Meet me in Paris by Kristin Harmel

 

I was very excited to see a new Kristin Harmel book come out and very surprised to find out it wasn't historical fiction.  Meet me in Paris tells seven story lines that take place at the same time in Paris.  I admit at first I was confused - I hadn't read anything about the book and read it just based on the author name.  There are a lot of characters in this novel but you will know them all very soon.  

I loved reading about the characters exploring Paris and enjoying the food and wine.  I loved the slow unravelling of all their individual stories.  How the characters all fell in and out of love and rediscovered old love.  There's nothing more romantic than falling in love in Paris.

This novel is sure to be a hit for fans of Kristin Harmel and I think this novel will attract new readers for her as I learned that she has many novels that aren't historical fiction.  

Book Club Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

 

Blair is an actress turned producer.  She has the perfect movie to make but the author of the novel has passed away and now it all seems doomed.  In an effort to move forward she's got a meeting with Jack and is hoping to make his novel into a movie.

After a rocky first meeting, the two slowly become friends over texting and in a shocking move Blair invites Jack to write the next book in her pool house.  While living in LA the two become much friendlier and help the other unravel their issues.

I loved that this book had a quiet theme of mental health issues.  It really felt like something I'd never read before.  I loved that the whole story wasn't about mental health issues it was just something that existed in the story but wasn't the whole story.  There should be more books like this that normalize anxiety, ocd and seeking help.

Book Club Boyfriend  was definitely more than I expected from the title and the cover - although both feel completely appropriate to the story.  I just mean that it was a story of substance.  It wasn't a quick and easy fall in love story that I expected from the cover.

I also was 70% through the novel before I realized the subtle connections to Into the Woods and that they were the same author.  Definitely no need to read that novel first but you definitely should read both.