A Perfect Paris Christmas was the perfect escape to Paris. Keeley accepts an invitation from Silvie, the Mother of her organ donor to visit her in Paris . The descriptions are so beautifully detailed that I felt like I was on the streets of Paris, shopping in the Christmas markets and tasting the scrumptious food . This is a sweet, slow burning romance. The addition of the magical season of Christmas, imperfect characters, and complex relationships made for a compelling read. However towards the end of the book the author threw in a jab at the current President. It was totally unnecessary and ruined an otherwise perfect escape for me. I received an advanced copy from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Thoroughly enjoyed another fab book by Mandy.

The story of Keeley, she knows more than most that you only get one life and to live it to the fullest.

On receiving an invite to spend two weeks in Paris, she goes for it, all expenses paid too. But behind this trip, there’s a very good reason for her going.

Ethan Bouchard, the person whose hotel she is staying at, hasn’t had the best year and a half and is feeling like he’s ready to give everything up.

But on meeting Keeley, he thinks maybe the times not right yet.

But, will they be able to let the past go and make a new future together or will the past be too much for Ethan to let go of???????

Another fabulous book by Mandy. Loved the characters, and the setting, Paris, perfect for feeling Christmassy.

Recommend it.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

The title, cover, and description of this book immediately pulled me in, but the overall execution of the book was a disappointment. There were several things I liked about this story, but they were outweighed by the things I didn't like.

The Likes: I loved the central theme of this story; pushing through personal tragedy and trauma to live your life to the absolute fullest. It was evident that these characters knew that while they had experienced some of the worst things that life had to offer, that there were still things worth living. I really liked Keeley as a character. She was vulnerable with her emotions and I loved watching her evolve through the story to become confident and ready to resume truly living again. Erica was also a fantastic character. I loved her friendship with Keeley and I like how the author used her as a catalyst for Keeley because she didn't want to let Erica down. I also liked the idea of fate pulling people together. I thought it was cute how Keeley and Ethan kept running into each other in the most random places and I tend to enjoy romances that have that happen to the characters. My favorite scene in the book was the first meeting between Keeley and Silvie, it was awkard and raw, and I loved watching their relationship grow from there.

The Dislikes: The book was very slow paced and seemed to stretch on longer than necessary. I was surprised when I saw that I was already 20% into the story and the "meet-cute" still hadn't happened yet. I felt like the timeline could have been condensed to move things along a little bit faster. I felt myself just wanting to get through the rest of the book and get it over with because of how slowly it was moving. There were also a lot of unnecessary sexual innuendos within the writing that were placed into the oddest of conversations. An example would be where Keeley made reference to Rach looking like she was "giving head" to ice to get the rest of her drink out of the bottom of the glass, it was just odd and felt out of place for a cuter romance like this was portrayed to be. I also didn't like the subtle references to COVID-19. It was never blatantly mentioned, but there were a lot of underhanded comments about it. I realize that this is a huge topic right now, and it being a plot point in contemporary novels is inevitable, I just don't think it should have been capitalized so quickly.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review and honest opinion.

Keeley is young woman who is looking for an escape from her crazy life after an accident changed her life forever. After accepting an invitation to come to Paris from her kidney donors family, she soon finds the escape she's been looking for. Keeley spends time with her donors family and learns what a remarkable woman she was, full of life, that got cut short and decides to not waste anymore of her time. With the help of her best friend, Rachel, Keeley learns to open her heart again, while enjoying her second chance.

This was a wonderful, feel good story. The descriptions given by the author of Paris were wonderful and so realistic, that you felt like you were in Paris at Christmas. This was not your typical "girl meets boy, girl falls in love" story. This one had substance in it. The characters in this story struggled with their lives and grief that way that we would struggle in real life. This story had a wonderful beginning, a divine middle and an enjoyable ending, unlike so many other books of the same nature who always seem to forget about the middle of the story.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this story has a lot of great depth and layers. It's not your typical surface-level romance. I loved the characters (especially Bo-Bo and Jeanne). But I will say Keely's mother was the absolute worst!! The woman needs some serious therapy.

I voluntarily reviewed this ARC. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Mandy Baggot, and the publisher (Aria & Aries) for the copy.

This story is a perfect Christmas read! Loss brings two families together for some healing, romance and holiday fun! If you love Hallmark Christmas movies then this is perfect for you!

the perfect holiday romance to get you excited for the holidays! Like a sweet Hallmark movie but better

A Perfect Paris Christmas by Mandy Baggot

Paris is the city of Love!!❤️ Who wouldn’t want a free trip for you and your friend. Your mom is smothering you and you need to get away! Keeley is looking for a no strings attached vacation fling, maybe! 😍
Ethan is, he doesn’t know what he is! He is bored and lonely! He bumps into Keeley more than once and they seem to make a connection!
What if they let go and see what direction life will take them?
The author has such a sneaky sense of humor, but she also has a special touch with character development that you can’t possibly refrain from reading further into the book! At times the book is whimsical and lighthearted but then it is sad with moments of melancholy.
This is a irresistible delightful book that will keep you engaged and enticed to turn page after page!

I would like to Thank the author and publisher for their diligence and hard work in producing great books for us the readers!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and this is my willingly given thoughts and opinions!

Simply wonderful! A beautiful tale of heartache, loss and love.....with a dusting of Christmas magic! Highly recommended!

