★Nicholas Barreau: The 1st International Romance Bestseller. More than 3,000,000 copies of his books sold worldwide.
★English sample available.

The author' s works include: A Thousand Lights over the Seine, The love letters from Montmatre, The recipe for love, The ingredients of love, The time of cherries, Paris is always a good idea, The cafe of little miracles, You ' ll find me at the end of the world, The woman of my life, An evening in Paris

When Joséphine Beauregard learns one rainy November day that she has inherited a houseboat on the Seine from her elderly Uncle Albert, it feels like serendipity. The young translator, who lives in a tiny attic apartment on Canal St. Martin, has just lost her job at a small Parisian publishing house; as a member of an upper middle class family and with two extremely successful, older sisters, she feels like Cinderella. And of course no one can ever find out about her secret relationship with a married ministry official.

In order to improve her financial situation, Joséphine decides with a heavy heart to sell the old houseboat – she still remembers the unforgettable river trip down the Seine all the way to the Loire that she took as a child with her uncle. Albert, who spent his final years in a retirement home in Burgundy, suffering from dementia, had been an outsider like herself and the only person who had unwaveringly believed in Joséphine.

But on the boat, the young woman encounters not only a locked cabinet to which there seems to be no key, but also a gruff and insolently goodlooking man in a Barbour jacket and rubber boots who claims to have a long-term lease on the boat. And of course, Maxime Laforêt doesn't see why in the world he should be willing to move out …

In his new novel, Nicolas Barreau takes us to an old houseboat in the midst of the City of Love and Lights, dropping us into an enchanting comedy full of turbulent entanglements, secrets of all shapes and sizes, bitter tears, and magical moments, all of which conclude in a very special Christmas.

"November is known as a gloomy month in which nothing much happens. Nothing pleasant, at least. It rains all the time, and troublesome winds sweep around the buildings and across the boulevards and bridges, resulting in flapping umbrellas, damp feet and frequent colds. People sit in the metro with tired faces, and the elderly pass away more often in November than in other months – Paris is just the same as everywhere else where this is concerned. All you can do is try to hang on until December draws close - and with it, the anticipation of Christmas, that wonderful festival of love and lights that transforms the entire city of Paris into a fairy tale of cotton candy and silver glitter, bringing sparkle to more eyes than those of children.

For me, Christmas has held less beauty and hope over the past few years. I honestly hate Christmas at this point, and there is good reason for that. However, this November something happened that – literally – set my life in a whole new direction. I received two letters. One contained bad news, the other sad. And yet, in the strange twists and turns that life sometimes takes, these two letters ultimately and unexpectedly set the stage for me to have the best Christmas ever ..."

Nicolas Barreau has won himself a million fans all over the world with his enchanting novels, above all with the »Best Seller of the Year "The Ingredients of Love", which was translated into 34 languages. His books have been sold over 3,000,000 copies worldwide.