Sweet and lovable summer story. I wasn't expecting too much out of this book but in the end, I enjoyed it very much.
An easy read perfect for summertime.

One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank

I love YA contemporaries, and I especially love the ones that take place in other countries. This book gave me major Anna and the French Kiss vibes, and I'm so excited to have something to recommend to teens looking for similar titles. I loved Sophie's relationship with her dad and thought that was sweet. The romance was cute, but lacked some depth and too angsty for me. But all in all, it was cute! I enjoyed it!

Cute book. Cute premise. It's a little saccharin but a lot of students enjoy this genre. I would definitely recommend this book to my teenage romance lovers.

I love, love, love Denise Grover Swank's Rose Gardner series. So when I had an opportunity to get an advance copy of One Paris Summer, I jumped at the chance. Then my personal circumstances changed, and the only time I could carve out of my day to read was while driving to and from my job. Kind of hard to read a book while driving unless you have an audio copy, lol.

Now, since my life has calmed down, I've been working on reading and reviewing the various ARCs that I had to push aside a few years ago.

As soon as I began One Paris Summer, I remembered immediately why I liked Denise Grover Swank's writing so much. I was instantly sucked into a very relatable story. As someone who has had step parents and step siblings (and who also did not adapt easily), I felt very connected with the story. Camille was hard to take, but again, I was not so great when my stepdad came into my life at sixteen.

Against her wishes, Sophie Brooks is sent to spend a summer in Paris with her father. She'd rather devote her time to practicing piano, but it's clear she has some important growing to do in her familial relationships. With some adventure and romance, too, it's a cute story (that reminded me of Anna and the French Kiss at times), and I heartily enjoyed it when I read it.

Thanks for providing a review copy. I was unable to get into the book and wont be returning to it, so no official review posted at this time.

3.5 stars
Although Swank’s novel contains a few caricatures and a familiar YA trope (instalove), there are other elements that cause this book to shine. The relationship between Sophie and her father is so realistic it is viscerally moving and uncomfortable. Sophie and Eric’s brother-sister give-and-take is very true to life. Teens and adults alike will identify closely with the emotions.

The last thing teens Sophie and Eric Brooks want to do is travel to Paris for the summer. What would seem like a dream to other teenagers is difficult because their father left a year ago and is now living in France and getting remarried. Besides the adjustments to living in a foreign country, Sophie’s new stepsister Camille is deliberately cruel, and Sophie and her father do not see eye to eye on her need to continue with her piano practice so that she can audition for a scholarship when she gets home. Things might just be a bit better after Sophie meets handsome Mathieu, but he’s worried about Camille’s reaction.

While any normal teenage girl would be excited to spend a summer in Paris, Sophie isn’t exactly looking forward to the idea. Her father is getting remarried to a French woman with a daughter who is sure to make her life miserable. Plus she’s a promising piano student who would rather be practicing all summer so she can get a scholarship to attend music school. But then she meets Matthieu and suddenly all of her summer plans change.

What can I say, I really love a good teenage chick lit book! This book had the drama with an evil stepsister along with the drama of a young love all mixed within the beautiful city of Paris! It was a light and quick and easy read that had me continuing to turn the pages!

This was a cute teen romance, but there weren't really many surprises. In some ways, I don't think this is my type of book anymore, so that's on me. This felt very similar to Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins so if you enjoyed that you would probably enjoy this.

Great book for young adults who seek a light romance!

I don't think I've ever been so invested in a Young Adult Contemporary Romance before. However, this book is so much more than that. There is the teen angst and drama, but more importantly it explores many different relationship and familial dynamics. I loved how Sophie grew and changed through the book. She became a more confident, strong young woman. She knows what she wants to do with her life and is practicing and working hard to achieve it. I especially loved how Sophie and her brother, Eric, grew closer during the book. Eric starts out as her annoying older brother, but quickly became the overprotective big bother and made my heart melt. He also was good for a few laughs at the way he reacted in certain scenes. He does not like the idea of his sister dating a french teenage boy. But that french teenage boy swept me off my feet along with Sophie.

I have always wanted to go to Paris and even more so now after reading this. Denise does a fantastic job describing Paris, I felt like I was there with Sophie. I loved the little bit of French that was throughout the book. (It was like getting free French lessons).

I went through many emotions during my read. I laughed, got angry for Sophie (really wanted to slap her stepsister multiple times) and I even cried a few times. Denise always pulls me into the story so that I'm so engrossed in it that I sometimes forget that the characters are not real.

Warning: If you didn't want to go to Paris before, you will after you read this.

Unfortunately I didn't like the book so I didn't finish it and I can't post a review on it

Summer I am far from being a Young Adult but I loved One Paris Summer. You can tell that the author has teenagers because she addressed teen emotions beautifully. Sophie and her brother, Eric, are spending the summer in Paris with their newly remarried father. Sophie encounters several problems while in Paris, the biggest of which is her new stepsister. Despite being pick pocketed, lost and bullied, she finds her way and finds love in the City of Lights. I would love to see a sequel to this book to see how the relationships progress. I want to see Jenna get to Paris (maybe she can find a boyfriend in Thomas). On top of being a fun read, I now want to go to Paris even more! Great story, Denise!

This is seriously one of the best YA novels I have ever read. I can think of only a few others, okay maybe one (HP), that I might rate over this one. This book, every time I picked it up, I was crying. It is emotionally accurate to what a child of divorce feels and goes through as they learn to accept and cope with the situation. This book focuses on growth, loving yourself, putting yourself first, and learning to navigate the world as a young adult. The romance is purely a very nice side story to the focus of a young woman coming into herself.

This is worth a read, then a reread, and then handing it to your daughter and telling her that you want her to love herself as much as Sophie learns to.

