Do you believe in soulmates?

Christine suffers from several rare autoimmune disorders. She is turning thirty soon and decides it is time to finally go to Paris on her own. It takes a lot of planning and packing, but she is soon on her way. At the airport she bumps into a mysterious and handsome British stranger, Colin. At first, they don’t get along, but by the end of their flight, they are kissing before they land in Paris. Will they find love in Paris and is it a coincidence that they have met?

I enjoyed this story. It is a romantic story detailing their relationship, but with underlying angst. The book is told through both Christine and Colin’s point of views, so the reader is quickly clued in that all is not what it seems with Colin. It then becomes a love story wondering when the other shoe will drop and what Christine will think about it.

I liked that this novel took a realistic look at what it’s like to suffer from autoimmune diseases. You can still have fun, but you have to deal with a lot more issues to be able to have fun. I also liked the Austen references. This book was an insta-love story. I loved the story being set in Paris as I have always wanted to visit. It seems like a magical city to fall in love in.

The Paris Soulmate is a clean, sweet read.

Review Copy from Netgalley and author Brooke Gilbert. Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you’re a hopeless romantic or like a good meet-cute story, this one’s for you! This book had me hooked from the beginning and took me on a roller coaster ride. I loved both the MCs so much! Paris romances will always have a special place in my heart but this one, it definitely takes one of the top spots because it’s one of the cutest romances I’ve read recently. I urge you all to read it because I guarantee you won’t regret it!

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. While the novel has moments of charm, it's wholly unbelievable, and not just the romance, which is contrived and nonsensical. The parts on the plane read like someone who's never been on a plane, the romance like someone who's never had one, etc. You get the idea. This was not for me. Two stars for the charm.

There were many details wrapped into this novel that drew me in – a clean love story, connections to Pride and Prejudice, and a storyline set in Paris.

Christine’s character falls in love, and like so many women, she doubts that she is deserving of it. Previous relationships have scarred her and she doesn’t know how to move past them. The love story that emerges from Christine's past emotional trauma as she learns to let down her walls is beautiful. Gilbert captures a part of the romance genre that isn’t always told and there are many people who will be able to relate to Christine’s story.

I teach Pride and Prejudice in my classroom. I adored the references to Mr. Darcy as well at the fitting quotation at the end of the book. There were subtleties woven into the novel that made it feel extra special.

As Christine and Colin traveled through their days in Paris, I was reminded of a trip over 20 years ago. Gilbert’s words captured the city and its sights. The references to artwork and museums, Mont St. Michel, and the Sacre Couer made me want to plan a trip!

Thank you NetGalley for access to this book in return for an honest review.

What I read: The Paris Soulmate by Brooke Gilbert

Why I picked it up: It was recommended to me based on another book I downloaded on NetGalley. I received this free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

How I read it: On e-galley – even though it was released almost two months ago.

What it’s about: Christine is taking her first solo trip since being diagnosed with a few auto-immune diseases about five years ago. She meets this handsome man in the airport with a delightful British accent who ends up sitting right next to her and staying at the same hotel in Parish. Coincidence or Lola (Christine’s best friend)?

What I liked: I appreciated the insight into someone who’s suffering from an auto-immune disease – she didn’t want to be defined by her disease, but the author brought up her diseases as excuses at least fifteen times per day – and didn’t actually talk about any of the things she needed to do differently. She mentioned that she would need to sleep longer, but didn’t actually get more sleep than the average person on a trip. She spoke about maybe trying foods she couldn’t normally eat – but never did.

What I disliked: You might think I wrote about the things I didn’t like in the “liked” section above, but I also did not like these characters or their story. While many romance novels are unbelievable, this one was ridiculous. No one speaks like they did – and also her “I’m going to wait until marriage” speech felt like an excuse not to write explicit sex scenes rather than anything authentic that the main character believed. They literally spent the night in each other’s rooms from within 12 hours of meeting each other. And she spoke about these trust issues from all of the terrible men she dated, but never even *thought* about the things they did to make her not trust them.

Genre: Chaste love story, health, trusting after being hurt.

Rating & Recommendation: ⭐️⭐️ and no, I do not recommend, even though I really wanted to based on the premise of the book.

