Review - Meet Me In Monaco

-
Meet Me In Monaco
​​by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb
​​Release date 7/23/2019
​​384 pages
​​4 stars




​​
​​According to the publisher, “Set in the 1950s against the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and glamourous wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, New York Times bestselling authors Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb take the reader on an evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur in this page-turning novel of passion, fate, and second-chances.
​​
​​Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique, fending off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy.
​​
​​James Henderson cannot forget his brief encounter with Sophie Duval. Despite his guilt at being away from his daughter, he takes an assignment to cover the wedding of the century, sailing with Grace Kelly’s wedding party on the SS Constitution from New York. In Monaco, as wedding fever soars and passions and tempers escalate, James and Sophie—like Princess Grace—must ultimately decide what they are prepared to give up for love.”
​​
​​When I saw this book come out this summer, I quickly added it to my To Be Read list!  While I love all things royal, I admittedly don’t know that much about Grace Kelly, so I was excited to learn more about her.
​​
​​This book is unique in that it in not a biography of Grace Kelly or the royal family of Monaco.  It focuses much more on the commoners, James and Sophie, as they live their lives adjacent to Princess Grace.  The readers will, of course, get some wonderfully imagined scenes of James and Sophie interacting with the future princess.  She is poised, lovely, and everything we want a princess to be.  While we do learn quite a bit of biographical information about her, Grace is somewhat of a mythical figure throughout the book:  so close James and Sophie can literally touch her, but still from a different world.
​​
​​As readers, we don’t have that much access to the romance between Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier; rather the main romantic aspect of the book focuses on James and Sophie, with their will-they-won’t-they dynamic.  While we see the royals fall in love through the lens of newspaper headlines and paparazzi photos, James and Sophie give the readers the real thing.  Their story is not ripped from a fairytale like Grace and Rainier, but we still root for them anyway.
​​
​​I gave this book four stars, because I think it’s unique, and the authors were very skilled at simultaneously telling two very different love stories.  My only criticism is that I felt the book was somewhat slow paced.  I was anxious to get to the end to see how it all ended, and the book was moving slower than I would have preferred.
​​
​​Overall, if you enjoy romance or are a royal-watcher, I think you would like this book! 
​​

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Releases of the Month - May

-
Image
Happy May!  Not only is it my birthday month, but today is my birthday!  Looking back over this past year, I am very thankful for my family, my friends, and my health.  It seems like 29 is already promising new beginnings, and of course, some new releases: Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger Fiction Release date 05/18/21 " From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and When Life Gives You Lululemons comes a highly entertaining, sharply observed novel about sisters, their perfect lives . . . and their perfect lies. A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin. An adoring husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. Peyton is that woman. She has it all. Until . . . Skye, her sister, is a stay-at-home mom living in a glitzy suburb of New York. She has degrees from all the right schools and ...
Read more

April New Releases

-
Image
Spring has sprung - April in New Jersey means the start of nice weather!    I am looking forward to when it’s warm enough to sit outside and read.  In the meantime, here are some books I’m adding to my TBR list: World Travel:  An Irreverent Guide By Anthony Bourdain Travel Release date 04/20/21   “ Anthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from the hidden pockets of his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to Tanzania’s utter beauty and the stunning desert solitude of Oman’s Empty Quarter—and many places beyond. In World Travel , a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places—in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid, World Travel provides essential context th...
Read more

Review - The Liar's Daughter

-
Image
The Liar's Daughter  by Megan Cooley Peterson Release date 09/10/2019 284 pages 4 out of 5 stars According to the publisher, " Seventeen-year-old Piper knows that Father is a Prophet. Infallible. The chosen one. She would do anything for Father. That's why she takes care of all her little sisters. That's why she runs end-of-the-world drills. That's why she never asks questions. Because Father knows best. Until the day he doesn't. Until the day the government raids the compound and separates Piper from her siblings, from Mother, from the Aunts, from all of Father's followers--even from Caspian, the boy she loves. Now Piper is living Outside. Among Them. With a woman They claim is her real mother--a woman They say Father  stole  her from. But Piper knows better. And Piper is going to escape." This book's creepy cover caught my attention when I was browsing in the library earlier this month.  I was looking for something to read that would get me in th...
Read more