Novel best in a French resort (7)
I believe the answer is:
antibes
'french resort' is the definition.
(city on the French Riviera)
'novel best in a' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new or novel order).
'best'+'in'+'a'='bestina'
'bestina' with letters rearranged gives 'ANTIBES'.
(Other definitions for antibes that I've seen before include "French community" , "French Mediterranean resort" , "French Riviera resort" , "French port" .)