What do you think?
Rate this book
French Summer #1
Biarritz Passion
A free holiday in a luxury villa? On the romantic French Basque coast?
No thanks.
It’s an offer that’s just too good to be true, especially when it comes from your sister. Your baby sister Annabel, beautiful, charming and utterly manipulative.
The last thing Caroline MacDonald needs right now is to be a pawn in one of Annabel’s devious schemes. With her self-confidence in tatters after a disastrous love affair, Caroline is struggling to take back control of her life.
But then she meets the man behind the invitation, Edward Rayburn. He’s rich, he’s classy and he is sizzlingly sexy. From the erotic shock of their first encounter, Caroline’s life changes, gathering speed and plunging her into a world where everything is different and full of possibilities.
In the stunning setting of the Villa Julia, high on the hills above Biarritz, she finds her faith in herself returning as she discovers the joy of new friendships and confronts the power of true passion.
But while Caroline is learning to love and trust again, her sister has a different agenda. For Annabel, loyalty takes second place to self-interest. Deceit and betrayal are mere tools for getting what she wants.
And so, while Caroline’s heart is telling her one thing, her instincts warn her a hidden drama is being played out, nothing she can put her finger on, just a chilling feeling in the air...
EXTRACT FROM ‘BIARRITZ PASSION’
‘Caroline.’
Something in the tone of his voice sent chills along her skin. She dimly heard the band begin a soft romantic tune, felt Edward’s heartbeat pick up under her hand, had the sensation of swooning, falling, down down down, like a shooting star. If he hadn’t reached out to hold her she would have dropped. Then she was in his arms, enfolded in a warm private world. They moved slowly, circling beneath the plane trees which flung leaf patterns over them like a magic net. She was a prisoner. Her blood tingled, inflamed by the fever coming from that hard body pressing its length against hers. She closed her eyes and danced, seeing nothing, letting herself be guided like a blind woman, Edward’s arms encircling her, protecting her, the infection in her blood mounting as his throbbing flesh pressed against hers. Just the touch of the hairs on his arm, feather-light against her bare skin, was enough to send electric pulses racing through her veins.
She gradually became aware that they had stopped. The music was still playing. Opening her eyes she saw that the other dancers continued to revolve around them like figures in a dream. Her eyes sought his face, but it was in shadow, there was only the gleam of his teeth, white against the dark skin.
Without a word he led her from the dance floor, beyond the tables, towards the trees. She realised they were going away from the square and into the shadows of the adjoining streets.
They stopped beside a low wall which enclosed a public garden. She could make out the vague shapes of benches dotted here and there among the bushes. Edward leaned back against a tree and drew her close. It was uncannily dark and quiet after the bright lights and music. A breeze rustled the leaves overhead. She started to shake.
‘You’re cold.’
His voice came out of the shadows and he held her more tightly against him.
‘No, not cold.’
Was that her voice?
‘Do you want to go back?’
His voice sounded different too, low, charged.
Her stomach churned. The teasing ambivalence of their former relations had vanished, replaced by something urgent, dangerous, a force she was incapable of resisting. A barrier had broken.
No thanks.
It’s an offer that’s just too good to be true, especially when it comes from your sister. Your baby sister Annabel, beautiful, charming and utterly manipulative.
The last thing Caroline MacDonald needs right now is to be a pawn in one of Annabel’s devious schemes. With her self-confidence in tatters after a disastrous love affair, Caroline is struggling to take back control of her life.
But then she meets the man behind the invitation, Edward Rayburn. He’s rich, he’s classy and he is sizzlingly sexy. From the erotic shock of their first encounter, Caroline’s life changes, gathering speed and plunging her into a world where everything is different and full of possibilities.
In the stunning setting of the Villa Julia, high on the hills above Biarritz, she finds her faith in herself returning as she discovers the joy of new friendships and confronts the power of true passion.
But while Caroline is learning to love and trust again, her sister has a different agenda. For Annabel, loyalty takes second place to self-interest. Deceit and betrayal are mere tools for getting what she wants.
And so, while Caroline’s heart is telling her one thing, her instincts warn her a hidden drama is being played out, nothing she can put her finger on, just a chilling feeling in the air...
EXTRACT FROM ‘BIARRITZ PASSION’
‘Caroline.’
Something in the tone of his voice sent chills along her skin. She dimly heard the band begin a soft romantic tune, felt Edward’s heartbeat pick up under her hand, had the sensation of swooning, falling, down down down, like a shooting star. If he hadn’t reached out to hold her she would have dropped. Then she was in his arms, enfolded in a warm private world. They moved slowly, circling beneath the plane trees which flung leaf patterns over them like a magic net. She was a prisoner. Her blood tingled, inflamed by the fever coming from that hard body pressing its length against hers. She closed her eyes and danced, seeing nothing, letting herself be guided like a blind woman, Edward’s arms encircling her, protecting her, the infection in her blood mounting as his throbbing flesh pressed against hers. Just the touch of the hairs on his arm, feather-light against her bare skin, was enough to send electric pulses racing through her veins.
