3.25 Stars (Outliner) 

One Liner: Cute in parts; great side characters

 Lilou started Paris Cupid to help her friend find love in the old-fashioned way, by exchanging letters and getting to know one another before meeting face-to-face. However, she didn’t expect it to become so popular and suddenly enter the limelight. The fame seems to be bringing more trouble too! 

That aside, Lilou’s love life is non-existent. After the disaster of her previous relationship, she wants to get it right. When Lilou gets admiring messages as letters, she needs to find out who the sender is. It is the cheerful Felix, the nerdy and handsome Beniot, or the scowling and muscular Pascal? Can one of them be her happy-ever-after? 

The story comes in Lilou’s first-person POV. 

A cozy book set in Paris dealing with love letters – what’s not to like? It is categorized as General Fiction on NetGalley, an apt tag. Don’t look for romance though there’s a lot of about around it. 

The good things first – 

The setting is lovely! The market reminded me of the bazaars in my city with multiple shops bundled in one region. It is almost always buzzing with activity.  

The side characters are very well crafted. In fact, I liked them more than the main character. They come in different types – flirty, old school, gossipy, friendly, nerdy, etc. 

The cats, Minou and Marmalade, are a treat (even if Minou’s antics can give you grey hair!). They elevated the book when I was losing interest. 

Lilou’s character is decent too. I like how she was great at giving relationship advice to others but too afraid to try it herself (relatable, lol). It is easy to see the bigger picture when we are a few steps away from the situation. Of course, her concerns about public opinions and SM outrage are more than valid! 

If only – 

Based on the cute cover and the premise (it mentions three men!), I expected it to have a lot more romance. While there is some love, most of it occurs off-page and mainly for other characters. 

The first-person POV means we see only what Lilou sees. Though this didn’t affect my opinion of some characters, it definitely distanced me from the MMC. 

Moreover, in an attempt to keep the suspense going for as long as possible, we don’t get Lilou’s ‘real’ feelings. So I found zero chemistry between her and the main guy even though we are supposed to guess it. Enemies-to-lovers is not an easy trope, and without good banter, it feels flatter than a crepe. 

The ending is rushed and wrapped up too quickly. There’s no surprise since that’s the only way it would go. But that doesn’t mean the characters cannot at least have a decent connection. I still don’t know why the MMC fell in love with her. 

At least, there’s a short epilogue which is good. 

To summarize, A Love Letter to Paris is more of a story about a woman realizing she needs to follow the relationship advice she gives others through the matchmaking website. Would have enjoyed it more if I saw the FMC fall in love. 

I’m an outliner here, so check other reviews before you decide. 

Thank you, Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley