Book Summary: 

Austen Keller was living her dream. She landed a career-defining job which moved her and her husband to Paris. <Swoon!> Shortly thereafter, she was divorced. <Thud.> This wasn’t the plan. Yet there she was—pushing 40 and starting over.

A decade after she’d last been single, Austen enters the dating scene playing by a new set of rules in a different language, culture, and lingerie standards. She experiences every type of miserable first date imaginable and lives to tell the tales of Pierre the Mansplainer, Simon the Snoozer, Emile the Over-Sharer, Guillaume of the Gym Shorts, and many more. On most dates, she struggles to get past one glass of Bordeaux without wanting to bolt. Even worse, no one chases after her when she runs. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that whoever said French men were romantic deserves a swift kick in the pants.

A rewarding and high-powered career. <Check.> 
Fabulous female friendships. <Nailed it!> 
True love. <Umm?> 

Austen continues to ask herself: Is “having it all” too much to ask?

A genuine and tragically hilarious novel about an ex-pat woman’s journey of self-discovery through a string of disastrous dates, relationships forged in a deep cultural divide, world travels, and wine. A lot of wine.

My Review:

Having enjoyed Whitney Cubbison’s debut novel immensely, the best way to describe this story is like watching all six seasons of Sex and the City (huge fan) wrapped into one. Through the friendships, their stories, the hilarious dating faux pas, you’ll find yourself falling deeper and deeper into this sensational world of love, laughs, and wine (so much wine) until suddenly it is over and you can’t help but wonder what happens next. 

Perfect job, perfect city, perfect husband. For Austen, life was a dream she never wanted to wake up from. Her husband agreed to quit his job and move with her to Paris so she could start her incredible new career. Her apartment has a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. She was writing speeches, traveling and making all of her fantasies come true. She was making the ex-pat life look good! In fact, life couldn’t get any better…but it could certainly get worse. Two years and a finalized divorce later, Austen finds herself unexpectedly starting over. With her girlfriends by her side, she is determined to make the most of her newfound freedom. Not looking for love or long term, Austen quickly learns the ends and outs of dating Frenchmen. With each success and hilarious failure, Austen decides to document her excursions in a blog, providing a humorous take for those around the world who find themselves in a similar situation. From single dads, to missed opportunities with gorgeous bodyguards, to mansplainers, snorers, and all calamity in between, Austen is determined to believe that her needle is somewhere in this dating haystack – she just has to find it.

What I liked about it: This book makes you feel like you are hanging out with a good girlfriend who is sharing her tales with you. It isn’t overexciting, overwhelming, high energy, pure drama – it is a casual read that is very enjoyable. Just like a good friend, you find yourself remembering the names of the people she mentions, wanting to know where life is taking them. When a familiar male interest comes up, you easily recall what “you have been told” to connect it with the continuation of the story. I swear it felt like 300+ pages of hanging out with my best friend. 

I also enjoyed that this was just a story. No big build-up, no predetermine destination, just a chronological account of a woman, with 40 in her sightline, unexpectedly thrown back into the dating world, trying to find a way to stay afloat – not only with modern methods but cultural differences. I also love how much it teaches the reader about Frenchmen, undoing the romanticized fantasy of the “City of Love”. I have to give Austen credit, I would have called it quits on a number of occasions! 

What I love about it: The story held my interest up to the very end. I swear at one point I wanted to start a pool to see who she ended up with (for the record, I would have lost). I enjoyed the lessons Austen learned along the way and the evolution of her story. She tried and failed, tried and failed, and yet never gave up on love or the pursuit of her happily ever after. She also learned to find her own voice, to forgive, and the growth she experienced – especially learning to just be on her own, was heartfelt and relatable. Her dedication and her loyalty to her friends didn’t go unnoticed. Not only did we have Austen’s story, we followed the trials and tribulations of her friends as well – from their divorcees, difficulties getting pregnant, breakups, marriages, etc. Through her support, advice, or just sheer presence at the event, we were given the all access pass to all things Austen – getting a full picture of who she was, inside and out as reflected in her relationship with others. As they say, you are the company that you keep and from what we learn, Austen is an extraordinary woman. 

With dreams come sacrifices, a prominent lesson Whitney projected throughout the book. While I don’t think I could be nearly as brave as Austen in her situation, reading her story was an empowering lesson that life can start over at any moment and you don’t need to be left behind when it does. Austen took the reins of her life and even though it bucked under her several times, she steered it towards her happily ever after, having an ounce of that determination would be an honor and a privilege! 

For those who love to travel, are wine connoisseurs, or just love to live vicariously through characters, Whitney paints a phenomenal picture of some of the most extraordinary places around the world within a beautiful story that is so realistic, you almost wonder how much of it is truly fiction and not Whitney retelling her own story (hint – read her bio).