Sleeping with Paris

City of Love #1

by Juliette Sobanet

Date like a man in the City of Light and Love…
Charlotte Summers is a sassy, young French teacher two days away from moving to Paris. Love of her life by her side, for those romantic kisses walking along the Seine? Check. Dream of studying at the prestigious Sorbonne University? Admission granted. But when she discovers her fiancé’s online dating profile and has a little chat with the busty red-head he’s been sleeping with on the side, she gives up on committed relationships and decides to navigate Paris on her own. Flings with no strings in the City of Light—mais oui!


Determined to stop other women from finding themselves in her shoes, Charlotte creates an anonymous blog on how to date like a man in the City of Love—that is, how to jump from bed to bed without ever falling in love. But, with a slew of Parisian men beating down her door, a hot new neighbor who feeds her chocolate in bed, and an appearance by her ex-fiancé, she isn’t so sure she can keep her promise to remain commitment-free. When Charlotte agrees to write an article for a popular women’s magazine about her Parisian dating adventures—or disasters, rather—will she risk losing the one man who’s swept her off her feet and her dream job in one fell swoop?

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, France, Humor

320 pages, ebook

First published October 7, 2011

About the author

Juliette Sobanet is the award-winning author of five Paris-based romance and mystery novels, five short stories, a book of poetry, a bestselling memoir, and the screenplay adaptation of her first novel, SLEEPING WITH PARIS. Under her real name of Danielle Porter, she is the author of a new thriller titled, ALL THE BEAUTIFUL BODIES. Her books have reached over 500,000 readers worldwide, hitting the Top 100 Bestseller Lists on Amazon US, UK, France, and Germany, becoming bestsellers in Turkey and Italy as well. A French professor and writing coach, Juliette holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.A. from New York University in Paris. She lives between France and the US, and she is currently working on her next novel. Visit Juliette’s website at www.juliettesobanet.com. She loves to hear from her readers!

Reviews

[Searock · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars (I had it at 3.5, but you know how that can change after you close the book and a couple days go by...)

Some notes:

This book gets good marks for enjoyment, but there's not much more than a
straightforward, 1st person, lighthearted, misadventure in a youthful Parisian setting.

A little predictable.
Not much stress.
Lots of relatability.
HEA, of course :)

Recommended for young adults or readers in a youthful mood.
Emotionally interesting but stays in the shallow end with trips to the angsty side of the pool for toe dips.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, before writing down my review of this AMAZINGLY FUN book I want to have your attention and just briefly tell you what this book focuses on.
1. Paris a.k.a city of Light and Love
2. Chocolate
3. Hot Parisian guy (but this is the most important part, right?;)

So, if you mix all these three you get a sweet romance story, placed in one of the most romantic cities in the world, Paris! Of course I have your attention now, but trust me..the story just gets better and better.

All her life, Charlotte Summers has been dreaming about two things - moving to Paris and having a faithful, loving, romantic partner. Finally, looks like her dream is about to come true, she is engaged to be married to Jeff Dillon, hot and successful lawyer and they are about to move to their own apartment to Paris! What else could a girl want?
Could life become THAT perfect?
Just two days before leaving, she finds out her loving Jeff has been cheating her for months, and even planned on continuing this "double" life once they settle in Paris!
So, charming Jeff turn out to be lowlife Jeff! Oh well, he sure isn't the only bastard she dated over the years. Actually, every guy she dated was cheating on her! Wow, now this is what I call epidemic!
'So, with a plane ticket, an acceptance letter, $15,000 and a broken heart, she is on her way to Paris.'
Sweet and reasonable Charlotte becomes single, wild, adventurous Charlotte writing down her RULES on her blog, sharing her dreadful experience, reaching out to all the women in the world that have been hurt by men.
And so the rules are set - How to date like a man in the city of Love!
While trying to heal and pick up the pieces of her broken heart, Charlotte is going to find out what true love is and is about to have her "walls" down.
What a fun book! I absolutely love everything about it, from the colorful cover to the characters and charming French phrases! Charlotte is really sweet, and though after the Jeff situation she may seem to you like a man-hater (I say this to warn the male population that is going to read the book) she will grow on you from the first minute. Some say chick lit is predictable to some extent, but on few occasions I really couldn't see some things coming. Charlotte's friends are also very likeable characters, different but well developed and you can certainly feel the girly-bonding between them. As for the romance part, oh I am trying not to reveal much about the hot, sexy, charming Luc..the man every woman dreams about. Sweet Luc is going to melt your heart ladies! Ah, if only there were more man like him out there!
Seat yourself comfortably, grab some chocolate and enjoy this lovely modern romance story. Finally, I would like to thank Juliette for giving me a copy of this wonderful book! I am really looking forward to reading the sequel 'Kissed in Paris' and I hope the author won't let us wait on it for too long. Je t'aime Juliette et merci beaucoup pour le livre :)

[Kellie Maddox-Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I said in my review of Kissed in Paris this book was fun. I was glad it was free too!
It wasn’t OMG-I-CAN’T-PUT-THIS-DOWN-AS-I-HAVE-TO-KNOW-WHAT-HAPPENS-AND-IF-THEY-LIVE-HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER!

