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Sunday, November 3, 2024

A Little Place in Prague by Julie Caplin - Book Review - Blog Tour

Series: Romantic Escapes #12 (Standalone)

Publication Date: 23rd Oct 2024  

Purchase Link (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Place-Prague-swoon-worthy-must-read-ebook/dp/B0CW1F5HX8

Purchase Link (US):https://www.amazon.com/Little-Place-Prague-swoon-worthy-must-read-ebook/dp/B0CW1F5HX8

Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209353069-a-little-place-in-prague

Genre: Contemporary Romance

4 Stars

One Liner: Heartwarming and a great virtual tour!

Book Blurb:

It's been years since Anna has seen Leo Knight. And of all the apartments in all the cities in all the world, he just happens to walk into her cozy new attic home – as her new housemate.

As the two walk the cobbled streets of Prague, taking in the sights and sounds from Wenceslas Square, frosted with snow, to the soft glow of candlelit Charles Bridge, the enchantment of the City of a Hundred Spires soon starts to work its magic on them…

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My Thoughts:

The story comes in Leo and Anna’s third-person POVs.

Firstly, kudos to whoever wrote the official blurb for the book. It is short, sweet, and shares only the bare minimum details. That means, right from the beginning, we get a series of surprises unspoiled by a lengthy blurb. This makes a lot of difference in how we perceive the characters and their backstories. No presumptions or assumptions!

Since I mainly got the book to enjoy a virtual tour of Prague, I can say it delivers in that aspect. The city’s charming old buildings, the historical sites (and relevant snippets), the warmth of the locals, etc., are beautifully presented. The writing is easy to read. It flows well without being overly descriptive or dramatic.

Quite a few Czech words have been used but mainly for the food items (with descriptions) and common terms like please, thank you, cheers, etc! This adds to the local flavor and provides an immersive reading experience.

I do wish the beer brewery track was given a bit more space. While we get introduced to different types of beer, the learning and working part takes a back seat since the focus is mostly on the personal track.

We cannot immediately take sides here, though we want to. I did naturally side with one character but could see the flaws as well. The details are revealed in stages as the plot advances, thus keeping us wondering about the whats, whys, and what next.

Some of the side characters are adorable! A few of them are 2D, but they do what’s required of them. The sudden change of one character didn’t really fit, but she was the only one available for that scene, I guess. (There are 5 characters whose names start with J. It seems author Julie Caplin loves the letter J.)

The book was an almost 5-star read despite a few niggles. However, an important aspect hadn’t been dealt the way I hoped it would be. Let’s just say that internal acknowledgment is not enough. It had to be said out loud, followed by an apology for being an idiot and wanting to get away with it. This is too important for me to ignore. All I needed was a two-line dialogue!

To summarize, A Little Place in Prague is almost like an ode to the beautiful city with a heartwarming second-chances love story thrown into the mix. There’s an epilogue, but I would have loved an extended epilogue as well.

Either way, I’m going to check out the previous books in the series. They have gorgeous covers!

Thank you, Rachel’s Random Resources and One More Chapter (HarperCollins), for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley

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About the Author – Julie Caplin

Julie Caplin, formerly a PR director, swanned around Europe for many years, taking top food and drink writers on press trips (junkets), sampling the gastronomic delights of various cities in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Copenhagen, and Switzerland. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

These trips have provided the inspiration and settings for the highly successful Romantic Escapes series, which has hit the best-seller charts in Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic and has sold over two million copies worldwide.

The first book in the nine-strong series, The Little Café in Copenhagen, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Follow the Author:

Twitter/ X: @JulieCaplin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulieCaplinAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliecaplinauthor/

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This has been a stop on the #ALittlePlaceInPrague blog tour by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by!


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