Jade BeerCritiques

"The Last Dress From Paris" was a lovely novel with beautiful descriptions of Paris and the Dior dressing, bringing both the city and gowns to life. It was only after finishing the book that I learned that the dresses are real and are on display in various museums worldwide.

I enjoyed the dual timeline although I found Alice's story a bit repetitive. Lucilee's was far more interesting as she was sent to Paris to collect the Dior dress her beloved granny, Sylvie, once owned. This leads to a mystery involving eight gowns, a search around various Parisian landmarks and the revelation of family secrets.

I liked how the author loosely used each dress to tell the story and move the narrative forward. "The Last Dress From Paris" not only follows Lucille's quest but allows the reader to learn more about Alice, the woman who had the privilege to wear each of the spectacular gowns designed by Dior.

Overall, I found this a sweet read full of glamorous couture, romance, betrayal, loss, and friendship.½

A Fabulous historical fiction read that was heartwarming, heart-wrenching, and enlightening. I really enjoyed reading this one. It's got so much heart in it and so much richness from history and the settings of Paris and such.
This is written from two characters in a dual timeline, one with Lucille, who's Sylvie's granddaughter, and one with a woman named Alice who is a fashion designer/famous in the designer world, wearing Dior gowns and going to all the fashion shows. Sylvie asks Lucille to go to Paris to find out about a priceless Dior dress and what Lucille discovers is much more than just a priceless Dior dress. As Lucille goes on this trip, she meets and befriends another woman that helps her on her quest and, of course, a swoon-worthy guy that also helps. Lucille finds herself on a journey of self-discovery and re-examining family relationships and what she wants out of life as she goes on this scavenger hunt after these Dior dresses.
Alice, in the past, also finds herself on a journey of self-discovery as she finds herself in a marriage where her husband no longer finds her attractive or cares for her that much anymore. She finds herself with the help of a young dashing man who she has an affair with and then has life-altering things happen after that, which leads to where she goes with her life next and who she becomes.
All of the two timelines have a purpose and intertwine and are woven together in the end where everything makes sense and there are some great reveals. There's a lot that is great about this story, but one of the best and biggest moments is when you find out why Sylvie sent her granddaughter on this scavenger hunt, and everything is all tied up nicely at the end.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, fashion, Paris, heartwarming, thought-provoking, and enriching stories. This was an easy 5-star read for me and one of my top faves of this year.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for letting me read and review this wonderful book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am tired of the books that go backwards and forwards. Able to guess most of it. The characters were too one dimensional½

A search for Dior Dresses from the 1950's - how fun would that be?

Louise makes a trip to Paris on her grandmother's request to find a certain dress, but it turns into a trip to search for eight other dresses.

What she finds is someone to help her, personal notes that accompany the dresses, secrets her Grandmother Sylvie kept all these years, and of course, the gorgeous, interesting dresses that have stories of their own.

We then go back in time and meet Alice Ainsley in 1952 who is the ambassador's wife and who also has gorgeous Dior dresses and a wonderful confidante for a maid, and a husband who is not who he appeared to be. He is cold, and she is lonely.

The loneliness leads to her visiting with a young man named Antoine.

Louise's chase to find the dresses leads to finding her grandmother's secrets, a love interest for her, and a longer stay and return to Paris.

Those readers who love Paris, who love fashion, the 1950's, and visiting with characters with complicated relationships will want to read this book.

A very enjoyable read with a bit of a mystery as grandmother’s life is unraveled. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher for an honest review.

Please someone give me the task to retrieve an item from Paris for them, and if it is a designer dress made by Dior even better! The Last Dress from Paris is a bit of a historical fiction mixed in with a bit of romance and mystery. I loved this book I found myself a bit sad and disappointed each time I had to set it aside to do adulting things. I just wanted to stay within the story with Lucille as details unfolded revealing all the intricate mysteries. While on the surface this can be seen as a fluff book, it digs a little deep into the emotions, and takes a look at motherhood, desire, and what one sacrifices when difficult choices are made. The dual timelines- one set in 2017 and the other in 1952, come together flawlessly. Without giving too many details and spoil the fun for other readers, I'll just say the book was extremely well written, and I felt the emotions that I believe the author had intended. Moments where I was tense about secrets being uncovered, moments of happiness and love, and moments of heartache or even fear. The pacing of the book was spot on, and at 380 pages it left me with just wanting more. Brillant.
Publishing June 21!! Go reserve your copy now, you will thank me later! And while you are doing that I am going to go check out other books by Jade Beer.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review an advanced digital copy.