Just plain simple, light, fluffy, clichéd, fun.

Long story short-

Charlotte is engaged to Jeff- a rich-sexy lawyer. They are moving to Paris in 2 days and she couldn’t be happier.
Until she finds out that he has been cheating on her, by finding his online dating profile… On 3 sites…

She heads to Paris by herself, hating him and herself and drinks A LOT of wine. She then starts a Blog about how to date like a man, by just using them and not letting your feelings get involved

The story basically consists of drinking wine, going to school, eating croissants. walking around Paris, eating Nutella crepes, drinking coffee, drinking more wine. Sleeping around, making friends, drinking more wine, crying, writing in her blog, drinking well.. Well you get my point…
*NOTE*--(It just makes me want to go back to Paris and do these things as well!!, well besides the blog and living there, just a holiday would be fine. Who am I kidding I just want to go eat, drink wine and people watch! Ok so off topic Kellie! )

But of course as with all cliché books she meets a Sexy French man and it all changes yadda yadda yadda they have sex blah blah blah they have fun and sex and then he screws up blah blah blah they have sex she screws it up just as she realises she is in love with him yadda yadda yadda HEA.

But I must say that although Luc was Sexy and well French (who doesn’t love French men?!) He had my heart when he not only gave her multiple orgasms…. He then HAND FED HER CHOCOLATE!! Like EVERY time they had sex he had chocolate there… **sigh** one of the reasons I loved him!

[Cate Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one. However, it became clear very quickly that the writing was going to drive me bonkers. There were so many point-of-view slips that I could no longer overlook them. Additionally, there was a lot of telling instead of showing, and required way too much suspension of disbelief. This is my first DNF of 2012, I'm sorry to say.

[Ardeleanu Lala · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

O poveste usurica, de vara, ce te plimbă prin inegalabilul Paris, orașul iubirii. Pe lângă povestea de dragoste a Charlotei, autoarea a avut grijă să relateze detalii din stilul de viață al francezilor, delicatesele lor gastronomice, vinurile fine si evident delicioasele croissante atât de renumite. Acum, serios, după ce citești cartea asta, iti vine sa dai o fuga pana in Franta.
Dar, sa revenim la poveste...
E simpatic scrisă, poate un pic cam lungita pentru gustul meu, însă o lectură plăcută una peste alta.
Nu mi-a plăcut deloc Charlote. Mi s-a parut foarte slabă și inconsecventa (nu rezonez cu genul acesta de situatii, în care suferi ca un câine dupa fostul, pentru mine asa ceva nu exista).
Mi-a plăcut însă cât de repede a reușit să își facă ea prietene si cum a evoluat relația dintre ele. Mi-a plăcut că într-un final a reușit să scape de umbrele trecutului.
Mi-a plăcut Luc... mi s-a parut cel mai serios din toată cartea.
În fine, este o carte de 3,5 stele dupa parerea mea.
Mi-a facut placere sa o citesc. M-a relaxat, chiar dacă nu am rezonat cu personajul principal.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide if I really like this book, simply like it, or don't like it...and here's why:

I really like this book because: I've been through something similar. Having been in a committed relationship with plans on getting married, only to find out that he was cheating on me was seriously depressing. Furthermore, because we ran in the same circles, it was impossible not to see him often and have the situation thrown back in my face, so I definitely know what it feels like. Plus after studying French for 5 years, it was nice to see bits of it throughout the book :).

What I liked: she tried to get over it. She got to go to a fabulous country and live out one of her life-long dreams. Even when she was busy "dating like a man" she didn't take it too far, and still had her own slightly off-kilter moral compass. I also liked that, at the end of the story, she came to (many) life changing realizations and acted upon these newly found epiphanies.

