Release Date: November 15, 2025
About The Book:
Novelist Nora Bennett is living her fifties with more doubts than dreams. Once content with her quiet life, she’s recently found herself battling writer’s block, a growing restlessness–and resistance to a holiday season she’s long stopped celebrating. So, when her daughter Chloe, an artist living in Paris, asks her to dog-sit an intimidating Doberman named Atticus, Nora surprises them both by saying yes.
Delicious meals, long walks through the storied streets of Montmartre, and a chance to rediscover a spark of joy in the glittering holiday lights of Paris: Six weeks in the City of Light might be just the escape Nora needs.
Except Paris has other plans. Nora agrees to ghostwrite a memoir for 93-year-old Marie-Louise, who reveals haunting memories of surviving the Occupation as a child of the Resistance. A charming younger tango partner with secrets of his own introduces Nora to the French art of pleasure. All the while, the city’s irresistible festive spirit envelops her gently.
Chloe invites Nora to spend Christmas at her husband Olivier’s centuries-old ancestral farm in Provence. There, Nora is embraced by the warmth of family and treasured traditions. She’s also unexpectedly drawn to Pierre, her son-in-law’s moody and magnetic father. Their connection is undeniable, even as he seems intent on keeping his distance.
But when Atticus suddenly goes missing, Pierre joins Nora in searching for him. Soon a winding road trip returning to Paris softens their defenses … and reveals complicated truths behind their guarded hearts.
Yet as Nora’s time in France begins to wind down, she must decide: Return to the comfort of the life she knew – or leap into a bold new chapter she never imagined beyond the pages of her novels.
About The Author:
Patricia Sands lives two hours north of Toronto, but her heart’s other home is the South of France. An avid traveler, she spends part of each year on the Cote d’Azur and in the countryside of Provence. Her award-winning 2010 debut novel, The Bridge Club, is a book club favorite. The Promise of Provence, which launched her three-part Love in Provence series was a finalist for a 2013 USA Best Book Award and a 2014 National Indie Excellence Award, an Amazon Hot New Release in April 2013, and a 2015 nominee for a #RBRT Golden Rose award in the category of romance.
Drawing Lessons, Sands’ fifth novel, also set in the south of France, was released by Lake Union Publishing in 2017 and was a Finalist in the Somerset Literary Book Award 2019. The Villa des Violettes 4-book miniseries released in 2019/23
Her most recent novel, The Secrets We Hide, published August, 2022 and received the 2023 Book Excellence Award for Women’s Fiction; Winner – Women’s Literary Fiction -International Impact Book Awards, 20242; Finalist – Women’s Fiction – American Fiction Awards, 2024.
In March, 2023, Lost At Sea, Book 8 in the nine-book Sail Away series was published. On January 1, 2025, A New Leash on Life, Book 9, in the Dragonfly Cove Dog Park series was released. In November, 2025, her 13th novel, The French Effect, will be published.
A lifelong photographer, follow her on Instagram @psands.stories .
Find out more at Patricia’s Facebook Author Page, Amazon Author Page or her website https://patriciasandsauthor.com/ where there are links to her books, social media, and monthly newsletter that has special giveaways and sneak peeks. She would love to hear from you!
Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psands.stories
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPatriciaSands
Bloggers On Tour:
Nov. 20th- Lindas Book Obsession https://www.facebook.com/lindasbookobsession/
Nov. 20th- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx
Nov. 24th- Love My Books 2020 https://instagram.com/lovemybooks2020
Nov. 26th- Books Love And Understanding https://instagram.com/booksloveandunderstanding
Nov. 26th- Reading Is My Remedy https://instagram.com/reading_is_my_remedy
Nov. 27th- Christina Luvs 2 Read https://instagram.com/christinaluvs2read
Dec. 3rd- Tiffany Vt4 https://instagram.com/tiffanyvt4
Dec. 4th- Reading Late Into The Night https://instagram.com/reading.late.into.the.night
Dec. 10th– Novels and Latte Book Club –https://www.facebook.com/groups/357651988042629
Dec. 11th- Nature Books and Coffee https://instagram.com/nature.books.and.coffee
Dec. 12th – Subakka Bookstuff https://instagram.com/subakka.bookstuff
Dec. 13th-Miss W Book Reviews https://instagram.com/misswbookreviews
Dec. 15th- Sarahs Bookish Reviews https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookish.reviews
Dec. 17th- Rozier Reads and Wine https://instagram.com/rozierreadsandwine
Dec. 18th- CMT Loves Wine and Books https://instagram.com/cmtloveswineandbooks
Dec. 19th- Coffee Break Book Reviews https://instagram.com/coffee.break.book.reviews
Dec. 19th- One More Exclamation https://instagram.com/onemoreexclamation
Suzy Approved Book Tours 