Lost and Found in Paris

A Novel

By: Lian Dolan

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The thinking woman’s ultimate escapist adventure in Paris, told with wit, style, and a touch of intrigue, by the popular and dynamic author of The Sweeney Sisters.

Joan Blakely had an unconventional childhood: the daughter of a globe-trotting supermodel and a world-famous artist. Her artist father died on 9/11, and Joan—an art historian by training—has spent more than a decade maintaining his legacy. Life in the art world is beginning to wear on her—and then one fateful afternoon her husband drops a bombshell: he’s fathered twins with another woman.

Furious but secretly pleased to have a reason to blow up her life, Joan impulsively decides to get out of town, booking a last-minute trip to Paris as an art courier: the person museums hire to fly valuable works of art to potential clients, discreetly stowed in their carry-on luggage. Sipping her champagne in business-class, she chats up her seatmate, Nate, a good-looking tech nerd who invites her to dinner in Paris. He doesn’t know she’s carrying drawings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But after a romantic dinner and an even more romantic night together, Joan wakes up next to her new lover to discover the drawings gone. Even more shocking is what’s been left in their place: a sketch from her father’s journals, which she thought had been lost when he died on 9/11, and a poem that reads like a treasure hunt.

With Nate as a sidekick, Joan will follow the clues all over Paris—from its grand cathedrals to the romantic bistros to the twisty side streets of Monmarte—hoping to recover the lost art, and her own sense of adventure. What she finds is even better than she’d expected.

©2022 Lian Dolan (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Pasadena to Paris!!

Lian’s novel is the perfect summer getaway—hot romance, art history treasure hunt, and Paris!!

Not all bad but…

This book had a little fun stuff interspersed with a lot of pretty annoying stuff. The narrator didn’t help. There was a thread of imaginative storyline but it ultimately got lost.

Swept away

Loved all of the historical and art world references as Joan’s story unfolded. For those of us old enough to remember the 80’s and the events if 9/11, there were many references that hit home. I enjoyed the story and the narration was excellent.

Meh

Light & fairly entertaining for a while, but dragged on the last few hours with mostly meaningless dribble.

Good story, nice Paris images.

Narrator had no clue how to pronounce French which was very annoying. Wrong narrator for this story. Otherwise okay but not great.

Loved it!!! Delightful, engaging, inspiring!

I loved the book! It has romance, intrigue, adventure, depth, and meaning! It is fun and inspirational. The author masterfully takes you on an exciting journey with many unexpected twists and turns. I could not stop listening to it!!! Now, one of my favorite books!

Extra bonuses- For those from Pasadena, you will enjoy the references to our beautiful city. For all of us who love Paris, you will be reminded of what makes the city so special.

Cute

Kind of like tasty but sugary weak tea, this book is as easily consumed as it will be forgotten. Oddly, think it is better performed than it would have been read. The elongate descriptions of third party characters was tolerable due to a pleasant reader voice when in print they would have been annoying. The plotting fit too perfectly together in the end and the “revelations” were dream like in their perfection. Ultimately a cozy mystery under artistic colored lights with elevator music humming in the background. Pleasant but annoying all at once. And the patent perfect love interests, one too easily canonized then replaced by the other, mocked the deep emotional journey the author espoused throughout the book. Left a lingering bitter taste.

I'm loving this author!

Lost and Found in Paris by Lian Dolan was quite a fun ride from start to finish. It is the story of Joan Blakely, a thirty-something art historian that has a huge bombshell dropped on her early in the story, her husband of ten years has five-year old twins with his previous assistant. Joan is the daughter of famous parents, her mom a supermodel, her father a world-famous artist that was killed in the attacks of 9/11. As part of her job, she is an art courier taking priceless pieces to other locations such as museums or for potential buyers to view. Fortunately, a courier opportunity to Paris is presented at just the right time, Joan can get away from her current surroundings and leave behind the gossip of her situation. Only one night in Paris and unfortunately the art she is delivering goes missing, this is where the mystery begins. What I found most fun were all of the Paris destinations visited and the descriptions given, it truly made me feel like I was there. This is my second book by Lian Dolan (the first being The Sweeney Sisters) and certainly won't be my last!

Very enjoyable

A fine book. Some insights into humans, fashion and art and the healing of travel.
Other insights you must uncover for yourself with the words and in between the words.

Some good moments.

Light, sweet, and definitely fine for a beach book. Narrator read well. An easy read.