View source for Croissants and Jam by Lynda Renham

{{infobox1
|title=Croissants and Jam
|author=Lynda Renham
|reviewer=Jo Heffer
|genre=Women's Fiction
|rating=3.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9780957137202
|pages=288
|publisher=Raucous Publishing
|date=January 2012
|summary=When Annabel Lewis (Bels) boards her flight, she has two days to get to her wedding in Rome. Plenty of time one would think. However, Bels does not take into account a sick passenger that causes a diverted landing; an untimely messy accident with some croissants and jam; and having to travel through France in an old battered Citroen with a man she has only just met. Much to the consternation of her fiancé, Simon, she is now cutting it fine, but this unexpected detour with a very attractive, if somewhat annoying, man also gives her time to think. Does she really want to marry Simon after all?
|cover=0957137206
|aznuk=0957137206
|aznus=0957137206
}}
Even before Annabel Lewis boards the flight to Rome that will take her to her wedding, she is having doubts. After all, she has only known Simon for seven months and he does tend to be quite controlling and not much fun. So, when a series of unfortunate events causes her to miss her connecting flight, although she is reluctant to admit it, it is a welcome relief. She does still intend to go ahead with the wedding though, so she needs to find away to get across France and into Italy. As there are no flight options, she ends up agreeing to share a car with the man who inadvertently made her miss her flight. As a fashion conscious stylish woman though, she is more than a little perturbed when the car in question ends up as a clapped out old Citroen (affectionately known as the lemon) and when Christian, her travelling companion, stops at a French supermarket so that she can get some clothes to wear. Bels is much more used to designer labels than cheap and functional clothing.

Also, she is not at all prepared for the eventful journey that follows. Involvement in a petrol station robbery, staying the night with a top fashion model and impersonating Christian’s Texan fiancée, and the car breaking down just outside Rome are just a few of the events that occur. Also, somewhere along the way, Christian changes from being a very annoying person to a sympathetic and interested companion – one that Bels can’t help comparing with Simon who becomes more obnoxious the longer it takes her to arrive. It’s no wonder that by the time she reaches Rome she is facing the biggest dilemma of her life – does she really want to marry Simon at all?

''Croissants and Jam'' is a very enjoyable book and is very funny in places. Bels is a great central character and I loved the way she seemed to lurch from one catastrophe to the next. It’s very easy to empathise with her too as the pressure on her to marry the very suitable Simon mounts. Her relationship with Christian, as they get to know each other, is very appealing too, and I was really drawn in to their emotional, as well as their geographical journey.

I do have one slight criticism with this book though and that is that I feel that it is too busy. It’s less than two hundred and eighty pages long and it is packed with so many incidents. This did really give it a sense of pace but I also felt that some of the more important events were short changed a little. I wanted a little more depth instead of always moving on to the next thing. I felt that the book either needed to be longer or that some of the happenings needed to be sacrificed for the sake of others.  

Overall, this book is a lot of fun and a great way to lose yourself for a few hours if you are looking for a light and easy read. 

If you like the sound of this, why not also take a look at [[Mother of the Bride by Kate Lawson]]

{{amazontext|amazon=0957137206}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=0957137206}}

{{commenthead}}