I’m so happy I read this book it was such a beautiful romance story that mentioned disorders and some mental illness. Which I loved because I don’t get to see this much. I highly recommend

rep: several rare autoimmune disorders “medical mystery”
I. Loved. This. Book. Honestly I don’t know if I’ll ever stop thinking or talking about this book.
This book was just one of those that felt so personal and resonated with me so much. The main character Christine, suffers from several auto immune diseases, and has been declared medical mystery, relatable lol. The book starts off as her health journey is on an upside, and she decides to take a trip to Paris, one that she never thought she’d be able to do and was on her bucket list she made while being sick, I also made a bucket list lol.
Along the way she runs into our other main character Colin and when I tell you from the moment they met I loved them, I’m not kidding.
Christine was a complexed, self-conscious, unsure character in the beginning of the story, and we watched her develop into a confident, proud woman, the character development was perfect.
Colin was is the perfect character he was understanding, caring, considerate and very swoon worthy. Him being with Christine just made sense and it was clear to everyone around them.
This books setting was perfect, as if I already wasn’t dying to visit Paris, now I am even more. The whole set up for the story was just super cute and original. I love that they were traveling and all the sightseeing places, and I loved the discussion of the settings and the descriptions of them, I feel like that helped connect the readers even more and felt like we were really there.
I have truly NEVER felt so connect to the book, in so many scene I could literally picture it happening to me. I underlined probably more than like half the book tbh. This is one of the most relatable, real and moving books with disability rep I have ever read. Maybe it’s just because I connected so much with it, but I also 100% know so many people will fall in love with this adorable love story.
Thank you Brooke Gilbert for writing a book that touched my heart so much, I’m holding this one close to me forever.

Such a cute read! The Paris Soulmate is a romantic story about Christine and Colin. Christine is a woman with an autoimmune disease while Colin is a jobless actor. Christine decides to take to take a trip to Paris where she meets Colin at the airport and it all starts there.

I loved the characters, the description of Paris, and overall the whole book!

This novel had so much potential, but honestly just ended up falling flat for me. I really wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t. I love Paris and I love romance novels, but this was just not the one for me. This was an Insta Insta-love novel. Like she was annoyed by him and almost didn’t go in the trip in the airport but then she kissed him on the plane. I honestly didn’t really like either of the main characters and their personalities, which made it hard to connect with the book. I even suffer from chronic illnesses like the FMC, but still just could not connect. I thought about DNFing this a couple times but kept pushing through. There was a ton of non-relevant details and scenes added throughout, which instead of making me feel like I was taking the trip with them, made it feel monotonous. Heads up: there are a ton of nods to a very Christian lifestyle, and it wasn’t noted anywhere that I had seen yet. So if that’s not your jam, I wouldn’t pick this up.

Christine is finally taking a trip to Paris, one that she never thought she would be taking. After being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses and still not having a firm diagnosis of the underlying factor, she wasn’t ever sure she could go anywhere again. Now that she is managing with medications and diet restrictions, it is time to go. But after years of feeling terrible, will she have the courage?

What can I say this book had me hooked and loved it all from beginning to end. It was a good read. This had it all. Gave me the feels.

Christine decides to take her bucket list trip back to Paris. Since being diagnosed with several rare autoimmune disorders, she'd given up on returning. On her way, an extremely handsome British stranger seems to have mysteriously fallen onto her path. Is it just fate that they're both heading to Paris at the same time?

"Soulmates don’t come to us as we expect them to. They don’t come in the package we expect, they don’t come the way we expect, and they certainly don’t come when we expect.”

Christine and Colin had amazing chemistry, instantly connecting and growing even closer by the time their plane landed in Paris. Colin cherished her and if nothing else wanted her to remain with the truth that she was enough, and a beauty to behold no matter her disorders.

I loved that I fell in love with Paris as I read this story; I got to go with them to different places, from Colin's awe-inspiring declaration of love at the Louvre in front of the Mona Lisa 😍, cruising on the red moped 🛵 to Normandy, having a caricaturist draw their portrait 🎨, and meeting amazing people.

The plot twist a few chapters in had me intrigued to find out how things would play. Their love was so cheesy, but that made it even sweeter, that they could let go and risk it all for another having only known each other less than a week. I absolutely loved this 🥰

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

What a great debut for this author! This book was all things sweet and heartwarming.

One of my favorite things about reading this book was how much of Paris we got to see! As someone who’s never been travelling myself, I loved the details of the streets and the museums. I always love to learn new things through novels, and so I also loved the descriptions about Christine’s autoimmune disorders, especially knowing that the author was drawing from personal experiences.

Insta-love is a large element of this story, so be prepared for that going in, but read for a sweet story about falling in love in Paris!

I received an advanced copy from the author, all thoughts are my own.

