📖 Book Review 📖 Paris is the City of Lights…the City of Love…it has a heartbeat that pulses throughout that breathes electrifying life into this iconic metropolis. For Cassie and Oliver on their honeymoon to Paris, and Oliver’s home country, there is something quite off about their vibe. And for Taylor who arrives alone on her honeymoon with nothing but the clothes on her back and stolen money, the alarms are sounding. The stories of these three individuals unravel deliciously in The French Honeymoon, leaving the reader with far more questions than answers as the plot develops. The characters were beautifully complex and all around difficult to like in the most enjoyable way possible. Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau delivers one show stopping read!

Can you really trust your step-sister?

Amazing domestic thrillers, when the step-sister is jealous of your life. Cassie gets everything, but that's not all.

Can Cassie really trust her Oliver her new husbands?

A must on your TBR

The beginning of this book started with me wondering what I was reading. Where was this book going and was the story going to pick up? Then it picked up… hold on to your seats. The words flew, the pages turned, I could not stop reading. I was invested in figuring out what would happen next.

I am going to end my review here so I do not give away any spoilers but there are a lot of twists and turns in this book and I enjoyed each and every one of them.

Taylor Quinn dreamed of love and lace in Paris—but instead, she arrives alone, broke, and carrying a shady stash of stolen cash. Her dream honeymoon? Hijacked. Then she spots Cassie and Olivier, a picture-perfect couple living the life she was supposed to have. And Taylor? She can’t look away.

As Cassie’s glamorous posts flood social media, Taylor spirals into obsession, trailing them through Paris. But behind the curated smiles and Eiffel Tower snaps, cracks appear—and when Taylor inserts herself into their unraveling fairytale, things get dangerously real.

Anne-Sophie Johanna blends sharp humor with psychological suspense in a glittering-but-gritty thriller. Her writing is vivid—you can taste the espresso and feel the tension rising like Parisian summer heat. Taylor is messy, relatable, and teetering on the edge, while Cassie and Olivier hide secrets sharp enough to cut glass.

Fast-paced, stylish, and packed with twists, The French Honeymoon is a darkly addictive story about envy, identity, and the lies we post online.

Rating: 4.5 stars and a friendly PSA: never trust a filtered love story.

While in New York tending to her father’s funeral, Cassie begins a fling with his tenant. The relationship moves quickly and marriage is almost immediate, but both Cassie and Olivier benefit from the entanglement. From what the internet sees, Cassie is happily enjoying the finer things in life on her honeymoon in Paris with her new, rich husband. Things are picture perfect and the two are smitten. What the internet doesn’t see is the facade - Olivier isn’t rich in the slightest, the two are spending Cassie’s inheritance and as in love as they may seem, Cassie and Olivier are unaffectionate and detached. As both secretly ponder ending the relationship, the two worry what the other may do in a time of desperation in order to gain from the marriage.

The French Honeymoon is a tale of secrets, deception, and revenge. The characters are incredibly unlikable. This is a “slow-burn” thriller as most of the action happens in the final 25%. The story was easy to follow and very fast paced. If you love reading about messy relationships, give this a try!

Thank you @bookmarked for the gifted advance reader copy!

“Sometimes, Paris is a terrible idea.”

Taylor arrives in Paris with a bag full of cash and seems to be running from something. She spends her time following newlywed influencer Cassie and her French husband and admiring their seemingly perfect life. But everyone has their own secrets and agendas…

This was a twisty domestic thriller! I enjoyed the extravagant Parisian setting. The characters were all unlikeable and it was hard to connect with any of them but the surprising twists and messy drama kept my attention. The ending was left open and ambiguous, which was kind of a letdown, but overall I enjoyed it.

Rating 4⭐️

Cassie and Olivier are in Paris on their honeymoon, after a short engagement. They are strangers. Olivier needs a green card to return and stay in New York City.

Cassie just inherited some money after her estranged father passed. She is now living luxuriously on her honeymoon to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.

And then there’s Taylor, Cassie’s adopted sister. According to Cassie, Taylor has always been the “good girl”, “little miss perfect”. And according to Taylor, Cassie is the spoiled manipulative girl who always gets what she wants and plays games.

This story was a rollercoaster, constantly switching between the honeymoon, and before the honeymoon. I loved the dual timeline and the multiple POVs. I was gripped from the start, constantly shocked by the latest unveiling.

Rating: 3.5/5
Often, what is perceived on social media is not always the truth. The French Honeymoon touches upon themes of what appears to be “picture perfect” and what is real through a thrilling story set in Paris. Readers will be introduced to three characters: Taylor, who comes to Paris after taking a large sum of money, and Cassie and Oliver, who appear happy newlyweds on their honeymoon.

