Sometimes you take the shot, and sometimes the shot takes you.As the manager of Montreal’s most infamous dive bar, Monroe—and it’s just Monroe, thank you very much—is used to serving up her signature pearls of wisdom alongside an array of shots, pints, and pitchers. In fact, she thrives on it. Taverne Toulouse is a mighty ship, and she its fearless captain, trusted by patrons and bar staff alike … patrons and bar staff alike to steer them through choppy waters.
If only she’d been given a little warning before a full-on tsunami swept in next door.
Julien Valois’ wining and dining empire is making waves. The next item on his agenda is opening a trendy lounge right next to Monroe’s beloved Taverne Toulouse—one that’s meant to run the dive bar out of business so he can buy up that property too.
His plans did not include falling for a five-foot-nothing brunette with an impressive vocabulary and an even more impressive ability to manhandle drunk frat boys twice her size.
They’re rivals in every sense of the word, but when Monroe and Julien are in a room together, the battle lines fade away. Their defences lower, their hearts get louder than their heads, and the burn between them goes down like just the right shot—intense, intoxicating, and able to sweep their priorities away with a single taste.
Until reality decides to slap up a big ‘For Sale’ sign and force them remember those priorities all too clearly.
The Bar Next Door is part of the Barflies series, a set of standalone romantic comedies that chronicle the lives and loves of the staff at a Montreal dive bar.
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The Bar Next Door (Barflies Book 1)
By Katia Rose
5 out of 5 stars
I loved reading the story The Bar Next Door (Barflies Book 1) by Katia Rose. It is a romantic comedy that pulled me in, and I didn’t want to put it down until the final page. I loved reading about the characters of Monroe and Julien Valois. Monroe loves her job as a manager at a dive bar. She loves the customers and is trusted by her staff. She is hard-working, strong, and independent. Then a business sets to open next door that may bring an end to the bar and job she loves so much. Julien is ready to start his new business. He also believes that he can use the space next door better for his business, rather then the bar it is now. When Monroe and Julien meet there is a chemistry between them. They both don’t understand the pull that they have for one another. What will happen to the dive bar that Monroe is trying to save? The sparks fly in the room when Monroe and Julien are together. What does the future hold for them? Read this book to find out. This story had me smiling, laughing, and wondering what was going to happen next with Monroe and Julien. I grew to care about what happened to them and wanted them to find happiness. I also enjoyed the additional characters that are introduced and interact with the main characters. One of the characters is Monroe’s bestie and a favorite of mine to read about. Don’t miss out on a story that will hook you in from the beginning. The author does an amazing job writing a story that flows smoothly and in moments touches your heart. The romance will have the temperature in the room rising. Highly recommended reading.
Monroe is the manager of Tavern Toulouse in Montreal. Julien Valois is planning to open a lounge right next door and also buy the tavern to add additional space. The two are enemies but the attraction between them is undeniable. How will things turn out in the end? Will Monroe end up out of the tavern? Will Julien end up empty handed? An excellent read!
I received a copy of this book and am leaving a review.
Ohh ohh ohh!!! A spin off from the Sherbrooke Station Series by Katia Rose. I am so excited…SQUEELLLLL!!!!! This series has our favorite Sherbrooke Station couple featured in it. That’s right folks, Roxanne and Cole. Love, love, loved their story. Now we get the story of her best friend Monroe. Yep all you Sherbrooke Station fans sit down and make room for the Barflies Series.
Monroe is manager of the Montreal’s most infamous dive bar, Taverne Toulouse. Taverne Toulouse is her kingdom and her kingdom is suffering. The owner of said kingdom is Monsieur Fournier. And he is not a nice person. He won’t make any improvements or use any of Monroe’s ideas to make business better. So she is in the red, laying off people and cutting her pay to pay the ones she has left. But Monroe is determined to make this bar work.
Julien is the proud owner of the space next to the dive bar. He plans to renovate it to a fancy wine bar. Maybe he will even buy the dive bar next door. He bet he could make an offer the owner can’t refuse. But first he must get the doors open to his new venture.
On a recon mission for Monsieur Fournier, Monroe bumps into the new owner. Man she was not prepared for the hot french man who caught her peeking in the window. While Monroe fights to save her bar, she winds up biting off more than she can chew and winds up fighting for more than just her bar.
As with all of Katia’s novels, this love story is one is a fight worth watching. Monroe is such a strong willed person, who takes care of everyone. But when will she decide to take care of her?
