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) 

It was okay

The first half was an enjoyable listen, but then I found myself losing interest and didn’t end up finishing the book which is unusual for me! The premise of the book sounded like a fun journey as I similarly spent time living abroad in europe … but it ended up being a rather boring and naive tale. I though the performance was generally good - but agree with one of the others reviewers regarding the lack of consistency of the Boston accent.

Good read

Very poignant story. I really enjoy Brittany Pressley as the reader. The book is very different from the author's cupcake series. I enjoyed this book.

Wonderful Story, Beautifully Read

Brittany Pressley' s varying voices and accents enhance a heart warming, romantic romp through Europe.

O.K. Story that could have been so much better

Spoiler alert

The basis of the story is a woman who had lost her mother (and then herself). Then after learning that her dad is going to remarry, she decides to head off to Europe to “find herself” by finding her three old boyfriends. That’s where it loses me. The concept that she somehow needs to find old boyfriends to be happy again. It just was so sad and pathetic. Meanwhile the guy at work who was always an asshole to her later becomes her love? Common. The whole story could have just been so much better if instead she heads back to those countries to find her love of life (maybe through visiting old museums? Eateries? Pretty much anything??) and then meets someone there (new guy), and along the way shares here frustration regarding her ass coworker, and the pitch he is trying to steal, and lays her whole story and heart out on the line. They fall in love. But then we find out (along with new guy) that new guy is the head of the pitch company. But he’s not sure how to tell her so he doesn’t. Then yada yada they go back to Boston together to a fundraising event and they are all staring at her but she’s like why? But it’s then she finds out who he is when he says to her boss that his company will donate the money but he wants her running it not her idiot coworker. There. That’s better. 🤪

Ugh

I usually reserve reviews for books I enjoy, as I don't actually get any satisfaction giving poor reviews.

But I cannot hold my tongue on this one. The story sounds like it was written by a precocious, 17 yr old virgin who wants to be edgy part of the time. SO SO SO cheesy and obscenely predictable. Not funny as I was hoping. No one in this story is a believable character. No one acts like this in real life. Especially 29 year old women. Or any human for that matter. Redundant I know but I cannot stress it enough. The narration wasn't intolerable, but when you do a Bostonian accent, you have to do it for all the words. Not just Martin, or like 2 others. Also, Chelsea and her whole family are supposedly Boston natives as well, yet they all sound like their from a wholesome college town in southern Wisconsin. Weird. Anyway I 150% do not recommend. I wouldn't have finished it but I couldn't return it and honestly I just thought "how much worse can this get?" The answer is infinitely. Infinitely worse.

Great book, excellent narration!

I loved this story, it kept me riveted. It was sweet, emotional, fun and I loved that it took me on a tour and brought back my own memories of Ireland, Paris and Italy. There was only one thing that bugged me which is why I gave the story 4 stars.
Toward the end, in the part where every romantic comedy has the twist where one party mistakes the other party of doing something wrong...before it gets sorted...I didn't think this part made sense and wasn't strong, but actually annoying. Chelsea gets mad at Jason for lying. But...I didn't recognize it as a lie to get mad over, it was a loving gesture. It didn't bother me. So I was taken aback when the author then portrayed Chelsea as a crazy woman because I felt her angry reaction was way overboard. All I could think is...this is why guys think women are crazy, they think we all behave this way. Well I don't and I wouldn't have reacted that way to this situation, so it didn't feel genuine. I don't like that she was made to be an over-reactor, "crazy" woman. I don't think her reaction was warranted at all for the tiny fib he told...because he loved her and was doing a grand romantic gesture. So during that part I was uncomfortable and thought it didn't make sense. But I really enjoyed the rest of the story. And the narration with all the characters and accents was outstanding!!

Beautiful romance story!

What a lovely audio book. I love the story and I love the narrator. Highly recommend it!

Better than expected

Saw a lot of negative reviews for this but decided to give it a chance anyway because it sounded suuuper right up my alley. There were times it was a bit cheesy and times I didn’t love the protagonist, but all in all it was a great read and I really enjoyed it! It’s of the same caliber as any Colleen Hoover romance, but I especially loved the European settings here. A classic enemies to lovers story that will not bore you. 4 stars just for the subtle hints of misogyny at the end that kinda irked me 😑

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.

Traveling to Paris is always a good idea

it was amazing I loved it so much I want to travel next year in September

Love it!

Romance, travel and believing in love again. I love the story, the change of voices by the narrator. It makes you feel like you're listenning to Chelsea Martin herself tell the story and that's what the book is. I loved it!

The title is my only reason not to 5 star everything. It makes you think that's going to be all about Paris but as much as the most important part happens there, there is more than Paris to this book.

Good, but....

I really liked the idea of the story, and most of the book itself too. However, the dialogues were too stretched out, and the plot was a little weak. And, suffering from a loss myself at a similar age, some of the (latter) parts didn't resonate with me. If I stopped reading a chapter or 2 earlier, I would have finished it with a better feeling.