Title: Sleeping with ParisAuthor: Juliette Sobanet
Published by: Montlake Romance
Publication date: July 16 2013
Genres: Fiction, Romance
"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?"
As a preface, I have perpetually been in long term relationships and I have never been cheated on. At least knowingly. So I think that this story could particularly resonate with women who did go through that experience. The raw way Sobanet describes the heartache, grief, and loss was tangible. After experiencing this multiple times in the past (as well as knowing girlfriends with similar situations), Charlotte is emotional and heartbroken and this leads her to completely pivot. Thus, she leads herself to believe that all men are womanizing, cheating liars and deserve the same in return. Charlotte most definitely had a type and that type was jerks. So, when she followed through with abruptly moving to Paris, her only plan was becoming what she hated - date men with no strings attached, no emotions, using them. That was interesting to me and not in a good way. I thought Charlotte was great at first. But then she started acting like an oblivious teenager, leading to a predictable ending. Truthfully, I liked the writing and style the author used but the story wasn't well thought out, with an annoying main character.
Overall though, what I did keep coming back to was the author's descriptions of Paris and Lyon. I felt like I was sitting in the cafes and dancing in the clubs, drawing in the Parisian culture! I'd recommend this as a quick, entertaining read, especially because it is currently free on Amazon Kindle with Prime!