Julien is a sweet man, but he is a workaholic. He was hurt by someone and was described as cold. I personally did not see this about him. I actually found his character sweet and caring. He was a business man who dived into his work to hide his loneliness.
When Julien and Monroe get together, the chemistry between them is amazing and strong. I really loved their story of love and the challenges they had to face to get to their own happy ending.
This book has all those romance factors, stubbornness, sadness, happiness and love. The book is a steady fight to save Taverne Talouse and open up Monroe’s heart to love. The characters are strong and independent, yet snarky and fun. The story is sure to grab you by the heart and pull those strings tight. Guarantee no one will finish this book with a dry eye. So pick up your copy today.
There is nothing I love more than discovering a new to me author. Katia Rose’s book “The Bar Next Door” Book 1 of her Barflies Series was a fantastic read by this incredible Indie Author.
I absolutely loved everything about it especially all the references to Montreal and the inserts of Québécois French. As a Canadian living abroad, these references warmed my heart .
Monroe is a strong, strong woman with a big, big loving heart. Her love of English literature and her dedication to both her job as bar manager and to her friends/employees make her a very special heroine.
Julien is a walking, talking, bearded, sexy man and his make you melt French accent will have you swooning. Add in his dedication to his businesses and to his dog Madame Bovary and mon dieu, hello hot new book boyfriend!
Watching them get together and find their special happily ever after, makes this book a fantastic Five Star read. TBR and enjoy.
The Bar Next Door is the first book in the Barflies series by Katia Rose. This funny Rom-Com with the slow burn will have you wanting more from this writer. Monroe is the manager of the Taverne Toulouse and is trying everything she can to keep this dive bar afloat. But what Monroe didn’t expect were Julien and his bar next door trying to run her out of business. Will they let their chemistry come between their businesses?
All these characters were easily likable and relatable. I liked that Monroe is just fearless and so determined and Julien’s charm is adorable. I can see myself wanting to make this bar my hangout every night. I can’t wait to read the next book hopefully its DeeDee and Zach’s.
***Actual Rating: 5/5 Beautiful Stars***
What a beautifully written book! Katia Rose has quickly become one of my to-go contemporary fiction authors all thanks to this amazing book. I adored the French references/phrases in the story so much since it took place in a cute Montreal dive bar. What truly impressed me was the incredibly creative chapter titles. Each chapter started with a word that has a literary meaning AND wine-related definition. I found myself not only easily drawn to the plot itself and the characters’ subtle romantic development, but at the same time, more intrigued by these interesting facts about wine and anything similar. Besides, the chemistry between the main characters, Monroe and Julien, is so natural that I envy their sparks so much! All in all, this book is really well-written and full of action-packed, well-thought-out plot designs, and wonderful characters that’ll make you fall in love with everything the moment you walk into Taverne Toulouse…literally! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
***Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and the author for providing me an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.***
The Bar Next Door is a terrific first book in Katia Rose’s Barflies series. Monroe is the manager of Taverne Toulouse, a dive bar in Montreal. Not in the greatest area, Taverne Toulouse has seen a descent in customers. Things go from bad to worse when Monroe discovers the space next door has been purchased and ultimately will be turned into a wine bar sure to bring customers but not to Taverne Toulouse. In fact, Monroe fears the customers she does have will choose the nice, new trendy bar over the dingy, dark dive bar. Things become more complicated when she meets new the proprietor.
Monroe is a strong female character who lives and breathes Taverne Toulouse and all the employees. She doesn’t want to see the bar closed or sold, which would leave all of her employees jobless. As the time frame shortens between now and when the new bar will open, Monroe devises several plans to keep the bar open and out of the hands of the competition. Falling for the competition was never part of the plan.
Julien Valois is a successful young entrepreneur. He owns several restaurants and bars in the area and plans to add his trendy wine lounge to his list of successes. Julien’s plan involves outright buying out the dive bar next door or biding his time and running the place out of business. Plans change when the manager of the dive bar wiggles her way into his heart. As he thinks over the importance of Taverne Toulouse to Monroe, an opportunity arises and his jumping for it may just change the courses of his and Monroe’s lives forever.
The author did such an excellent job with descriptions and emotions in this book. I enjoyed the smooth, descriptive narrative. The Bar Next Door is written with feelings and real emotion. I loved Monroe and Julien’s story. There is a lot of self-discovery for both Monroe and Julien separately and together. They may be competitors at first but they meld into each other as the book progresses. The Bar Next Door is a must read for lovers of contemporary romances.
