main characters, it was a book I read with my heart on my sleeve. And it has left an impression on my heart too. I hope these two talented authors continue to write together, as I love the unique yarns they spin together.WHO SHOULD READ MEET ME IN MONACO?If you love books that transport you to another setting, then I’d urge you to pick this up. Especially recommended to fans of historical fiction, or if you enjoy characters that melt your heart, and quirky love stories. I think if you’ve enjoyed Hazel Gaynor’s previous books that you’ll also love this one. Fans of Carmel Harrington, JoJo Moyes and Kristin Hannah should also enjoy.

I just adore books written by this dynamic author duo and their latest, Meet Me in Monaco, is no exception. This is the story of Sophie, a boutique owner in Monaco, who finds herself in an unlikely friendship with royal bride Grace Kelly -- as well as in a romantic relationship with James, the very photographer from whom she shielded Grace. Fun!

4.5 Stars for Meet Me in Monaco (audiobook) by Hazel Gaynor read by Heather Webb, Nancy Peterson, and Jeremy Author. This was such a charming story. It revolves around Grace Kelly’s marriage with Prince Rainier of Monaco. For me it’s always fun to have a celebrity in the story. The main characters are wonderful too. If you are interested in the perfume business then you’ll love this book.

As a little girl, I was obsessed with Grace Kelly. I was fascinated by her love story and in the end, her tragic death, and longed for the day that I too could become a real American princess.But as I got older I moved on from princess dreams to horses and didn’t look back. That is until the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markel. It was another famous American, marrying royalty and becoming a princess that reignited my interest in Grace Kelly.When I saw that this book was coming out, I squealed in excitement. Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb have written some of my favorite novels both independently and together. They make a fabulous team and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this latest collaboration and see how they incorporated Grace Kelly into this story.This book was on the top of my most anticipated novels for 2019 and I couldn’t wait to start reading it! The setting was exotic and perfect for summer. As I have no travel plans for the summer, this setting made me dream of exotic scents and glamorous locations when I couldn’t get to be there myself! Reading this one was the ultimate escape for me and I adored every page!It was dripping in elegance and beauty from the setting to the characters! I loved the royal wedding as backdrop to the larger love story between James and Sophie. It made the reader feel like they were experiencing the wedding but also getting to know the characters intimately.I was 100% emotionally invested in Sophie as a character. I loved her profession and thought it added a lot of sensuality to the romance. This book in my opinion is more romance than historical fiction, but I was completely ok with that. As a fan of historical fiction, I felt like my historical expectations were more than satisfied with the royal wedding and a few other little bits, but the romance was the shining jewel in this book! If you are looking for a book exclusively about Grace Kelly then this is probably not the book you are looking for, she is a character in the book but the focus is truly on Sophie and James, but the characters, location and time period will surly win you over.I couldn’t put this book down and I thought about it throughout the day, eager to return to it and find out what happened next. I was in desperate need of a new historical romance on my TBR list and this book absolutely met all of my expectations and then some. I was satisfied with how it ended and sad at the same time because I didn’t want it to end. The realness and emotion in the pages was so wonderfully done.Gaynor and Webb are a powerhouse team and together they make fantastic books. Do not miss this lovely book! There is so much to love and you won’t be disappointed!See my full review here

3.5 rounded upI really enjoyed this book club choice. It takes the backdrop of Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainier and entwines the meeting of photographer James and perfumier Sophie and their subsequent romance. I was fascinated about the parts that featured Grace Kelly and it made me want to learn more about her and her life. Overall this book has a great HEA, but some of the events that lead up to it could have been written better. I did have to keep reminding myself that it was set in the 1950s, and that colors the actions and reactions of the characters. I loved the parts about making and developing different perfumes, that was captivating to me. If you're interested in historical fiction that is loosely based on fact, this is a great choice.

The advanced copy fairy continues to treat me very well! Here are my thoughts about this fantastic book:Webb and Gaynor’s latest collaboration is a historical fiction home run. The duo brings to life a vivid, engaging heroine, a glorious Côte d'Azur setting, and the ultimate princess, Grace Kelly. MEET ME IN MONACO is smart, romantic, and heartbreaking, and the tale captivates from the start.