She gradually became aware that they had stopped. The music was still playing. Opening her eyes she saw that the other dancers continued to revolve around them like figures in a dream. Her eyes sought his face, but it was in shadow, there was only the gleam of his teeth, white against the dark skin.
Without a word he led her from the dance floor, beyond the tables, towards the trees. She realised they were going away from the square and into the shadows of the adjoining streets.
They stopped beside a low wall which enclosed a public garden. She could make out the vague shapes of benches dotted here and there among the bushes. Edward leaned back against a tree and drew her close. It was uncannily dark and quiet after the bright lights and music. A breeze rustled the leaves overhead. She started to shake.
‘You’re cold.’
His voice came out of the shadows and he held her more tightly against him.
‘No, not cold.’
Was that her voice?
‘Do you want to go back?’
His voice sounded different too, low, charged.
Her stomach churned. The teasing ambivalence of their former relations had vanished, replaced by something urgent, dangerous, a force she was incapable of resisting. A barrier had broken.
362 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 16, 2014
2 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Laurette Long
9 books44 followersLaurette was born in the UK, near Brontëland. Graduating from the University of Leicester with a degree in English, she taught in the USA, UK and France, where she now lives.
Aged seven, her forays into fiction writing reveal her literary influences and distinctive style. ‘The Phantom Ghost Girl of Raven Castle’ begins: ‘‘Vicky Dare, the girl detective and her big Alsatian, Rex...”, then stops. ‘The Ruined Cottage’ is longer (“...it was a favourite haunt of mine and I never grew tired of it.”) In ‘The adventures of Carlotta’ “...she dashed to the door her face white with horror” while, surprisingly, in ‘The Secret at the Ball’ “...a secret compartment was revealed! There glittering lay the Lane jewels!”
(She is a hoarder, incapable of parting with childhood notebooks.)
Aged 10 she developed a passion for the theatre, and throughout her career wrote plays for students. ‘A Midsummer’s Nightmare’, where Shakespeare’s lovers get into time warps in the wood, meeting Dracula and Little Red Riding Hood, was a tricky favourite. Everyone wanted to play Dracula. She had to wield authority. (Those with pointed canines had an advantage).Later, unable to find a textbook suitable for adult ESL students, she wrote one for OUP. Beguiled by a work of French literary criticism about American writers in Paris, she translated it.
(Hoarder, bossy, dilettante.)
In 2014 the ghosts of Vicky Dare and Carlotta nudged her into a return to fiction. ‘Biarritz Passion, French Summer Novel#1’ was inspired by the French Basque country and its magic. (Go see!) An Amazon fan, she attempted self-publishing. After wrestling with formatting rules and sweating during the on-line tax interview, she finally hit the ‘submit’ button thus proving that even non-techies can do it.
Book #2 in the series, ‘Hot Basque’, followed in 2015, but Book #3 somehow morphed into a Prequel: ‘The Passage of Desire’, chosen as one of the ‘Top Twenty Reads 2017’ by areadersreview blog. ‘Villa Julia’, #3 and last of the French Summer Series, is planned for release in autumn 2018.
Aged seven, her forays into fiction writing reveal her literary influences and distinctive style. ‘The Phantom Ghost Girl of Raven Castle’ begins: ‘‘Vicky Dare, the girl detective and her big Alsatian, Rex...”, then stops. ‘The Ruined Cottage’ is longer (“...it was a favourite haunt of mine and I never grew tired of it.”) In ‘The adventures of Carlotta’ “...she dashed to the door her face white with horror” while, surprisingly, in ‘The Secret at the Ball’ “...a secret compartment was revealed! There glittering lay the Lane jewels!”
(She is a hoarder, incapable of parting with childhood notebooks.)
Aged 10 she developed a passion for the theatre, and throughout her career wrote plays for students. ‘A Midsummer’s Nightmare’, where Shakespeare’s lovers get into time warps in the wood, meeting Dracula and Little Red Riding Hood, was a tricky favourite. Everyone wanted to play Dracula. She had to wield authority. (Those with pointed canines had an advantage).Later, unable to find a textbook suitable for adult ESL students, she wrote one for OUP. Beguiled by a work of French literary criticism about American writers in Paris, she translated it.
(Hoarder, bossy, dilettante.)
In 2014 the ghosts of Vicky Dare and Carlotta nudged her into a return to fiction. ‘Biarritz Passion, French Summer Novel#1’ was inspired by the French Basque country and its magic. (Go see!) An Amazon fan, she attempted self-publishing. After wrestling with formatting rules and sweating during the on-line tax interview, she finally hit the ‘submit’ button thus proving that even non-techies can do it.
