Maybe in Monaco

Monaco #1

by Kaya Quinsey Holt

Charlotte Levant left Monaco ten years ago in order to allow the man she loved to pursue his dream but she left with more than a broken heart. Only a select few knew that she gave up her baby. Facing a personal crisis, Charlotte returns to Monaco, thinking she can quietly sneak back without a fuss. But it’s hard to keep a secret in Monaco.

For recently retired Formula One driver Freddie Ridgeport, losing Charlotte was more painful than a car crash, but he quickly found company among his fans. Now back in Monaco, the responsibility of caring for nine-year-old Nicholas has been thrust upon him after he is unexpectedly named as the legal guardian in a will.

Will fate finally reunite these star-crossed lovers? And if so, can the truth make up for a ten-year-long secret that runs deeper than the adjacent Mediterranean sea?

Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, Sports, Contemporary Romance, Racing, Second Chance, Second Chance Romance

223 pages, Paperback

Published October 21, 2022

About the author

Kaya Quinsey Holt is a Canadian author. Alongside her writing, she is a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) who works from a narrative approach, helping clients explore and reshape their personal stories. Her books have sold worldwide, have been translated into multiple languages, and adapted for audiobooks. Kaya lives in Ontario with her husband and son.

Find out more at www.kayaquinsey.com
or connect with her on Instagram and Twitter @kayaquinseyholt.

Reviews

[•°Dahlia ( hiatus ) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 42%
NOPE just nope , I couldnt get interested on this or focus on any of this shit ..
The writing is HORRIBLE , you know those weird books that were in some other kmaguages then you keep on translating them until you translate them in English ? well I think thts the case with this one- because hello ? who even still writes like this , it was just way too .. I DONT EVEN KNOW THE RIGHT WORD-

The povs . Instead of having two normal povs , we have to get 5- . The focus, the mmc's , THE GRANDMOTHER'S pov , the adopted kid's pov , and some girl named Violet who I still don't know who she is.

I still had a tinny winny shimmer of hope cause they said Formula 1 and am a BIG fan but nope that too just wasn't it.

I tried starting my summer tbr , but no sorry not sorry I just can't. The cover is pretty , and all but no big no.

--
Time to start my summer tbr ig , found this in pintrest and the cover grabbed me so here I am.

[ReadonReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a delight because the descriptions of everything were so real and none to overwhelming. The story was full of emotions, drama, and angst that the characters go through makes the readers feel like they are genuinely part of the story. At times the character would have you wanting to shake them silly but that was what made them feel relatable. Overall a very sweet story that I enjoyed, had me wanting to head to Monaco right that instant, and couldn’t put down.

[Chloë · Rating 2 out of 5]

just not good at all

[WinterHater · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vayamos por partes.

Compré el libro porque en la portada había un coche de F1 de los 50, automáticamente pensé que sería una novela histórica porque... Sería muy tonto que en realidad fuera novela en la actualidad y hayan puesto el coche de la época de Fangio por estética, ¿verdad? ¿VERDAD QUE SERÍA MUY TONTO?

Evidentemente es una novela en la actualidad, lo cual hace a este libro igual de poco interesante que el resto de novelas ambientadas en F1 sin F1 que hay en el mercado. Pero si al menos es bueno...

¿Ah? ¿Qué tampoco es bueno? ¿Que la protagonista es más indecisa que una veleta al viento y además no sufre ninguna consecuencia por ello? ¿Qué hay metáforas super cringes a la F1 que la autora ha creído que eran poéticas pero en realidad desentona muchísimo? ¿Ah, qué el libro es corto pero por algún extraño motivo sobran un montón de páginas y capítulos POV de gente que nos da IGUAL?

No gastéis el dinero en este libro, es insulso y aburrido. Nada más que añadir.

[Nimet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really? Another F1 romance? Yes 🤭. I was scanning Goodreads for more F1 romances, and then I found this one with only 14 reviews so far! It's only 200 pages, so I picked it up this morning and finished it in like 3 hours. It was enjoyable, really fast-paced (a little too fast for my liking), predictable but cute. Charlotte Levant and retired F1 driver Freddie Ridgeport get a second chance at love when Charlotte comes back to Monaco after 10 years. She left without an explanation or saying goodbye, leaving Freddie confused and heartbroken 💔. Freddie was unexpectedly named as the legal guardian to 9-year-old Nicholas in a will, changing his life forever. Charlotte carries a really big secret that could either ruin her second chance with Freddie forever or they could be happier than ever. Like I said, the book was really predictable and super fast-paced. I wish the author took a little more time with the whole storyline. Anyways, I will definitely read book 2, which is about Nicholas and taking place 10 years later! 🤗

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In New York, Charlotte Levant is a French teacher at a private school on the Upper East Side of New York. She has created a new life for herself in the past 10 years, a quiet life, a private life. Charlotte has taken a leave of absence, returning to Monaco to visit her grandmother. Marguerite only shared the news a week ago of her fall that resulted in a broken hip that occurred 3 months earlier. Charlotte must see for herself that her dearly loved mémé is recovering well. Marguerite and Charlotte are keeping a secret. It is the secret that has kept Charlotte far from Monaco, the home she loves.

