By Sara Steven
After her editor tells her she needs to "up the spice" in her books (literally Amber's worst nightmare...), she is at a crossroads with what to do with her career.
When the opportunity arises to go on a writer's retreat at an exclusive château in the beautiful French Alps, Amber reluctantly agrees, hoping a change of scenery will help with inspiration.
But while she tries and fails to spice up her writing - with the unhelpful guidance of the eccentric romance writers at the château - she meets two leading men who cause her own real-life romantic comedy to unfold… (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
Portia does a great job of creating the perfect love triangle scenarios within her stories, and You Had Me at Château showcased that beautifully. Amber is a sweet protagonist who is trying to find her footing when it comes to “spicing” up the books she wants to create–a directive from her editor. Her editor decides it would be in Amber’s best interest to take part in a writer’s retreat in the French Alps, shacking up with other eccentric female writers who have been deemed successful when it comes to writing spicy scenarios, but Amber gets a lot more than she bargained for when it comes to the potential love interest department: Caleb and Henri.
Caleb is a celebrity in his own right; he’s an influencer who got his start on reality tv, with the whole world checking in on what he’s doing as quickly as he can post content. I thought Caleb was an interesting character and provided a lot of opportunities for Amber to see that preconceived notions are just that–not to mention how much of an influence he later becomes to her, and for her writing. Henri is the caretaker of the château, becoming a means in which the other writers work on various scenarios in an effort to “woo” Henri, which I thought was pretty funny, considering some of the lengths they go to, to make that happen. But Henri seems drawn to Amber, much to the chagrin of everyone else, and Amber really basks in the attention. She’s not used to that.
The scenes and conversations with Caleb were pretty priceless–they both came up with various slang terms for sexual innuendos and phrases, and none of it felt sexy which made it all the more fun. It felt very true to the characterization of both characters, because trying to create stories with that kind of content is far outside of Amber’s comfort zone, and I got the impression that Caleb is a lot more down to earth than what is seen on social media. Henri was the classic heartthrob love interest, who seems to always find Amber in some of her most compromising positions and likes her even more for it. It was hard to decide at first who might be the best choice for Amber–but only at first.
Ultimately, Amber wants to write her books the way SHE wants to write them, and I appreciated seeing the strength of conviction she gets when it comes to creating her own life, without allowing others to dictate that for her. It was entertaining to see how she’d get herself out of the love interest triangle, but even more entertaining to see how she finds her way back to what makes her the most passionate when she writes. You Had Me at Château was a really engaging experience!
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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