USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan returns with this heartwarming novel about the power of friendship, love and what happens when an ending is just the beginning…
To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Grace has planned the surprise of a lifetime for her husband–a romantic getaway to Paris. But she never expected he’d have a surprise of his own: he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock but refusing to be broken, a devastated Grace makes the bold decision to go to Paris alone.
Audrey, a young woman from London, has left behind a heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no money and no knowledge of the French language, suddenly a summer spent wandering the cobbled streets alone seems much more likely…until she meets Grace, and everything changes.
Grace can’t believe how daring Audrey is. Audrey can’t believe how cautious newly single Grace is. Living in neighboring apartments above the bookshop, this unlikely pair offer each other just what they’ve both been missing. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding this unbreakable friendship might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them…
Review:
Absolutely loved!
Once I picked up One Summer in Paris, it was next to impossible to put it back down. I was immediately drawn into Grace, Audrey, and Mimi’s stories, and felt as if I was experiencing every second of their summer in Paris with them, even as I never left PA–our summer vacation. (Not Paris, it’s true. But it was still a nice break.)
The plot depended on some pretty big coincidences here and there–Grace and Audrey’s shared backgrounds, Grace’s profession being exactly what Audrey needs to survive living in Paris, the mystery of Toni–but overall the story is so charming it’s hard to really care much. The one aspect I’m still not 100% sure I’m okay with–the decision Grace makes in the end–I do (grudgingly) admit that it feels like an okayish decision overall for the two people involved. (I still think what she ends up realizing about the other possible choice felt awfully convenient, though…it seemed to come from out of left field, honestly)
As much as I don’t like the “women’s fiction” label, it’s stories like this that remind me why I will pick them up when authors I enjoy write them.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.