Published in paperback 15th August 2024 by HQ.
From the cover of the book:
From the outside, Maggie Lemon has a perfect life. But she and her husband have been trying for a baby for five years and she’s exhausted. She’s seen countless fertility experts and followed dozens of diets and homeopathic recommendations, and even gave up her dream restaurant in London when doctors suggested the stress might be too much. And now her estranged aunt has died, leaving her hotel in Provence to Maggie.It's been years since Maggie visited Le Figuier. There’s a lot of work to be done and she knows she should sell it. But when a disgraced Hollywood actor hiding out at the hotel lends a hand, the load feels a lot lighter.
Is it just the chemistry with this handsome stranger, or is it starting to feel like Maggie might finally be in the right place?
***********
Maggie Lemon is tired. Although she might seem to have a comfortable life, and the perfect husband in property specialist Mungo, their attempts to complete the picture of domestic bliss with a baby continue to be fruitless. The last five years have been taken up with fertility experts, and rounds of IVF, to the exclusion of everything else. She can barely even remember the person she used to be when she was a successful chef, running her dream restaurant in London.
When Phil, the wild and eccentric aunt she has not seen for eight years dies, Maggie is surprised to learn that she has left her the hotel in Provence she owned - where the rich and famous used to party. She is filled with trepidation about returning to Le Figuier after so long, and shocked to see the state of disrepair that the hotel has fallen into. She has no choice but to sell this place to cover the debts Phil left behind, but as the memories come flooding back, she feels some of her worries start to lift.
There is a lot of work to be done before the place will be fit to sell, so Maggie decides that for a short few weeks she will continue to run the hotel as Phil would have wanted. A handful of guests should be manageable, and she is soon back in the bustling routine she remembers from golden summers working with Phil in the kitchen. But an unexpected guest brings her pause for thought - handsome Hollywood actor Gray is looking for a spot to hide out while a media storm rages about his personal troubles. Gray is also at a crossroads in his life, and when he offers to help Maggie get the hotel shipshape, she feels a the stirring of chemistry between them. Has she finally found the right place?
I have read every one of Sophia Money-Coutts' charming rom-coms and loved them all, so I was very excited to settle down with the latest one, The Right Place, for a bit of escapist loveliness. And, dear readers, it hit the emotional soft spot in just the right place (pun intended).
Maggie makes a great protagonist. We meet her at a low point, when she is reflecting on how small her life has become. Everything that once gave her joy has been stripped away, and the merry-go-round of failed fertility treatments, which are far from merry, has left her exhausted. Back in her old stomping ground in France, away from her husband and thoughts of babies, Maggie has some much needed time to breathe and take stock. She finds herself reflecting on her relationship with chinless-wonder Mungo, remembers the dreams she once had, rekindles her passion for food, and discovers the sense of purpose that has been missing for so long.
Enter stage right, Gray, the Hollywood star also floundering in a life that comes with its own trials and tribulations. Beneath the polished, and oh so swoon-worthy, good looks, Gray reveals himself to have hidden depths, and it is not long before Maggie and Gray are getting on like a house on fire - and finding that they have a lot more in common than they think.
All the elements of perfect rom-com setting and cast are here in abundance. The gorgeous location of the run-down hotel in Provence, that was once the 'it' location for the party-loving, rich and famous, is so beautifully described that you can feel yourself dipping your toes in the natural pool and being woken up by the braying of donkeys Paul and Ringo. The characters too are simply divine darling, radiating out from Maggie and Gray to bring in friends and found family to love and loathe. Maggie's PR bestie, the endearingly irreverent Jamie; the truculent Audrey; and all the lovely locals (maybe not creepy Pierre) are easy to take to your heart.... and on the other hand, you will find yourself wishing not so nice things for the boorish Mungo; Maggie's awful mother; and the hateful hotel developer who wants to rip Le Figuier apart. I loved how you also feel the poignant presence of the larger-than-life Phil through the memories of her that linger in all who knew her, and the parts of the book that flashback to Maggie's past fill in so much of the backstory.
Laughs, remembrances, second chances, and oodles of romantic suspense are the name of the game, touching on heavier themes too, in that way Money-Coutts does so well. There are echoing themes of fertility and parenthood that are handled with sensitivity and insight. And the will-they-won't-they element is superbly done - as usual, Sophia, you did not disappoint.
Oh, and the food! How I adore a book about delicious delights to tempt the tastebuds. This will have your mouth watering at the French treats that Maggie conjures up as her passion for cooking is reawakened (although you might think twice about the goat's cheese and onion tart). A recipe or two might have been a nice touch here, I think, in the way that Jo Thomas does in her romances - but in any case, my French cookbooks are about to get a dusting off.
I adored this book. I did not realise quite how much I needed this until I closed to cover with tears streaming down my face. Just the job for a stellar summer read!
The Right Place is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to HQ for sending me copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
She's written five novels - The Plus One, What Happens Now?, The Wish List, Did You Miss Me? and Looking Out For Love - and hopes to carry on writing books that make people laugh forever. Because we could all do with more of a laugh, these days, couldn't we?
Sometimes, if Sophia's not drinking lukewarm tea in her leggings at home, she appears on radio and television talking about important topics such as the Royal family and how to correctly eat a pear (with your fingers, having cut it into quarters first. Sophia didn't make this rule up, she's just passing it on).
The Right Place is her sixth novel.
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