What could be more storybook perfect than the romance of a one day fling with a charming, intelligent Parisian? (Shades of Before Sunrise for you film fans out there.) Samantha Verant’s memoir of her one day crush re-discovered 20 years later is a girl's princess dreams come true. This tale of the all American girl, now woman, teetering on the brink of a mid-life disaster is chat show territory.
Sam has lost her job to the global recession, her marriage to neglect and trust issues, and she needs a shakeup, a make-over, a hero! A girlfriend’s reminder of their glorious final day in Paris has her digging out the old unanswered love letter pile and the letters serve as the pulse of lost love to drag our heroine back to the land of hope. Jean-Luc’s beautiful love letters lift the narrative to a more personal and heartfelt place and you find yourself cheering for the gallant who so clearly left his heart with the hesitant 19 year old Sam on a train platform in Paris.
There is nothing surprising about the book: it charms your heart like a light wine or memories of your own first love or romantic travel adventure and therefore it’s a treasure. Too soon we cast off those Disney-like fluffy pink dreams and don’t believe in happy endings. Sam finally gets her sexy French rocket man--complete with the normal complications of modern life: ex-spouse, kids, and long distance relationship. I could have lived without the bridal magazine list of wedding day décor preparations, but the fillip of a modern day turnaround romance is just too delicious to miss.
- Rosslyn Bentley
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