Member Reviews
Serena organized a trip to Paris in honor of her parents, trying to remember the steps they took on their honeymoon, but nothing happened as she imagined.
Early on, her mother had to give up the tour to present a conference in London and her sister scheduled a trip with her boyfriend to Madrid.
Then she need to accept the consolation of being received by Jean Luc, a half-French half-American boy that was needing to mount a photographic project and ends up accepting to take Serena in her Romance Tour.
Again everything goes wrong and both will gradually between laughs and fights opening each other hearts and discovering how even so different they can complete each other.
I had read Kiss Me in New York, the book of Serena's roommate, Charlotte, and I had fallen in love with the dynamic, fun and romantic writing of the book, now in Kiss in Paris again I felt in love with the way the writers put the plot together and end up reveling that the "perfect" couple is just the most imperfect and how it all led to the kiss. I just got annoyed with Jean Luc that in my opinion did nothing to deserve the sweetness of Serena.
4/5 stars
This book was cute and fluffy and so easy to read. While there are tropes that some people may find frustrating I found that it made me enjoy the story even more.
Look. I think it's kind of obvious, and not really needed for me to say that a hot French guy? Who is a photographer? And is a bit colder/hard on the outside but has a great heart? Well. It's easy to see why Serena fell for him.
Honestly, this was such a cute story and I absolutely loved it. A fluffy romance, but with a real sense of heart and of love in it, combined with the ultimate City of Light and Romance will never go wrong. And this is no exception.
Serena and Jean-Luc's relationship was really interesting to follow, especially given that the story takes place over the course of a day or two at the most. It's really interesting to see how quickly you can get to know someone, yes, but also, and possibly more importantly, how quickly your life can really change over the course of 24 hours.
Jean-Luc, I truly swooned at. I really did. And Serena was a fantastic protagonist. So no complaints here!
I adored this novel - it's perfect for a fun, summer read, or even the opposite - whilst snuggled in bed with a good cup of tea.
NB: I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and are in no way, shape, or form influenced by this.
May I just start by saying that I couldn't get enough of Catherine's writing. It was easy to read and enjoy the journey. I loved reading from the dual perspective and that each character gets a full chapter (no mid-chapter characters switches to keep track off).
Serena is goal-driven and will not be messed with to keep to her plan and schedule. She warms up slowly to Jean-Luc. No insta-love! Also, the tension and bickering were such fun to read about.
Jean-Luc is a free spirit, taking everything in through the lens of his camera, including Serena. This bothers her at first, but she learns a lot about herself through his eyes (the camera lens).
I sweet, fast, easy contemporary read between some heavier books. I would for sure recommend for lovers of romance.
I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review, so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
The cover and title is what originally drew me to this book. It was a cute read.
This was my first book by this author, It was okay. It was slow paced but it was alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
3 star rating!
Kiss ME in Paris by Catherine Rider is an adorable young adult romance that will have you flying through it. Great characters and an amazing city setting what a great recipe for a fun book.
I'm a sucker for books set in Paris. COMPLETE SUCKER.
This was a very sweet, light read. Serena is a very organized and inflexible character and Jean-Luc is French and a bit of a slacker when it comes to school work. I liked reading about them going to different places in Paris because Paris!
Whirlwind romances can be hit or miss for me and if I don't feel a connection between the characters the book just won't work for me. I felt like it was plausible that these two people who are different could develop a romance in just one day so in this case the sort of insta romance did work for me.
Being a romance, a teenage one at that, things went wrong and hurtful words were said. It all gets resolved in a satisfactory way. This is not an epic romance but if you're looking to get caught up in a budding romance in the lovely streets and sights of Paris this is a good read. :)
Well it was a different kind of read for me, it was sort of strange, but a good strange.
I give Kiss Me in Paris 3.5 stars out of 5 in my review book.
Okay, so I know I said that it's a good kind of strange and it is, but there were still some aspects of it that I didn't like. And that is the reason why I gave it a 3.5, but we'll get to that, first the things that I enjoyed!
It's freaking set in Paris one of the cities I'm dying to visit, so even though I know it's fiction I still love the way everything is described and just how Jean-Luc and Serena fall in love without even noticing. I mean Serena was so focused into getting this trip done in one day without any distractions, but as we read in the synopsis those plans don't work out at all.
Jean-Luc shows Serena the Paris his knows and in a way she shows him what he's been missing out on even though he lives in one of the best cities in the world and that is why I liked this story.
Both of them complement each other in levels they don't understand and that is how the best love stories are born.
Even though the story develops in just one day, that one day is enough for both Serena and Jean-Luc to see that what their lives had been missing was each other.
Kiss Me in Paris is a story about love, self-discovery and just an amazing story altogether.
What I didn't like as much of this story and the reason it got 3.5 stars is mostly because at the beginning Serena and Jean-Luc just don't seem to work out and I wasn't too fond of the whole one day to fall in love idea.
But as you can read in this review my views change and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Cute story, but nothing special. I didn't really like the characters so it made it hard to enjoy the story as much as I would have liked.
The characters were all quite irritating which made me not enjoy the book like I thought I would...the storyline was good but the characters weren’t engaging and I am so sorry but I couldn’t get past that at all.
