Paris. Slow burn friends to lovers. Humour. Heart.
This book has it all and was a lot of fun to read. I loved the banter between the characters but what I appreciated most was the authenticity. The main character (Evie) deals with a chronic pain condition (endometriosis) and how it can - and often does - impact her life. Learning to love herself - including the parts she struggles with and wishes she could change - Evie grows so much through the story and her experiences which was fantastic. There were so many great references to old musicals and actors/actresses which was lots of fun to read. I also appreciated the trigger warnings at the outset of the story.

All in all, a realistic rom com that will warm your heart and help you feel all the feels!

Thank you NetGalley for the electronic version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Finding Gene Kelly follows Evie and Liam as they reconnect and possibly move into something more. The two of them grew up as neighbors and best friends but one night changed everything between them. Since that one night the two characters have no crossed paths...until one afternoon when Evie runs into Liam in Paris. He wants to make amends for what happened years ago but, she is not exactly ready to forgive and forget.

Evie grew up in America but always wanted to live in Paris. She also wanted to open her own pastry shop sharing her beloved grandmothers recipes and creating her own. She has been able to accomplish one of these goals but, the other has turned out to be a little bit harder. She also has endometriosis which is one of the reasons accomplishing the second goal has been hard to achieve. When Evie has an attack on her body from the endometriosis , everything else is put on hold. It is very debilitating for her and the pain is excruciating. All of this is distracting enough but suddenly throwing Liam into the mix really does not help anything.

Liam is such a sweetheart. Honestly, he appears also too good to be true. It's easy to understand why Evie has had feelings for him for so long. Feelings that she has desperately tried to ignore. Feelings that she does not realize have always been reciprocated. I could tell from his first introduction just how bad he had it for her. The two characters have a deep history together but have alot to work out for themselves. There is some growth needed especially for Evie.

There is a very strong focus on endometriosis through out this story. it is shown how the pain can interrupt Evie's daily and social life. It's hard for her to plan anything for fear that she will have an endo attack and all will be ruined. This is why she feels that she can never be in a committed relationship and fears letting someone down. I really enjoyed the representation of having a chronic illness. We need more books like this so that readers with endometriosis feel represented and understood.

Overall, Finding Gene Kelly is a cute story. There are some sweet moments and some frustrating moments. The frustrating moments include the classic misunderstanding that takes forever to be resolved. Those have a tendency to drive me crazy. As for the sweet moments, those are all the relationship between Evie and Liam. When they communicate and are honest with each other, they really do make pretty good team.

The Writing style was simple and fun to read. Thought this description is apt for chapters after the first two. The first two were a little bit confusing and lengthy. All the chapters are long even if they do give an insight into the past. Sometimes it does get a bit boring.

The covers all the romance book essentials
1. The love interests have a pet name for the other
2. Tension between the love interests
3. Some things unsaid
And so on.

Loved chapter 7 And the dessert references
Total swoon-worthy
The conflict in the story was predictable and so was the outcome but did it damper the spirit of me reading the book? No. The ending was cute and like a warm, kind donut.

Thank you, Torie Jean and Netgalley for this ARC.

The main characters Liam and Evie were neighbors and childhood friends. They fall in love with each other but miscommunication keeps them apart for years.

Years later, Evie and Liam meet again in Paris through their friends and realize their feelings for each other still exist. Evie needs help from Liam to be her fake date at her brother's wedding and to impress her mother. Before the wedding, they spend time together to get to know each other and they become friends again. They learn to trust each other.

In their short time together, they talked about their past and the misunderstandings. I loved their relationship and how Liam supported Evie, her situation, and her dreams. I loved to see her journey and how she fall in love with herself accepted herself and dared to follow her dreams and fight for the man of her dreams.
I loved this sweet romance and the characters Evie and Liam.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC!

This book is a sweet fluffy childhood friends-to-lovers trope book, mostly take place in Paris that'll makes you feels like visiting Paris for real. This book talks about the struggles of people who has endo and honestly it's an eye-opener for me on this disease. It gives me more insight and for sure, raising awareness. The story was well-written and some parts makes me emotional. I love all the characters and their development, especially when Evie and Liam ended their cat-and-mouse / sworn enemy games and start to take care of each other. The pace was mid but it feels like a slow burn one, because I was so invested in their relationship and their connection to Evie's grandmother--Nana and their loves for rom-com. As I said, this book might as well an ode to all the romcom movies, and perfect for all romcom enjoyers!

I LOVEDDDD this book. I felt so seen and cared for while reading. I have a lot of close friends with ENDO who were so validated by reading this. I’m so glad I got to recommend this to them.