Freddie Ridgeport is a retired Formula One driver. Retirement was lacking something, but he never anticipated that becoming a guardian to Nicholas Stefano would begin to fill the emptiness left in his heart when Charlotte, the love of his life, left Monaco without even a word.

I enjoyed the story as a second chance at love, a contemporary romance. It also brought lovely memories of watching Formula One racing with my father.

Throughout the story, descriptions associated with driving and racing were used not as a gimmick but helped to create essence and atmosphere.

"…relationship was in serious need of roadside assistance to help them get to their destination."

"He’d sped in a construction zone and now he had a flat tire. He was going nowhere thanks to his behavior."

However, nothing, absolutely nothing, is more frustrating to this reader than an author giving tribute to an individual for editing and then reading the book with an excess of needed copy edits.*

*Reviewer's Note: The novel was published on October 25, 2022. Although I was provided an eARC in December as a LibraryThing's Early Reviewer group member, I read the novel via Kindle Unlimited.

[Neelam(OG) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was in the mood to read an F1 book and this was one of the first I saw. It was okay, the idea was good.

However, there was no need for so many POV’s and there was barely any dialogue between the characters. It was mostly just internal monologues and information dumping - most of which didn’t really seem relevant. There was also a big pacing issue, the book felt like it spanned over a four/ five day period. This could definitely use a rewrite.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe in Monaco starts with our main character Charlotte who decides to fly back to Monaco to take care of her grandmother, and while she is there she must face the consequences of her past.

The plot was really interesting and I was always looking forward to what would come next. The issue I have though is that the whole story seemed rushed. Freddie and Charlotte have maybe 2 conversations before he decides to propose to her, I know they have a past but it’s been 10 years, it doesn’t seem realistic.

The other issue I have with this book is the information dump in the first couple of chapters. Instead of showing us their past through conversations or tidbits throughout the story, we get a dump of everything at the beginning which feels like it was done because there wasn’t any other way to share this information.

I don’t mind third person pov, however, the chapters in this book were separated by character, as if we didn’t know who the pov was by when it’s said in the first sentence. Some of the povs were not necessary to the story. We didn’t need to know Violets story, or her thoughts, neither did we need to know Marguerites. Everything told in their pov could’ve been done by other means.

Believe it or not but the saving grace of this was Nicholas.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

***Received a free ebook copy through LibraryThing.com, though after the publication date.

I did not enjoy this book. I only finished it because I received a free copy and felt I should read to the end to write a review.

First the things I liked, the first chapter is well written as on of the main characters returns to Monaco after being away for a decade. I also enjoyed the centering of the plot around F1.

However, the plot is rushed with little to no character development. The two main characters instantly declare (to themselves) that they are in love with each other within minutes of seeing each other for the first time in ten years as if neither of them have changed in that time at all.

Also, the information dump in the first couple of chapters is dull. It reads like a nonfiction book instead of showing us their past through conversations or tidbits throughout the story, we get a dump of everything at the beginning.

There is a villian, ex-girlfriend character who is portrayed as completely evil in her first POV chapter. She gets a couple more chapters from her perspective but is toned down and magically redeemed and forgiven by the end. It seems like the author was trying to make her/the story into a soap opera and then completely abandoned that plot thread.

[Nichola · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first quarter/roughly half way was promising, I quite liked the overall plot but the execution past half way was jumbled and way too fast paced. We didn’t get to see the rekindling of their romance blossom, nor did we get enough time to feel a connection growing between Freddie/Charlotte and Nicholas. If the book had another 100 or so pages to flesh the storyline out I think it would be a better book

[mels · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up to 3 ⭐️
This book gave me mixed feelings, on one side I loved the setting building and felt like the characters had a whole lot of potential. Meanwhile on the other side there were too many different points of view, most of the story was set in the character's heads and there was barely any interaction. Too much context for so little storyline.

I almost DNF'd at 17% it but decided to push through and I was very much disappointed.

This book had so much potential but it did not meet the expectation, barely any F1, no interaction between the characters and extra point of views that should not even be there.

[Sofita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo terminé y caí en la cuenta de que toda la historia pasa en solo una semana. No se si me convence eso, se sintió muy rápido el final.
Creí que me iba a gustar más pero no habla para nada de formula 1 (solo usa términos en las 32567942 metaforas que hace sobre el amor, que tampoco me gustaron mucho).
En resumen, no fue horrible pero tampoco va a ser memorable

[Patricia Gallant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable little love story. I could relate on so many levels with Charlotte and the parentage of her child. I did get a little frustrated with keeping it such a big secret. But the story wouldn't be a story if there were no stakes.

