Chelsea Martin is on a quest to find herself after 7 years of grieving the death of her mother. The last time she was really happy was when she fell in love with three different men in three different countries during her gap year in Europe. What better way to figure out who she is today, than to re-trace her steps and rekindle her old relationships?

Paris is Always a Good Idea is like reading the book version of your favorite instagram travel blogger. It's an escape, makes you dream of visiting far off places and it's full of beautiful people.

The underlying love story is one you'll see coming from a mile away but that allows you, as the reader, to cheer Chelsea on as you beg for her to open her eyes -and heart- to what's right in front of her.

I first read an excerpt of this book in the Romance Buzz Books 2020 sampler, and this book had me hooked in the first chapter! I love a snarky and intelligent female main character and I thought Chelsea Martin was a very well written character. She had foibles, she had growth, she had snarky one liners.... I loved it!

Thank you to the publisher for a free netgalley!
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❤️- The overall plot was enjoyable. I very much love stories of people redeeming/finding themselves. The tour through Europe gave my traveling heart some nostalgia of my own travels!
🤷🏻‍♀️- Though our character had a major loss, for someone who was higher up in a major corporation she was immature. Very “I know you are but what am I” type. And sometimes the writing in the book was off from the characters. Our uptight main character once said “I cut that schizzle off”. Umm what?
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Overall, a cute, fast read that is good for those who like romances on the predictable side or like to travel!

First off, let me say that I loved this book. This was more than a romance. It was about finding yourself, accepting yourself, re-finding your happiness, travelling, and grief. I adored the dynamic between Jason and Chelsea - they were so fun to watch as their relationship grew and changed. I have so much respect for Chelsea for taking that leave of absence from work and travelling to the places that made her so happy in the past and finding herself (it kinda inspires me to go on my own quest/travel adventure).

Thank you so much Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sending me a copy of this book.

Paris Is Always a Good Idea is a wonderful story about finding oneself! Filled with McKinlay's wonderful writing ability, this is a book that many readers will relate to. I found this to be charming, filled with emotion, and extremely exciting! What a mix, but that's exactly what this book is!

Delightfully escapist. A great addition to collections where light women's fiction and contemporary romance are popular.

I am always down for a book to transport me to Paris - especially during self-quarantining! The beginning was a little tough for me to get through but I’m a reviewer so I kept reading. I found the main character a little bit... narcissistic. Like really, Chelsea. Can’t you just be happy for your dad? Super immature attitude for a 30 year old. However, it did get much better as the book went on and her flame from each country was introduced. A solid 3 stars!

Ireland, Paris, Italy....sign me up! I loved everything about this book. The struggles Chelsea goes through and overcomes was inspiring. Seeing the friendship build to becoming lovers was great. I will definitely recommend this book to friends.

“Paris is Always a Good Idea“ by Jenn McKinlay Is an absolute delight! It is absolutely the perfect read right now while so many are sheltering at home. McKinlay’s novel is a well written romance and full of all the right elements, including, travel, laughter, love, and loss that keep things real and the reader invested in how the story unfolds. Thank you!!!

I was conflicted about how I felt while reading this book. It was very predictable and the beginning felt completely unrealistic.

Chelsea, the main character, is very closed off and a bit of a workaholic. Ever since her mother died she has seemed to stop living her own life, and when her father wants to get remarried she gets upset. This is understandable, however I struggled with the inconsistencies in her character. After one quick conversation with her sister she has decided she agrees she hasn’t lived or laughed or loved in 7 years and the last place she did was galavanting through Europe after college graduation so it is perfectly realistic that this stubborn, closed off, strong woman would give everything at work up to travel the world again in some reliving of her past to visit old flames... it just doesn’t fit her character. She didn’t fight it, she wasn’t stubborn enough, her character needed more to get from the beginning of the book to her being in Ireland. It just didn’t fit for me.

After I got over that I loved the book. It was beautiful reading about Ireland and making new friends while opening up. There is of course the rival back home at work who she hates but randomly FaceTimes every night of her trip that totally makes sense? But it is sweet especially when he shows up in the city of love, Paris for a work meeting with Chelsea and a potential donor. As they travel and woo a client, they begin to open up about their losses and woo eachother. It’s romantic, it’s sweet, and it’s wonderful traveling the world from my couch!

I think this romance has a few plot holes and inconsistencies but was sweet and so enjoyable to read! I loved how Chelsea realizes she can’t become who she was before loss and she can’t shove her emotions down. She is beautiful as she is, stronger for what she has lost and she shouldn’t try to change that. It reminds me of that picture of a bowl with cracks and they fill the cracks with gold to make the imperfections the focus of beauty in the bowl. That’s what loss and trauma do to people and yes it is ugly and difficult and horrible, but it shapes who you are as a person and makes you stronger.

