Paris Is Always a Good Idea

By: Jenn McKinlay

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

One of Popsugar’s Best New Books for Summer 2020

A 30-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love - and herself - in this hilarious and heartfelt novel.

It's been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong postcollege European adventure. Since then, she's lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea's thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most successful moneymaker is unquestioned.

When her introverted mathematician father announces he's getting remarried, Chelsea is forced to acknowledge that her life stopped after her mother died and that the last time she can remember being happy, in love, or enjoying her life was on her year abroad. Inspired to retrace her steps - to find Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy - Chelsea hopes that one of these three men who stole her heart so many years ago can help her find it again.

From the start of her journey nothing goes as planned, but as Chelsea reconnects with her old self, she also finds love in the very last place she expected.

©2020 Jenn McKinlay (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A playful breezy read that I couldn't put down!”­ (Abby Jimenez, USA Today best-selling author of The Friend Zone)

“A delightful romance with characters I adored! Jenn McKinlay takes readers along on a fun and charming adventure in Paris Is Always a Good Idea.” (Emily March, New York Times best-selling author)

“Eat Pray Love meets Mamma Mia! I devoured this clever novel in one sitting!” (Lori Nelson Spielman, New York Times best-selling author)

Nice plot… a bit tedious.

I liked the premise of the story but found it slow at times. Sometimes the internal dialogue went on, and on, and on… to the point that I’d skip ahead like 2 minutes and the character would just be wrapping up their internal monologue.

Towards the end of the story it felt overly scripted, as if the author had a list of clichés required per novel and saved them all for the last few chapters.

Lastly, Jason’s “Boston” accent was executed so inconsistently that I wish the narrator would have just left it out. His accent was so annoying that I had a hard time thinking of him as a desirable male lead.

Despite all that…I finished it for some reason. Meh.

Predictable

Easy to listen to as you’re doing errands and chores, but very predictable and a little tedious. Doesn’t require a lot of concentration and perfect for when you don’t feel like thinking or like to have a noise in the background.

Love when you don't accept it

A story so delightful, interesting and made my drives to work a breeze and I couldn't wait sometime s to get back in to the car and see what happens next.

Great Read

This book is an awesome read. I couldn't put it down and read it in one day. I didn't want it to end.

One of my favorite books!

This was such a beautiful story about love and finding yourself after grief but in such a fun and interesting way. I loved the travel aspect tied in and was just as interested in what was happening along trip as the love story. Such a great book!! Finished so fast bc really couldn’t stop.

Paris was definitely a great idea!!

I loved this book!! Talking just everything under the sun about life!! And how precious it really is!! Love love love it!! Darcie Loves the sunshine!!

Great Story

Enjoy this book. Characters were vividly created. Book was spoken with texture and I really enjoyed it.

Meh

Although I think there is talent there for the author, this book was overly scripted and the main character was a complete narcissist. I did not enjoy her personality at all.

At the risk of sounding contradictory I will say the writing and flow was fantastic. I would have liked the book if it was not so cliche and the characters were more likable.

As for the narration, either give us a Boston accent for Jason or drop it all together. The rest of the performance was amazing.

Retracing your steps to find yourself

When you have lost yourself in your work and ignoring life, it's time to shake things up and go find yourself. In this case, by revisiting the past. However after 7 years, can you really find yourself that far in the past? An intriguing look at overcoming grief and often not seeing the positives that are right in front of you. Excellent characters, fun plot and intriguing interactions between characters. I hope to see more of these characters in the future.

Good book

I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to anyone. I really enjoyed the storyline