The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer is a dual timeline novel that takes place in 2017 and 1952. A grandmother (Granny Sylvie) tasks her granddaughter (Lucille) with recovering a special dress from Paris. It sounds like an easy task, but grandmum may have left out a few details. Lucille soon finds herself on a journey in Paris that could change her life. I thought the story was well-written. Jade Beer is a descriptive writer. I enjoyed the word imagery of the couture dresses. I could imagine sitting at the Dior fashion shows seeing all the gorgeous creations. I delighted in the detailed descriptions of Paris. I thought the author beautifully blended the two timelines together. The Last Dress from Paris has a forbidden romance, couture fashions, elaborate parties, Paris landmarks, a dress hunt, friendship, a strained mother/daughter relationship, and an unexpected romance. I liked the strong female friendship between Anne and Alice. I did have a hard time getting into the story. It took me some time to become engaged. I did find Alice’s storyline to be on the sad side, but it was balance with the more upbeat atmosphere in Lucille’s storyline. I like that we get to see Lucille grow and become self-assured. I appreciated the epilogue that nicely wrapped up the story. The Last Dress from Paris is a heartfelt tale about friendships, fashion, and familial relationships.

4.5 Stars

The Almost Wife is about three women, Jessie, Dolly and Emily, as they are approaching their wedding days. Jessie is the ultimate bridezilla. Her approach to wedding planning truly left me cringing. She is shooting for utter perfection. However, she is a woman who always felt out of place, but her fiancé Adam truly grounds her. Next, there is Dolly. She is truly struggling. First it is her desire to be as slim as possible. It is also her connection with her boyfriend Josh. They truly loved one another at one time, but things have become strained. Then, Dolly has an awful job, with an equally awful boss. Stressed enough about wedding planning, things quickly change for Dolly.

Next to mention is Emily. Happy as can be, with fantastic parents, and the absolutely perfect husband-to-be. She is taking her wedding planning in stride. However, some shocking news changes everything. How will she move forward? I was just shocked at how things turned out for her. Our last impressive character to mention is Helen, the bridal shop owner. She is working with these three women and becomes intimately involved with them. Her personal life has taken a serious hit and she herself seeks personal growth. Of the three women seeking for a glorious wedding day, only two will make it up the aisle, and only one will marry. Upon first glance, they are all strangers, however, their lives do intersect.

This story is told from several perspectives. The chapters are of perfect length because, as a reader, I was drawn into each of the four women's stories and emotions. Yes, Jessie was over-the-top, but she became someone that I found that, if need be, I could forgive. Then there was Dolly, I really felt for her with her changed circumstances. Sadly, I cried for Emily, more than once. And, who couldn't love Helen? She was going through her own angst, but she was a marvelous support for the brides-to-be.

This was a heart-wrenching book, a truly fantastic page-turner, written exceptionally well. I love the fact that the author has experience in the art of wedding planning, thus making the stories work so well. From the descriptions of the dresses, designers and locations, the women and their emotions, well, it was just perfect. Usually, I don't want to put a book as good as this down, but I just had to at times in order to absorb what was happening to the women, whether to yell at one of the characters or to shed tears more than once. If this is how Jade Beer will be writing all of her books, she has just found a new fan.

Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for an honest review.

The Almost Wife by Jade Beer

Driving in to Beirut this morning and recapping the story in this book to my friend she asked me, “How will you write a review for it?” and now I sit here trying to figure out how to write about the owner of a bridal shop meeting, helping and becoming in the lives of three women getting ready for their wedding day. The owner, Helen, is a widow but a woman that truly loved her husband for nearly forty years before he passed on. Her insights, charm and care help each bride that comes into her shop.

Now, how to give a review without ruing the story? Three women plan a wedding but only one marries…that is known…it is in the book blurb BUT why? What happens? And, how do their stories impact the reader and the other characters in the book?

I told my friend I would mention “family” and how one bride found it, eventually, to be more important than she thought. I would mention that love is more than a wedding dress or the day or anything paid for to make the day special. The communication and inability to communicate what is really important is…important. The bumps in the road one encounters on the way to matrimony and true happiness and how one deals with those bumps can seem insurmountable but…communication and trust and a bit more as one determines who they are and what is ultimately important rings true and is visible throughout this book.

This book deals with emotions, love, the process and stress of planning a wedding and also it deals with so much more. This is not an easy to read book with fluff and laughter but one that deals with emotions and family and love and caring and…so much more.

Did I enjoy it? Yes – though it did have some dark times
Would I read more by this author – Yes, definitely.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC - This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars½