Christmas in Paris by Anita Hughes

I'm rather picky when it comes to Christmas books because there's such a short window of time each year to read them (at least, in my opinion), but at the same time I'm also incredibly lenient with them. lol. Sometimes Christmas can save an otherwise dull story for me. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Christmas In Paris. The author mentions a lot of the typical sights and foods that are found in Paris, but the city still feels out of reach. Was this supposed to be a fictional novel or a travel guide? I didn't feel transported. The characters speak to each other and others like they're Paris tour guides. I also really didn't like the two main characters. They were shallow, unrealistic, and flat, almost emotionless. How can both be jilted by the people they're supposed to marry and not care at all? There was no growth or development for either of them. I can't enjoy a book if the characters are so ridiculous, so unfortunately this just wasn't for me.

This book is beautiful! I love how this is written. I love the story. This is the first time I've read her works and I am sure there'll be a lot more

This author is not for me. I’ve read one book previous to this one and hated it. This one was slightly better, but it was still too much of a disconnect for me. The characters seemed so vain, and all the name dropping of high price designers had me rolling my eyes. I did like the characters love story but that was about all there was to liking this story. Now I know not to pick up another book by this author.

If able to embrace the implausible, and overlook the frequent repetitive descriptions the reader will be rewarded with a happy ending to this romance. Does make one wish to visit Paris at Christmas. Would have benefited from tighter editing.

I had thoroughly enjoyed Anita’s other book, French Coast, which was a typical chicklit so I was a little surprised by this one. I had assumed it would be similar and even though your average chicklit doesn’t usually include a lot of depth, Anita’s previous book had personable characters and a plot that was more than simply romance. So for this book, I was quite disappointed at the end. There were a lot of times when I was shaking my head at the absurdity of the situation or how ridiculous some of the characters were being. I think, from my personal experiences, I tend to enjoy chicklits when there isn’t simply only a fluff romance involved. And this one was most definitely all fluff and no depth. Plus there weren’t any other sub-plot to entertain me.

I mean, I guess if you want to be specific then I could count the whole “fortune telling” aspect as a subplot but honestly the whole thing was so ridiculous that I don’t even want to think about it. In my head, I was pretty much going like “is she really that stupid?” “Can someone really be that dense?” And for a financial analyst who is usually very realistic and good with predictability and numbers and probability to simply go off in this fantasy chase was just utter craziness.

The main character, Isabel, is by far one of the most obnoxious character that had ever faced this planet. I could not stand her at all. She’s a financial analyst and rather than a typical level-headed person, she somehow decided to follow a fortune teller’s advice about the whole French nobility and whatnot. Which is fine but considering the fact that she’s only in Paris for a few days, how in the world did she expect someone to propose to her in a matter of days? Like come on! It’s one thing if it happens by chance but going out of your way and expecting a proposal after knowing someone for a week is a little crazy and way too far-fetched.

Alec, the other guy, was also a little crazy as well. They were both nursing broken hearts yet somehow for someone who had sworn off marriage and females and whatnot, he decided to propose a week or so after his own marriage was called off. I don’t know about you but if someone did that, I think alarm bells would be going off in my head. It shows to me that this guy isn’t at all stable and doesn’t know what the fuck he wants.

So basically this story is a jumble of mess. It clearly shows two crazy people who both don’t really know what they truly want yet is willing to jump into another relationship so quickly. This is the main reason why the institution of marriage is so fucked up these days. And why divorce rates are at a record high. It’s because of BOGUS stories like this that somehow makes people think that this is the norm. It isn’t and these types of utter nonsense should be banned forever.

I thought this lovely read by Anita Hughes was a great way to get in the Christmas spirit. Anita Hughes' ability to describe the city of Paris will leave you feeling like you are there with these characters.

Isabel is a very ambitious finance woman that is set to be married on Christmas and have a huge Christmas wedding. When Isabel decides to call off the wedding three days before it is supposed to actually happen, everyone thinks she is crazy. They already have the reservations in Paris so Isabel decides that she is going to use it to get away from everything and clear her mind for awhile.

What Isabel doesn't expect is to lock herself out of the room on her balcony the first night she is there. This is when Isabel meets her suit neighbor, Alec. Alec is a children's illustrator who is also there nursing a broken heart. His gorgeous fiance left him a week before their wedding as well.

Alec and Isabel decide that they are going to make use of their time and see all the sights while they are there. As they get closer, they realize that they have a lot in common. Is this the reason both of them are there is to meet each other?

You will have to read this lovely romance that is set in the middle of the holiday to see how it all ends for Isabel and Alec. I love the writing style of Anita Hughes and am now a fan of hers. I look forward to what we will get next from her as readers.

2.5 stars

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I liked this book better than the other ones that I have read from Anita Hughes, however this certainly wasn't a great read.
Again as with most of her other books, the characters are very underdeveloped while the setting, sights and fashion take center state. Isabel comes off as very naive in her quest to find true love, throwing herself into following a fortune tellers prediction regardless of what is going on all around her.
This was a very quick and easy read due to the lack of substance in the story, there was a lot there to work with, however the author didn't develop much story wise.

