Hannah and her boyfriend, Simon, are train bound to Amsterdam for their sister's wedding. But, the train divides in the middle of the night with Hannah heading for Paris and Simon heading for Amsterdam, with all of Hannah's stuff. She's stranded in Paris with an obnoxiously handsome Frenchman, Leo, who blames Hannah for being on the strong train, too. The two end up spending the day in Paris waiting for the next train to Amsterdam. The more time they spend together, the more they find themselves opening up to each other and being the truest versions of themselves. Hannah starts to realize maybe the cozy life she's created in London isn't what she wants anymore.

This book was such a beautiful romance. I loved the arc of the characters and the plot, specifically Hannah's arc. She had changed so much by the end of the novel and it was incredible to watch that journey she made with Leo. The characters had such a natural chemistry with each other, both friendly and romantically, that I found myself immersed in their story. Leo was such a lovely, complex character! I saw him as an easy-going, life-loving Frenchman and I loved seeing the nuances to who he was. This was perfectly described as appealing to One Day in December fans and I totally agree. It's full of wit and emotion that leaves your heart beating at the turn of each page.

If you like emotional romances set in Europe, this one is for you! Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wonderful story! I loved the concept of it from the very beginning. The characters were relatable and believable and of course, I found myself rooting for Leo from the start. For a debut novel, this author has hit a home-run and I cannot wait to read more by her!

The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown is a fun summer romance if your idea of possibility is bombing around Paris on motorbike with a Parisian charmer you just met on a train. And really, who doesn't want that? No surprises here, only delight and vivid Paris scenery, sharp dialogue and a cozy HEA ending. A breezy vacation read. 4 stars in Romance category.

This was such a charming book! Great set-up, and well-executed. The characters were appealing and realistic.

so fun and lighthearted. it really transports you to the locations, paris. i felt like i was there and had made me want to go to paris even more now since i’ve never been!

There was not one second of Hannah's journey that I didn't love. I read this story in two sittings, because I simply could not put it down. This book is part romance/part young woman finding herself on an adventure-- but the best part is all of it happened by chance and fate. I am a sucker for a story where two guarded people find themselves feeling completely at home and able to be themselves with just one other person. The sequence of accidents that left Hannah and Leo spending a day together in Paris was so rather fun to witness--and is something I can 100% see happening to me. Hannah felt like an incredibly relatable and likeable person. And Leo was so swoony. Oh and Simon? Au Revoir, Simon!

I recommend this book to everyone --especially if you love Paris, have been to Paris, or if you want to go Paris. It gave me all the wanderlust and desire to be a tourist!

This book was cute. There were some parts and paragraphs that dragged on and parts were a bit reparative. But overall it was a fun read and I loved the growth of Hannah, becoming the strong independent women she was stifled from being.

This got off to kind of a slow start, but ultimately it was entertaining.

Hannah is traveling from Venice to Amsterdam with her boyfriend to attend his sister's wedding. There is a mix up and their sleeping cabin is occupied. The boyfriend is being annoying, so Hannah ends up sleeping in a different train car. Then she wakes and finds she's now headed to Paris. And the UK title for this book seems to be Uncoupling, so duh.

The description of her morning hanging out in Paris is probably my favorite part of this book. The author made me want to go back to Paris and explore the 10ieme arrondissement. I'm not sure that I have ever been there. Yet.

I'm not sure why the characters feel surprised that the train uncoupled. Or that they could have ended up in the wrong train cars. This part seemed slightly ridiculous to me. This is common knowledge as far as I know. Have none of these people (they're fictional. I get that.) ever been on a train before? I found this slightly distracting and annoying. And it may have contributed to the fact that it took about half of the book for me to get into this.

I enjoyed this light-hearted novel in which Hannah and her boyfriend, Simon, are trying to catch a train from Venice to Amsterdam for a wedding with only minutes to spare. Their seating arrangements get screwed up, and Hannah wakes up to find herself in Paris, while her high-strung boyfriend actually made it to their destination. She literally crashes into an infuriating Parisian named Leo, and a series of mishaps keeps them together for the rest of the trip to Amsterdam. I found Hannah likeable, and I completely understand the challenges of traveling through a foreign country where you don’t speak the language. I’ve managed to get on the wrong trains here in Denver, Colorado, where I’ve lived for 27 years—and it turns out I speak English. She’s a little bumbling but believably so—it’s not over-the top.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES AUGUST 24, 2021.