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Another great book from Mandy.

Keeley is asked by the mother of the girl who died for her to live to visit Paris for an all expenses paid trip to meet her and her family. Whilst in Paris she meets Ethan who has struggled the last 18 months following the death of his best friend. Their lives become twisted together in a way neither of them expected.

It's always a bit strange to read a Christmas novel in the middle of the summer, but I did enjoy the story. It is sweet with a tinge of sadness. I thought the storyline of the organ donation was a novel approach in a book like this one. An enjoyable read that will make you think you are on the streets of Paris.

I started off thinking that this plot was rather strange. The heroine, Keeley, suffered a terrible car accident a year ago in which her sister died and she had to have a kidney transplant. Now her mother is practically smothering her with overprotectiveness and she can’t recover who she used to be. Then she gets an email from Paris from the mother of the woman whose kidney Keeley received. The mother would like to meet her and offers a paid trip to Paris for Keeley. So she travels there with her best friend. There she meets Ethan, her organ donor’s best friend who has suffered his own crisis of confidence since his friend died. The two become friends and explore Paris together without knowing of the connection between them. They have an original meet cute which involves a penguin for some strange reason.

The novel was sad and touching. There is an adorable homeless girl and her dog whom Ethan basically adopts since he was homeless himself as a child. The interactions among all of these characters will pull at your heartstrings, though I did wonder about the homeless Parisian girl who spoke flawless English.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Wonderful Christmas story about living your best life, noticing all the moments and how precious they are.
Keeley lost her sister and almost lost her life in a car accident. A donated kidney saved her. The family of the donor gets in touch to meet her.
This sets up a trip to Paris with her best friend to meet them. The journey and the visit turn out to be life changing.
A truly wonderful story.

A feel good book that will make you laugh out loud at times and sob your heart out at others.

Proof that true love, friendship and family will always triumph over adversity.

Definitely one to devour in one sitting whilst snuggled in pj's with a huge hot chocolate.

I love Christmas and I love Mandy Baggot books. This was the perfect combination and guaranteed to be a holiday hit!

Keely had suffered great loss in the previous year and was starting to get her life back together. She and her friend Rach go to Paris where Keely meets Ethan. Without giving spoilers, there is a connection they both share but they do not find that out right away. Their love story starts slow and is very sweet. I could easily see this story on the big screen. I enjoyed that the book is set in Paris and many landmarks were mentioned and descriptions of food were given.

I was provided an advanced copy by Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

There is a lot to unpack in this Christmas romance by Mandy Baggot.. With many subplots involved it takes a lot of concentration to keep them all straight as they are unveiled in the beginning. This is a SUPER slow-burn romance and I struggled with how long it took for the hero and heroine to meet. If you're looking for a straight Christmas romance, that's not what you'll find here. What you'll find here is a well-written women's fiction/romance that is deeply plotted out, and has the couple exploring not just their own relationship, but all of the relationships in their lives.

As a living kidney donor myself, and the SIL of a transplant recipient, I appreciated that Mandy got the details of this storyline accurate every time. So often that is not the case, and when I got to the first mention of it, I sighed, expecting the majority of it to be wrong. I was PLEASANTLY surprised when it wasn't. It was easy to see where this was going and why she was going to end up in Paris, but I still enjoyed the journey that Keeley and Rach took to get there.

The hero of the story was definitely troubled/tortured and he needed all the people in his life to help him come back from the loss of his best friend a year ago. He was learning to live again and wanted to make Ferne's memory live forever in the hotels she left behind. To do that, he needed to make changes, changes that he wasn't sure his partners wanted him to make.

When the meet-cute finally happened, it was definitely CUTE! Once the couple met, they danced around each other in a way that Mandy is known for, but you know the whole time that they are learning about each other, yearning for each other, and looking for that magical moment that will tie them together forever.

There are so many subplots here that it is difficult to review and talk about them all. The secondary cast of characters was extensive, but they all had a purpose. Erica was an excellent reminder to us all that we need to live NOW, not tomorrow. Jeanne was a reminder that kids are far more intuitive than we give them credit for. Bo-Bo, well, that heckin' good boi was just great comedy relief. Rach was a delightful breath of fresh air who kept Keeley grounded when she was ready to fly off in a spiral of uncertainty.

If you love Christmas, romance, and a heavy dose of women's fiction to keep the story humming along, you don't want to miss this Christmas romance by Mandy Baggot. A Perfect Paris Christmas was just that, a picture-perfect, well-written romance to keep you company through a long winter's night.

You know you're in safe hands with a Mandy Baggot book, especially one set at such a wonderful time of the year.

This time we're visiting Paris with Keeley and her best friend. They're staying at a gorgeous hotel at the invitation of a mysterious guest (that I can't reveal to you because spoilers!) and exploring Paris with their own tour guide. As usual, one of my favourite aspects of Mandy's books is that the friendship is always as good as the romance, although I have to say that I definitely swooned when we met Ethan!

Seeing them come out of their shell together and confront their past demons was done in a completely sweet and heart-tugging way.

If you're looking to escape to Paris this Christmas, do it with Mandy.

This was very sweet and romantic. I was wondering why Keeley ended up in Paris at the beginning and I wasn't really expecting the reason to be what it was but it definitely made it interesting.