Taylor picks up on some suspicious things with Cassie and Oliver, and things pick up about midway through the story. However, the timeline flow and the number of characters impacted the pacing of the overall story. I was entertained, though.

This book was so good. At some point I thought I had the conclusion pegged but boy I was wrong! The author keeps the story's momentum going strong all throughout the book, and it kept me turning pages. Love it!

The French Homeymoon by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau: A beautiful Paris setting, unlikable characters with unhealthy relationship obsessions, and a few twists make up this captivating psychological thriller. The three main characters each had their faults and their own agendas, each of their paths intersecting and woven together with secrets and lies. I appreciated the condensed story with a well-written plot and well-timed twists and confirm that I was not expecting the crazy, ambiguous ending.

It was the cover for me …

Haunting and mysterious… I couldn’t wait to dive right in…

The French Honeymoon, is a twisty thriller set against the glamorous backdrop of Paris. The story follows three complex characters: Taylor, who arrives in Paris alone with stolen cash; Cassie, a newlywed documenting her seemingly perfect honeymoon on social media; and Olivier, Cassie's new husband, who may have ulterior motives.

Jouhanneau expertly weaves a tale of obsession, deception, and the dark underbelly of seemingly perfect lives. As Taylor becomes fixated on Cassie and Olivier's picture-perfect honeymoon, she uncovers cracks in their facade, leading to a dangerous entanglement.

The French Honeymoon is a fast-paced, suspenseful read with unexpected twists that will keep you guessing until the end. Jouhanneau's writing is sharp, and the Parisian setting adds a layer of allure and intrigue to the story. Fans of thrillers like The Paris Apartment and A Simple Favor will likely enjoy this dark and captivating novel.

Check out this teaser :

The Paris Apartment meets A Simple Favor in an unputdownable thriller about a honeymoon gone horribly wrong.

Sometimes, Paris is a terrible idea.

This is not how she imagined it, any of it. Taylor Quinn arrives at her honeymoon suite in the City of Love alone, sans suitcase, but with wads of stolen cash. When she catches a glimpse of newlyweds Cassie and Olivier enjoying their happily ever, she can't tear her eyes away. And Cassie makes their antics easy to follow as she reveals every detail of their picture-perfect trip on social media. Taylor's obsession builds as she tracks their every move. This was the kind of life she was supposed to be living, this was the marriage she should have had, this was the honeymoon she dreamed of.

The illusion is shattered when she overhears a heated argument between Cassie and Olivier, which reveals that they're not the lovestruck couple they pretend to be. But Cassie and Olivier have agendas of their own and Taylor can't see the danger in getting in the middle of this until it's too late. And now, no one will get out of Paris unscathed.

"Sometimes, Paris is a terrible idea." "We were the wrong people coming together at the worst time, and the sky must have been pitch-black." A psychological thriller on a collision course with social media. When Cassie and Olivier traveled to Paris for their honeymoon, it was seemingly perfect. Capturing every moment, minute, day...you might say a social media obsession which I find humorous. They met several months ago with a proposition of a marriage of convenience so Olivier could get his green card. It becomes a honeymoon or marriage gone wrong when they are overheard in a heated argument. There to capture the moment is Taylor who is on her own collision course and honeymoon without a spouse and a bag of stolen money. She has become obsessed with their adventures on social media wishing it were her living out those moments until she hears the argument and realizes nothing is as it seems. She puts herself in danger as she tracks them.
It is definitely a popcorn thriller spoiled by a slow burn but enough wow moments to keep you reading for more. The characters are alluding to the spectrum of the Paris honeymoon and delights that go with it... come to life. Not my favorite thriller but I enjoyed it enough to read more from this author. There are a lot of painful moments with all three's POVs, which encounter no win situations and secrets. Now the ambiguous ending will leave you at a crossroad and not sure which one I would take. Still pending on that... Overall a book with an outstanding cover and the desire to fly to Paris for a few pastries. I think it would be more entertaining as an audio because I love storytelling.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this incredible ARC in exchange for my review.
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If you do not pay attention, you will lose everything that’s going on in this book. We have 3 POV’s and one of the characters is not what she seems in this book. These characters are hard to like, Olivier and Cassie are in Paris for a honeymoon, but Cassie is faking it a little too much for social media, what is really going on here??? Well, their marriage is not what it seems. Then there is Taylor, what is the purpose of her trip to Paris in the beginning of the book? I was so confused, but then everything unraveled, and Taylor is not who she seems, and she has a more sinister reason as to why she’s there.