This book was really more about self-discovery than romance, but overall it was sweet and charming, which I think it what the author was going for. I know several library patrons that would enjoy this one, and I will likely recommend this as a part of my readers advisory duties.

For me, though, the book fell a little flat. Hannah was extremely unlikable for most of the book, and Leo didn't have much of a personality. I think his name could have simply been "Handsome Parisian Man" and it would have served the same purpose. I honestly am not even sure what he is supposed to look like because he wasn't described in much detail other than "handsome." The only reason I even remembered his name throughout the book was because I have a cat named Leo. Yes, there was character development for Hannah, which was nice and saved the book a little bit, but her internal monologue was grating and didn't make for a satisfying journey to her discovery that she could be a different person if she wanted.

Bubbly and savory, THE PARIS CONNECTION is a story about happenstance in the city of love. Riding on a train late at night, Hannah and her boyfriend, Simon, are on their way to Amsterdam, to help out with Simon's sister's wedding. Only, things don't go as planned. When Hannah changes seats in the middle of the night so she can sleep, it is one disaster after another, as the train separates while she's sleeping. Hannah goes on to Paris and Simon goes to Amsterdam as planned. When she wakes up, horror sinks in when she finds herself in the wrong city! With no luggage, change of clothes or money, what will she do?

Leo, a strikingly handsome Frenchman, is stranded also with Hannah and blames her on his quandary. Although, he is very compassionate and encourages Hannah to join him sightseeing while stuck in Paris until their next train departs. Hannah strikes a deal, since he is a complete stranger, to only go so far, so they don't miss their next train. Leo fondly takes Hannah to different famous sights in Paris and they eat many delicious treats. Slowly, inch by inch, Leo creeps into Hannah's heart. She is startled, realizing that maybe Simon is all wrong for her. Leo brings out a nice side in her. Plus, she's never had so much fun and enjoyed another man's company more than Leo's. Leo is shocked to realize how attracted he is to Hannah and doesn't want their day to end. What happens when they finally reach their intended destinations?

A pretty girl unexpectedly gets a chance at finding real, unfiltered love in THE PARIS CONNECTION. A missed connection, missteps, laughs, heartfelt dreams and love, occur in Ms. Brown's delightful new story. Fate deals Hannah a surprising day full of annoying and delightful events. How she deals with it is another matter. Leo, the exasperating Frenchman, lessens the harsh, unexpected events with his sparkling charm and stunning good looks. Hannah's heart fills with warmth and love for the crazy, fun guy! Do they fall in love? Will Hannah go back to Simon? What happens to Leo? THE PARIS CONNECTION is a tasty treat filled with warmth and romance, as anything can and will happen in the city of love!

Ok, I know I’m a sucker for any title with the word Paris in it, but this was truly SO CUTE! I read it while traveling to San Francisco and it was so appropriate! The wit is what I loved the most, and the fact that this whole thing gets wrapped around a series of mishaps. I’ve missed a flight and lost luggage so this was cute and relatable!

Can one missed connection and a day in the City of Lights change your whole course?

I truly connected with The Paris Connection by Lorraine Brown! Hannah is supposed to be on a romantic train ride with her boyfriend Simon on the way to his sister's wedding in Amsterdam, but in a twist of fate the train splits and Hannah wakes up in Paris! This was a fun book that packed a so much story into a short timespan. I loved seeing where every page would take Hannah and felt like I was on an adventure! Perfect beach or weekend read!

Charming and hopeful read. I loved the characters, the plot, and the detailed setting! Definitely a great summer read.

I really wanted to love this one, but it fell a little flat for me. I didn't feel the chemistry and the writing felt a little forced. But still any enjoyable, fast read for anyone who enjoys romance.

*****Coming out August 24, 2021*****

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Netgalley, I was chosen to be an early reviewer!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fun light read that will keep you entertained from the first page to the last. Poor Hannah doesn’t have any luck when one thing after another doesn’t go right in trying to get to a wedding. It’s starts with being separated from her boyfriend on the train when the train car she was in separates from the train car her boyfriend is in. Hannah’s train car is traveling to Paris, while her boyfriend’s train car is heading to Amsterdam where they are going for his sister’s wedding. Will she be able to get to Amsterdam on time or will her bad luck prevent her? This book will keep you turning the pages to find out Hannah’s fate. A perfect book to add to your pool or beach bag as one last summer read before the Fall. A great book club pick as well!

