The Paris Secret

The plot summary intrigued me, as I spend a lot of time in Paris, and like reading about it. I had never heard of the author; but now think she is likely a mediocre romance novelist.

The first thing that grated was the lame, weepy dialogue, and cliche beginning--a jilted woman going to Paris to "find" herself.

The second was absolutely unforgivable--HORRIBLE French accents (they sounded more like they were from India), and ridiculous mispronunciations of just about every French name or word, including the name of the very famous town south of Paris, that was the center of interest in the "plot", and that virtually every supposedly French character discussed and repeatedly mispronounced. If you are going to stage a story in France, and most of the characters are supposed to be French; the narrator should have known a modicum of French--at least learned that the French accent the last syllable, rather than the American way of accenting the first. Moret-sur-Loing is a spectacular village, frequented by every French impressionist painter, and home to the inventor of the hot air balloon. To say "low-ing" is unforgivable. She should at the very least, have learned to pronounce that much repeated name!

And, the third irritating detail was the overtly and extremely prolonged and detailed sex scenes, describing every touch, technique, movement, etc. This is a romance novel pretending to have a loftier purpose.

When you think you are buying a thriller and get a weepy, poorly written romance novel--it is a waste. She is NO Janet Evanovich, and shouldn't pretend otherwise.

It seemed to make some unnecessary trips around the barn to get to the finish.