This is the first book I’ve read by Katia Rose and it certainly will not be the last…Not by a long shot.
I was provided a copy of this book to review.
I ADORED this slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance! This was my first book by this author and def won’t be my last.
Oh, Julien Valois…the sexy, bearded Frenchman with a fondness for wine and business. And Monroe…the incredible, hard-working heroine with a heart of gold. I couldn’t get enough of these two characters! The entire book read like a beautiful poem at times, interlaced with beautiful French (translated, thank goodness!) and clever bits regarding wine and craft beer antidotes before each chapter beginning. I loved every last drop! Do yourself a favor and one-click this romance today – total 5-star read.
I love this story! Simple and heartwarming with a mad dash of humor. Hoping that the whole series will be a bestseller!
The Bar Next Door is Katia Rose at her best – witty, insightful, and fun. Monroe and Julien’s story is heartfelt, romantic, laugh-out-loud funny, and steamy in all the right ways. Just like the wine that Julien loves, this story will linger in your mind long after the last drop.
I absolutely adored The Bar Next Door! Monroe was someone everyone can aspire to be. Her work ethic and love and compassion for people was truly admirable. I also loved Julien and his sexy business owner persona. I can’t wait to read what comes next.
It was my first book by Katia Rose. I enjoyed reading this story. The plot was good and the characters were very likeable. I’m happy to recommend this book.
“This is not a promising start to our date, Bordeaux Boy. Don’t make me change my mind.” I notice how fast my pulse is racing through my veins, and I realize that I don’t want him to make me change my mind. “Never. I’ll see you on Saturday, Monroe.” “See you then.” Mission Cut Ties With Julien Valois: complete failure.
I’M BACCCCKKKKK! Haha. It’s been awhile! I’m back with an ARC REVIEW! And it’s a good one “The Bar Next Dior” has 3 of my favorite things: banter, romance, and wine. Thank you Katia Rose for letting me read this book early! I have loved everything she has written! I love that Monroe stuck to her guns throughout this book. She loved her job and the people she worked with and she wasn’t going let Taverne Toulouse go down without a fight. And then there’s Julien… can someone find me a guy like him? He’s a TOTAL HOTTIE. Not only does this book have my 3 favorite things it also gave me all the feels. There’s some tear jerking parts towards (haha at least for me). This book comes out August 22nd and your definitely going to want to read it!
Katia,my dear, your books just keep getting better! I loved the Sherbrooke Station series,but The Bar Next Door is now one of my favorite! Relatable (and likeable) main characters, delicious chemistry, believable conflict /resolution,and great supporting characters….what more could you need? Excited to continue the Barflies series (hopefully with DeeDee & Zach, and Dylan &?) Grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this advance reader copy!
OK Katia has done it yet again!!!! I loved this story so much! I had been waiting on Monroe’s story and it’s FINALLY here!!!
Even though it didn’t have tooooo much to do with Sherbrooke Station themselves, they still made an appearance. 🙂
I really loved the story of Monroe and Julien and how they met. Things just kept getting thrown in their paths toward each other to make them “see” each other again. Like the unfortunate night of the out of hand college night.
Monroe is struggling to keep the bar open, and Julien is opening his next door. Yes, they are different, but still serving alcohol.
Julien can’t stop thinking of Monroe, and Monroe wasn’t 100% upfront with him about where she works. How long can she keep the charade up?
Monroe is fighting with the owner of the bar, and is trying to do everything she can to keep it afloat. Julien wants to buy it, and redo it to go with his next door. What will happen?
After spending some time together, Julien keeps thinking about his past relationship and how it failed, as he was always more into work than a relationship.
Monroe is now on that same path, so can they make it work? Can they put aside their professional goals for L-O-V-E?
I also loved with Monroe when she makes fun of Julien for when he says HASS LOL!!!!
Seriously Katia, it was amazing to see Monroe’s story FINALLY come alive, it was so great! She was exactly how I imagined from the previous stories that she was in, and how strong willed she is.
I hope Dee Dee has a book coming. I loved her so much in this book!!!!
Some of my fave quotes from the book:
1. “Oh wait, this is you we’re talking about. You’d probably ask a serial killer if he needed a glass of water before he murdered you.” – ROFL!! Dylan sums up Monroe perfectly cause she wants to help everyone.
2. “She didn’t get killed by French dick overload like we thought!” – Roxie cracks me up!!
