For my upcoming release, Hearts and Goals, (oh look, it’s out tomorrow!) I had a lot of fun with the Montreal setting, a city I visited a number of years ago with my husband. As Aussies, we loved the historic downtown and French vibe, and especially the botanic gardens (my husband is a horticulturalist, so plants are his thing).
Le Jardin botanique de Montréal proved to be one of my highlights of our entire trip, which is high praise considering the other exciting things we got to do, such as this long-time Anne fan seeing Prince Edward Island. Montreal’s botanic gardens include an arboretum and a series of themed gardens, including Native American, medicine, and Chinese gardens, and the beautiful, peace-filled Jardin japonais, my favorite Japanese garden I’ve seen, and which features on the cover of Hearts and Goals.
I used this as part of the setting for Hearts and Goals with a (fictional) employee of the gardens, a young widow called Maggie Joly, whose role involves both garden and social media work that ultimately leads her to an unnerving encounter with Montreal’s new hockey goalie, southerner Beau Nash.
Because Maggie is from Quebec this meant I had to use a little bit of French, but I soon discovered Quebecois French isn’t exactly the same as the French one might learn in school. Canadian French tends to be a little more Anglicised, incorporating English words and phrasing, as well as words derived from First Nations languages. But as it’s derived from 17th century French, it also means some pronunciation and vocabulary can sound archaic – which all gets rather confusing for an Aussie author! Thank goodness for helpful reader friends in Quebec who were able to help out this hapless author and steer the language in the right direction. (And hey, if it’s not what you might expect, let’s put it down to regional differences, okay?)
But the really fun part of this was having my hero, Beau, try to learn the language, especially as he tries to impress Maggie, which led to some hilarious exchanges along the way. Of course, the hero trying to speak the language of love leads to some rather romantic encounters too.
Sneak peek time:
“I really like you,” he murmured close to her ear, where a tendril of her hair had escaped. “Ma belle Maggie.”
“Je t’aime bien aussi, mon bel Beau,” she murmured, her eyes dark as she gazed up at him.
Okay, so he was still learning this French stuff, but that sounded awfully close to the I love yous he’d heard sung in many a café. “What did you just say?” he whispered, his feet stumbling to a pause.
Maggie’s eyes still held a mischievous twinkle. “You want to know the difference between je t’aime bien and je t’aime?”
“Oui.”
“Some may disagree, but I’ve always understood je t’aime bien to mean I like you well enough.”
“Well enough?” Beau’s chest panged.
“Whereas je t’aime,” she said, inching closer, her heels meaning her face was in perfect kissing range of his, “means something more.”
Whew! Excuse me while I go get a fan.
Beau is in for some fun with this one, and I hope you enjoy this single-mom Cinderella-type story too.
Here’s a little more about Hearts and Goals:
He’s a goalie with a big heart, while she’s afraid to trust again. Can he learn the language of love to win her heart?
After a series of tragedies, Maggie Joly’s dreams have been confined to her work at Montreal’s botanic gardens and caring for her little boy. Besides, wishing for more would simply be selfish, especially when she’s already loved well. But when a surprising workplace encounter sees her in the arms of a handsome sweet-talking stranger, she’s soon forced to reassess whether romance might still be in her future after all.
Working in this fairytale-like city is a dream come true for Beau Nash, Montreal’s new goalie. And while he’s excited to explore all his new city offers, he hadn’t counted on meeting a striking brunette with heart-melting eyes, or so quickly bonding with her and her son, even thought Maggie’s faith is a little tenuous, and shadows from the past mean she might never really be ready to love again.
An incident at the Gardens forces Beau to choose between his dream job and the woman of his dreams, while an accident on the ice invites Maggie’s deepest fears. Perhaps a Pumpkin Ball might help convince them to believe in happily-ever-afters once again.
Hearts and Goals is the fourth book in the Original Six, a sweet and swoony, slightly sporty, Christian contemporary romance series.
Preorder your copy today: Amazon, Apple, Kobo, GooglePlay, Nook
Let’s chat! Have you been to Montreal? Do you speak another language? Have you ever moved countries and had to learn a new language? Is there a language you’d like to learn? Do you enjoy foreign films? Viens. discutons-en!
Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of romance, Carolyn loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her Regency and contemporary novels are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Koorong, etc
I have not been to Montreal.
I took French at school, but most of it’s gone now.
I’d love to be fluent in another language.
Hi Carolyn! This German American learned English at age 5, when my parents immigrated to the USA 65 years ago. I am fluent in both German and English. Taught German for 30 plus years at all grade levels – Grade 1 thru College. Several of my students live in Europe. I was born in Berlin, which has its own German dialect different from Southern German dialects. While I have visited Canada – Winnipeg, Windsor, Toronto, and Niagara Falls I have never been to Montreal, but since Michigan borders Canada – pre pandemic we often had Canadian tourists visit the Great Lakes. Therefore I am familiar with Canadian French. Even though I am only bilingual, I enjoy studying languages and dialects. Best wishes on your new release. Enjoy your week.