What I didn't like: was that for most of the book she was selfish and couldn't think further then her own semi-destructive behavior. I think the blog was a brilliant way to let out the emotions and the steam, and a decent coping method. I don't even mind that she almost whored it out. I do mind that she was so self-absorbed that she waste most of her precious and limited money on wine and eating out, completely disregarding her goals of going to school and making a good impression on her mentor/guidance counselor. I was also extremely annoyed at her lack of forethought when it came to meeting with Madame Rousseau: missing their first meeting, being late to their second meeting (this is sort of excusable), forgetting to schedule an appointment (seriously, I've written a thesis and had to schedule appointments monthS in advance), falling asleep outside Madame Rousseau's office, etc. You are a grown woman. No excuses.

Lastly, I suppose I am annoyed with the protagonist because she kept falling back into her rut. She would get out and realize that she was living her dream and then go back to wallowing in her misery while destroying all the good things she had left in her life. Yes, I realize it's depression (having gone through it myself), but she could have been so much productive. She could have used all her free time not dating/falling in love to get the most out of school and living in Paris. But, then she wouldn't have created all those disasters for herself and wouldn't have learned a lesson, I guess. And, this might be petty, but it really bothered me that Luc told Charlotte to meet him at 7h (7 oclock) but in France they use standard (or Army) time, so it really should have said 19h, n'est pas?

Overall good read with funny moments. I think it's much easier for the reader to realize things, no matter how relatable the character is, much faster than Charlotte does. ***SPOILER*** For instance, it is quite obvious that Luc has a daughter and even more obvious that Charlotte has feelings for him. The ending was mostly predictable - you knew it was going to happen, you just weren't sure how long it would take.

[Dede · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte numai bună de citit în vacanţă, o lectură relaxantă şi amuzantă, care îţi arată că, de cele mai multe ori, ceea ce îţi imaginezi, ceea ce vizualizezi în mintea ta, nu va coincide cu realitatea crudă ce-ţi spulberă speranţele şi visele, chiar înainte de a ţi le materializa.

Renunţând la job-urile ei, Charlotte Summers abia aşteaptă ca, peste doar două zile, să plece la Paris împreună cu logodnicul ei, Jeff. Pentru a sărbători plecarea lor, aceasta cumpără şampanie şi se îndreaptă spre locul de muncă al iubitului ei. Dar, când intră în biroul lui Jeff şi descoperă pe computerul lui că, cel pe care-l credea iubirea vieţii ei, şi-a postat poza pe mai multe site-uri de "date"-uri, simte că totul s-a prăbuşit în jurul său.

Observând că acesta tocmai ce a primit un mail, şi curioasă din fire, îl deschide şi citeşte mesajul, care provenea de la o roşcată foarte atrăgătoare. Decide să-i răspundă fetei, pe nume Brooke, şi află că Jeff juca la două capete şi nu numai. Dorea să continue acest "joc" cu don'şoara şi după ce ei ajungeau la Paris.

Când "iubitul" ei îşi face apariţia, Charlotte hotărăşte să se despartă de el. Se duce la prietena ei cea mai bună şi-i povesteşte ce s-a întâmplat şi că nu mai vrea să plece la Paris. Katie îi spune să nu renunţe, să-l dea uitării pe idiot şi să plece, aşa cum şi-a dorit mereu. Până la urmă, Charlotte decide să-şi urmeze visul - cel de a deveni profesoară de franceză într-una din şcolile pariziene - şi pleacă singură la Paris. Ei, bine, nu chiar singură, ci cu 15.000 de dolari şi cu inima frântă.

Ajunsă la Paris şi cazată la un cămin studenţesc, tânăra se simte copleşită de singurătate şi de iubirea pe care încă o simte pentru logodnicul ei. Este confuză şi o încearcă sentimentul de a trece peste trădarea lui, oferindu-i o nouă şansă. Dar nu cade pradă tentaţiei şi îşi creează un blog în care le va sfătui pe femei cum să acţioneze în amor exact ca un bărbat, dând exemple chiar din viaţa ei.

Luptând cu greu împotriva impulsului de a-l suna pe Jeff şi nemairezistând nicio clipă să stea închisă, Charlotte se hotărăşte să iasă în oraş. Aşa că porneşte spre duşuri, care erau la comun, din păcate. Pe când ieşea de-acolo, înfăşurată doar într-un prosop, dă peste un francez sexy pe jumătate dezbrăcat. Şi ce mai francez!

Dar asta nu este tot! Odată ieşită în oraş, alături chiar de francezul sexy, o va cunoaşte pe Lexy. Împreună cu aceasta, va avea parte de numeroase peripeţii şi ieşiri nebune, unde îşi va pune în aplicare propriile sfaturi.

Pe parcursul poveştii, o vom cunoaşte şi pe Fiona, o tânără englezoaică timidă, înşelată şi ea de propriul iubit, ce va deveni o bună prietenă pentru Char a noastră, şi pe Marc, un tânăr francez, viitor medic, ce va fi elevul Charlottei, luând lecţii de engleză de la aceasta.

