Kate Cleggs, senior reporter for the small-town British newspaper Slackmucklethwaite Mercury (often referred to by locals as the "Mockery"), dreams of making it big -- specifically going to the ultra-chic Côte d'Azur to hobnob with the rich and the famous. In the meantime, she passes time by writing a salacious novel about a gigolo, while in between trying to do some honest but forbidden bits of reporting.
The penniless son of the new owner of the Mockery, Nat Hardstone soon sweeps the provincial Kate off her feet and persuades her to spring for plane fare for both of them to the Cannes film festival, where he promptly ditches her. But thanks to the kindness of both English and French people, Kate gets back on her feet, makes new friends, loses her heart yet again and finds that things are not that much different in the South of France. Soon, unwittingly involved in an international intrigue, naïve Kate is involved in the adventure of a lifetime.
With wit and humor, author Wendy Holden captures the political shenanigans, intrigues and atmosphere in a small English town with as much ease as the glittering but hollow lifestyle of the rich and the famous on the beautiful and scenic Côte d'Azur. Characters like Kate and others are well-defined while not entirely exemplary, and this in turn renders them realistic. Kate, her spunky grandmother and other characters give the readers plenty of fun with escapade after funny escapade. Azur Like It, Holden’s reputation as an author who delivers well-written prose with humor and panache is cemented, despite some weakness of the plot.