This book left me with more questions… who??? What the heck happened here??? I know this book is great for others but it was not for me.

I really enjoyed this thriller and the whole Paris setting. This story is told by three different point of views and was very easy to follow along.

I absolutely hated Cassie and her whole character. She is super selfish, self centered and was awful to her sister, Taylor, their entire lives. I think the author did a great job of making you feel a certain way about each character.

I did guess the connection between two of the characters, but there were a couple of twists that I definitely did not see coming.

Overall, this was a great read and I can’t wait to read more in the future from this author.

Thank you @bookmarked for the free arc 💖.

🗓️ Out 4/15/25

✨What it is about:
Taylor Quinn arrives in Paris on her honeymoon with stolen cash and becomes obsessed with a newlywed couple. As secrets unravel, she’s drawn into a dangerous web where no one leaves unscathed.✨

💭My thoughts:
If you’re looking for a quick psychological thriller that mostly takes place in a beautiful setting like Paris, this one is an easy read. With unlikeable characters, each with their own twisted agendas, you’re thrown into a setting typically reserved for love and wonderful experiences—yet the contrast with the dark turns the story takes was especially interesting to me. After all, Paris is often seen as romantic and perfect, and this story is anything but that.
As each character’s secrets are revealed, we go deeper and deeper into a tale of envy, deception, and manipulation, with very dark consequences for everyone involved. It’s a gripping take on obsession and the risks of getting too close to people who aren’t what they seem. There’s a reason why they say appearances can be deceiving!
While the story struggles with pacing at times, it does a good job of showing how obsession with someone else’s reality can sometimes unravel your own. (Boy, don’t we see this a lot these days with social media!) Though many plot points were predictable and I didn’t particularly like or relate to the characters, the story kept me entertained throughout. I felt the open ending was appropriate and matched the overall vibe of the book.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Read if you like:
🇫🇷Character driven stories
🇫🇷Twisted/unlikeable characters
🇫🇷Multiple POVs
🇫🇷Slow burn
🇫🇷Honeymoon-gone wrong
🇫🇷Short stories
🇫🇷Open endings

⚠️CW: Death of a parent, murder, sexual content.

This is an excellent thriller that ramps up the tension as the story progresses. The multiple points of view may seem confusing at first, but you soon learn who's who as their individual narratives converge and their motives become clearer. The three main characters in this triangle are: Cassie, a spoiled, sociopathic narcissist, Olivier, a French national living in the US on a work visa who has just lost his job, and Taylor, Cassie's stepsister, persecuted and manipulated by Cassie all her life. None of the characters are particularly likeable, and all have ulterior motives in their dealings with each other. A green card marriage, a clandestine affair, a honeymoon beset by misfortune and danger, and a murder (or two?) make a stew of suspense and intrigue that will have the reader racing to the finish. Recommended for lovers of psychological and domestic thrillers.

This was an interesting thriller with various twists and turns that kept me engaged. The characters were all interesting and shady in their own ways, but very superficial. The overall plot was gripping, but at times was a predictable. For me, the ending was a bit of a downfall because it was ambiguous and just left me wondering what even happened.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I was so bored in the first half of the book that this would have been a DNF if I hadn’t agreed to read the whole book and write a review. Almost nothing really happened in the first half to 2/3 of the book, and I struggled to keep the two female main characters straight. You would think maybe this time was spent on character development, but you would be mistaken.

Finally, in the final 1/3 of the book, things got interesting. I thought the book might redeem itself. Sadly, the story just never hit for me, and I never managed to care about these characters.

What a wild ride this one was. I haven’t read a thriller in the longest time and this book definitely reminded me that I need to explore this genre more.

The characters were deliciously unreliable. The setting in France is just beautiful. And the plot itself, kept me reading late into the night, not wanting to sleep till I reached a slow chapter. I never did. I just had to force myself to be an adult and sleep lol.

Be warned, this does have one of those ambiguous ending where it’s crystal clear what actually happened. If you like yourself some fast paced, edge of the seat, emotional thrillers, this is it.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ebook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The French Honeymoon had me wrapped by its finger and I couldn't get enough. This honeymoon in Paris was anything but a honeymoon. There were lies, deceit, hatred, envy and lots of nefarious things being committed by our 3 main characters Cassie, Oliver and Taylor. Each time a new twist came up, I just wanted more. It is slow paced but definitely worth hanging on.

The French Honeymoon will keep you in suspense even when you think you have it all figured out!
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Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark!