4/5 stars
Release Date: July 21, 2020
"Paris is Always a Good Idea" is Jenn McKinlay's (author of the popular Library Lover's Mystery series) new fun stand alone romance. When we first meet Chelsea Martin she has just been given some surprising news. Her widowed father is getting married to a woman he just met two weeks ago. Not reacting to this news well, on the advice of her father and sister, Chelsea decides to try to find the person she was, 7 years ago, before her mother died. Taking a break from her work as a fundraiser at the American Cancer Coalition, Chelsea embarks on a trip to Ireland, Tuscany, and Paris to find her happiness and possibly reignate the passion she had with the boyfriends she had during her gap year trip to Europe.

What follows is the sometime hilarious situations, Chelsea finds herself in, as her reuniting with these men does not go the way she suspects. In addition, her work archenemis Jason Knightly, has been given shared responsibilty on a huge fundraising proposal that must be completed while she is abroad. While working with and getting to know Jason a little better, Chelsea may be learning about herself and others in a whole new way.

I would recommend this title for anyone looking for a romance with some humour, and those who like stories set in different locations.

Beautiful!! Even though it was predictable, it was just what I needed to read. And the ending was so, so sweet.

A sweet love story that will appeal to fans of One Night in December. The end was a little to sickeningly sweet (almost cloying) for my tastes but I am sure fans of sugar pop will love it.

Meh. The writing is good but the romantic development was not satisfactory. The exploration of grief was decent, but maybe the Mamma Mia-esque plot doesn't work so well outside a Greek island.

It’s a very very very cute journey-story about an uptight woman finding her joy. There are misses in continuity and common sense. Clearly the author needs to get Chelsea on her adventure and doesn’t spend a ton of energy making it the smoothest thing in the world.

And the end is so so so so sweet. Like oh my goodness this almost ruined a perfectly okay book kind of sweet. But that’s me.

I think if you don’t look too hard at this one and simply want a feel-good read it isn’t bad at all.

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I usually love MicKinlay but the main character in this one just felt incredibly flat to me - I never once felt that I knew her. Liked the travel aspect but had to talk myself into continuing the story. Also not at all an erotic story until on LONG scene toward the end - a strange placement and mix. Just not my story and I’ll stick with all of the other work by this author that I adore.

Chelsea lost herself when she lost her mom seven years ago. She throws herself into work and never looks back until she realises how unhappy she is. She decides to go back to the last place she was happy, on her year long European adventure. She traces her steps in order to find the girl she used to be. I loved this story! It was sweet, funny and a great read! Fans of the love to hate story troupe will adore this charming story!

3.75 stars

tw: death of a parent; death of a sibling; cancer; brief mention of self harm

This book had a lot of things I liked and a number of things I didn't, which makes it hard to rate. I'd go from really enjoying a moment, to there being something I don't like in the next sentence.

This is a combination of so many different tropes: young woman travels back to Ireland (small town), France (Paris), and Italy (vineyard) to re-discover who she is by trying to reconnect with three men she fell in love with in those places 7 years ago before her mom died. She also has a rivalry with a ~handsome co-worker~. All of these things are tropes I love! I loved the locations, the will they won't they of meeting up with old flames, the banter between her and her co-worker, etc.

With that being said, there's also some tropes in here I didn't enjoy. The main character originally goes on this trip because her dad is remarrying to a woman he recently met, and the narrative makes it seem like the main character is "unreasonable" and has "forgotten how to love" because she doesn't approve of him marrying someone he met 2 weeks ago. Also, the love interest gets in a fist fight (with blood) over a sense of protective-ness for the main character. This theme of protective weaves together with mild-possessiveness (on both of their parts) throughout the story that I felt could have been left out. Some readers may find it to be a cute layer to the rivalry though, as he is constantly trying to thwart her plans. I also, personally, found the rivals-to-lovers pacing to be a little quick based on where these characters started, but I've had those complaints about other hate-to-love in popular contemporary romances that other readers have enjoyed.