Characters: No
Storyline: Yes - was a really good feel-good novel.
Serena's plan for a "Romance Tour" of the places her parents visited during their honeymoon in Paris is a bust when both her mother and sister both cancel on her. Serena determined to go on the tour without them gets stuck with her sister's boyfriend's roommate Jean-Luc who goes with her in an attempt to finish his photography assignment. As in the previous "Kiss Me" book, Kiss Me in New York, the two doesn't get along at first but eventually warm up to each other. While this is the second book in the series, this book has more in common with adult romance series in that the stories are standalone connected by a relationship with some of he previous books' characters. In this case Serena is the Columbia University classmate of Kiss Me in New York's Serena. This book is better plotted than its predecessor but how one would react to the book depends on how much one connects to the characters. Both Serena and Jean-Luc comes off as unlikable at times. The story is one that is told in countless romance novels and rom-coms. Girl and boy are forced together; they get on each other's nerves; they learn to enjoy each other's company and realize they are what they need. This story has been better done elsewhere but really that doesn't matter because those into these type of books will enjoy it.
After reading the author's previous work, "Kiss Me In New York", I knew I had to give this one a go, and got an advanced copy to review.
Both this one and the previous one was good. Both had that Christmas feel to it, and had a lot of non-typical tourist-y stuff with a little bit of tourist-y stuff thrown in.
I liked the budding relationship between the main characters (Serena and Jean-Luc), and the realization that nothing is perfect, but it can still be good. This was a good sequel to it's predecessor, yet a good stand-alone story too.
This book was an absolute delight, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it.
When Serena is ditched by her sister in a foreign city, it doesn't stop her from continuing with her plan to make a scrapbook of re-lived memories for her mum's anniversary. She's a determined character who is more organised than she needs to be which just adds to her introverted personality. With the few flashbacks we see of her life in America, we get a nice little build up of her character within the story as someone who can't quite connect to others, especially ones of the opposite sex.
When Jean-Luc comes into the picture and offers to show her around Paris, she only agrees thinking that it might help speed up her schedule with his local knowledge of the city, so when he slows her down, she starts to snap. It's easy to relate too for me as I'm probably just as organised as she is when I travel with a to do list in my pocket. When she starts missing locations from her Romance Tour, her frustrations are easily understandable as she isn't just making a gift for her mum, she's trying to reach a part of her dad that she misses so much.
'Here I am in the foreground, staring out to the river and the city. The cathedral is in soft focus, as if it's trying not to disturb my quiet, contemplative, personal moment, hanging back out of respect for my sadness.
"Feel's appropriate," I tell him, "My body is in one of the world's greatest cities, but my mind is elsewhere."
It's great to see Jean-Luc's perspective as he thinks he's just trying to help rather than being the annoying and moody and serious French man in Serena's eyes. Jean-Luc can't understand why he wants to spend time with the American girl he's just met, but even though she's loud and her fashion sense is a bit lacking, he's intrigued to see how she views Paris and is often disappointed and confused by her reactions. He finds it difficult to see why she would rather try and experience her parent's memories rather than living her own and enjoying herself which causes them to bicker, a lot. Jean-Luc is a lovely character with his own flaws; he has a habit of running away when people get too close. You can really empathize with him which makes him a very easy character to like, even though sometimes it just makes you want to shake him.
I think the author has done a fantastic job with this story considering the detail that's been spread out over one day of Serena and Jean-Luc in Paris. Their romance connection is sweet when they realise they enjoy one another's company more than they'd expected. A lovely romantic story of opposites attract, coming together on the streets of Paris.
This book was a struggle to finish for me. It was just very monotonous to me. I get that's meant to show how you can keep living after you lose a loved one. However, I just couldn't get very interested in it.
Thanks to Kids Can Press for the ARC!
I think this second book is a bit better than "Kiss me in New York", but still, not really one of my favorites. I think romance is the first word that comes to everyone's mind when we hear "Paris". I expected this story to be a little bit more romantic, but it was just too simple for my taste. It's not like other YA books that I'm used to read. This time, I really think that only kids and teens will enjoy it.
What could be better than Christmas in Paris? This is a cute, quick read. I really enjoyed it!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.
I didn’t fully think about the fact that KISS ME IN PARIS was actually a holiday story when I started reading it, so it quickly became a “Christmas in July” kind of read. I usually don’t enjoy reading Christmassy books outside of November or December but I made an exception for the sake of my Goodreads challenge (and yes my Netgalley percentage, okay). I was dying to read something short, quick, and sweet, and I determined this would fit the bill.
I loved the idea that the main character, Serena, would be retracing her parents’ steps when they first fell in love in Paris. The synopsis implied some good ol’ hate-to-love romance too, as the guy she has to stay with (Jean-Luc) isn’t overly happy about her arrival. The story happens over the course of one night, which I also love.