This was a new author & I absolutely loved this book! Bonus the cover is so cute! I enjoyed that our heroine is plus sized, who struggles with chronic illness and has endo! She seemed so relatable. Evie is funny and brave. I loved watching her journey to self love and a romance with Liam! Evie had a dream of opening a bakery but her illness has held her back. She also resists relationships, but then Liam comes back. Liam is sweet, supportive, patient, and haha secretly had a thing for Evie! I adore a guys who falls first! I think their romance was so sweet! This book really did a wonderful job on writing a person who struggles with health problems and how these are real! I truly enjoyed this book! The banter & Paris back drop is wonderful!! Just a good read!

Ok I just have to say we LOVE an enemies to lovers trope, and this book was everything I could have asked for. This lil cutie brought all the charm, romance, and real characters. The cover is what originally caught my eye, but this book checked all the boxes for me!

This was a nice, sweet enemies to lovers/friends to lovers romance. The characters were nicely developed and I found it quite nice that I didn’t know what the resolution was going to be until near the end.

I would have given it more stars if it wasn’t so freaking long. Oh my gosh. I know they were trying to do a lot with character development and motivations but combine some interactions and kill two birds with one stone.

hank you NetGalley and Sunset and Camden Creative for the chance to review this ARC.

Can we talk about how cute this cover is!

This was such a cute read! I loved the setting and how fluffy it was.

I also loved the way Evie's struggles were written they felt real and integral to the story.

I loved Liam!

This is a must read for fans of the friends to loves and enemies' to lovers well lovers!

A very niche-market read! If you love old movies, Paris, and schmaltzy love stories, Evelina's story is perfect for you. The main character, Evelina, finds herself stuck by several situations in life - her mother, her work, and her chronic illness of endometriosis. She is closed off to prospects in the areas of love and work, because she is not sure how it will play out and does not want to be hurt even more than she currently is. After heading to her brother's wedding in the states, Evie has some choices to make. Will she take the risks needed for her to grow? Will she find her Gene Kelly?

The story is so fluffy and sweet. It goes perfectly with the cover. The book is well-written and has everything I feel every reader could hope for, a childhood-enemies-lover trope, relatable characters, romance, and great development. I also liked that this story also has a focus on endometriosis with our female MC - it enlightens us regarding chronic sickness. Overall, I really love this story! I had a fantastic time taking myself back to my trip to Paris and immersing myself in the sights, sounds, and aromas of Paris thanks to the imagery provided. If you like heartwarming story with also very open about the lifelong struggles associated with chronic illness but still it have this magical feel like you are in city of love, I highly recommend this!

everything about this book was perfection! i'm a huge fan of the fake dating trope so this book was right up my alley. i loved the chronic illness rep & how liam helped nurse evie back to help. this book was super cute & fun, but also dealt with the characters insecurities & struggles. it was such a wonderful book just chef's kiss...

"He's everything- late nights chasing fireflies, picking lilacs in blossom, boombox blaring, singing and dancing in the rain, and utter defeat and humiliation."
This was such a lovely and unique story. Evie's story, told from the viewpoint of someone who suffers from endometriosis, honestly was eye-opening for me. I knew only a little of what that looked like, and the author wrote this disease with honesty and care. A good bit of the story taking place in Paris was a delight! I enjoyed looking up places, and remembering some I have visited a long time ago, and it created such an ambiance that was wonderful! I enjoyed the Gene Kelly and classical movie references. Liam was the most lovely hero. He, as well as Evie's best friends, were the kind of people you hope to have in your life- caring and selfless. The way they encouraged Evie to see herself, and the way they cared for her was something I truly loved.
I enjoyed this story and am thankful for the gift of being able to read it!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC for this book!

A romance book with disability rep and it has a gorgeous cover? Sign me up!
I was so excited for this book for the reasons listed above and I ended up liking it a lot! I didn't end up loving it for multiple reasons tho...
The first being that with my mental health being so bad right now, I just can't stand to read romance books. So that's not the books fault at all, that's mine.
The second being that quite a few scenes in this book were quite triggering to me, so it just didn't feel like a fluffy romance to me. Again, kinda my fault.
The third being that this just felt like a book that I would have loved a lot more if I read it physically. So I'm definitely gonna buy a physical copy and annotate it!

So yeah... The reason I didn't love it more was mostly my fault. Like I said definitely gonna buy a physical copy and reread it, hopefully I'll enjoy it more then!

Singin’ in the Rain is my favorite movie, so Finding Gene Kelly had me intrigued from the title. I grew up watching Gene Kelly’s movies and definitely understand the draw of the classic movie musical lead. In the end, Evie and I both did find our own Kelly men. (Liam’s name is a little bit on the nose, I will say).

Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. I loved living vicariously through Evie’s descriptions of different parts of the city she visits throughout the novel. She even mentions a patisserie that my husband and I frequented when there on our honeymoon, which made me nostalgic.

