This is the second book in the author’s 5 title ‘Holiday Romance Series’. I enjoyed the first book titled ‘One Summer in Santorini’, and once again found myself instantly drawn into another delightful story full of romance, friendship, and fun.
In this book we meet Catherine (Cat), the sister of Sarah, from book one. After a drunken and regretful romp with her fellow single housemate, Cat books herself on a whirlwind bus tour around Europe in order to escape the awkward situation at home.
Cat quickly makes friends on the coach and finds her girl tribe. All the ladies have their own personal reasons for temporarily escaping their lives.
Cat gets the surprise of her life during their first stop in Paris. She bumps into John Luc, a very handsome blast from her past. John Luc was her best friend when they were teenagers, having met when he was a French exchange student.
They had kept in touch for many years, writing letters back and forth, until Cat’s jealous boyfriend gave her an ultimatum. Me or him. Cat cut ties with John Luc and then found herself single when her relationship with her boyfriend eventually broke down. The breakup hit Cat hard, and she vowed to stay single forever to protect herself from getting hurt again.
When she meets John Luc again all those years later, she feels positively awful about the way she ended their friendship. He was always good looking, but now he was as sexy as all hell.
Does Cat have feelings for John Luc? She finds out he was in love with her back then. She wonders if she feels the same way. If she always felt the same way? But Cat had promised herself she would never be in another relationship after her painful break up.
Yes, there was romance, but this book is more about friendship and how the bonds we make with others can help us navigate our way through life’s dilemmas. Writing about female friendships is something this author does extremely well.
There is a whirlwind tour of Europe, girl tribe togetherness, a sexy Frenchman, warm engaging characters, descriptions of amazing food, and stunning scenery. What more could you want in a good book?
I give it 5 stars.