I did enjoy the themes of travel, re-discovery, and finding someone who is a good fit for who you currently are, I just wish that self-discovery had been a little separated from the romance element. This was a quick read with a lot of tropes I think fans of The Hating Game especially will enjoy.

tropes:
- travel romance
- rivals-to-lovers w/ co-workers

A light, romantic comedy that is just perfect for the stress-filled times we are all experiencing. Chelsea Martin reacts badly to her widowed father's announcement that he is getting married again. Her father is crushed, and suggests that the "old" Chelsea -- the one who wasn't a workaholic caught up grieving her mother -- would have been happier to hear his news. As hard as this is to hear, Chelsea recognizes that she needs to find her old spark. She vividly remembers the last time she was happy, which was on an extended trip abroad just before her mother died. She met wonderful men in Ireland, Paris, and Italy. Well, the premise is a little unlikely, but it actually works -- she decides to travel to each of those places and meet up with her long lost boyfriends. Thrown into the picture is a co-worker/frenemy, Jason Knightley, who she develops complicated feelings for. All in all, there is lots of action, lots of fun, light romance and relatable characters. I enjoyed this very much and look forward to recommending it to readers who enjoy light romantic comedies. This will be just what they are looking for.

Workaholic Chelsea, unhappy about her widowed father’s upcoming marriage decides fo find the past feelings of love and serenity she experienced 7 years earlier during her college off year in Ireland, Paris and Italy. She takes a break from her coveted job and finds love with an unexpected person in an unexpected place. Fans of Eat, Pray, Love will relish this book.

Chelsea is a workaholic whose widow father decides to marry someone he just met. This completely freaks control-freak Chelsea out! Both her father and sister tell her that she has lost her laughter and the last time she had it was when she spent her year abroad before her mother died. So Chelsea decides that she needs to travel back to Europe and to meet up with the three men she fell in love with--in Ireland, Paris, and Italy. With an extremely important work deadline due soon, Chelsea agrees to travel to Europe while being on call for work. Her rival coworker, Jason, is also on this project and they must get past their differences to win this donor. Throughout her journey, she meets up with her past loves and learns more about them and herself. This trip also offers another surprise love who she never would have expected! This was a fast and funny read. It was whimsical and very descriptive of the European landscape. I will definitely recommend this title and go ahead and read other titles by Jenn McKinlay.

Always sweet, easy reads - this book from Jenn Mckinlay does not disappoint. Exactly what I wanted to read.

It's a very sweet book, and very light and very fluffy. It reminded me of like a light, adventurous Eat, Pray Love, which is one of my faves!

This was a quick, easy read that was hard to put down! Chelsea Martin has lost her way in life since the passing of her mother. When she finds out that her father is remarrying (after only knowing his girlfriend for two weeks!) Chelsea decides she needs to revisit her past to find the carefree woman she was before her mother’s passing. She takes a leave of absence from her job, including a break from her incredibly obnoxious professional rival, and hops on a plane to Europe to reconnect with her three loves from her time traveling in the year before her mother died. She reconnects with her former flames, finds herself, and even finds that her professional rival, Jason Knightley, has a different side to him. This is an irresistible story that you won’t want to put down!

This reminded me of a Sophie Kinsella book. I loved the characters and thought the journey Chelsea went on was a good one. I thought the whole Jason relationship was a little sudden and could have been explained a bit better, but it didn't take away from the story. I would like to see more about Chelsea in additional books, but felt this was a complete story too.

Sometimes what you are looking for is right in front of you. This was a really enjoyable trip into past relationships and finding what she really needed.

Paris Is Always a Good Idea is a delightful romance, written in first person which allows for more internal knowledge of Chelsea Martin as she sets out to re-discover her ability to love others and herself. She decides to retrace her year abroad, the last time she remembers being happy, and along the way, her relationship with her coworker Jason Knightley moves from rivalry to... something else. It’s refreshing to see a romance heroine process her traumas and realizations on her own, after some loving but firm prodding by her family. Chelsea thinks she’ll find herself by revisiting a series of old flings but she soon realizes what she needs is more self-reflection. Jenn McKinlay’s pacing allows the reader to spend time with Chelsea, getting to know her, as well as getting to know Jason and the reasons why they’re drawn to each other. The romance is sweet, caring, and just steamy enough. Readers will enjoy Chelsea’s journey and Jason’s warm-heartedness. Perfect summer romance read.

Beautiful illustrated cover, promising and hopeful plot taking us to the self-discovery and fantastic journey to my favorite three European cities: Italy, Ireland and Paris. (When you wrote the names, my heart started aching. I’m sending my prayers and wellness wishes to everyone live in those cities. I hope the good days will come sooner and we may still visit those remarkably spectacular countries and enjoy our lives!)

This book is about Chelsea’s taking gap year after suffering hurtful grief of losing her mother to the battle of big C and having problematic relationship with her over competitive coworker a.k.a. superficial asshole Jason Knightley and getting tired to witness her sister’s marriages. She is suffocating, she isn’t happy with her life. She needs a break. She needs to learn how to have a fulfilled life. She needs joy, happiness and fun! But mostly she needs love. (All You Need is Love plays at my head as soon as I wrote those words.)

So Chelsea takes her European vacation (not kind of National Lampoon’s European kind: I know it would be fun if this story is about Griswold family’s absurd vacation adventures.) , meets three different guy at three different cities, turning herself into a sailor having different girlfriends at different ports.
Marcelino in Italy is my favorite but we also have charming Jean Clause in France and Colin in Ireland (which reminded me of sexy images of Colin Farrell) and at some parts I really thought she was gonna choose three of them and have a fantastic polygamous life. A woman can dream, right?

Of course it didn’t happen and you need to read the rest of the story to learn how Chelsea found her HEA!
This was entertaining, soft, sweet book. I didn’t have any problem with story-telling and pacing. But only thing I got irritated was the heroine who acted like immature and annoying from the beginning. Especially at romance parts I stopped my reading and screamed with frustration. So she was the only reason that I cut my points and gave three stars to my reading.

It was still a great choice, feel-good story with motivational and heartfelt parts. I’d also like to read more works of the author because I mostly enjoyed her story-telling skills and great plot.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this enjoyable ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

I love a romance set in some romantic European cities. Paris is, indeed, always a good idea, but this book, unfortunately, is just ok.

McKinlay sets up a flimsy Eat, Pray, Love scenario for the plot-- Chelsea, confronted by her widowed father's plans to marry a woman he met two weeks ago, tries to replicate her her gap year by fleeing to Ireland, France, and Italy. She is trying to see if she can "open her heart to love." . . .yes, she says that more than once.

While there are lovely romance conventions (a rival turned love interest, a journey with beautiful settings, a woman too focused on her career and neglecting herself), the book just doesn't deliver on the excitement.Chelsea is not interesting or incredibly likable. Conversations drag on, and I just have to roll my eyes when our hero (admittedly delicious with a ridiculous Austen last name) breaks a makeout sesh to say "dance with me." It's too contrived.

Paris is Always a Good Idea, but the book is a good idea that turned out just ok. It is the frozen pizza of romance novels. I cannot recommend when there are so many other great ones out there.

Chelsea brings in the big donations in her job with the American Cancer Coalition. So when she tries to quit —after learning her widower dad is remarrying and her sister telling her that she needs to find the old Chelsea, the happy, fun-loving, adventurous, pre-Mom-dying-of-cancer Chelsea— her boo convinces her to take a leave of absence so that she can stay on and consult on the biggest donation they’ve ever tried to get. Even if her boss gives her work enemy, Jason, the reins on her project. And so Chelsea jets off to, first, Ireland, then Paris, then Tuscany to reconnect with old boyfriends from her year abroad. But her search for the old Chelsea doesn’t go as planned. And when Jason shows up unexpectedly in Europe, he helps her realize that she can’t ever be old Chelsea again, and that’s okay.

This romance is one I couldn’t put down— I read it in two sittings! The slow burn, the feelings, and the armchair traveling make it a perfect read in these stressful weeks (oh god it had better be weeks and not months) of the coronavirus. Sometimes it feels like Chelsea’s diction is a bit trying-too-hard to be that if a 30-year-old, which is a bit annoying and often jarred me out of the happy place that is reading the book. But he growth as a character, and the gentle romancing from Jason is just what I want. (Even if it is a bit predictable.)

On ten chaste to steamy scale, it’s a 5. There are really great kissing scenes and one sex scene that is more R than NC-17.