I wanted to love this book - the premise was good, the idea of Christmas in Paris romantic - but there seemed to be more show than substance. Isabelle and her mother were shallow as a pothole in the 5th Arrondissement. Neil seems like a good enough fellow, and he has his own problems to contend with. Their meeting was quirky and sweet and Isabelle is a smart, practical woman -right until the moment where she meets a fortune teller, and then I wasn't sure WHO she was, because she became as flighty and superstitious as all get out. I wanted to like her, but there was much name dropping about clothes and shoes and spending that the pull slowly ebbed away.

When Isabelle calls off her wedding 3 days before the big event, nobody seems very upset. She realizes that they have grown apart, do not have much in common and she doesn't love him the way a wife should love her husband. Resigned to spend Christmas with her parents, she is surprised when her ex-fiance calls and tells her to use the honeymoon reservations and go to Paris. They will just go to waste otherwise. She agrees with this logic and off she goes. Now this is a romance novel, a Christmas romance no less so you can probably guess what is going to happen. When Isabelle has her fortune told, she decides that if her future will be happy when she marries a French Aristocrat, she needs to find one. The story is about Isabelle, Alec the gentleman in the room next door, and Anthony the nobleman she meets. Who will she choose? Can you fall in love in a week? What is true love? Can you trust someone who has lied by omission? This is a light, quick read about Christmas Magic and Love. A perfect book to get you in the Christmas Spirit (I still enjoyed it even though I read it in March). I recommend this one to all those who love those Hallmark Movies and want a good, sappy, clean romance.

A bit cliche at times, but a very sweet story. I loved all the descriptions of Paris that sounded wonderful and magical. But the main character was very annoying, and the ending was predictable. Although all Christmas stories have predictable endings, so if you enjoy Hallmark movies, you'll like this.

Nothing wrong with Christmas in Paris by Anita Hughes. Just, wow, it's too rich in many senses.
There are too many brands and too many rich places in this book that at the end you think: let me breath a bit, I can't go on.

I tried to check out if the author had also included the restaurant where Hemingway loved to eat but, no. Hoooray: that one is not a place where snob people go and so I will stop by there when I will visit Paris.

So, more than the capital of love this one is the capital of richness and rich people and of a profound richness able to let you develop a profound nausea. I found the book pretty snob although there is to add that the characters are portrayed well in the system where they live in.

The story the one of a girl Isabel who split up from the boyfriend at just few days from the wedding because of futile reasons. And I found also this fact pretty irritating.
I found all of it pretty pretty irritating because if we live in a society like this one let's say that it's a senseless society.

The couple if married had chosen to go to Paris for spending their happy honeymoon. Wedding gone, Isabel will afford to Paris where later she will meet Alex...

Sexy scenes, sophisticated atmospheres, rich menus, Christmas in Paris is a well-structured book, just it's...empty.

Empty of human touch, empty of humanity, empty of that real love-story able to let you say: WOW, what a book. The story unable to communicate with the reader.

I would have wanted to see much more not the rich part of the city or just the rich part of the city, constantly under the lenses of the protagonists but the human part of this capital, the atmosphere, the warm that exists in Paris. Let's say that the gypsy has been the most human part of the capital.
It's for a certain unique particular, peculiar atmosphere, magical and plenty of atmosphere because of books, culture, paintings, art that you want to afford to Paris for visiting the capital of France. Many people in the cinema portrayed a wonderful Paris: Woody Allen in movies like Midnight in Paris and Everyone says I love you (and Woody Allen is not poor, and a man plenty of culture), Billy Crystal in Forget Paris, Disney with Ratatouille: Meg Ryan explored the french capital but also the South of France in French Kiss, without forgetting all the books written by Joanne Harris and Hugo Cabret by Selznick and the movie produced by Johnny Depp. It's for that reasons that you want to afford to Paris one day: because a city that deserves to be visited.

A city able, being the capital of France to speak much more loudly than what can do Louis Vuitton or the Charles V! That ones are brands and places for a niche of people and with this crisis and poverty I would give a different portrait of cities where possible and people as well also when the protagonists of these stories are rich, because if rich people are like these ones, do you know what?
They're pretty boring.

I would save for obvious reasons the mention at Shakespeare&Co.


I thank NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for this book.

I liked this book right away. The author does a good job of telling the reader what brought the main character to the point she was at, without making it boring and offering too much information up front.

This is a richly detailed book with a lot to recommend it. The sights, sounds and scents of Paris are there waiting for you to enjoy, and the Christmas theme makes if feel that much more cosy. The characters were well-drawn and had a lot of personality, which made it easy to get involved in their stories and want them to succeed.

This is part love story, part adventure, part finding yourself--all together it was a lot of fun and left me feeling warm inside when I was finished reading it. If you like books that will produce a smile and lift your spirits, this is a good place to start.

This review is based on a complementary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Isabel Lawson has just called off a wedding and decided to still go on her honeymoon. In the suite in her hotel in Paris next door, Neil is also fresh off a break up before a wedding, so he shows her Paris and they hit all the big spots.

I would say this is a romance book disguised as a women's fiction and of course with a holiday twist. There are definitely some sexy times, but nothing that made me blush too much! Of course with every romance you can probably guess what the ending will be, but the journey is worth the read.

I would add this book to your Christmas reading list. It was so fun to read a book set in Paris and during the Christmas season and the author really made me feel like I was experiencing the Christmas spirit. This was my favorite part - how Christmasy the book was!

I have had ups and downs with Anita Hughes and I would say this one was a good one.

This was a great Christmas book - I included it in my Christmas roundup.