Treaba cu blogul merge tot mai bine, Charlotte fiind încântată de comentariile primite. Dar, când se lasă cu urmări neplăcute, deşi aceasta a fost bine intenţionată atunci când le-a scris, toată lumea va avea de suferit. Chiar şi ea.

[Nikki]

DNF at 35%

This book is exactly what the title says, "Sleeping with Paris." (Yes, it appears the main character is trying to work her way through every guy in France. )

Charlotte, a woman who just found out her fiance was cheating on her goes to France and starts a blog that encourages women to date like a man. But all I'm getting out of this is how to sleep around with every guy she meets in a bar.
The main character has a hot neighbor that of course she has sex with. And then she proceedes to go out and make out with every guy that she meets. I drew the line when she got on a bus filled with a soccer team that she just met (in a bar, shocker!!) to drive an hour away to their hotel. And then once she is in bed with this stranger, she decides that maybe this was a bad idea and calls it off. But gets mad at the guy. What???? Don't act like a slut then. Okay I'm done.
No, I don't have a problem with drinking and sex in books, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it.


And it takes a lot for me to DNF a book.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute, quick read. A typical Chick Lit read but there's nothing wrong with that when that's what you're after. The only problem I had was Charlotte's whole "it doesn't matter who you sleep with - married, with someone, single etc" blog post. If your own engagement ends because of cheating, how can you justify sleeping with a married person? IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO. It does not matter WHO the married one is, it's STILL CHEATING and it's STILL WRONG.

Except for that one silly hiccup, I did like the book. I do enjoy books set in Paris.

[Ummea Salma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why did I waste my entire time reading this book? Before starting, I didn't know it was 'chick-lit'—I wasn’t even aware of the term. So, I Googled and found this definition:

'The genre typically focuses on issues around modern womanhood, such as coming of age, female friendship circles, family dramas, workplace struggles, issues of appearance and body image, and most often, romantic entanglements with men. Simply stated, it is fiction by women, for women, about women.'

If this is the case, then the book is okay, I guess—fun, light reading. But if this genre is not your type, you will definitely find it annoying, the way I found Charlotte cute but mostly annoying.

[MsRomanticReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

A woman scorned does really dumb things.

All is right in Charlotte Summers' world. Her fiance Jake is a successful lawyer, he's sexy and they're moving to Paris in a matter of days. She visits his office to celebrate her quitting her job, however he's not there. While she checks her email from his computer, an instant message pops up on his screen. With that, her whole world comes crashing down.

After finding out about his infidelity, she chooses to go ahead to Paris anyway, alone. She has always dreamed of studying at the prestigious Sorbonne University. Her first day at the dorm, she has a run-in with a sexy French guy in the communal bathroom. When they see each other again a few hours later, he invites her to spend the evening with him and his friends. Not wanting to be alone, she tags along and meets Lexi, a fellow American. Lexi's lifestyle attracts Char instantly – go out, have fun, don't get attached – you get the picture. With all the time she has to spend obsessing over her cheating ex, she decides to start a blog – How to date like a man in the City of Love. She figures if guys can play games, she can do it too. And thus begins this ridiculous story of a scorned woman trying to validate herself by acting like the scumbags she has been accustomed to. All the while Luc hovers in the background as someone who comes to mean a little more than any other conquests, but her stubborn heart refuses to accept what her brain is telling her. Will she ruin her chances of finding a happily ever after?

I'm just going to say it ... I didn't enjoy this story. So why did I bother reading it much less finish it? I read it because I too have had my fair share of breakups, and one time actually did involve me finding a profile on an adult dating website. Hidden, but clearly not hidden well enough. Anyway, I wanted to see how this character would deal with the blow, and I'm a sucker for a good romance where the ex either gets a taste of his own medicine or he finally realizes what he's lost once it's gone. It started out well enough. I was rooting for Char to go after her dreams, even if it meant going it alone. After 26% of it, I began to hate the path this story was taking. I couldn't bond with the heroine and every time she jeopardized herself, I actually found myself feeling quite pleased - "stupid is as stupid does". She hardly deals with the anger and her pain – instead she takes it out on unsuspecting males by behaving just like Jeff. As if that wasn't bad enough, every entry in her blog bashes men – like she's lumped them all in the same bag. If she'd have kept those posts to her own personal observation, I'd have been fine with it, but then she started adding advice to her readers. Seriously? She's a hypocrite to boot; expecting others to do certain things that she herself fails to do.

