Celebrations at the Chateau: Relax and unwind with the perfect holiday romance

Jo Thomas

Sept 2021 · Random House

About this eBook

'So good I could almost taste it. Magnifique!' Milly Johnson
'Fun, food, love and France, what more can anyone want?' Katie Fforde

An enchanting French chateau and a handsome town mayor - the perfect recipe for romance...

When their grandfather dies, Fliss and her sisters are astonished to inherit a French chateau! Travelling to Normandy to visit the beautiful if faded house, they excitedly make plans over delicious crepes and local cider in the town nearby.

They soon discover the chateau needs major work and a huge tax bill is due . . . Unable to sell but strapped for cash, Fliss determines to spruce up the elegant old rooms and open a B&B.

But Jacques, the handsome town mayor, is opposed to her plan. When it becomes clear that the only way to save the magnificent castle is to work together, Jacques and Fliss discover that they have more in common than they think...

A romantic and uplifting read about turning your dreams into a reality from the author of Escape to the French Farmhouse.

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Readers are falling in love with Celebrations at the Chateau:

The perfect story for curling up under a blanket, with a mug of hot chocolate
A romantic and magical read . . . I couldn't put it down
A wonderful hug of a book. Feel-good fiction at its very best!

If you love Jo's books, her newest summer novel, Summer at the Ice Cream Cafe, is available now!

Ratings and reviews

This was a really lovely, light-hearted, feel good book set in France. Fliss, and her sisters, unexpectedly inherit a chateau in France after their grandfather dies. This is totally unexpected as Fliss lived with and looked after her grandfather and they all lived a normal life in England, so this was totally out of the blue. But it turns out there is a sitting tenant, a 'chatelaine', who lives in the chateau and Fliss and her family have to pay this elderly lady (Charlotte) to live there until she dies, along with paying the chateau's taxes, and can't sell the chateau, their original idea. So a plan of action ensues with Fliss staying to sort things out, and she eventually has a plan to set it up as a wedding venue. There are lots of obstacles to overcome with antagonistic locals, along with a few secrets about how Fliss's grandfather and Charlotte knew each other, and a romance for Fliss with the farmer/cheesemaker who lives in the farmhouse next door, also Charlotte's grandson, who originally should have inherited the chateau. Just a lovely cosy read with engaging characters and a happy ending, perfect!

Fliss and her two older sisters travel to France to see the property their grandfather left them in his will. Never having even heard about the property, they are expecting a holiday cottage of some description, not a full-blown chateau. Unfortunately, the sisters' plans to sell the chateau are thwarted when they discover they have a sitting tenant, not only that, but they have to pay this tenant a monthly stipend otherwise the chateau reverts to the previous owners! When her sisters return to England to their jobs and families, Fliss is left in France to try to resolve the situation, not helped by the moody guy next door or the hostile townspeople. A chance broken-down car outside the chateau offers Fliss the opportunity to let a family spend the night and that gives her the idea of starting a bed and breakfast operation, assisted by her teenage nephew who has been excluded from his school in England for selling drugs. Fliss has always felt herself to be an underachiever, hampered by dyslexia at school, she has held a series of fairly menial jobs, yet when she got the opportunity to buy the café she worked in, she was too timid and ended up working for the new owners instead, and her long-term relationship appears to have hit the rocks as soon as she mentioned the future possibility of children. But what seemed to Fliss and her sisters as lack of direction is perfect training for running a chateau. She can direct cars into parking correctly, she can cook breakfasts for lots of people, she knows how to clean, and she knows how to grow vegetables. Jo Thomas has freely admitted that this book is inspired by the delightful TV series Escape to the Chateau and this is a charming story wound around that delightful premise. I will warn you that the frequent descriptions of amazing food will have you salivating all over your Kindle though! This might be (100% definitely is) somewhat idyllic, the hard graft of cleaning an old, neglected chateau is brushed aside in a few words, there's no mention of the back-breaking amount of laundry required to strip and wash several sets of bedding and towels after each change of guests, interspersed with cleaning and washing up and repairing the house. Fliss manages to do all these things effortlessly. But that is all part of the charm of this feel-good romance. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

About the author

Jo Thomas worked for many years as a reporter and producer, including time at Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Radio 2's The Steve Wright Show.


Jo's debut novel, The Oyster Catcher, was a runaway bestseller and won both the RNA Joan Hessayon Award and the Festival of Romance Best eBook Award. Her book Escape to the French Farmhouse was a #1 bestselling eBook. Jo loves to explore new countries and discover the food produced there, both of which she thoroughly enjoys researching. Jo lives in Pembrokeshire with her husband and three children, where cooking and gathering around the kitchen table are a hugely important and fun part of their family life.