Evie Clement has perfected the art of avoiding attention as she works at her family’s bakery and dreams of a life where she can trade dusting flour for designing dresses. Her focus is on honing her sewing skills–she doesn’t need to be fawned over by some teenage boy.
Least of all Beau Bellegarde–the playboy of Paris, the second son of the ultra-wealthy Bellegarde family, the most popular guy in their prestigious high school. Others may swoon over his rakish charm and winning smile, but not Evie.
Unfortunately for Evie, Beau needs her. His conniving step-brother has roped him into an impossible bet: turn the biggest wallflower they know into the winning Bellegarde Bloom at the annual Court of Flowers Ball, or lose his entire fortune.
Evie can’t understand why Beau has taken an interest in her, but she can’t help but be intrigued…
Can love bloom in the most unexpected of places?
- Title: Bellegarde
- Author: Jamie Lilac
- Publisher: HarperTeen
- Publication Date: July 11, 2023
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
- Source: Finished copy gifted from publisher in exchange for an honest review
- Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
- Content Warnings: Bullying, Death of a Parent, Classism
- Rating: ★★★
As someone who loves the color pink, I’ve been eagerly anticipating Bellegarde — I know how weird that sounds, but the Bellegarde announcements are firmly implanted in my brain. I’m not immune to a good aesthetic, especially one that just screams cococore. Just look at the initial announcement, the cover reveal, and this announcement. Add in the fact that it was pitched as She’s All That meets Bridgerton? I just knew I had to read it!
Told in dual POV, and set in 18th century France, Bellegarde follows Evie Clémenet, a baker’s daughter and aspiring fashion designer. Most of Evie’s day is centered around working at the bakery, going to school, and designing dresses; if she ever wants to create her own future, she must stay focused. When Beau Bellegarde shows up at the bakery, seemingly with a mission to court her, Evie’s reluctant to give him the time of day, especially after a childhood encounter. Tough luck for Beau, though, because he’s been roped into a bet with his stepbrother: if he doesn’t turn Evie into the winning Bellegarde Bloom at the Court of Flowers Ball, he’ll lose his entire inheritance.
As a She’s All That inspired work, I felt like Bellegarde did what it set out to do. It’s fun, it’s charming, and Evie is an easy enough character to get behind, and even more so, to root for. It’s also easy to be sympathetic to Beau, especially as we find out more about his backstory and his motivations. I do wish that we had seen a little more character development on both characters’ parts, especially Beau, but I did like it enough. I was particularly charmed by the side characters, including Evie’s younger sister, Violetta, her friend Josephine, and Beau’s cousin, Mia.
One of my biggest pet peeves with historical fiction is when it feels more like a contemporary novel, and Bellegarde was unfortunately one of those novels. It felt a bit like a Magic Tree House book, where the characters were clearly from modern day, but had been dropped into a different timeline and universe. None of the characters felt like they were from the 18th century, nor did I feel like I was reading about France at any point. Most of their thoughts, and dialogue, all felt very modern, and not at all historical.
While I found Bellegarde to be a quick, easy and delightful read, I do think many parts of it were underutilized, such as the introduction of the Gossip Girl-esque newspaper, Paper Hearts, the setting, and some minor subplots and characters. Overall, it was a lighthearted read that didn’t require much thought, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then there you go!
Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop.org
Jamie Lilac earned a B.A. in English Literature and a M.Ed. in English Education. She works in environmental education. As an author, she is interested in writing about romantic cool girls, and spinning stories filled with love, magic, mythology, & secrets. When she isn’t writing, you can find her playing with her two dogs (Banks & Reese), planting flowers, reading fairytales, & watching 90’s movies. Bellegarde is her debut novel.
