Opening Line:  “I’m getting married.”

Overall:  The title of this book made me buy it!  I love Paris / France and everything about them. (But, unfortunately for me, the story is only in Paris for part of the time.)  The book is about a young woman named Chelsea Martin.  She was devastated when her mother died of cancer several years ago, so she went to work as a fundraiser at the American Cancer Coalition.  Now she finds out that her father is going to remarry, and she is furious that her father has moved-on.  When she finds out that her sister is happy for her Dad, Chelsea realizes that she has been holding on to the grief of losing her mother, is very unhappy in her life and needs to find a way to move on too.  She realizes that the last remembers being happy and in love was seven years ago.  Right after finishing college, she took an amazing trip around Europe, right before her mother died.  So, she decides to go back on that same trip to revisit her old loves in Ireland, France and Italy.  She is hoping to find happiness, love, and her old self again. When she asks her boss for the time off, her smart and handsome competitor at work, Jason Knightly, is given her big account to take-over.  She is very upset about this but decides to go on her vacation anyway, but during her trip, she is also still trying to contribute to this important work project that has been given to her male rival. Of course, her vacation does not go as she imagined it would.  Traveling back to these three countries she wants to re-connect with her old loves, try to open up her heart again and remember what it’s like to be happy and in love.  But, on her journey, she discovers that the world has changed and she slowly realizes that she is not the same woman she was back then either. This book is a travel story, a love story, a story about grief, a story about self-reflection, and a story about personal growth.  But, it is not a depressing book at all.  The writing is charming and funny.  The story has both humor and heart.

Ovations: The travel elements of this book are great!  There are beautiful descriptions of each country she is visiting and you really feel like you are back there with her.  I loved reading every atmospheric detail about her trips traveling back to see Ireland, France, and then Italy.  (I really felt like I was up on the Eiffel Tower with her!) I have never traveled to any of those places, and won’t ever be able to see them, so it is lovely to see them through her eyes. I love how Chelsea is a strong woman and is successful at her job, but she realizes she is not happy and has lost herself.  I appreciate that this is not just a basic rom-com.  Chelsea’s story also has many complex elements to it.  She is dealing with family issues, grief issues, identity issues, work place issues, revisiting with her past, letting go, looking for love, and finding herself.  But, despite all the deep stuff, it is not depressing at all.  There is a lot of humor throughout the book, and there are many very funny scenes that had me smiling and laughing.  The plot moves quickly and keeps you interested the whole way through.

Oh Well:  I knew it was going to be an enemies-to-lovers story immediately because of how the two main characters were described.  So, that sort of ruined that whole part of the plot for me because I knew right away who she would end up with… which is sort of a big bummer because a huge part of the plot is her going back to see her old flames to see if any love is still there between them.    Also, the romance between Chelsea and Jason was written in an unrealistic way.  Chelsea’s behavior towards him did not seem believable sometimes, considering the situations happening in the story.  Yes, I understand that she did not want to fall in love with work rival, but her back and forth feelings for him seemed quite improbable.  Lastly, there were a few far-fetched situations in the book, that did not seem realistic.   

Opinion:  I loved the traveling-to-find-yourself-again plot of this book.  I loved getting to travel vicariously to the three lovely countries.  I enjoyed her quest to go back to find her old flames to see if the sparks were still there.  I loved all the fun, witty dialogue and the humor.   However, the romance storyline between the two main characters was written much to unrealistically.  The travel parts of this story were written so well and were just wonderful visits to those countries.   I just think the romance parts of the book with Chelsea and Jason could have been so much better than they were.  Rating 7 out of 10