My Grape Village


Book Description

Five years after "My Grape Escape," Laura and Franck are back in Burgundy to tackle their newest project, a derelict 16th century winemaker's cottage located behind Franck's family home. Not only is this a daunting rebuild from the ground up, Laura and Franck now have two preschoolers adjusting to the foreign customs of a French school. Navigating the different rules for raising children and managing a family in a small French village prove every bit as challenging for Laura as learning to drive a stick shift through narrow streets, or arguing with the Architect of French Monuments over permissible paint colors (spoiler alert: any color as long as it's gray). Come along on this evocative and honest journey where love, coupled with good French food and local wine, pave the way to la belle vie.




My Grape Year


Book Description

My Grape Year takes fans of Laura Bradbury's 'Grape' series back to where it all began. In a last-minute twist of fate, Laura is sent to Burgundy, France for a year on an exchange. She arrives knowing only a smattering of French and with no idea what to expect in her first foray out of North America. With a head full of dreams and a powerful desire to please, Laura adapts to Burgundian life, learning crucial skills such as the fine art of winetasting and how to savor snails. However, her inability to resist the charming young men of the region means that Laura soon runs afoul of the rules, particularly the 'no dating' edict. Romantic afternoons in Dijon, early morning pain au chocolat runs, and long walks in the vineyards are wondrous, but also present Laura with a conundrum - how does she keep her hosts happy while still managing to follow her heart?




My Grape Escape


Book Description

"A twenty-six year old newlywed on the path to a prestigious legal career in London buys a decrepit, revolutionary-era ruin in the tiny Burgundian village of Magny-les-Villers. Was that split-second, life-altering decision profoundly wise or utterly insane? Find out in My Grape Escape -- a story for anyone who's imagined taking a U-Turn in life to seize their joy. Could an Oxford law student schooled in overachievement trade it all in for the humble work of polishing metal door hinges forged in 1789 at the dawn of the French Revolution? Laura Bradbury found out when, as a twenty-six year old newlywed on the path to a prestigious legal career in London, she leapt off the ladder to success to buy a decrepit ruin in the tiny French village of Magny-les-Villers with her Burgundian husband. Trading in her academic cap and gown for a ruthlessly traditional French winemaking town brought a myriad of unsettling new experiences. Laura's idealistic visions of bicycling through the French vineyards with fresh baguettes under her arm had not included being confronted with a steaming plate of veal brains for breakfast or taming an ogre of an electrician named Tin Tin who hunted wild boars in his spare time. Still, as Laura learned the art of bartering for antique armoires and rekindled romance with her husband she also gained a newfound perspective on herself, including her recurrent panic attacks and her inability to carry on conversations with the Virgin Mary like her Catholic husband and the rest of his family. Laura's tale of her escape to the vineyards of France is told with humor and a large dollop of honesty. It allows readers to travel to France without needing to buy a plane ticket!"--provided from Amazon.com.




Rose Water and Orange Blossoms


Book Description

Pomegranates and pistachios. Floral waters and cinnamon. Bulgur wheat, lentils, and succulent lamb. These lush flavors of Maureen Abood's childhood, growing up as a Lebanese-American in Michigan, inspired Maureen to launch her award-winning blog, Rose Water & Orange Blossoms. Here she revisits the recipes she was reared on, exploring her heritage through its most-beloved foods and chronicling her riffs on traditional cuisine. Her colorful culinary guides, from grandparents to parents, cousins, and aunts, come alive in her stories like the heady aromas of the dishes passed from their hands to hers. Taking an ingredient-focused approach that makes the most of every season's bounty, Maureen presents more than 100 irresistible recipes that will delight readers with their evocative flavors: Spiced Lamb Kofta Burgers, Avocado Tabbouleh in Little Gems, and Pomegranate Rose Sorbet. Weaved throughout are the stories of Maureen's Lebanese-American upbringing, the path that led her to culinary school and to launch her blog, and life in Harbor Springs, her lakeside Michigan town.