Some of my issues were surrounding the romance. The first thing, kind of related to that, is that the book is very short – just barely over 200 pages. This almost puts it in novella territory and I tend to struggle with rushed romances. Another issue with the romance was that the couple spent quite a bit of time either focusing on an ex (Jean-Luc) or debating a new-ish flame from home (Serena). I understand creating some conflict for the sake of a story but I just didn’t get on board with actually shipping the couple as a result. There was too much time in their heads thinking about the OTHER people for me to really care about THEM… especially in such a short book! The couple definitely had the hate-to-love thing going on but frankly there were way more genuinely mean fights and arguments than I prefer in that trope. Another random complaint: Serena and Ethan (the boy she knew from high school who was also in Paris) were texting and he used “X” at the end of his messages. These two are both American students, so I have no idea why they would be using that kind of British cultural thing? It was so out of place. If the author is British and thinks that Americans do that too, it wasn’t super well-researched!
Overall, I’m bummed I didn’t like this one. The holiday aspect wasn’t a strong plot point so it was okay to read in July. Unfortunately the romance wasn’t my cup of tea and I never really got around to shipping them together, mostly because of the tropes and other relationships involved, but also because the story was too short to develop that at the same time.
This book looked adorable based on the blurb and cover, but I found it disappointing. The first thing that was hard for me was how determined the heroine was to follow a certain itinerary and as someone who follows lists, I hated that she kept being thwarted, particularly by the hero who was following her for entirely selfish reasons. I understand that this was her character arc - to learn to let go, but I thought what she planned was sweet and touching and I hated that it was later portrayed as some kind of psychosis that she wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps.
Both Serena and Jean-Luc were self-absorbed and annoying characters, which hinders the reader's ability to enjoy the book. Everything relationship-wise moves at the speed of light in this story; not only the "relationship" between the two main characters, but when a secondary character pops up that the heroine's never even so much as kissed and he starts talking about them moving in together and then leaps to marriage? I don't know a single guy that age that starts telling a girl he's NEVER EVEN KISSED that he plans on them getting married and where they'll live. Creepy with a Capital C. Not to mention that the main relationship and focus of this book is never actually romantic until the very end. We don't get to see them falling in love.
I also had a HUGE problem with Jean-Luc not only screaming at Serena, but swearing at her as well. I hate when men scream and swear at women and it's treated like something that's normal and okay. Fighting is even later justified by Serena's best friend as meaning you have a "real" relationship. That simple and easy is not a good thing for a relationship, which I would heartily disagree with. Constant conflict is not healthy and simple and easy in a relationship is very, very good.
It had a cute premise in a gorgeous city, but it failed to deliver. (And there was only one kiss in Paris, which made me feel cheated.)
This review is also up on my blog:
https://princessofbookaholics.wordpress.com/
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
About: This is a story about Serena - an American girl visiting Paris for a day to relive her parents' honeymoon and Jean-Luc - a Parisian who was forced to share his free dorm with this strange American girl who has nowhere else to be. When Serena goes on for her Romance Tour of Paris, Jean-Luc decides to tag along hoping to get good pictures for his photography project. The book talks about their day spent in Paris with detours and other things.
Characters: I loved both the main characters! Serena was energetic and all about visiting all the places that her parents visited in Paris and Jean-Luc was all about showing her the 'real' Paris and encouraging her to make memories of her own. Serena was shown grieving for her father and had come to Paris in hopes of feeling closet to him. Jean-Luc was a sensible guy and understood her grief and gave her company in the new city. P.S. The slight mention of the Kiss Me in New York characters was a great treat for the fans and I loved it.
Feelings: This book was so great. Firstly, I love Paris. I have never been there but it's my dream to go there one day. I loved seeing Paris from the characters' eyes and it was a great experience reading this book. The fact that it was a 24-hour time span book (story of a single day) gave the book plus points too because I am a sucker for one-day books!
Recommendation: Yes! If you love cute contemporaries then this book is definitely for you!
Favourite Quote:
"There are people like the two of us who re like pieces of a jigsaw. Pieces that are kind of the same, that fit perfectly together and make a corner. And when you're solving a jigsaw, it's best to start with the corners. It makes everything afterward much simpler."
Rating: 4/5 stars.
When I first read the summary for this book, I fell in love. It sounded like the perfect winter romance, set in the most romantic city in the world, detailing the slow and subtle process of falling for someone when you need it most. However, I was sorely disappointed by what the book actually ended up being like.
What irked me the most about this book was the characters. They all acted and spoke, inexplicably, like they were far younger than their actual age. The narration was really frustrating, and I've never been met with not one, but two narrators so immature, stubborn, and ungrateful. And by the end of it, I felt like I still hadn't even gotten a good sense of who they were.
Furthermore, I think a lot of my issues with this book were exacerbated by just how rushed it was. The entire novel takes place in one day, and while I understand the need to suspend belief, everything that occurred before, after, and during the timeline of this whirlwind romance was absurd. Everything - every situation, every pointed moment of character development, every reaction to the goings-on of the story was just so unrealistic and abrupt.
While the novel had a stronger ending than I anticipated, and there were some moments I really enjoyed, the whole book just did not work as a cohesive whole. The writing was choppy (and had an insane overuse of exclamation marks) and the characters were just so, so aggravating. I had really high hopes for this book, and they were unfortunately not even close to met.