The Paris Soulmate by Brooke Gibert is a fun and engaging read. Told from the viewpoint of Christine, a soon to be 30 something who has had her life limited and dictated to by autoimmune disorders, you will follow as she not only survives her ilnesses but thrives because of them. Visiting Paris on her own and claiming her Dream Trip of returning to a city that inspires her love and lust for life, she seizes this opportunity to be her best self. However, unbeknownst to her, her best friend Lola has hired a wellness body guard to ensure that Christne stays safe, well, and does not exert herself. Cue the Meet Cute of Southern born and out of work actor Colin to present to be her perfect Mr. Darcy. In the best and truest of Rom Com Fashion it was love-at-first sight for Colin when he sees Christne's image and he is not so keen on simply protecting this lovely body and woman from a distance. With backstory of his own, and the help fo Doris - the lovely 'Grandma from seat 12 C' the City of Love will bring these two lovers all that that deserve!

Filled with great dialogue and a lot of life lessons along the way, you can read what would be a wonderful LifeTime Movie that brings all the best of what it means to not just find The Love of Your Life, but remind you about the power of Loving Yourself.

For my both Bookstagram Visual Reviews of Paris Soulmate please see https://www.instagram.com/redreviews4you/

Rating: 4 stars ⭐️
Tropes: instant connection 👫
enemies to lovers 💋
fake marriage 💍
one bed 🛏
closed door romance🚪

This story follows Colin and Christine, they met at the airport and there was an instant attraction! There was a lot of banter when they were flying to Paris! 🇫🇷

He falls head over heels for her and has second thoughts about the offer he took from her best friend Lola. 🌸

I liked the characters and this story was really cute! He did everything for her! 💕

This story has chronic illness representation.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Paris soulmate was beyond cute with some serious topics. As someone with a serious chronic condition, I loved how the author approached a character who is ill. Paris is not my favorite city but this book gave it a magical feel. It's always good to see someone fall in love with a stranger in a different city. It makes me smile every time.

The Paris Soulmate was a nice read in a weekend. It started very fast, I couldn't believe Colin for one minute (instant love is not a favorite trope of mine) and the airplane scene gave me second hand embarrassement so I had it dropped for some days. When I picked it up again, the feelings didn't go away, but I pushed it, forced myself to finish as I never leave books unfinished.

I'm glad I did for 2 reasons: talking about living life to the max while dealing with diseases and taking risks even at the lowest.
Christine was not a favorite of mine at some moments, but I give her cookies for taking risks. They are important and move us when we don't feel like living anymore.

It's was enjoyable, would recommend, but writing style took a toll on my reading rhythm it was not my favorite.

I had high hopes for this but it didn’t grab my attention at all and I was so disappointed. I really hate not finishing a book but after 27% I gave up.

Christine has battled with an autoimmune disorder for most of her 20’s. She’s finally at a place where her health allows her to live life to the fullest again so she decides to travel to Paris. In the airport she meets the most incredible man, the man of her dreams and they decide to spend the week together in the city of love. What could possibly go wrong.

If you’re not a fan of the insta love trope this one isn’t for you. Christine and Collin have an instant connection and their relationship progresses really fast. I got fairytale vibes, a woman who’s finally found herself and her perfect match is the dream. It’s cheesy and I love it.

Then there’s the twist. I was so wrapped up in the fact that she meet this seemingly perfect stranger to even consider there was a set up. This added another layer to the story that made for an interesting conflict.

Other things I liked was the dual pov, chronic illness representation, the map and lists included. A movie list, playlist, yoga routine all related to the book ofc. Amazing!

I highly recommend this one to fans of sweet romance and women’s fiction. It’s available in KU so go download it!

Christine was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune disorders a few years ago, and visiting Paris again has been on her bucket list ever since. She meets a handsome man prior to the flight who helps her through a panic attack at the gate which leads to an argument and sets them up for a difficult start to their relationship. They end up being seat mates on the long flight where they agree to give each other a second chance. From there, it is a whirlwind of traveling Paris and proving it is the city of love.

I really appreciated the disability representation, the dual POV and the plot had potential, but unfortunately it fell short. The internal monologues continuously felt drawn out (which don’t get me wrong, I enjoy, especially with dual POV), but it was the same monologue so it felt repetitive. And while I wish there had been more banter between the 2 MCs, when there was, it felt like they kept contradicting themselves from one sentence to another. Lastly, the editing seemed a bit choppy. It felt like paragraphs were copied/pasted and therefore produced minimal flow to the entire story.

I'm sorry to say that this book was not for me.

Unfortunately this book didn’t grab my attention like I thought it would. I had to push through until I couldn’t go on anymore. It was a very slow read and at 45% I had to stop. I don’t like not finishing books but I just couldn’t