Thank you Net Galley and Marion de Ré for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars! This was a very quick read (about 5 hours total read time). The story is dual POV following Hazel, a food critic who is in Paris for work, and Olivier, a critically acclaimed chef. They meet when she is assigned a critique of his restaurant. Due to a workers' strike, Hazel gets stuck in France and ends up spending time with Olivier. In order to get his overbearing mom off his back, he lies and says she's his girlfriend. All the usual fake dating antics ensue.

The two MCs do a lot of cooking together, and he shows her around "his" Paris vs. the tourist Paris. He claims it's to get her to fall in love with the city he loves, but we all know it's to get her to fall in love with him.

I love, love, loved the Paris backdrop. As an American who has never been to Paris, I've seen the movies of what we think it should look like. This was more realistic than that. In addition, the author has a ton of knowledge about food and the world of gastronomy. I really liked her writing style and her food puns! Looking forward to the next book in the series!

This romcom was sooo fast paced! And I enjoyed every second of it! What a sweet book to start my Fall reads with! The food puns were so clever! I was giggling throughout this book so much!
A few reasons why It didn’t get a full 5🌟 from me:
• a long of focus on body image and commentary that felt a bit unnecessary at times
• a little insta love
• romance felt
Overall very enjoyable tho! Will be recommending as a cozy Fall read 🍁🎃

This was like a sweet cinnamon roll on a fall day. It absolutely plunges you into the pumpkin atmosphere, the autumn mood. Fake dating? Yes! I guess I'm biased, but it was funny, cute, and the characters are so lovable. It's not a long book, but I didn't mind it!

Paris, Pumpkins & Puns will put you into the Autumnal mood for sure. It’s full of laughs, cringy food puns and a sizzling chemistry, that you’ll love shallot!
Having been to Paris, it was really lovely to take a trip down memory lane and experience once again the amazing culture and scenery. Especially the sparkling Eiffel Tower at night!

I absolutely adore Olivier and Hazels story! It’s so sweet! They make a great pear. It just goes to show that not every book needs to have spice in it. I personally don’t enjoy reading spice, so for me, this book was perfect!

Although the food puns were, in parts very cringy and cheesy… they were very clever and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them! (Sorry I’ll stop now)

Thank you berry much to Netgallery and Marion for the ARC copy of this story, which will be coming out 24th September as Paperback and Kindle, so add it to your wishlist, you’re not going to want to miss this egg-cellent one! 😉

This was a cute fake dating romance. I loved this book’s Paris setting and enjoyed following Hazel and Oliver as they got to know each other in this story. This book had many moments that had me smiling and it definitely left me craving various food. This was a delightful read, perfect for the fall season.

Read this if you like:

📖 Fake dating
📖 Dual pov
📖 Cinnamon roll main character
📖 Paris
📖 Food puns
📖 Closed door romance

Thank you to @marionderewrites and @netgalley for the gifted arc.

I really enjoyed this read. I thought the beginning was a bit melancholy and definitely relatable in terms of depression and anxiety. I would like to see where their future goes, whether their restaurant/marriage is successful and if Olivier mends his relationship with his father. It was a lovely cosy story to settle into on a September Saturday afternoon with a blanket and a hot chocolate. I would recommend this book to my friends looking for cosy reads. There aren't any major plot twists or "complicated" storylines in this book so it's not something that takes a lot of effort or energy to read which I found really enjoyable.

Thank you for considering me with this ARC.

This was such a cute reqd to break in fall!
I loved everything about it, it was a quick and easy read.