"Remember you're in this to have fun, not to be sketched out and uncomfortable. You are to fabulous and smart for that."

"Do guys ever put up with crazy behavior from us? No, never. They run for the hills as fast as their little penises will carry them."

First of all Char, you are crazy and secondly, this from a woman who just ran like her pants were on fire after the disastrous date with Frederic, the horny octopus?

"I didn't want my new friend to get the wrong impression of me—fresh out of an engagement and already hanging out with a new guy on my first week in Paris—a divorced guy at that."

If Char shares her blog with Fiona, that blows the whole first impression worry to hell. Fiona will be able to read all about what Char's been up to.

I knew she'd have her epiphany at some point, but for me it was too little, too late. She didn't figure things out until nearly the end of the book.

Luc was the only shining character in this book, and in my opinion, he was way too good for her. I loved Katie; she seemed the only sensible female around. As for everyone else, they were way over the top in their crazy behavior. I didn't care for the writing either. It often sounded a bit frantic and made the characters seem juvenile.

Now ... if you want to read a few more things I took issue with you can read on:

Luc says he has something he wants to tell her. In her panic she distracts him with sex. Afterwards he catches her reading a text from Frederic and lying about who he is. If she doesn't give a damn like she keeps saying, why lie? Just say "we're not exclusive" or "we never agreed to not go out with anyone else". Then she rants on her blog about Luc getting a little nosy when he doesn't share his secrets about his ex-wife, or the phone call interruptions. Hello! He tried to talk to you! What if he had something really important to say? Like, "I have AIDS, but it's fine as long as we use a condom"? Don't scoff at me – you know it CAN happen.

I suppose getting drunk off your a** and then boarding a bus full of English rugby players is no cause for concern about one's safety. At least she has one drunk slutty friend and another scared kitten with her. I'm sure they'd be a real help in a bind.

[Maggie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

i didnt know this was a smut book so reading this in 3rd grade was a rude awakening for me i just thought it was about paris

[Meredith Schorr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sleeping With Paris is a story about a young woman who, after discovering that her fiancee has been cheating on her, decides to move to Paris by herself even though she was supposed to move there with him. Bitter and jaded after having her heart broken, Charlotte decides to experiment with dating "like a man" and she starts a blog to journal her experiences. The experiment is made easier after she meets a new friend, Lexi, who claims to have no interest in men aside from sex. While slowly mending her heart from her ex's deception, Charlotte finds herself growing more attached to Luc, the "half naked French hottie" who lives in the same apartment building.

Sleeping With Paris was quite the rollercoaster ride and I really enjoyed it! Some scenes, especially Charlotte's date with a frisky man she met in a club, had me laughing out loud. The author also did a great job of creating storylines for many of the secondary characters and I liked that they were not only there to support Charlotte.

What I liked best about the book was how realistic Charlotte's journey was in moving on from Jeff, her cheating bastard of an ex-fiance. Even though she knew he was no good, there was a part of her that wanted him to prove her wrong and to fight for her. And even when she was dating other guys and growing more attached to Luc, she still stubbornly held onto her feelings for Jeff. And even though she seemed to enjoy her dating escapades, at the core was a desire to throw them in Jeff's face. What woman cannot relate to that?? At the same time, there were moments in the book where I really did not like Charlotte, especially a scene where she allows herself to "be taken" by a man she has no desire to really be with and afterwards just shrugs it off like it was nothing. I found that scene very hard to swallow and it took me a while to like Charlotte again. Additionally, I found her to be selfish in her attitude about her parent's separation, as if their lives were supposed to revolve soley around her. 55 year old parents are just as entitled to find their happiness as 25 year olds. I shrugged that off as immaturity but was hoping for an "aha" moment that never came.

In sum, I found this to be a very engaging and entertaining book full of drama, conflict and, of course, a satisfying happy ever after ending. Good sex scenes too :)

[Tracie Banister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sleeping with Paris, the breezily written debut novel of Chick Lit author Juliette Sobanet, was the perfect pick-me-up to read while I was suffering through a post-holiday cold. It was well-paced, entertaining, and best of all it had surprising depth and did an excellent job of plucking at my heartstrings.

