S. E. Anderson

Jamie has been dreaming of this summer forever: of road trips and intensive art camps, of meeting cute boys with her best friend Jazz. What she didn't count on was the car accident. Exiled away from her family as her mother slowly learns to walk again, Jamie is sent to Provence and trapped in an isolated home with the French grandmother she has never met, the guilt of having almost killed her parents, and no Wi-Fi. Enough to drive a girl mad. That is, until, she finds an old letter from her father, the starting point in a treasure hunt that spans across cities and time itself. Somehow, she knows that the treasure is the key to putting her shattered family back together and that whatever lies at the end has the power to fix everything. Armed only with a high-school-level of French and a map of local train lines, she must enlist the aid of Valentin, a handsome local who's willing to translate. To save her family, she has castle ruins to find and sea cliffs to climb; falling for her translator wasn't part of her plan?

Aix Marks the Spot

S.E.   Anderson

tish

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much Netgalley.
This book really gave me some love & gelato vibes!!! I was really liking jamie and the characters, I loved the descriptions of the places, it made me feel like I was in Frace but at the same time Jamie really annoyed me with her drama and making everything about her, every time her "quest" didn't work out at first she would yell and get mad at valetin as if it was his fault or something like that. and she would never listen to him and then get mad because when he said that she never listened to him. And also she was kind of a shitty friend with jazz. Anyways I liked the book, mainly because of the descriptions of the places and how made me want to visit France as soon as possible. And besides all the things that I disliked, mainly jamie being annoying, i really did enjoeyed this book and would recommend to my friends.

Aundreya Rich

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review from the author and net gallery. I really wanted to love this book as the concept was so beautiful and I love books that take place in different countries.... however I found that the conversations that were French and always ended in Jamie saying she didn’t know what they were saying distracting from the story. Along with the “accented” dialogue. It just wasn’t my favorite, but the synopsis was cute and enjoyable enough.

Heather Heaton

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review.

This is a book about Jamie who travels to her Mamie's in France for the summer. Originally she was supposed to go with her parents, but due to an accident her parents are unable to join her. She proceeds on a treasure hunt after she finds a love letter between her parents telling about a special surprise at the end of the clues scattered throughout different cities.

This book was ok. The premise of the book was very cute and mushy and made for an easy ride through the book, but there just wasn't much depth to really make it anything more. There was some mystery around Jamie blaming herself for the accident that had severely injured her mom which was hinted at over and over throughout the book. It wasn't in a way in which it built on the book though, it was just laid out there over and over. Jamie constantly stating I can't have fun, because I did this to my mom. There's also a lack of character building and I didn't feel invested in them or the story until maybe the last quarter of the book. The wrap up at the end was so fast for all the 17 years of communication issues that had been talked about between Mamie and the parents and between Jamie and her parents. It just was too easy and not flushed out enough. Overall, the idea behind the story was fun, but I wish there had been a little more depth built in.

Sarah E. Anderson

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS x LOVE AND LUCK Forced to live with her estranged grandmother in Provence, 16yo Jamie finds her parents' old love letters - and clues to a secret treasure hunt that could save her family after the accident that tore them all apart.

Christianna Foster

(I LOVE a good play on words) this story follows Jamie, a teenager sent to live with her estranged grandmother for a summer in the french countryside after a car accident with her family that left her mother re-learning to walk. seeing this trip as a punishment and determined to make things right, she sets off on a 17 year old treasure hunt her dad had set up for her mom before she was born. She enlists the help of a local boy named Valentin and together they roam southern France, following in the footsteps of her parents relationship. on the journey Jamie begins to form an important relationship for herself and also learns a lot about family and forgiveness along the way. 
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This book gave me all the wanderlust (take me to France asap please) and did such an incredible job at making you feel like you were truly right there. this was a cute coming -of-age, summer romance story and reminded me a lot of #LoveandGelato & #LoveandLuck, however #AixMarksTheSpot was a little heavier. there is a lot of family strife in this book and a huge aspect of feeling like you don't belong anywhere. I found Jamie to be a little dramatic, then again what teenage girl who feels like the whole worlds against her isn't? Overall I really did enjoy this book and now I feel like I need to plan a trip to southern France immediately after this pandemic ends. 3.5⭐️

Ethel

A real postcard of Provence with lots of humour and love

Key words: Romance, Provence, French, treasure hunt, love, family, contemporary, travel

This book, written by S.E. Anderson, is like walking into a postcard of Provence. It has so many great descriptions (not too long, don’t worry) of the landscape that the main character, Jamie, saw. I really enjoyed it. The best thing was being able to visualise most of the places as I have already visited them before. Moreover, I was really enjoying the fact that I speak French and could understand the French sentences that sometimes appeared in the text. I was trying to imagine what someone not speaking French would think about it. I liked the characters a lot, especially Jamie and Valentin (my new love) but sometimes Jamie, as she grows during the book, was annoying me, like I couldn’t wait for her to understand her mistakes and the situation. I also liked the writing a lot, it was really easy to read and I often laughed. A friend already asked to borrow it so I’m happy. Finally, I have to say that this edition was really nice; the first page of each chapter is really cute and I liked the feeling of the book. 
I absolutely recommend it.

4.5/5

Manon van Heumen

This book was utterly moving and beautiful. The fact that everything that happened in this book was real, made it even more raw, and I found myself clinging to the words.
I have been to the provence myself, but the way Sarah describes it, makes me feel like I am reliving those hazy summer moments all over again. This was absolute perfection, and it will make for the perfect summer read.

Aix Marks the Spot

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