Congratulations to Chelsea Fagan for her lush, sexy and atmospheric debut! Married to a sexy Frenchman who I'm sure served as inspiration for the exquisite hero Théo, Fagan clearly knows the dynamics of being a childfree professional American woman navigating high class French culture. Consultant Lea Mortimer is a complicated and flawed heroine who may not be to everyone's taste, but her happy ending is well-deserved. While the beats of this book are that of a romance, it really does meld romance and women's fiction, with Lea's mental health, her work and her relationship with her best friend Stephanie entwining in a complex and realistic plot. I would highly recommend this book to romance and women's fiction readers alike, as a vibey but not simplistic summer read. 

It's wild that this book is just just hanging out in Target for $12 but you know, good for Tessa Bailey. I'm not a Why Choose? girlie but I'm sure it'll be enjoyable for lots of readers, and I can't pretend I didn't just inhale this book in one sitting like fairy floss. I enjoyed Elise's dynamics with each of the guys, but with only 270 pages, I was left wanting. I particularly wanted more from her relationship with Banks, who felt like the most for real boyfriend of the three. The political corruption B plot was a bit random but leant good stakes to the story. I'm not not recommending it but readers' discretion is advised. 

Il m'a fallu une heure pour lire ce premier roman pour les petits bébés français.

I don't know who else would benefit from hearing this, but Paullina Simons has massively improved in the past decade. I read and loved The Bronze Horseman over a decade ago, and quickly worked my way through her backlist, with increasing disillusionment that eventually turned into full avoidance, despite the interesting premises of her more recent releases. My interest was piqued by the lovely cover of this new release, and the Ukraine setting. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the first 95% of this book. Any narration that can keep me engrossed in the minutiae of the 1929 crash while deep cleaning my entire apartment deserves recognition. The slow burn romance between Finn and Isabelle was realistic and satisfying, but I don't think it's a spoiler to say this hero is emotionally

and eventually physically

cheating on his wife. Isabelle's escape from the Ukraine is, of course, very violent but the family's time on the farm was a lovely place to be narratively. 

Another massive caveat, from someone who reads almost exclusively romance: this is women's fiction. (See the above point about the hero being a cheater... their marriage sucks but romance heroes seldom actively cheat with the heroine). The half star I've knocked off is for the last three or so chapters. There are so many decisions I despise in those last few chapters.

I despise this long-suffering refugee narrative for Isabelle... I don't want a storyworld where the heroine must self-sacrifice her own happiness. That marriage was bad for Vanessa too... Give the women an actual happy ending, Women's Fiction, please God. I am reminded of something else about Paullina Simons that always frustrated me: the false equivlancy: Isabelle's lie, and keeping their pregnancy from him for a decade, is not the same as the "untrue" decision to stay with his wife, which was based on a deliberate lie?

In my mind, I choose to believe in an alternate ending wherein...

her children come back and they all live happily on their lovely farm. The vibes were so good during their time on the farm, it felt so unfair to send that family back to the office. Keep those submarine shares to help out with farm expenses and let this extended family love their crops for the rest of their days. The more I think about it, the more putting Finn back in a suit feels like it undermines the impact and relevance of Isabelle's life skills from the old country in America, and I don't like that. Also, I'm sorry, it's almost never going to be a good narrative choice to have your heroine keep the existance of the hero's child from him.

 

I enjoyed this primer for sustainable travel, and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Its 99 tips are only a paragraph each, so of course any one of them have nuances that go unexamined, but nevertheless I amassed several new bookmarks as I read through. 

The tips are organised chronologically ("before you go", "getting there", "bedding down", "playing tourist", "eating out", "let's go shopping", "be well, stay well" and "going home") and aligned to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. I wanted to step into Julia Murray's beautiful illustrations!

In the spirit of "leaving only footprints", I borrowed this from the library, and definitely assumed it was one of those illustrated thematic reference books from Lonely Planet (it's not - it's from a small press in Melbourne, but that's the vibe). Put it this way - I won't be buying this book as a reference, but I may borrow it again the next time I'm planning a trip. I'd recommend it, particularly for anyone new to the sustainable travel game.