Review: KISSED IN PARIS by Juliette Sobanet
Kissed in Paris by Juliette Sobanet Genre: Chick-Lit Publisher: Indie Pub. Date: Feb. 4, 2012 Length: 268pgs Kindle Writing: 1st Person POV “You are in Paris, the City of Love. You must not be so controlled. Here, have another glass. I promise you, it will not hurt.” When 29-year-old event planner Chloe [...]
Kissed in Paris
by Juliette Sobanet
Genre: Chick-Lit
Publisher: Indie
Pub. Date: Feb. 4, 2012
Length: 268pgs Kindle
Writing: 1st Person POV
“You are in Paris, the City of Love. You must not be so controlled. Here, have another glass. I promise you, it will not hurt.”
When 29-year-old event planner Chloe Turner wakes up penniless and without a passport in the Plaza Athénée Hotel in Paris, she only has a few fleeting memories of Claude, the suave French man who convinced her to have that extra glass of wine before taking all of her possessions and slipping out the door. As the overly organized, go-to gal for her three drama queen younger sisters, her anxiety-ridden father, and her needy clients, Chloe is normally prepared for every disaster that comes her way. But with her wedding to her straight-laced, lawyer fiancé back in DC only days away and a French con-man on the loose with her engagement ring, this is one catastrophe she never could have planned for.
As Chloe tries to figure out a way home, she runs into an even bigger problem—the police are after her due to suspicious activity now tied to her bank account. Chloe’s only hope at retrieving her passport and clearing her name lies in the hands of a rugged, undercover agent named Julien who has a few secrets of his own. As Chloe follows this mysterious, and—although she doesn’t want to admit it—sexy French man on a wild chase through the sun-kissed countryside of France, she discovers a magical world she never knew existed and has to decide if the perfectly ordered life she’s built for herself back home is really what she wants after all.
This was a complete impulse buy for me based off of the blurb alone.
I should also point out immediately that this book falls in neither a genre I like, nor a writing style I enjoy (I grabbed it before I was aware of either), yet the author was able to create a story that kept me interested enough to finish out the book.
This is the story of Chloe, an American woman sent to Paris for her job, who while there, ends up getting robbed. To make matters worse, she’s supposed to be getting married within a week’s time, but due to circumstances surrounding the robbery, she can’t tell her fiance the whole story.
In walks Julien. A handsome Frenchman who insists he can help Chloe recover her passport and engagement ring without the help of the police. From there the adventure begins.
The author takes the protagonists on a extensive trip throughout France (which clearly she knows first-hand or has done her research on), always chasing the allusive Frenchman that has deceived Chloe and taken ALL of her belongings – clothes included. As the hero and heroine traipse through the quaint towns and countryside, they start to ‘like’ one another, which makes Chloe inadvertently question her relationship with her fiance, which doesn’t seem to be so solid in the first place.
The looming and approaching wedding is always an external conflict for both the protagonists together and the heroine, personally. With the focus being on the heroine by the use of first-person POV from Chloe’s perspective, I obviously wasn’t gifted a glimpse into what the hero was thinking with all the craziness going on and Chloe’s stiff, rude, and somewhat naive personality.
I was not a fan of the heroine at the beginning of the story, but by the end she seemed to loosen up enough to start taking in the circumstances and evaluating her relationship with her fiance, rather than always be so rudely stubborn.
The plot was reminiscent of at least one movie I’ve seen, but can’t seem to remember the name of. And the ending was … odd?
However, with all that being said, the author makes my personal qualms take a side seat throughout the book. Clearly she kept my interest, with great pace and enough intrigue to keep me flipping the pages and actually finish it.
Despite, however, some of my own personal issues, I have to say that the author must have done a good job to hold and keep my interest in a genre and writing style that does not appeal to me. And, surprising even to myself, I think I would pick up and read the stand-alone book prior to this one: Sleeping with Paris.
This was a cute and romantic read with very little heat. A lot of sexual tension is present, but no sex.
Recommend: If you’re a chick-lit fan, enjoy books written from a first-person POV of the heroine, want to ‘see’ more of the French countryside, enjoy chasing an allusive bad-guy while in the presence of a laid-back, sexy Frenchman with his own secrets, and aren’t looking to be scorched with sexual heat, then this may be the book for you!
Tanya
Nice review and perhaps I will read it some day, as I do like a book without sex every now and then. It does remind me of a movie.
Thanks for this review. I downloaded this book when it was free and it is on my to-read list. I thought it might be a cute romance. I plan to read it soon, especially now that I know a little more about it.