Book #2 in the series, ‘Hot Basque’, followed in 2015, but Book #3 somehow morphed into a Prequel: ‘The Passage of Desire’, chosen as one of the ‘Top Twenty Reads 2017’ by areadersreview blog. ‘Villa Julia’, #3 and last of the French Summer Series, is planned for release in autumn 2018.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 11, 2025
Wow! I didn't expect to enjoy this half as much as I did. I'd read the author's memoir, and was captivated by it, but could she write fiction too? Well yes she can! I found this book difficult to put down, (work constraints meant I had to) but I absolutely devoured it. I loved the story, the setting, and the characters were so well-drawn. I'm looking forward to book two.
May 30, 2016
Caroline needs a break and although she would rather spend her annual leave alone and doing her own thing, she reluctantly agrees to a free holiday in a large villa in Biarritz, with her younger sister Annabel and her friends. I disliked Annabel almost immediately, but I think that is what the author wants us to do; however as someone who never quite got over the birth of my younger brother, I really disliked her. She is moody, manipulative and totally self-centred and poor Caroline seems to end up either doing what Annabel wants or apologising to others for Annabel’s behaviour.
There is pain in their past, as the sisters lost their parents at a young age, but I just loved Aunt Margaret and Birdie, the two old ladies who brought them up and are still important parts in their lives. I could just imagine being in their country cottage, playing with their tubby old Labrador Titus and tucking into afternoon tea, all handmade by Birdie.
The holiday in Biarritz is not what Caroline was expecting. The company is better than she could have hoped for, the villa delightful and the Basque region really pulls at her heart. Then there is Edward, whose family own the villa and from their first encounter the chemistry between them is hard for Caroline to ignore, although as in any good romance novel (and thanks to Annabel) the path of love is never easy.
What stood out most for me in this book is the author’s obvious love and knowledge of the Biarritz area, it’s dramatic coast, changeable weather and its summer festivals. If you need a quick escape to France, this book will take you there. Then there are the strong characters, whose emotions tumble from the page, all of which make this an enjoyable read and one of those ‘just one more chapter before bed’ type of books.
I am looking forward to reading book two in the series, Hot Basque.
There is pain in their past, as the sisters lost their parents at a young age, but I just loved Aunt Margaret and Birdie, the two old ladies who brought them up and are still important parts in their lives. I could just imagine being in their country cottage, playing with their tubby old Labrador Titus and tucking into afternoon tea, all handmade by Birdie.
The holiday in Biarritz is not what Caroline was expecting. The company is better than she could have hoped for, the villa delightful and the Basque region really pulls at her heart. Then there is Edward, whose family own the villa and from their first encounter the chemistry between them is hard for Caroline to ignore, although as in any good romance novel (and thanks to Annabel) the path of love is never easy.
What stood out most for me in this book is the author’s obvious love and knowledge of the Biarritz area, it’s dramatic coast, changeable weather and its summer festivals. If you need a quick escape to France, this book will take you there. Then there are the strong characters, whose emotions tumble from the page, all of which make this an enjoyable read and one of those ‘just one more chapter before bed’ type of books.
I am looking forward to reading book two in the series, Hot Basque.
September 12, 2014
Caroline MacDonald worries that life is passing her by.
With a dead-end job at the Inland Revenue, a stalkery ex-boyfriend, the younger sister from Hell, and the Big Three-O rapidly approaching, Caroline doesn't have too much to smile about... until the offer of a free holiday in a beautiful villa in Biarritz comes along. But is the offer too good to be true?
'Biarritz Passion' is a slow-burner love story with believable, very human - and sometimes flawed - characters. Acquitaine comes to life with Ms. Long's vivid descriptions of its people and culture. It is an artfully-structured tale which will appeal to the romantic reader.
A five-star beach companion.
With a dead-end job at the Inland Revenue, a stalkery ex-boyfriend, the younger sister from Hell, and the Big Three-O rapidly approaching, Caroline doesn't have too much to smile about... until the offer of a free holiday in a beautiful villa in Biarritz comes along. But is the offer too good to be true?
'Biarritz Passion' is a slow-burner love story with believable, very human - and sometimes flawed - characters. Acquitaine comes to life with Ms. Long's vivid descriptions of its people and culture. It is an artfully-structured tale which will appeal to the romantic reader.
A five-star beach companion.
May 1, 2014
Truly enjoyed this book and the characters. They were well written and believable. I laughed and cried and held my breath...the reactions I have to good writing.
I will not give away the story - but I will say that sometimes our worst enemies can be right within our families. This is a book worth reading.
I will not give away the story - but I will say that sometimes our worst enemies can be right within our families. This is a book worth reading.
July 11, 2014
Slow start, but then I could not put down. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews