Hello Everyone! Welcome to my stop today on the Blog Tour for this amazing book Overture by Vanessa Couchman and allowing me to share my review with you! First a thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for allowing me to participate and a thank you to the author and publisher for giving me the privilege to read and review this book. Now to find out more about this book…

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Overture

(L’Alouette Trilogy #1)

Vanessa Couchman

My Rating: 5/5

What if you had a unique talent, but everything conspired against your dreams?

France, 1897. Born to a modest farming family, Marie-Thérèse has a remarkable singing voice and wants to become a professional singer. But too many obstacles, including her parents’ opposition, stand in her way. And, through no fault of her own, she makes a dangerous enemy of the local landlord.

When the family circumstances change suddenly, Marie-Thérèse and her mother must move to Paris to work in her aunt’s restaurant. Her ambitions rekindle, but the road to success is paved with setbacks until a chance meeting gives her a precious opportunity.

She is close to achieving all her dreams, but the ghosts of the past come back to haunt her and threaten Marie-Thérèse’s life as well as her career.

Overture is the first in a trilogy set in France, starting in 1897 and finishing at the end of World War II.

This is the first book I’ve had the pleasure of reading from author Vanessa Couchman. I was immediately pulled into the book and became invested in the characters. The characters are extremely real and relatable and I had a hard time putting this book down. It’s obvious Ms. Couchman does tremendous research as the story is richly detailed and historically accurate.

Set in France in the late 1800’s we first meet Marie-Thérèse and her parents when she is just thirteen years old. Finishing school with high marks being one in the top five, she is offered to continue her education. Unfortunately being an only child, her parents can’t spare her from the farm and don’t see the value in continuing her education. Marie-Thérèse’s love of music is evident from the beginning but is only a dream that at the time has no hope of becoming a reality.

Three years later when Marie-Thérèse is 16 years old her father is killed in a freak accident. This leaves Marie-Thérèse and Augustine her mother with a very uncertain future. As they are turned out of their home and forced to live above a neighbors shop, they struggle to survive. After three months of struggle, Augustine decides to take her sister Berthe up on her offer to move to Paris and help in Berthe’s restaurant.

As we move into this new phase of Marie-Thérèse and Augustine’s life in Paris, we gradually are introduced to a young man by the name of Frédéric Grandcour. An intriguing man who helps Marie-Thérèse transform into the successful singer Ida Vernet.

With life’s many ups and downs, the sinking of the Titanic, possible war on the horizon and an old enemy lurking in the shadows, this story was truly captivating from beginning to end! As this is the first part of the trilogy, I can’t wait to see what Ms. Couchman has in store for us in the next book. You know it’s an excellent book when you reach the end and are sad to leave the characters and can’t wait until you come back to their world. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

~ Rose

Vanessa Couchman is a novelist, short story author and freelance writer and has lived in an 18th-century farmhouse in southwest France since 1997. French and Corsican history and culture provide great inspiration for her fiction. She has written two novels set on the Mediterranean island of Corsica: The House at Zaronza and The Corsican Widow. Her third novel, Overture, is Book 1 of a trilogy set in France between 1897 and 1945. Vanessa’s short stories have won and been placed in creative writing competitions and published in anthologies.

​Follow Vanessa Couchman

Website: https://vanessacouchmanwriter.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessacouchman.author/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vanessainfrance

Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/VanessaCouchman

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Overture – Vanessa Couchman:

Amazon US / Amazon UK  / Goodreads / BookBub

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