My Grape Quebec (The Grape Series) Paperback – April 2, 2020

Laura and Franck's saga continues and fills in the gaps between their meeting and falling in love in France (where Laura must adapt to a new language, new cultures and new beliefs) to a brand new life for them as a couple in a new country where Franck must do the same! You will be enthralled with Franck's transition from outsider (having never been out of his home country) to his adaptation to the language barriers, extended family struggles, looking for work, and different food cultures to hilarious and sometimes painful experiences they encounter along the way while Laura is in her first year of advanced studies at McGill. Their adventures, where sometimes painful and oftentimes scary, prove that they are made for each other and cling together with love and acceptance for each other's uniqueness. I couldn't put this book down. I read it during the span of a day and you will do the same because it is filled with excitement, vivid descriptions of the food and beauty of the area, and unique friendships they make, as well as the perils they fought to stay together. Whether you have read Laura's other "Grape" series books or not, this one makes you appreciate what they went through to be together. It will definitely make you want to read the entire series of books and you will find so many things that you can relate to your own life. The thing I find so unique about this whole series is it is the true story of two people who were totally different yet totally made for each other!

I love this series! I get to exercise my little bit of Duolingo French and travel with Laura, first to France and then to Montreal, Quebec, the destination of this book. The only bit of Canada I've been to was Victoria, BC. And then only a few hours on vacation when I was a child.The relationship between Laura and Franc develops through cold and scary times.Ms. Bradbury's writing pulls the reader in. She knows how to tell her story.I read this on Kindle. I read it a little at a time on one of my old phones. It was great for those moments when waiting, during commercials, etc. It took a bit, but the story stayed with me, so I never felt I needed to review the last bit I read.I have already ordered the next book in her series.

Good continuation

This was my third read in the Grape series -- the first one was out of order but it stood well alone; the second one was My Grape Year -- which I absolutely loved. Actually, reading those books I had no idea the series was autobiographical. I discovered that at the end of My Grape Year, and I could hardly wait to start the next book, My Grape Quebec. This book was special to me because I already cared about the characters, and being from Canada, I had once longed to live in Montreal and I had many memorable vacations there. I could totally understand the language issue between Franck, from France, and the Montréalais. When I vacationed there with my university Parisian-style French, no one understood me. Over all, the story was enjoyable, I couldn't stop reading. I cared about the people and their families. The author has a way of writing that makes you feel that you are there in the book with her, participaring in the goings-on. And Now I will be starting My Grape Paris -- a place that I hope to visit one day when the world settles down. And I wish the author good health and happiness.

The delightful and highly entertaining memoirs in Laura Bradbury's Grape series have won my heart. Once again, she's swept me off my feet with My Grape Quebec.  This book truly personifies Love in the Time of Corona as I was feeling pretty fragile and frightened during these days of the pandemic and in need of some TLC.   I made a cozy nest for myself with pillows, blankets, and cups of steaming sweet tea as I settled in to savor this delicious tale.   What a gift - to be invited into the most intimate vignettes of Laura's life.  With gusto, honesty, and vulnerability - she writes from her deepest heart the travails and pleasures of her first year as a university student.  I hadn't realized how parched I was for human closeness and found myself relishing each moment of playful banter and warm nuzzle that she and her boyfriend Franck shared amidst the frigid snowfalls of Montreal.  In their sparse and icy apartment they cobbled together a living, though not without its challenges: bureaucratic nightmares, financial crises, and shadowy figures of the underworld.  Despite what at times seemed like insurmountable odds, love wins the day.  With gratitude I appreciate the "good medicine" of My Grape Quebec.  The redolent warmth of this captivating love story is a much-needed salve for my soul.

I LOVED this book, as I did all of the Grape series. This early adventure of Laura & Franck includes a little bit of everything I love in a book. She is so relatable with wonderful descriptive writing as she weaves the tale of her love story, her student experience, Franck’s citizenship woes, and their first apartment. You can feel the cold of Montreal reading her descriptions and picture the western Canadian island as she visits her home with Franck. The interpersonal communication between the main characters, the love, the joy makes this book a perfect read during this pandemic and I highly recommend.

This is a delightful page turner. I love this series of books and this fills in a missing chapter. Hot romance under the coldest of locales. You couildn't pay me enough to spend the winter in Montreal. Unless it included hot romance. These are the ingredients of a fast read but one that is continually entertaining. Don't miss it.

Not my favorite of her series but this book introduced me to Montreal and Victoria so instill got to be an armchair traveler. It does contain a couple of surprises!

I had always wondered what happened in Montreal that caused Laura to write about everything else ... but, not that missing year. Now I know why & I understand why, too. What a year it was! A year of growth & maturing. An emotional roller-coaster for Laura & Franck as they struggled to stay together, stay warm, stay fed & keep a roof over their heads on an extremely curtailed budget. All while Laura excelled in her studies & Franck supported her in any way he was able, while he struggled with learning English & coming to terms with finding employment & fitting into a very different climate & culture. What a test of their commitment to each other. Through out it all, they supported each other & found joy in each other & the little pleasures life afforded them. They tackled their challenges as a team & this made them stronger as a couple. This book made my heart sing. Thank you, Laura, for sharing your life with your family & Franck.

This is the sixth book of Laura Bradbury’s Grape series that I have read although it is book two in the series (they weren’t written in order) and it fills a book shaped gap in the narrative perfectly.My Grape Quebec follows on from Laura leaving Burgundy, and Franck, her French boyfriend behind to return to Canada to study at McGill College in Montreal.As ever, Laura’s honesty and candidness shine through making me feel like I am listening to a Best Friend chatting rather than reading a book by someone I’ve never met. I read somewhere that Laura started writing the Grape series for her daughters when she was ill and it shows that her heart and soul are in her writing.At its heart the Grape series is the ultimate love story. Of finding ‘The One’ at age 17 and the triumphs and tragedies involved during the course of true love, but more than that, the grape series is also a story of culture clashes and overcoming the odds, told with wit, and a frankness which is rare in any writing. As with the other books in the series, I particularly love Laura’s foody descriptions. The scenes of poor Franck trying North American cuisine for the first time had me laughing out loud and I will never look at cheesecake in the same way again.Whether you like food, romance, memoirs or just reading I would heartily recommend My Grape Quebec.

Dies ist das zweite Buch in Laura Bradburys My-Grape-Serie und nach My Grape Year vermutlich mein Lieblingsbuch, auch wenn mir die Entscheidung wirklich nicht leicht fällt. Wie alle Bücher der Serie ist auch dieses mit ganz viel Herz geschrieben, was sich auf den Leser überträgt. Noch nie habe ich beim Lesen so oft laut gelacht wie bei Laura Bradburys Büchern und die diversen Beschreibungen von Essen, Wein etc. sind einfach nur himmlisch. Was bei diesem Buch besonders schön ist: Gemeinsam mit Franck, Lauras französischem Freund, lernt man als Europäer die kanadische Kultur kennen.Kurzum: Dies ist das perfekte Buch, wenn man alles um sich herum vergessen, laut lachen, ein wenig über Kanada lernen und in einer Romanze sowie in tollen Beschreibungen kulinarischer Genüsse schwelgen möchte.

Fascinating insight into life in central Canada and the west coast plus comparing it to life in France. An enjoyable story and look forward to reading more in this series.

I really enjoyed Franck, Laura's boyfriend... So charming, upbeat and totally himself... Pretty dire circumstances their first year together... Amazing how it glued them together...