I have only visited Toronto, Niagara Falls, and Windsor in Canada but I would love to go to Montreal someday.
I think it’s cute that he’s learning her language in order to impress her. :) I speak some French, and I remember some of my teachers telling us about the differences we could find with the French from other French-speaking countries. It’s really fascinating, how it all works.
I haven’t been to montreal.no I don’t speak another language.no I never have been to another country the only language I would like to learn is swedish cause that’s where some of my desendents we’re from.
Hi, I have. never been to Montreal. I only know how to speak English and Spanish. Your book sounds like a great read and I love the book cover. Have a great rest of the day and a great rest of the week.
haven’t been, but would be fun
Welcome. This is a fun post. I bet you get to see some wonderful things that your husband creates. So cool. My dad was a landscaper for many years and we saw some amazing things he and his crew did. Then he became involved with concrete and dams and such. It was so fun to see what he and his crew did to repair dams and bridges etc. I have to answer no to all the answers, except. I learned Spanish in middle school and high school. I do enjoy some foreign films. I have enjoyed the tv series Father Brown Mysteries. Now there is a sequel with a nun.
I have to say no to all your questions. I have been as far as Toronto in Canada. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
HI Mary. Oh, if only we practiced those things we were taught long ago (I’m sure I’d be far better on the piano). I learned some German and a tiny bit of French, but I’d love to know more. But one is never too old, so…
Thanks so much, Renate! I think you should make a visit to Montreal as part of your cultural diversification, and enjoy trying out your language skills. I think there’s a lot to enjoy, even without the fun / challenge of a different language!
Ooh, Jessica, you should! And see Quebec City as well (honestly, it was like visiting a fairytale when we visited the old city). It’s definitely worth your while! In the meantime, if you want to catch a glimpse, I happen to know of a good book you could read… ;)
What can I say, except Beau IS cute – in every way! ;) I agree – it’s so interesting how languages evolve and take on cultural differences. I even find there’s a number of differences between Australian and US English!
I think a visit to Sweden should be on your agenda- because there’s no better place to learn a language than being totally immersed in it, like Beau, the hero in Hearts and Goals, is when he’s in Montreal. I hope you get the chance to travel there one day!
Thanks so much, Alicia! I’m so glad you like the cover (my daughter designed it) and I can assure you the inside is even better, so I hope you’ll enjoy reading it one day soon. Happy reading!
So totally fun! (I feel like organising a trip right now!). It’s super fun in this Original Six series to give little glimpses of each of the cities where the books are set, and I do hope it encourages people to visit these places. And in the meantime, readers appetites can be whetted through reading about places like Montreal in books like Hearts and Goals. I hope you’ll check it out!
Thanks so much, Lori. Oh, I’ve been privileged to see some amazing gardens my husband has designed or helped manage. (He even did some work at Lyme Park, which is the setting of the 1995 Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice’s Pemberley!) I think it’s fun to see how other countries are portrayed, and the differences in how other people portray them, and how they portray themselves. Fascinating!
Thank YOU so much for commenting! I wish we could’ve spent longer in Toronto, but we were travelling to Niagara Falls, so my time there was mostly about going up the CN tower. It’s so tall (and I don’t like heights) but what a view! Have a great week.
No to everything but a new language as I would like to know Hebrew. Thank you for sharing. Blessings
probably no to all questions. I think if I did learn something it would be sign language. although I can ask can you speak French (in French) German (in German) and always thought it was a stupid thing to learn as I need to say can you speak english. I do know a few phrases in german like What is your name, How are you and can answer, I also know this is a biro and I don’t know.
But thats about it.
Ooh, now wouldn’t learning that (or Greek) be a fantastic way to glean more from the Bible? Thanks so much for commenting!
I don’t think anything beats learning a language than being fully immersed in the culture and language so you’re FORCED to learn it. We take things for granted in a country where we expect everyone to know the subtleties of our language, and it goes to show how challenging it must be for someone to be dumped in the deep end and forced to learn. I do think knowing sign language an excellent and important skill to have!
I’ve been to Montreal & my Native reserve is about an hour away from it. I love leaning new languages & know a few different ones.
I have been to Montreal. I can speak both English & French. It would be neat to learn a new language & my wife has been teaching be a few things in different ones but I just know the basics.
Ooh, which languages do you know? I’m so impresses by people who know multiple languages. And a Native reserve? This Aussie wants to know more, please!
I think given the right context it could be a lot of fun learning a new language. Thrown in the deep end with a deadline could be problematic, but people who are patient and kind in helping others understand could make the challenge of learning a new language quite delightful!
Moved from different country at 19.
English is my second language 😊