Another French Book Giveaway + A Trip

Usually the giveaways I do here are French cookbooks…or memoirs about life in France….or books on French design and décor. So here’s something a bit different, for those of you who love fiction. And the cover says it all…this is one for the gals!  

You can read all about The Promise of Provence here. The tale encompasses love, expectation and betrayal; aging parents and the war; a lab named Picasso and plenty of lavender; charming Frenchmen, a rich Australian and lots of colorful locals. The action takes place in Canada, the Ukraine, the Luberon, Paris…and brings us finally to a fisherman's cottage, ancient and captivating, in Antibes on the Cote d’Azur.

Author Patricia Sands lives in Toronto. With a happily blended family of seven adult children and, at last count, six grandchildren, she knows a thing or two about relationships and the human heart! Patricia calls herself a travel fanatic and says she can pack a bag and fly anywhere in a flash …especially if it’s the South of France. Her love affair with France began more than 40 years ago when she spent a year backpacking with friends and the passion has  continued to grow. For the last 15 years, she and her husband have returned frequently for extended stays that allowed time “for exploration and valued connections with French friends.” Her most recent visits included three months near Biot and then five months in Antibes in 2011. She says she’s  counting the days until their arrival in Nice this September.

This is Patricia’s second book. Her debut novel, The Bridge Club, was a finalist in the Foreword Reviews 2010 Book of The Year (general fiction), 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (First Novel) and 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards. The Promise of Provence came out just over a month ago and as soon as I heard about it I knew it make a perfect giveaway. So I rang her up and she graciously offered us three copies, either print or e-book format.

So if you’d like to enter to win a copy, just leave a comment under comments, below. The more creative the better, of course, and if you share thoughts, memories or even fantasies of Provence, that's a plus! Winners will be chosen by Patricia so do your best to capture her fancy. And be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win; signing in with your Google account is not enough.

If you’d like to go ahead and buy the book, you can do that on Amazon here. To learn more about Patricia, her website is here and her blog is here. If you’d like to meet her, she’ll be having a book launch party at the English-language shop Antibes Books (also called Heidi’s English Bookshop) in late September or early October so check her site and theirs for details. The books should be in stock by early September.

Finally, Patricia will be leading two tours, loosely based on her novel, of the Cote d’Azur and Provence in June and July, 2014. The groups will number 14 people each—all women--and at press time the first trip had just one spot left. To see all the info, click here.