Sophie Brooks and her brother, Eric, are forced to spend their summer in Paris, with their father and his new bride-to-be. Sophie wants to do anything but have to spend 8 weeks with their father who abandoned them just 6 months ago, but she has no choice. What makes matters worse is her stepsister, Camille, who tries everything in power to make this the summer of nightmares for Sophie. Enter a cute french boy, embarrassing situations, and exciting opportunities, and this will be the summer that Sophie never forgets.

I absolutely adored this book. I related to Sophie's character, and the way Swank described her feelings and emotions made it feel like I was right there with her. Camille frustrated me profusely, adding tension and an element of drama to the story. There were times in this book where my teeth were clenched in anger, or tears in my eyes for heartbreak, and even giddily grinning in love. I just could not put this book down, and even sacrificed sleep to finish it.

That being said there were moments in the book where I disliked elements of the story line, and imagined it slightly differently. But I do think the story ended very nicely.

I highly recommend as a great summer read. The illustrative yet quirky style of Swank takes you on a journey making you fall in love with Paris, and only wish you were there in reality!

Sophie Brooks and her brother are boarding a plane from the US to Paris, France, to spend the summer with their father who lives there with his new girlfriend after he left home a year earlier without an explanation. Sophie doesn't look forward to spending her summer in Paris, as she now can't study piano for an upcoming scholarship competition.Even though her father moved to Paris to pursue his own dream, he clearly doesn't support hers. His promise to provide her with a piano goes unfulfilled. And to make things worse, her father announces to remarry and she meets Camille, the daughter of her father's soon-to-be-wife. Sophie has to stay in Camille's room (with her..) the summer long and it seems to becoming a dreadful one, as Camille has made it her mission to bully Sophie and make her feel as miserable as possible, especially when she and her brother join her and her friends in the city. One of Camille's friends is Matthieu. It is because of him that she starts to like her summer in Paris, because he is so nice and understanding to her, and later on even helps her study piano, as his mom is the director of a prestgious music college in Paris and invites her to audition, but later on, at the days around her well prepared audition, Camille plots a very nice thing in ger and she has to make the though choice to go back home in the States or to stay in France..

I was completely blown away by One Paris Summer. The cover attracted me to read it as it looks very inviting, and man, am I glad I picked it up! It is beautifully written, it was light and fun to read, but oh, the plot twists and turns where just the best!! Camille made her life such a living hell! Oh boy, she was quite mean, but the plot twists and turns this caused where very entertaining, as it led Sophie to Matthieu, and then the romance part really kicked in good!! Their romance started of very cute and it only got better during the book, it was just the perfect Paris summer romance for this type of book!! The ending was just the best conclusion, and I think Sophie made the right choice and did the right thing in the end. I certainly hope for more fabulous books like this from this author, this one was just in one word, tres magnifique!

I gave this book 3 stars! This read the same as so many other YA contemporaries out there. It was cutesy, fun, and felt like a summery read, and it was really easy to get through, but it was nothing different.

I love, love, love Paris and any cute romances that takes place in it, but this read so much like other Parisian YA romances. The main characters were a bit annoying and I just can't stand it when the characters in YA contemporaries have some sort of aversion towards communicating properly. Obviously keeping secrets from each other and hiding things isn't the best way to have a relationship, people!

Anyways, this was a decent read. It wasn't spectacular and it wasn't entirely boring either. It was predictable, cliche, but sweet and entertaining, and it kept me engaged for the majority of it. I think younger readers who are getting into YA romances will enjoy this a lot more than someone like me who's read numerous books that share the same type of plot.

Il romanzo è un concentrato di vitalità e contraddizioni che portano la protagonista a confrontarsi con la sua vita e le sue ispirazioni. La Swank mi colpisce sempre per la semplicità del suo approccio alla scrittura, che non si perde né in tragedie plateali, né per vie impervie. La storia racconta di un viaggio dalla sconfinata America alla glamour Parigi ed è una storia di accettazione e scoperta e soprattutto fiducia e seconde chances. Forse un po' troppo buonista, e un po' troppo perfetta nella sua concentrazione di perdita, eppure, allo stesso tempo, è una storia dolce come un macheron.

I've had the ARC of this one on my Kindle forever but kept putting it off. I saw it Hoopla recently and decided to start something a little summer-y in the middle of winter! I did a mix of reading the eARC and listening to the audiobook, but ended up reading the ARC to finish it off.

This book was not what I expected. I wanted a nice summer romance in Paris, with some good family feels. I knew there would be a sabotaging stepsister, but was totally not prepared for the level of "mean girl" trope Camille brought to the book. This plotline always bothers me in stories and I was shaking with rage as I read about her (not in a way that made me feel passionate about the story). There was nonstop drama from start to finish in EVERY area of Sophie's life. She fought with her dad. She had problems with her brother's friend. She had a major feud with Sophie. The romance with Mathieu wasn't easy either. Every chapter had some major issue or fight to overcome and it was exhausting. She got over certain things right away but stayed angry about other things longer than needed. I couldn't connect to her at any point. I understood her anger to her dad but they had the same fights and conversations every few chapters. It was exhausting.

The Paris setting couldn't make up for the endless angst. I did like it for a certain period after the halfway point but the very end of the book was the final straw for me. Miscommunication and lack of communication ran rampant throughout the whole thing. It makes absolutely no sense that Mathieu wouldn't reach out to Sophie through ANY other means. He texted her FRENCH cell phone and was discouraged when she didn't respond. You mean to tell me he didn't go to her dad's apartment and get her real, US cell phone number? Or email address? Not likely at all. So yeah, this book wasn't what I expected or hoped for at all.