My Grape Cellar


Book Description

"Laura Bradbury's writing will make you hungry for life." - Amazon reviewer My Grape Cellar takes fans of Laura Bradbury's Grape Series back to the charming village of Beaune, where Laura and Franck embark on another grande adventure to restore a long-neglected wine cellar beneath the cobblestone streets-sight unseen. Much as they dream of family winetastings in this relic of historic France, reviving a thirteenth-century cellar proves a formidable task. Laura never imagined she'd be hunting through ancient sinks, hauling stones by moonlight, or appointing godparents for a medieval cave, all while managing an even more important project: a new baby. Can Laura and Franck transform a dingy cellar full of garbage and coal into a magical space in the wine capital of Burgundy? Find out in My Grape Cellar, book 6 in the bestselling Grape Series.




Bisous and Brioche


Book Description

Nominated for a 2021 Taste Canada Award and now available in paperback, Bisous & Brioche will transport you to a rustic French cottage surrounded by vineyards—no matter where in the world your kitchen might be. For years readers of Laura Bradbury’s bestselling Grape Series memoirs have been clamouring for the secrets behind all the mouthwatering meals described in the stories about her life in Beaune, Burgundy. Together with her friend, photographer and cookbook author Rebecca Wellman, Laura shares recipes that have been handed down through her husband Franck’s family or passed on by French friends and neighbours, and that now feature regularly on the menu at her house. Bisous & Brioche features classics like vinaigrettes, madeleines, crêpes, crème fraîche, tarts, cassoulet, coq au vin—dishes whose names alone will warm the heart of any Francophile. The recipes are served up with anecdotes about their arrival in Laura’s life and are accompanied by Rebecca’s sun-soaked photos of market visits, meal prep, and lazy lunches in the vineyard.




My Grape Wedding


Book Description

My Grape Wedding takes fans of Laura Bradbury's 'Grape' series back to the enchanting world of Burgundy five years after Franck and Laura meet on a student exchange. After a spontaneous proposal in Kathmandu, the bride-to-be struggles with balancing the academic demands of an Oxford law student in between lessons on how to be a proper Catholic and fittings with the Queen of England's corset maker. Back in Burgundy, Laura's anxiety grows as wedding plans fall apart. As guests arrive, the rain clouds move in, family wine tastings turn into tournaments of survival of the fittest, and a bombshell from the priest leaves the couple looking for divine intervention. Laura believes she and Franck belong together, but how will they survive this tumultuous journey to the altar?




Oxford Wild


Book Description

Cedar Wild came to Oxford University to learn, but it turns out it's her aristocratic young advisor who needs the lesson. Enjoy this heart-warming, culture clash romantic comedy by Laura Bradbury, the bestselling author of the Grape Series.




Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed


Book Description

During the most terrible years of World War II, when inhumanity and political insanity held most of the world in their grip and the Nazi domination of Europe seemed irrevocable and unchallenged, a miraculous event took place in a small Protestant town in southern France called Le Chambon. There, quietly, peacefully, and in full view of the Vichy government and a nearby division of the Nazi SS, Le Chambon's villagers and their clergy organized to save thousands of Jewish children and adults from certain death.




My Grape Paris


Book Description

My Grape Paris takes fans of Laura Bradbury's Grape Series to the captivating world of Paris, where Laura has managed to organize an exchange year at the Sorbonne. Franck accompanies her, delighted to return to his native France. Over afternoons napping in an ancient Roman amphitheater and nights gallivanting around the Louvre, Laura dreams of becoming a sophisticated Parisian woman. However, Laura soon discovers that living in Paris is much more complicated than the fantasy. Besides inappropriate relatives and spiteful teachers, there are also questions that become impossible to ignore. Will Franck stay in Paris after Laura's stint at the Sorbonne is up? Is their Parisian year the final hurrah for their romance? Find out in My Grape Paris, as Laura confronts love and heartbreak in the city of lights. Praise for Laura Bradbury's Grape Series: "Bradbury's Grape Series feels like a series of honest and funny letters sent from a friend about her fascinating (and sometimes baffling) life in France. A beautiful read." -JANICE MACLEOD, New York Times bestselling author of Paris Letters and A Paris Year "Bradbury's Grape Series takes the reader on a romantic adventure into the heart, soul, and people of la belle France. Filled with delicious food, love, and laughter, Bradbury's writing proves that you have to dare to follow your heart wherever it leads you...and that sometimes we have to step outside our comfort zone to truly live." -SAMANTHA VÉRANT, author of How to Make a French Family and Seven Letters from Paris