~Romance, Fake dating, Secret Identity, Humor, and more!~

Paris, Pumpkins & Puns by Marion De Ré follows Hazel, an American food critic. Still healing from a terrible breakup, Hazel wants a new start. So when her boss asks her last minute to go to Paris to review some of the finest restaurants around, she says yes. With the opportunity of getting a job there permanently, Hazel is ready to start a new life. That is until she gets to Paris and realizes everything she thought she knew is a lie. The streets smell like smoke, and no one is wearing berets. Hazel is ready to leave and go back home to Flordia when her flight is canceled due to a national strike. The hotel she was staying in has a long waitlist, and she has nowhere to go and no way to get home. That is until Olivier Brun, the handsome chef of one of the restaurants Hazel visited, shows up. While his food may have been subpar, his looks and hospitality are not. He offers Hazel his extra room and with no other option, she says yes. The problem? Oliver doesn't know she is a food critic. So when Hazel agrees to be his fake girlfriend for his parent's party and they both start catching real feelings, Hazel knows she can't stay. But some feelings can't be hidden forever, and all secrets come out eventually.

4| This book was a fast, adorable read. One thing I especially enjoyed about this book was the descriptions of the scenery and food. Food is something Oliver and Hazel have in common, and I was delighted to see such an emphasis on that. I was also happy that Hazel's descriptions of Paris and the French culture weren't overly negative, even though they didn't live up to her cliches. I find a lot of Americans in Paris storylines are overly harsh and judgemental, but I was thrilled that Hazel took the time to appreciate and understand the culture, even though it was different from what the character was used to. Hazel's character was interesting but wasn't one I could connect with for some reason. I do think she had a lot of relatable moments, like her grief with her mom and her relationship with her sister, but the setting in the story made it difficult to connect. The puns were a fun touch, but after a while, they started to take me out of the story. This is mainly because I read this book in two sittings, so it was just a lot of puns at once. I did enjoy Oliver and Hazel's relationship, it was well-balanced, and they had a lot in common. While it was fast-paced, it didn't feel super rushed. What I did find rushed was some of the decision making. At specific points, I felt the characters did a complete 180° in what they were thinking after one conversation. While it didn't impact the storyline much, it did seem unrealistic and did get a little frustrating at times.

One part of this story I thoroughly enjoyed was the side characters. I liked getting to know Oliver's family and how that dynamic works. It helped me understand his character on a deeper level. It also introduced us to another side of him that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. I loved how warm his mom was and how much Hazel connected with her. I did wish throughout some of his family interactions that, we got some translation from French to English. While I could make out some of what they were saying, the translation would have helped. I loved that this book was duel pov; I wouldn't have had as good of an understanding of the characters if it wasn't. Getting to hear both character's thoughts, feeling, and insecurities was nice and explained a lot of their actions. I did wish to see more of Hazel's job and what it entailed. It also seemed odd she was so ready to drop everything in her career before Oliver knew the truth. It seemed out of character for her, especially after learning about her past and how money changed the outcome of her life. Something I did catch that I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not was the change in Ivy's relationship status in the extra epilogue. It seemed a little odd that it wasn't expanded upon.

Overall, this was a cute fall-themed read. The ending was a great wrap-up to the story. The characters were well-balanced and had interesting backstories and motives. I typically don't enjoy the fake dating trope, but it worked well here. While some things bothered me, the overall storyline was great and well thought out. I enjoyed this book and am excited to see other books by this author!

*This review will be up on my Goodreads on September 17th*

Fall in Paris sounds amazing, but with labor strikes happening, it’s not what Hazel had in mind. She had one week to experience Paris at its finest to decide if she wanted to move there and she’s thinking NO. But when she gets stuck there for an extended period, can Olivier change her mind?

Lots of food puns, so be prepared for that 😉 A solid storyline with a scenic background, fake dating to get his mother off his back, plus a big secret being kept for most of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Paris, Pumpkins and Puns to come out September 24, 2024.

This book is a delightful read! Olivier, a charming French chef, and Hazel, a beautiful American food critic meet each other in Paris. The story features a typical trope—fake dating. The author has created a tale that feels like the fairytale happy ending all girls dream of! I like it although I am not really romance books fan. But this incredible atmosphere of Fall in Paris stile my heart!
I received an advance copy of this book from the author and am sharing my honest thoughts.