The story centers on the emotional journey of Charlotte Summers, who in the opening scenes of SWP is devastated to learn that her "perfect" fiance is a two-timing dog. Without a man, a place to live, or a job (Charlotte had given up the last two thinking that she and Jeff would be studying/working in Paris for a year), our heroine has to scramble and make some big decisions about what to do. She boards the plane to France, determined to enjoy her time in the City of Lights and never to risk her heart again. She plans to accomplish this by dating like a man (no intimacy, no committment, just fun and sex) and she even starts a blog to share her escapades with other women. Along the way she meets one great guy aka Half-Naked French Hottie and an assortment of horny, weird, superficial, cheesy guys of various nationalities. Because she's in pain and not really thinking clearly, Charlotte has some lapses in judgment and makes a series of mistakes, not just with her love life, but with her friends and career, as well. How she deals with the fallout from these mistakes and finally finds her happy ending makes for a really engrossing read. I will confess that I got a bit teary-eyed over the sweet, romantic dénouement of the book.

Sleeping with Paris is a treat for Chick Lit lovers and I look forward to reading many more wonderful stories by the talented Juliette Sobanet. I did check out the sneak peek of Kissing in Paris (Sobanet's second book) that was tacked on to the end of Sleeping with Paris and I'm already intrigued and excited to read the rest!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what happens when you decide as a girl to date as you perceive boys do and do so in a foreign country? Well the results are not necessarily what you expect

Charlotte is heartbroken when she discovers her fiance, Jeff has been cheating on her just days before they are due to move to Paris together to start a new adventure! So what do you do in that situation, why of course you pack your bags and head off to Paris anyway to study and live in a university dorm!

This is Charlotte's journey through dating and partying and trying to survive a break up, a new country, new rules and new friends. A bit predcitable at times, and a bit unpredictable at others.

Lexi and Fiona are great friends, as is Katie back in the US. Charlottes opinions affect their friendships and can she turn it around in time

Luc the love interest is behaving weirdly and Charlotte is determined to label him as a bad bet for her to get involved with...

A fun read

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a true example of a chic lit novel. Saucy, fun, lighthearted and humorous. It made me laugh out loud, cringe and tear up (almost) throughout. The characters were hilarious and not at all cheesy like they can be.

I have read another book along the same lines as this one - Friday Night Cocktails, but Sleeping with Paris is definitely well written with a more well rounded storyline and characters.

I am especially a sucker for novels written in or about France, I will buy (and finish reading) even the WORST book if it is based around the City of Love (case in point Love Song by Alex Miller, a painfully boring French story), but this one vibrantly described the streets of Paris and made me nostalgic to return there myself!

It won't be for everyone, but this would be a perfect book to read while on holidays - something you can easily put down but just as easily pick back up again.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

My whole review got deleted, so sadly I'll keep it short and sweet.

This novel was the epitome of chic lit and it was great. I lost myself in this novel because I related to the heartbreak and the healing process that our main character, Charlotte, had to go through. This book made me laugh out loud, feel sad, feel angry, be in disbelief...etc. At times Charlotte could be immature but she learned from her mistakes in the end. I loved the scenery in the book! Paris! The city of love!

We can't forget about the French hotties! Especially Luc, who Charlotte tries to fight her feelings for. He was nearly perfect and I wouldn't mind being fed chocolate in bed from him either. Seriously!

I'm so happy I read this...can't wait to read the next one!

3.5-4/5 stars!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a magical and romantic book. The author wisked me away to the beautiful streets of Paris and with a "hottie french guy"! Loved the storyline from start to finish. Seriously so romantic, I just loved it.

[Talli Roland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read about a heartbroken American newcomer to the City of Love... and how she manages to overcome her hurt (and various other obstacles, along the way!). If you love Paris, you'll definitely enjoy this. I did!

[Karen Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, witty book with compelling, yet flawed characters, a good plot and satisfying HEA ending. Sex in the City fans will enjoy this novel, as well as anyne who like their romance hot, the cast smart and the setting evocative. Will be reading more by this author!

[Joy Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who loves France MUST read this funny, sexy story about a woman scorned who learns that payback isn't as much fun as it might appear. Juliette's descriptions of Parisian men, food and mores made me laugh - and want to catch the next flight to De Gaulle!

Very enjoyable!

[Marijana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best!!! I'm so glad I read this book,loved it!!!

[Natalie Bechaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fully enjoyed this book, I felt as if I was in Paris! I would highly recommend to any woman, single, married, whatever!
I just re-read this as my first book of 2018, still loved it!!!

[***Cheryl*** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this as a freebie. I really enjoyed it.

[Kristy Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read a romance novel that took place in Paris as I had just returned from my first visit to Paris and wanted to extend my euphoria over my own experience there. I have to say I was gravely disappointed in this book. Given the heroine and her outlook on her move to Paris I was expecting an enlightened European take on modern romance. Instead I ended up with the same old judgmental tropes that I see in so many American romance novels.