A good, quick read.

[maria ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚🏎️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cutest story, i loved nicholas and how everything ties up in the end. A good escape book when you just want a sweet f1 romance <3
The scenery was amazing and the quotes in the book were so real and perfect in the story!

[Laury · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful getaway! Quinsey Holt's Maybe in Monaco is exactly the read that helps you forget your day. Loved it!

[Eugenie Foss · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was highly entertained!

[Carina Chilcott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am now in a slump ◡̈

[Kaitlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like the writing style of this book. But the story itself was good

[lisas.bookselection · Rating 1 out of 5]

getting a headache after reading only three chapters? i thank you

[Brenda McMullan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bonus half star bc ✨️Monaco✨️ but excited to see where the second book goes as it became more promising towards the end

[Jeanette Padilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was fun to read by the pool. it’s definitely has predictable plot and cliche trope but it was still entertaining and i liked it.

[झलक Jay Khurma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Charles was mentioned in the story and honestly good for me.
The vibes were definitely worth it.

[hannie &#x1f337;&#x1f4da;☕️&#x1f9f8; · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this book was written in French then translated to danish then Arabic then to Latin then Portuguese and then also French again and to mandarin and then finally English.

[cailin · Rating 2 out of 5]

what in the wattpad

[Terrez · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 - 3⭐
Full of drama and emotions. However I feel like something was missing and the ending was probably too rushed. Still a delightful read tho!

[Francesca Punshon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lover of F1, this was a really quick and cheesy enjoyable romance read. 3 stars doesn’t feel quiet right, however 4 stars didn’t feel right either. So I think if I had to choose a specific rating it would be 3.5!

I found this on kindle unlimited and added it as a ‘why not’ just to see where it got me, thinking it would be another decent romance book. And it pretty much was that, I liked the characters and I liked the plot. However there did feel like some plot points were lacking and honestly for one story felt short and like there could have been more to it!

I like that in the book we had four different perspectives, which was interesting as you don’t often see more than two especially in a romance. It was interesting hearing from side characters who helped the plot move along.

Reading this on the kindle made it quick and enjoyable to flick through between classes and on my commute to university (when it wasn’t raining).

I tend to not enjoy books with older characters as much, especially where there is kids involved however I can’t fault how well the communication was written in this book.

You can tell that both Freddie and Charlotte have changed as adults even though we don’t know much about their adolescence. How they think things through and calmly were able to speak to one another was really refreshing compared to some romance books and the common miscommunication troupe.

The character were written incredibly well for such a short read, and you really connected to each of their feelings making it almost hard to choose who you felt was in the right and who should be to blame etc. and I really enjoyed that aspect of it!

The development of the characters was great, however it does concern me that a 16 year old is now an F1 driver (if I got the timeline of the end of the book right with the 7year time skip.

[Lou GUDUFF · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit predictable, but I was really into the story anyway. It's not the kind of romance we're used to - it's not a new romance I guess.
The F1 universe wasn’t really present, maybe because Freddie is retired.
I liked Nicholas, he’s cute and I liked that the author introduced the racing universe using this character.
I’m not able to comment the writing style since I'm not fluent in English, but it seemed better than many other books I read.

The story takes place in Monaco, the characters are supposed to be fluent in French. But there are a few mistakes, that are just not acceptable ( you can just check on the internet, it's quite easy.
For example:
Des pain au raisins instead of des painS auX raisins.
Mon cherie instead of mon chéri or ma chérie ( talking about a girl, so it should be ma chérie even if mon chéri is acceptable)
La reve instead of le rêve.
But it might be ok if you don’t speak French.

[cbelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️ 2.5
I was excited to read this bc I thought that there would be F1 racing but it’s just set in Monaco with a retired driver. like?! :/ The premise was there and the plot was good but the execution fell short. The different POV that is NOT the fmc and mmc made the book feel like it’s all over the place. Also it’s in third pov which I hate. Yeah,,,, I expected more but the drama was good even tho it started like 60% into the book which made it feel rushed by the end. Also hated how the ending doesn’t focus on the main couple but basically it was a set up for the son’s story.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the Monaco Series, Charlotte Levant left Monaco ten years ago she is now coming back. Recently retired Formula One driver Freddie Ridgeport has also come back but he is bring nine-year-old Nicholas with him, he was unexpectedly named as the legal guardian in a will. The story is well written with surprises, angst, and a second chance. This is a new Author to me. I hope their will be more of their story to come. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute but also so much drama, I loved it. It really made me want to go on a vacation to Monaco ASAP. The characters felt well rounded and I was rooting for the second chance romance. At times it was a bit cheesy and unrealistic but that’s what I was looking to get out of this book haha