Review: You Had Me at Chateau by Portia MacIntosh*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the You Had Me At Chateau blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: You Had Me At Chateau
Author: Portia MacIntosh
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Parent Divorce

Rating: ★★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ (Closed Door)

Romantic comedy writer Amber Page is stuck in a rut.

After her editor tells her she needs to "up the spice" in her books (literally Amber's worst nightmare...), she is at a crossroads of 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.

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...

You Had Me at Chateau is the latest romantic comedy from bestselling author Portia MacIntosh. This is the perfect cosy wintery read packed full of all of your favourite romance tropes and a bookish theme.

This was my first time reading anything from Portia MacIntosh, despite many of her books being on my TBR, but I was instantly hooked by her engaging writing style. This novel is a really easy and quick read thanks to its perfectly paced narrative and really cosy feel.

The vivid setting descriptions made the beautiful settings of the French Alps ski resort and cosy château come alive on the page. I really felt like I was curled up in front of the roaring fire in Amber’s room with the beautiful snowy landscape just outside.

Portia MacIntosh has created a brilliant protagonist in Amber, who felt really real and relatable. The subplot with her family issues added a really interesting layer to her character which I wasn’t initially expecting but thought was really well written. Some of the situations she found herself in created perfect comedic moments which had me giggling away.

Amber finds herself in a love triangle with reality star turned influencer Caleb and the charming French Henri who works at the hotel. She had brilliant chemistry with both love interests and I loved the flirting and banter we saw in their interactions. Through these romantic plots we see many of the romance tropes Amber has previously written about in her books playing out in real life. This includes fake dating, only one bed, meet cutes, forced proximity, miscommunication and friends to lovers. Although the topic of spice in romance books is at the forefront of the plot, and there are regular references to things of this nature, this is a closed-door romance.

I often find myself torn between both MMCs in a love triangle scenario but in this case it was the swoon worthy Caleb who had my heart from his very first appearance. I loved that his character was really fleshed out beyond him being the stereotypical reality star turned influencer sort, giving him real substance. But similarly to him, all of the supporting characters were well written and added so much to the story.

Overall, You Had Me At Chateau is the perfect easy-read romantic comedy to cosy up with this winter.