I personally found Paris to be very friendly and welcoming. In my experience the people were warm and willing to share all sorts of information on how to get around and the history behind every little thing you asked them about. The people are more formal than Americans but that does not detract from their friendliness. The book does touch on their ability to relax and take time off of work but for the most part, I did not feel like the author was extolling the virtues of Paris and the culture of the people there in this book, which I found rather odd.

“You Americans are all so friendly. Much different than the Parisians.” - Says a French man visiting DC in the book. Was this supposed to be sarcasm? The only rude people that I saw in Paris were Americans. I was floored by this quote.

I put the book down around halfway through because I was bored but I picked it up a couple of weeks later to finish it and was at least drawn in by things that surprised me but not in a good way.

I was sorely disappointed in a scene consisting of Charlotte and her girlfriends giggling over drinks and talking about one of their “jerk” boyfriends and his fascination with all things anal. This reminded me more of giggling teenagers in my Christian youth group making fun of sex and fetishes than it did of modern adult women talking about their love lives over drinks. I was surprised the judgmental behavior of the characters in this book regardless of whether they were American, French or British.

And then there was bridezilla who thought everyone should put their differences aside and be happy to walk down the aisle in the same wedding party with each other for her precious friendship and happiness. Seriously? If I had a supposed “friend” who expected me to be her bridesmaid while my ex-fiance, who cheated on me and then left me for said woman, was the best man and put on a happy face and not cause drama, I think I would take issue with her idea of friendship. That is not being a friend. Oh, and then to have the rehearsal dinner in the same restaurant that he proposed to me in? Not even close to my definition of friendship. If the bride was a true friend she should have told the groom that she wanted her day to be perfect and he needed to exchange his best man or else or at least told Charlotte that she would understand if she did not want to be involved. Yet Charlotte is shamed into believing she is the bad friend.

Charlotte then shames herself into believing that she’s been acting like a slut, and several characters in the novel seem to agree or at least do not try to dissuade her. “An upstanding private Catholic institution has no place for such debauchery.” - “I’ll probably change the title [of my blog] from Sleeping with Paris to something a little less…slutty” I was very disappointed that the heroine seemed to feel that her actions were shameful instead of liberating.

The misunderstanding with Luc. More like a purposeful miscommunication. She writes about him anonymously on her blog but then writes an entire article mentioning him heavily, which is published in a popular American magazine then expects no one at the wedding to mention it? “I figured what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.” Not hard to see what was coming next after that statement. Yet both individuals were admittedly not ready for anything serious having both recently been through bad breakups. I had a hard time believing the events at the wedding warranted the extreme cut-off that takes place afterwards.

Not sure I even want to go into this but given Charlotte’s age, I think her decision on what to do with money she received when she moved Lyon was a little reckless. At her age, I was contemplating any large sums to be invested in something I would own and yet she has the equivalent of $25,000 and she uses it for a deposit on a rental apartment while admitting she could not afford the rent on a teacher’s salary. So that leads me to assume that eventually the rest of the money will supplement her income to pay her rent and when it runs out, what? She’ll have to move and she’ll have nothing to show for it? That’s not going to happen because she has an HEA coming. Is that what I am supposed to assume?

The writing? The quality is not much better than my book reviews, if that. Maybe I should reconsider writing again. I did give it two stars for character development. The characters had defined personalities and I was not left wondering what their motives or feelings were at points throughout the book.

[Parisan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Charlotte was so annoying. She was supposedly old enough to be engaged but suddenly the second she’s not engaged she’s an alcoholic slut who is willing to sleep with anything that walks? Oh wait no, she’s willing to play the part of an alcoholic party girl slut but the second she’s not in the mood to sleep with someone she suddenly becomes a conservative nun and dares to get angry with a guy who doesn’t even pressure her, other than point out the obvious of why did you even come back on the bus with me and follow me to my hotel?

Clearly Charlotte cared nothing for her fiancé if she’s able to hop in bed with a random stranger and start making out with strangers less than a week after their break up. I understand the author needing a reason for Charlotte going to Paris, but maybe it should have been to allow her to have a sexual awakening rather than to get over something like an engagement. Charlotte was way too immature, annoying, and selfish to even take seriously. There’s moments where she is upset over her ex fiancé such as lashing out at her friend Hannah for “allowing” her fiancé to still have Charlottes ex has his best man, but these are just nonsense words and Charlotte being utterly selfish. Charlotte never once actually acts upset over her ex since she’s too busy getting hammered and making out with random strangers.

Charlotte also is so lax about the French men she’s making out with and sleeping with possibly being married when she was just cheated on, because what she doesn’t know and what they don’t tell her won’t hurt her. Yet then when she finally meets Brooke all she keeps screaming about is how Brooke is a slut. Actually, Brooke was an innocent party who had no idea that Jeff was engaged and Charlotte is the one who went off the deep end becoming an actual slut.

