Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book which means I will not be able to review it. I truly appreciate the opportunity and apologize for the inconvenience the lack of review may cause you.

I love historical romances, sometimes. It depends on the tone of the book and this one was lovely. There is so much beautiful detail in this book about the time frame and makes Paris just come alive.

My biggest issue is with Cait. I just couldn't like her character by the end of the book. She just fell flat for me and the reason for the 3 stars.

It's not a bad read, so if you are into historical romances, give this one a go!

Set in Paris during the construction of the Eiffel Tower Cait and Emile meet during a hot air balloon ride and their relationship begins to bloom despite the differences in their "social" classes. Emile, presently an engineer working on the construction of the Tower is expected by his upscale family to work in the family business and to find a "suitable" wife. Cait, herself a widow, takes on the responsibility of being a chaperone to two wealthy children. This is a nice, sweet, slightly slow moving love story-no mystery or intrigue-but a nice love story nonetheless set in a beautiful backdrop. I would classify this as a women's romance genre.

I hate to give a bad review on any book, particularly one that has received so many positive reviews. However, I just couldn't make it through to the end and I tried several times. I found the entire novel just far too slow moving. While the author is successful in giving the reader a really intimate view of Parisian society and culture during the 1800s, it just couldn't make up for the draggy pace. I found some of the characters totally unlikable, so it makes it hard to be motivated to read their story. This novel was just a big miss for me.

Sweet and simple love story set in the late 1800s with the construction of the Eiffel Tower as a symbolic image....Emile and Catriona are an unlikely pair, coming from vastly different backgrounds...just as the building of the tower came under a great deal of scrutiny, and had to be carefully planned, so too does their love affair unfold. I enjoyed this book but I found it to be a bit too slow-paced. Further, I didn't really believe in the main characters because the reasons behind their attraction and growing affection for each other is not explored very deeply. It is a nice read, but not a superb one.

Lovely historical fiction, wish the romance of Cat and Emile was more fleshed out and told less in flashback. I like the aesthetic of renunciation but they were my favorite characters and Alice and Jamie had too much plot time. Interesting to read about Eiffel and his other building projects and the attitude of the people about the Eiffel Tower.

This is a very smart romance. I enjoyed the history of the Effiel Tower and the setting. Ms. Colin' s description of Paris and the surrounding area was so vivid I could see it. A perfect book for anyone who enjoys a historical romance.

To Capture and Keep a Heart
How does one capture what they cannot keep? This is a question that weaves itself throughout this novel, from considering matters of the human heart, to business and success. How does one grasp what they want, and hold it tight, if it is meant to be fleeting? Can barriers that have stood for ages be broken down sufficiently to allow for the impossible? And most importantly, can love be a permanent game-changer?

While this book did not immediately grab my attention, but once it did, there was no doubt that I would be kept in its thrall until the very last page. The story is beautiful, and set against the equally stunning backdrop of historical Paris, during the construction of the Eiffel Tower. The heroine, Cait Wallace is a paragon of morality and traditional values, making her whirlwind affair with the liberal Parisian, Emile at once surprising, and sweet. But Emile, while liberal in his views on love, must remain traditional in his views on marriage due to his ailing mother’s desires to see him suitably married before she dies. So, is love enough to convince him to span the chasm of class for a match of intellectual equality and physical longing? Is the breathless love that Cait and Emile feel for each other enough…or will it be something that they cannot keep?

Woven into this turbulent romantic tale, is a good bit of history, regarding both the building of the Eiffel Tower and the French drive to build the Panama Canal, along with an exploration of Parisian culture prior to World War I. Equally intriguing, is how the characters react to the idea of choosing your own type of success, which is a vibrant and new concept in that time period. They must each consider how to hold on to family fortunes or ideals, and how to live up to expectations, that they may not have much interest in.

So how does one capture what they cannot keep? Read this book to find out…the answer might surprise you.

Émile looked out over the city, at the river way below, strapped down by its bridges snf edged with bright green like verdant lace around a wrist. It was for this the tower was being built, to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, to gift the idea of the city to the people of Paris, for as far as they could see in all directions. While life down there was chaotic, nonsensical, frustrating, up here you couldn't smell the sewers of the sweet stink of horse manure, up here you could rise above it all, up here you could see the world unfold below, everything in its place, everything laid out to make some sort of sense.

Supported by the rich history of Paris during the construction of the Eiffel Tower, To Capture What We Cannot Keep explores the complicated and unlikely relationship between Émile Nouguier and Caitriona Wallace. Émile is the lead engineer for the Eiffel Tower. He is under constant scrutiny for his choice of career and his choice to remain unmarried. Caitriona, or Cait, serves as a guardian to Alice and Jamie Arrol- one of the few acceptable positions for a widow outside only remarriage. Cait and the Arrol's traveled throughout Europe but their stop in Paris proved to be the most indelible. At the trip's end, Cait returns to her dreary Glasgow flat where she is assaulted with memories and the reality of her current situation.
Cait stood and listened to the sounds of the house, to the bad-tempered clatter and slap from the kitchen, and the sound of rain on the roof. To be standing alone in the hallway seemed suddenly fitting, a metaphor for who she was, stuck between floors, between rooms, between youth and old age, a person without status, without a husband, without a future. Was this living or merely waiting for the inevitable?