My six word review:
Full of lessons and European men

Chelsea Martin is stuck in a rut that began seven years ago. Her father is getting remarried, and before that happens she needs to find out if she has any sparks of love left in her own heart. Leaving the job that has consumed her, she embarks on a quest through her past to find the old Chelsea. However, she can't quite let go of the current one, as she still has to work on one last project for her company with her work rival, and successor. Along the way, old memories bring about new truths, and Chelsea has to make decisions that will affect her life going forward. This book is a departure for McKinlay, mostly know for cozy mystery series', but the heart and soul remain true to her other writing. Well written, and from the heart, this one is definitely a keeper.

This book was so enjoyable. I love books about travel and this totally hit the spot.
At the beginning of the book, Chelsea is totally mortified that her father wants to remarry after knowing his fiancee for 2 weeks. I totally agreed, hasn't he seen Frozen? Chelsea's reaction to that was the perfect way to kind of introduce how the book is going to play out. It showed how the grief over her mother's death had kept her in a kind of bubble for 7 years.
I loved the idea of her revisiting the places she went in her gap year, but I kind of wish that she didn't have an ex in all the places she planned on visiting. It kind of made her journey seem more like she was kind of trying to learn how to have a boyfriend again instead of loving herself. She didn't find love in all the places she went in her original gap year, and it would have been nice to visit at least one place in the current time where she didn't have a guy she was hoping to reconnect with.
That being said, I did enjoy her mishap filled adventures with all 3 of them. They were all very different and I found myself laughing and wanting to punch something, a whole range of emotions. Out of the 3, I think Colin was my favorite, but I won't say why. The attempts at romance weren't the only good parts of this book. The in betweens were almost more enjoyable to me because I loved reading about the different places Chelsea managed to go. The wedding in Ireland, going out with Zoe in Paris, touring the vineyards in Italy. It was nice to have a good mix of boys and fun.
I knew who she was going to end up with from the very beginning, but that didn't take away anything from the story. It was such a nice slow burn and it wasn't easy. I really liked how everything played out with them.
With travel being all but banned right now, it was so nice to escape into this book and imagine myself in these European countries I hope to one day visit myself, or go back to (Paris).

I thought the premise of this book, that Chelsea was going to revisit 3 men she dated in the past and they were going to solve her problems, to be silly. However, the delightful characters in this book make the silly plot seem not quite so silly. This would be a great book to recommend to people who enjoy a hate to love relationship.

This is an amazing stand alone book by Jenn McKinlay! Chelsea Martin’s life has been on hold since her mother’s death. While her father falls in love and plans his wedding, Chelsea can’t understand why this is happening so fast. How can he replace her mother so easily. Chelsea decides to retrace her steps of the gap year she spent in Europe to try to find herself and love again. Travel with her to Ireland, France, and Italy as she revisits old flames trying to rekindle the magic.

I'll admit that it took me a while to get into this book - it's not often that with romances you start off with a character quite as bristly as Chelsea (though I totally understood why). Once she was off to Europe, I was more into it and was charmed with the atmospheric writing. The bulk of the story really happens in Paris and Italy, and while it took our leading lady a bit of time, she finally got to a point where her head was clear and we could both breathe a little easier.

Paris Is Always a Good Idea
by Jenn McKinlay
Berkley Publishing Group
You Like Them
Berkley
Romance | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 21 Jul 2020 | Archive Date 21 Aug 2020

Cute book! Loved the descriptions of the setting so I could armchair travel in these days of COVID 19.
I enjoyed escaping in this book and would recommend it!

This book was cute. I liked Chelsea and Jason's character. I really loved their banter back in forth. I loved that he called her by her last name. I found myself tearing up a few times as they were talking about their experiences with cancer. The only thing I did not really like was the lack of steam. Yes they kissed a few times but I wish we had more. To me, it was just a little bit more of a hallmark movie with a pg-13 sex scene thrown in.

Fantastic descriptions of the travel destinations. I lived in Paris during a gap year, and the author really has the feel of the city just right.

This is a good escape and a nice way to armchair travel. The characters were ok. I didn’t understand the appeal of the main female protagonist? What on earth made her so special as to fall in love three times in the span of one summer. The main male protagonist felt like he was picked out of a perfect guy characteristics bin. His dialog was a bit saccharine at times. However, the banter between the two was fun and the subject they connected over was moving. The subplot in France stretched credulity beyond belief. Overall, an enjoyable, if flawed, read.

A cute International love story, that makes you wonder if you really do have to go find yourself in Europe.