I truly began to hate Charlotte when her mom decides to leave her dad and this is Charlotte’s thought:

“Without my dad’s money to support her, what on earth was she going to do?”

REALLY?? So all these 30 some years of marriage were nothing? It was all just your dad in the marriage? Just because one person works in a marriage doesn’t mean the other is free loading. It means that your mother raised you Charlotte, and took care of the home, and your father. Most couples when they get married it becomes THEIR money, not just the person’s money who is making the most. This notion is absolutely ridiculous and coming from a character who is a school teacher and was banking on marrying an obviously wealthy lawyer that she literally stole money from to fund her extended drink and bang anything that walks in Paris trip is very rich. Oh then Charlotte has the never to tell her mother that her “advice” she’s writing on her blog is meant only for 25 year olds not 55 year olds...yup coming again from the girl who was supposedly mature enough to be getting married. Charlotte is despicable. She’s also moron enough to think her family would be all happy and rosy and sunshine if she would have never told her mom she had caught her dad cheating back when she was younger. Ok Charlotte didn’t you JUST run away to Paris because you caught your fiancé cheating you?

Charlotte is an awful mess of a character who is selfish, a horrible friend, and only interested in getting drunk and getting laid. She’s the worst depiction of a 20 something year old female.

[Jessica Rugg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this book (and potentially this author) a miss. Please read below for details.

I didn't want to finish reading the book and stopped reading it several times, with no plans to return to it, except I was curious to see where the main character would end up. Most of the book is about ladies getting drunk and sleeping with strangers and then wondering why their lives are so messed up.

Content:

Language: This book does use swear words, cursing, and foul and vulgar language.

Relationships: Most of the relationships in the book are between unmarried people.

Explicit content: There are a few scenes with graphic descriptions of what goes on between men and women, so be prepared to skip these. There is also a conversation and reference to sexual acts that decent people would find disgusting.

Other issues: There is an attempted suicide in the book. The only substance abuse is alcohol and tobacco. There is betrayal, cheating husbands, boyfriends, fiances, and cheating women too. There is an obscene amount of alcohol consumption in the story, as if the characters don't know how to function unless they drink a few glasses of whatever first. There are lies, slander, gossip, and many other horrible things people do and say to each other.

By the end of the book, the main character realizes that if she wants to find love and have a family, she should stop being such a horrible person and sleeping around. No one seems to find a problem with being an alcoholic or drinking as much as they do.

Some of the realizations the character has seem farfetched, as in she is on a walk and suddenly realizes xyz, something a normal person would have gradually come to realize, bit by bit, over a much shorter amount of time. The story ends with the main character and her friends all being in apparently healthy, stable, relationships, which seems kind of unrealistic because if it was going to happen, why would it happen all at the same time to the 3 of them?

I don't recommend this book at all, unless the above seems in line with what you're looking to read.

[Sienna Taverner · Rating 1 out of 5]

*coughs*

a bit racist, and belittling. And I was appalled by how there is so much in common between this book and the new Netflix show, Emily in Paris. I am not French myself, but I felt agitated on behalf of the Parisians.

Glad to see that at least there is a story arc done at the end, and the protagonist actually does learn some lesson(s?). But I think the author overlooks some reality about the life outside of the states (and maybe life in general), an example of which is how our untrained, and also underqualified in the field, protagonist lands on an EFL job easy peasy, and gets a work permit without any qualification, and somehow manages to graduate from her master's (was it?) course while all she ever does is to go out, whine about her ex, sleep around with random french guys, (who are completely head over heels for her the second they meet her somehow), and shitposts some rebound and flirt advice on a blog (which is magically spotted by a magazine that offers publishing). I mean, whaaaaaaaaaaat?

I wouldn't even have bothered to read it if it wasn't free on kobo.

the worst chick lit novel I have ever read.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've loved Juliette Sobanet's books since Meet Me In Paris. I was seriously very touched by that book and she's since been one of the authors I keep a look out for. Have always wanted to read the rest of her books but somehow they were put on the back burner.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was very relatable and it was really fun and interesting following Charlotte's adventures in Paris. I loved Charlotte as a person and her bonding with the girls. I loved the platonic friendship between her and Marc and wish I could have the same. Having not been to France, reading this series has intrigued me to want to find out and feel for myself what France especially Paris and Lyon have to offer. Hopefully I'll get to experience all that Charlotte's experienced some day... maybe not the French men but definitely the au pain chocolate croissants, sipping wines at the cafes and walking down the Seine.

Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series and others.