Poppy’s Place in the Sun: A French Escape

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Poppy’s Place in the Sun: A French Escape
Lorraine Wilson

‘She had me at Bonjour! Warm, funny, deliciously French…this lovely story filled my heart with sunshine’ Jane LinfootSometimes you need to lose yourself to find your way home…With only her trusty dogs Peanut, Treacle and Pickwick by her side, Poppy Kirkbride could be forgiven for having doubts about her move to a quiet village in rural France. But as the sun shines down on her ramshackle new home, Poppy knows she’s made the right decision. A lick of paint, and some TLC and her rustic farmhouse will be the perfect holiday retreat – Poppy’s dream come true.Poppy is welcomed by her fellow villagers, except for brooding local vet Leo Dubois, who makes it clear Poppy isn’t welcome in his village – or his life! Leo might be gorgeous, but Poppy won’t be told what to do by an arrogant Frenchman – no matter how kind and gentle he is to her dogs!Determined to stay, Poppy tries to understand the enigmatic Frenchman better. But as the two get closer, Poppy sees another side to Leo – a man with heartbreak of his own. Falling in love with Leo is easy, but can he ever return Poppy's love? And what would this mean for her dream life and place in the sun?

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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

Copyright © Lorraine Wilson 2018

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Cover illustration © Shutterstock.com (https://www.shutterstock.com)

Lorraine Wilson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008285289

Ebook Edition © April 2018 ISBN: 9780007544080

Version: 2018-03-19

This is for Holly, aka Squeakerdog, who sadly died while I was writing this book. It’s also for her best doggy friend Poppy, my first ever rescue mutt.

Table of Contents

Cover (#uc9261e87-6286-580d-bfa2-b12df4789fe3)

Title Page (#uf5eedcaf-5150-5670-8116-4bc28753b177)

Copyright (#uadb1f836-1a74-5ccd-93e3-e7db442b6237)

Dedication (#u4c59c813-09c4-59f1-86db-7e42d76ae07a)

Prologue (#uf7a4a7f6-c198-5549-9082-d574d9e05fc3)

Chapter One (#ubace8a16-7c23-5e4f-afbd-aa2b0d9fd601)

Chapter Two (#u81ab8961-f57a-58d6-8d88-7943e0b42a57)

Chapter Three (#u58beacda-bd62-5b8c-923b-265433b336df)

Chapter Four (#u72b38daf-1d0b-5e6f-be62-098f01ea64c7)

Chapter Five (#u284a7ffd-5e45-564b-801a-2c3542e42e2d)

Chapter Six (#u6c7e584a-74b8-5fc1-a40b-ed983668b9bc)

Chapter Seven (#u387b3e08-aced-5ca5-af87-011143dfd1f3)

Chapter Eight (#ua9c9ef05-ab99-59c8-8fdc-1e723495bab0)

Chapter Nine (#u5f5a18ed-1ca3-5760-a0a0-0e126a3bc756)

Chapter Ten (#u14fed0f8-9eff-55db-a6e3-9e57a50f7a95)

Chapter Eleven (#u5eeb1584-7005-556d-a34d-a1ede8e6bd4c)

Chapter Twelve (#ud555d39d-b67e-5da1-bd1c-c62834ee2406)

Chapter Thirteen (#u09d63d9b-cdc8-578f-989a-d8a77c4c5a86)

Chapter Fourteen (#ub14ff8db-f959-54c6-a348-99cfc3de96c7)

Chapter Fifteen (#ue7509e19-7eed-5cf5-a8ff-dab084592240)

Epilogue (#u3c24fece-d58d-504a-9017-3307a848941c)

‘Only Dogs and Donkeys’ by Peanut the Chihuahua and Poppy Kirkbride (#uc2bc029d-a117-5e9c-8888-26c289cb3f95)

Acknowledgements (#u3985ff4b-9473-5a22-8060-34a8b53a70ac)

About the Author (#ufa0037f4-b810-5430-adaa-719bd042ea49)

About HarperImpulse (#ud95fe974-d04b-5447-a5a3-2acfcb94094b)

Prologue (#u9de9548e-c674-5ebc-95e2-193310deca58)

Daydream Designs – Poppy’s Blog

‘My Place in the Sun’

So, it’s official. No more watching A Place in the Sun and wishing it were me. Tomorrow it will be me – I’ve found my place in the sun and I’ll be making the last leg of the long drive to Saint-Quentin-sur-Aude. It’s a smallish village in the Languedoc, a region in Occitanie in the South of France. It’s Provence’s lesser known neighbour and as a result it’s not as posh, it’s not pretentious and, thankfully, it’s not too pricey. I’ve only had to empty my bank account, not sell my soul to gain a piece of it. According to Vogue, it’s the “true South of France – and one of the country’s best kept secrets”. Having toured Provence and the Cote D’Azur I can say the region of Occitanie is every bit as gorgeous, with chateaus, picturesque hilltop villages and vineyards stretching all the way across to sandy beaches and the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.

Imagine a kaleidoscope patchwork of sunflower fields and vineyards, bustling markets brimming with fresh local produce and wall-to-wall glorious sunshine – then you’ll get the picture. What’s not to like?

Soon you won’t need to imagine anyway; I’ll post my journal sketches on the blog. I fell in love with the area last summer. Listening to the audiobook of Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth as my other half and I walked along the cobbled streets of the medieval city of Carcassonne, Cathar country resonated with me on a deep level. I might be English, but my great grandmother was French, so perhaps something is calling me back, telling me this is my true home. Who knows? Sorry, didn’t mean to get all philosophical on you ;-)

I’m torn between selling the destination to you, my lovely blog followers, and also trying to keep it to myself. Although, the Vogue article may have made that last option impossible.

Today I’m off to the Notaire’s office to sign away my sanity, a.k.a. put my signature to the forms making me the owner of an old ‘Mas’, a farmhouse on the outskirts of the village. At least that’s how my parents view my plans.

I’m not having any doubts though; this has been my dream forever. Maybe moving from a city ground floor flat with tiny garden to a house with lots of outbuildings and land should daunt me. God knows there will be tonnes of work ahead to get it earning an income as tourist accommodation. Thankfully I’ve got my other half Pete joining me once he’s worked out his notice period. He’s pretty handy when it comes to DIY, amongst other things ;-)

I hope you like the watercolour sketch of my little red Mini laden with my most important worldly belongings, and with Peanut, Treacle and Pickwick hanging out from the front windows. Naturally they were first on the list to be packed! The dogs practically burst with excitement when I began to fill the car. Pickwick almost wore out his squeaky woof!

I’ll be writing my next blog post when I’m in my new home. Think of me sitting outside in the sunshine with a glass of wine, painting my next Fenella Fairy illustration while the dogs explore their new garden.

Wish me luck :-)