The lure and attraction of Paris is felt in varying degrees by Cait and the Arrol's. Cait craves escape from her previous life which continues to haunt her and needs redirection. Alice Arrol is desperate to find a man to call her husband and her ambitions and youthful fancy far surpasses her social standing. Jamie seeks the grandeur of success and wealth; to break through the constraints of class. In an attempt to satiate the needs of his niece and nephew William Arrol requests Cait to return to Paris as their chaperone for an extended visit.
Each story-line is fleshed out with immense detail, covering everything from societal expectations in Paris, the struggle between the bourgeois and the bohemian movement, prostitution, ambition, and, most of all, love. Colin provides a unique perspective with the variety of characters and their individuality. Written with both imagination and precision, To Capture What We Cannot Keep is a masterful tale of romance and La Belle Epoque.

They stood side by side in the middle of the old wooden bridge as the brown river water rushed beneath them on its way to the Gambia River and then on to the estuary and the wide-open North Atlantic Ocean.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she said softly.

"I thought the same. But here I am."

To Capture What We Cannot Keep is a historical romance set against the backdrop of the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1887. Caitriona is a widow working as a chaperone, who travels to Paris with her two young charges – a wealthy brother and sister who have come to Europe to gain experience before marriage. Cait is supposed to be helping Alice meet eligible bachelors, but when they are introduced to Emile Nouguier, engineer and co-designer of the tower, he is more interested in Cait.

Emile and Caitriona first meet in a whimsical scene, travelling over Paris by hot air balloon. They are living in a revolutionary time, filled with contrasts – while Cait feels compelled to follow the traditional lifestyle of a widowed woman, she is also intrigued by the bohemian world she finds herself in. The novel asks questions about class and gender, and whether the constraints of either one can be overcome.

Caitriona and her young companions experience the glamour and intrigue of 19th century Paris, but they also witness the dark underbelly of the city, including its brothels and opium dens. It was fascinating to read about the details of art and society, and especially the construction of the Eiffel Tower, which I did not know much about. And even with all this historical information, it never felt overwhelming – the facts were always presented as a natural part of the story.

I wasn’t completely captivated by any of the characters, and the love story fell flat (although I did like the imperfect ending), but what made this book so enjoyable is the beautiful setting – Colin truly captured the excitement and innovation of the era. I loved reading about the rise of the Impressionists and the great strides in architecture – everything is so novel and thrilling. The Eiffel Tower was the largest manmade structure at the time, and Emile’s character passionately describes the intricacies of its engineering techniques.

This novel has a slow, quiet pace, and yet it manages to confront some really important issues of morality, creating conflict between the characters. They feel compelled to fit into the constraints of the time period, even though they are trying to change society’s rules – especially Caitriona, who is stronger than she seems at first. If you’re looking for an intelligent, thoughtful romance novel, this is it – and you might learn a few things while you’re at it.

I received this book from Flatiron Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love all things French and especially Parisian, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. Set in 1880s Paris during the construction of the Eiffel Tower, To Capture What We Cannot Keep is a historical novel, but it's also a romance. Not a genre romance, but a story of a man and a woman who fall in love and want desperately to be together. Cait and Émile certainly had their challenges, but I couldn't help but cheer them on, even when their relationship seemed pretty hopeless.

More than the romance, though, I enjoyed Colin's writing. Her imagery is so vivid and creative, and I really enjoyed reading about late nineteenth century Paris through her story. I also appreciated the complexity of the characters and the fact that they mostly behaved as they should within their own time, and when they didn't, there were repercussions.

I gave this book four stars because I enjoyed the writing and the story, but it did have some clunky bits. In one instance, Cait was walking outside, thinking about flowers and bushes, and then out of nowhere jumped to a specific thought about Émile. It didn't make sense and lacked the proper transition. One minute we were reading about the colors of a flower petal, the next, misgivings about Émile's interest in Cait. If I operated on a half star system, I would give this a solid three and a half stars, but because that's more complicated than I want to get into and because I really did enjoy reading this, I'll stick with four.

If you enjoy historical fiction with a romantic undertone, and if you're curious about what Paris was like during the construction of the Eiffel Tower, this just might be the book for you. Go ahead and give it a try!

I was able to get a copy from Netgalley and tried to read it over the last several days, because I enjoyed the description, the cover, and the lovely title for the book. After reading The Devil in the White City recently and learning about how the American men wanted to rival the World's Fair and referenced building Eiffel's Tower, I wanted to learn something. Though now I think I'll try for a nonfiction text about it rather than a romanticized version with a romantic angle. Chiefly because it felt like after thirty pages then fifty pages of skimming that nothing was going fast. I can usually tolerate this if there is a magic to the words, but I was left feeling uninspired by the story.

Beautiful love story set in a time of change. Loved it

I was unable to read this book as I lost my phone and was unable to retrieve the book file that was sent to me. This title has since been archived.

A chaperone accompanies two stupid teenagers to Paris at the request of their rich uncle during the late 1890s with the goal of getting the teenage boy a good job and the teenage girl an eligible husband. Irresponsibility on the part of all complicates things. Suddenly the chaperone has fallen for the man she should be setting up with the teenage girl, the girl becomes pregnant out of wedlock, and the boy has managed to accumulate thousands of dollars in debt. How will the three get out of this mess?