When you have an author you love, you always think that you have a favorite book. THEN comes their new book. Then THAT book is your favorite. I feel like that with all of Katia’s work that I’ve read. At this point, I’m only going to say I have favorite characters. Monroe was someone who I adored in Your Chorus, so I was so super excited that she got her own book. Monroe is definitely going up on the shelf of favorite characters how!!!
This whole book was just so good and so enticing. It was all I could do to stop myself from staying up until wee hours of the morning reading it. Monroe is a character that so many people can connect with and I definitely felt like I connected with her. Then throw in Julian, the gorgeous Frenchman, it felt like fate was dropped into Monroe’s lap. One of the things I loved most about Julian and Monroe was how they met. Their “meet cute” was so adorable. They were both so taken by each others looks. Kind of like a lust at first sight.
One of my favorite things an author does is when they put a character in their book that has a love of literature. It almost makes you feel like you could be that book character. Monroe and Julian’s love of literature really took me for a loop. I ADORED this!! Heck, Monroe even has a large Charles Dickens poster!! And the description of Monroe touching the spins of Julian’s books… SWOOOOONNNNNNNN. Monroe and Julian were pretty different, but I loved that they had this as one of the things they had in common. Speaking of things in common, their love for their spirits. Julian with his wine and Monroe with her craft beers. They both just have so much passion for their craft, it was pretty inspiring!
This story had so many layers. There was the whole love/hate thing with Monroe and Julian, there was the layer of Monroe trying to save her bar, the lives of these amazing characters, their personal lives and all of the in-between. Between the layers and the emotions, it was just so beautifully written! Katia has this way of taking you on her own special roller coaster with characters, it’s a beautiful and satisfying ride and this book was no exception to that. I could probably go on and on about this book, but I don’t want to give too much away. Katia, thank you for writing this masterpiece, I CANNOT wait for the next!
When you walk into Taverne Toulouse is is immediately evident that it is the dive bar to rival all dive bars, but when you meet the woman running the place you quickly learn that it is much more than that. Monroe maybe pint size, but her attitude is not, she can handle anything or anyone that is thrown her way. And her ability to match the perfect drink to each patron is downright astonishing, she knows her spirits.
But there is a new drink-slinger in town, one that plans on giving her some serious competition, and has high hopes to force her to close her doors!
The Bar Next Door brings readers into the lives of charismatic drink-slinger Monroe and her new sworn enemy Julien Valois. These two try their best to maintain their distaste for one another, but the niggling sparks between them kept finding a way to make an appearance and make things between them nice and awkward. I really enjoyed watching these two go round after round about their expertise behind the bar, and trying to outdo one another when it came to pleasing their customers. There was a battle, and aforementioned sparks, at every turn, which meant a little angst and lots of sexually charged tension on each page. This was a fun first time read, it had bits of emotion to speak to the heart, steamy times to curl the toes, and two wickedly entertaining characters to put on quite the absorbing show! If you are in the mood for a light-hearted and humorous read I suggest you pick this one up, it’s certain to leave you satisfied!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
So, I beta read #2 before reading #1, and dare I say it made me love the series that much more?! This is the perfect introduction to the Taverne Toulouse world. I particularly loved the merging of a feisty independent chica like Monroe with the stubborn, slightly arrogant Frenchman Julien. He’s hot, but a brat. She’s sexy but strong. Perfection! The slow burn was just enough for me and when it finally caught, well, hello, FIYAH!!! If you’re new to Katia Rose, then definitely read this series in order if you can, but you really don’t need to if you can’t. Each book is its own entity filled with great characters, fantastic plots and superb settings. Rose is one to watch!
Enemies to lovers is a weakness of mine. And a slow burn to boot!! The story and the characters are realistic, the attraction is real and sexy, and the passion is as such that you simply can’t ignore it. You will want more!! Reading this book and watching it unravel will leave you breathless! A phenomenal read!
5 stars!
Beautiful story. The characters were wonderful and easy to relate to and I was so drawn into this book. I love a romance centering around enemies becoming lovers, and this book does the trick to fulfill that love. The chemistry between Monroe and Julian is out is this world, their exchanges are fun and the passion is strong. I admire Monroe for being such a strong and caring woman, strong and caring enough to make sure nothing happens to her business or her employees. I wanted to dislike Julian for trying to take away Monroe’s bar but of course ended up falling in love with him, especially with Monroe. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend giving it a read!