Review: One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank

One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank

Release date: June 7, 2016

Publisher: Blink

My rating: 4.5

Buy here: Amazon

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Synopsis:

Most teens dream of visiting the City of Lights, but it feels more like a nightmare for Sophie Brooks. She and her brother are sent to Paris to spend the summer with their father, who left home a year ago without any explanation. As if his sudden abandonment weren't betrayal enough, he's about to remarry, and they’re expected to play nice with his soon-to-be wife and stepdaughter. The stepdaughter, Camille, agrees to show them around the city, but she makes it clear that she will do everything in her power to make Sophie miserable.

Sophie could deal with all the pain and humiliation if only she could practice piano. Her dream is to become a pianist, and she was supposed to spend the summer preparing for a scholarship competition. Even though her father moved to Paris to pursue his own dream, he clearly doesn't support hers. His promise to provide her with a piano goes unfulfilled.

Still, no one is immune to Paris’s charm. After a few encounters with a gorgeous French boy, Sophie finds herself warming to the city, particularly when she discovers that he can help her practice piano. There’s just one hitch—he’s a friend of Camille’s, and Camille hates Sophie. While the summer Sophie dreaded promises to become best summer of her life, one person could ruin it all.

Thoughts:

This book appealed to me for so many reasons. I love YA books, I may not be a teenager anymore, but I love reading about them. The other reason is I will be spending the majority of my fall living in Paris. From September -early December. I've been to Paris many, many times. It's a magical city and any book where the setting is in France, I'll more than likely read.

Sophie was always a Daddy's girl, so when her Father up and left them to accept his dream job in Paris, Sophie felt betrayed and not wanted. Now Sophie and her brother are forced to spend their summer in Paris with their Father and attend his wedding. This book dealt with repairing that Father\Daughter bond and for Sophie, it was also about falling in love. The only character that I despised was the evil Camille. Camille was in charge of showing Sophie and her brother around Paris, but at every turn she was always doing something horrendous to Sophie. Whether it was intentionally getting her lost or making fun of her. Camille never missed an opportunity to make Sophie feel like a child.  

The way the author described Paris made me feel like I was right back there sitting in my favorite cafe eating pastries till I couldn't move. Any author that can transport me to where the book takes place is an author I like.  One Paris Summer is the perfect escape and one every book lover should read.