The Intrepid Reader and Baker: Blog Tour: Twenty One Nights in Paris by Leonie Mack

Irena Asquith-Lewis (known as Ren) is a protected heiress to a large fortune. Sacha Mourad comes from the outer suburbs of Paris and has known poverty and pain. There is nothing that should cause these two people to meet, let alone anything more.

Ren's whole life is completely encompassed by the family business. She is the face of the business, living her life for all to see on social media. For the last six months, she has been living a lie, not having told anyone that she and her fiance Charlie have broken up, jeopardising a major business deal between the two families at the same time.

Ren is in Paris when the secret broken engagement is revealed and she is ordered to return to London by her domineering grandmother. On the way to the train station, she literally crashes into Sacha, causing him to be injured. She insists on taking him to the hospital, setting in train a series of events that take Ren completely out of her comfort zone. Forced to explain her continued absence from London to her grandmother, Ren suggest that Sacha be her fake boyfriend.

Sacha, with his Lebanese heritage, multiple tattoos and his poor background is exactly the kind of man that grandmother will disapprove of, but she agrees to let Ren have two weeks in Paris with Sacha, out of the public eye. For Ren, Paris consists of The Ritz and not much more, but Sacha shows her his Paris, introducing her to the people in his life, taking her places she would never have gone.

Sacha is my favourite kind of romance hero. He's somewhat mysterious, a deep thinker but with a heart of gold. And, given the behind-the-scenes machinations, he could quite easily be eaten up and spat out by the Asquith-Lewis machine. However, he sees more to Ren that just the pampered rich girl. He sees her heart. And soon, the feelings becomes real, even as the relationship should be coming to an end

The star of this novel is Paris itself. Every year as I read books I save quotes about books, food (to share in Weekend Cooking), about Christmas (to share in the lead up to Christmas) and about Paris ready to share during Paris in July. I cannot begin to tell you how many quotes I saved from this book. The descriptions of the city are breathtaking. You are there with Ren and Sacha as they explore the streets of Paris from the well known sites like Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower, and lesser known places and less enchanting parts of the city. You see the Christmas decorations in Galleries Lafayette, you feel the energy of the various markets and learn various bits of history.

I will read more Leonie Mack books for this aspect of her writing alone. I note that several of her books are set in Italy which suits me just fine.

We have six nights in Paris coming up early next year. I have added a couple of things to our to do list as a result of reading this book. I really hope I can see the magic as clearly as I could see it when reading this book.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy of this book

About the book

Irena and Sacha come from two very different worlds.
An heiress to a fortune, Ren’s home-from-home is the Ritz, while the handsome and brooding Sacha has grown up in Paris’s less salubrious suburbs. So when an accident brings them together, romance seems an unlikely outcome.

When Ren’s society engagement reaches a very public end, Irena’s over-protective grandmother wants her home in London. Ren needs an excuse to stay in Paris, and so after some persuasion, Sacha agrees to pose as her new boyfriend. But only for the twenty-one days Ren's grandmother has allowed her to nurse her broken heart before heading home to face the music.

Over the course of three weeks, Ren realises the world outside her exclusive bubble is more beautiful than she could have imagined. While Sacha reluctantly begins to see the goodness of the woman behind the wealth. When their time is up, will Ren want to return to her gilded cage, and will Sacha be able to let go of the woman he’s been ‘pretending’ to fall in love with…

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3AJtxHs

About the author

Leonie Mack is an author of romantic comedies with great international locations and big feelings. She loves a happy ending and shares that love in every book she writes! She is a journalism graduate, a language nut and loves to travel, particularly on foot, by bike and by train. After growing up in Australia and living most of her adult life in London, she now lives in Germany, among the vineyards on the Main river.