Paris, the city of light and love...but not for everyone. Hannah and her boyfriend Si are on a train from Venice to Amsterdam to be at a wedding. Si's sister is getting married and Hannah will be hands-on to help the bride. As the story begins the compartment they were supposed to have was double booked and another family had taken over. Nothing to be done about it, and now they are uncomfortably situated on the train nut not in a first class compartment. Not being able to sleep, Hannah moves to another section of the train (big mistake). Upon waking up, she finds out the train was uncoupled during the night and that parts of the train were on the way to Amsterdam and the other part, going to Paris (that part of the train Hannah was on). Having left all of her belongings with Si when she moved the night before to get away from the noise, she was no longer on her way to Amsterdam. In fact all she had was her purse, no clothes, no money, no cellphone!!! Now we have the premise of the story, one that was mediocre at best. Hannah is an insecure individual, relying on her boyfriend in all matters. He's the one who arranges everything, he's the one that makes sure Hannah is put together. She is a scatter brain, anxiety ridden individual, both physically and mentally. It really is difficult to read...you really want to shake her and tell her "get real." Enter Léo the Frenchman she meets at the Paris station.; Can he help her get to Amsterdam and in the space of one day, how will they connect.?

The story is an easy read, quite simple and of course, I understand the author's attempt to "zone in" on the protagonist's insecurities and perhaps watch her personality grow. In reality, at least for me, Hannah was annoying to the point where I didn't care one way or another. If the author made Hannah a little "quirky" rather than so needy, if Léo wasn't so "smooth" perhaps the book would have had more "zing" to it. I plodded on and read it. This was a debut novel and I won't give up on Ms. Brown, at least not yet. Hopefully her next book will interest me more.

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To be reviewed on my blog https://bookreviewsbylulu.blogspot.com/, Goodreads, Facebook and Amazon when released.

2.5 stars

I think it is not the first time that I get jealous of a book character so badly! I even thought maybe she intentionally missed her stop and found herself in Paris to explore with a brooding but also not so bad looking French stranger!

Okay, this book awakened so many different feelings from me. There are so dreamy things help us rediscover Paris from different eyes and it has also powerful self discovery, reinventing yourself, freeing yourself messages!

But first of all for truly enjoying this book, you should read it as women’s fiction because the romantic parts of the equation may fail you: Leo and Hannah have no chemistry as a couple. I was so hopeful when Hannah and her boyfriend Si got separated and found themselves at different countries at the beginning of the story. It was like a sign: their relationship is already doomed to end.

And when Hannah met Leo who blamed on her because of unexpected change at his trip schedule, I thought they were meant to be and this could be a great enemies to lovers premise but... well... I didn’t get what I was expecting and Hannah was way too much annoying, clueless about her life or about anything. She was not my ideal lovable and easy to connect kind of heroine thankfully in the middle of the book her character has evolved and she became more tolerable.

Pros: this book made me fall in love with Paris over and over again

It has powerful, energizing messages and it is promising feel-good read

Cons: love story parts failed. The ending was a little predictable but it was still sweet.

Lack of Hannah and Leo’s chemistry was mood killer.
But there are so many positive things about this book still make you enjoy your reading adventure so I’m giving solid, Parisienne, self discovery, life is beautiful journey stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM/ G. P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

When Hannah and her boyfriend Simon are on their way to Amsterdam, the train they are taking is scheduled to separate in the middle of the night. When it does, Simon takes the correct train to Amsterdam to attend his sister’s wedding and Hannah somehow ends up in Paris without her luggage, phone or a new ticket to return home.

Hannah meets Leo, a cute Parisian, who also was separated on his way to Amsterdam. With an entire day to kill, Leo shows Hannah around Paris and during the course of the day, Hannah finds herself contemplating her life, job and her seeming perfect relationship.

Overall, I thought this was a super cute read and exactly what I needed! The story was a fun escape to Paris and both Hannah and Leo were extremely likeable characters who really blossom throughout the story.

I know this just got published but I need to know what happens next!

I could relate to Hannah's relationships with her parents and the self-doubt her childhood gave her. I felt like she could be a friend that needs a serious pep talk and a reminder of how awesome she is. Walking around Paris with these characters made me so happy and I hope to one day visit in person and re-trace their steps. I may even book a train ticket!