I love the childhood friends to enemies” to lovers as much as the next person, and I did thoroughly enjoy reading Evie and Liam’s story. There was also a moment where the fake dating trope came into play, but that faded a little too quickly. I also couldn’t help but feel throughout the story that Liam felt maybe just a little too perfect. He always drops everything in a heartbeat to help Evie; he’s willing to sacrifice his professional dreams for his dad. Of course, he seems like a total catch. I’m just not sure anyone is that perfect.

Throughout the story, Evie repeatedly mentions feeling betrayed by Liam when he didn’t show up to be her date at a debutante ball . It is immediately clearly to the reader that the moment of betrayal stemmed from a misunderstanding, but Evie never gives Liam the chance to address it. I was frustrated that Liam wasn’t given the chance to tell his side of the story. Of course, the narrative required Evie to remain frustrated by him.

There is an irreverent tone to Finding Gene Kelly that not only is fun, but it also solidifies Evie’s voice as the narrator. There are mentions of popular memes; Evie makes jokes about her booty shorts that say “pizza” on the butt; and she describes a pole taking Liam “the fuck out.” It’s clear that the book doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes it fun to read.

I’m glad Jean addressed Evie’s endometriosis diagnosis throughout the story and how it affects her daily life. It’s always important to bring stories like this forward to raise empathy and compassion for what others are going through. You never know who might be dealing with an extremely painful but invisible chronic illness.

As someone who spent many years living in New England, I loved all of the book’s nods to New England culture (including references to “Dunks,” of course). All of the mentions of Red Sox and Patriots gear on the characters also didn’t go unnoticed. New Englanders take their sports teams VERY seriously. Both Evie and Liam have very Irish last names too, which is also very Massachusetts. (My husband and I have definitely joked about naming our future child Liam Kelly as the most Irish name possible).

This Singin’ in the Rain loving human enjoyed Finding Gene Kelly, but it’s not one that’s going to really stick with me beyond my first reading.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

A fake dating trope that didn't work for me. As much as a tried, I could not get into Evie and Liam's characters or connection.

It was cute if you like romance . The writing was fine. I loved that it is set in Paris.

Tropes: childhood friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and boy falls first.

FOUR STARS!!

“If you let me, I want every ounce of you to call to me like I’ve always called to you.”

SUMMARY: When Evie O’Shea married Liam Kelly at age five, she didn’t expect everything to go so wrong. Evie eventually grew up and could no longer stand Liam Kelly because of something that happened between them, but when Liam shows up in Paris Evie revisits all her memories of Liam. Meanwhile, Liam and Evie agree to fake date for Evie’s brother’s wedding so that Evie’s mother doesn’t make her feel any worse than she already does. While the two fake date, real feelings emerge and its up to Evie to finally come to the realization that Liam Kelly is her modern day, Gene Kelly.

CHARACTERS-

Evie O’Shea: Evie’s character has such a special place in my heart. She was so independent and strong but was still able to be vulnerable when she was struggling. I loved what Evie represented and how she represented it. The development her character went through was so touching since she had to not only help present self but finally heal her wounds from her past. While at some points I would get a little frustrated with Evie because of how stubborn she was about her grudges I was able to look past it considering she is like that for a reason.

Liam Kelly: Liam is my new favorite boy obsessed book boyfriend. From the literal start he was head over heels for Evie. At first, I didn’t like Liam because I was seeing him through Evie’s POV and she had believed he was basically evil incarnate but once I got to see more of him and truly see how in love with Evie he was I forgave him in a heartbeat. His character also went through hardships which were included and developed very well. It never felt like his subplots were just being looked over which I enjoyed seeing.

THOUGHTS: Torie Jean did an AMAZING job with this book. The way she wrote about Evie’s endo truly showed all the effort and thought put into this book. It was realistic but also very easy to read and understand. She did not make Evie seem to be some kind of weak person but instead a strong woman who is worth more than an illness, which I loved. Liam’s character was also executed so well I absolutely loved how obsessed with Evie he was from the START.

The plot of the book was also super well-developed and easy to read. The overall story flowed very well and the development between the characters relationship is something I loved reading. The slow burn of this book was well paced, and I never felt as if it was being dragged on too far. The world building of Paris was so pretty to read about, I genuinely pictured myself in the city of Paris. The Gene Kelly references were also special to me because I love Gene Kelly.

CONCLUSION: Overall, I really enjoyed Finding Gene Kelly and the whole concept of the book. It was an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend.
A special thank you to NetGalley and Sunset and Camden Creative for an EArc in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book! I am a huge Gene Kelly fan, and I really appreciated all the references to him and his movies (especially the Lina Lamont ones haha). I thought Liam was the sweetest man ever, and I enjoyed Evie's character too. I loved that she was taking her life into her own hands and that she overcame the struggles she was facing. What I also like about this book was all of the side characters. They all felt very real and relatable, and I enjoyed when they appeared in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for an honest review.