I kindly received a review copy in exchange for an honest review by the publisher via Netgalley.

As a long-time lover of all things Parisian, I had high hopes for "The Paris Effect" by K.S.R. Burn. Unfortunately, the novel fell far short of my expectations.

The story follows Amy, who embarks on a spontaneous trip to Paris after a personal tragedy. The premise promises a heartfelt and transformative journey, but the execution is severely lacking. The protagonist is frustratingly one-dimensional, making it hard to connect with her on any meaningful level. Her decision-making throughout the book is often baffling and feels more like a series of contrived plot devices than organic character development.

Moreover, the depiction of Paris is disappointingly superficial. Instead of immersing the reader in the rich culture and charm of the city, the author relies heavily on clichés and touristy stereotypes. This Paris feels like it was constructed from a guidebook, lacking the depth and authenticity that could have made the setting a character in its own right.

Nothing about this trip to Paris has turned out the way I thought it would. It was supposed to be a glorious voyage of discovery but this story turned out to be a big fiasco from start to finish. The story took many weird and incomprehensible turns: Amy's best friends death, the plan of going to Paris on her own (without telling her husband), being robbed on the second day, loosing her phone, making unexpected friends, being arrested, the sort-of kidnapping and last but not least Amys mess up with her husband.

Overall, "The Paris Effect" fails to deliver on its promise of a captivating and transformative adventure in the City of Light. For those seeking a heartfelt journey through Paris, I recommend looking elsewhere. This novel, unfortunately, is more of a missed opportunity than a memorable read. Therfore I most likely will not read the next book in the series The Paris Ever After.

I went through a mixture of emotions when reading The Paris Effect by K. S. R. Burns. At first I thought, yes, this is the book for me. A Francophile like myself is just going to drop sticks and go and have a Parisian adventure – something I would love to do. I thought I was going to be able to live vicariously through Amy.

However, as I was reading the book I realised that I didn’t much like Amy as a character. Sure, I sympathised with her over the loss of her best friend but she was a little whiney for my taste.

It was hard to decide whether she was naïve or just really self-centred. It got to the point where I actively began to dislike her rather than just passively so.

However, I did enjoy the story and I think that if Amy had been a bit of a nicer person I would have been able to get on board with some of the things she was doing. I suppose a positive is that I would like to read the sequel and if I really hadn’t liked The Paris Effect then I wouldn’t even contemplate picking that up.

The Paris Effect by K. S. R. Burns is available now.

For more information regarding K. S. R. Burns (@WorkingGirl) please visit www.ksrburns.com.

For more information regarding Velvet Morning Press (@V_Mpress) please visit www.velvetmorningpress.com.

This is a delight to read. .After losing her friend to cancer our very feisty protagonist leaves her husband and takes off to Paris to take the trip they were going to take together. Nothing goes as planned and the adventures that follow in modern day Paris are hysterical and fun to read. She has a obsession with food that any reader longing for Paris will appreciate. She has very OCD set rules for herself and this makes for a interesting and fun to read trip to Paris. The author is masterful with descriptions of décor, food, architecture and culture of Paris. .Reading this book is a adventure into a driven woman's quest to immerse herself in Paris on her own terms and she soon finds out that life happens without making plans. She works on finding herself and grieving her friend. Very well done. I highly recommend The Paris Effect for your reading enjoyment.