REVIEW
I am new to Rebecca Raisin’s novels but I recently purchased her previous release The Santorini Bookshop and look forward to reading it—especially after enjoying A Love Letter to Paris! Anything with the word Paris in the title catches my attention and the topic of letter writing always hooks me in. And Rebecca has divinely used the tool of letter writing to tell her beautiful tale. Quirky, inventive, flawed though determined leading ladies, always make me smile and at times get me cheering so Lilou fits the bill to a “T’! And there are animals in this story: particularly feisty cemetery cats. Yes, I said cemetery! But this part of the story will make you chuckle at the antics of this furry feline named Minou who thinks he is more human than cat.
Lilou is a collector and seller of diaries, prayer books, letters and postcards--any forgotten hand written treasures she can find. She gets creative when she decides to start up a matchmaking business called Paris Cupid and uses the old fashioned art of letter writing to connect couples. She wants to give them an opportunity to take their time and romance each other, awaken the starry elements of mystique. And to learn to appreciate the unique personality traits and simple pleasures of love found in each other. But is Lilou the best person to tell others about love? She has had a less than successful run in romance in her own life. Yet hasn’t everyone had a few failures? It takes a while for her to see that those mishaps were only part of the process of getting to Mr Right.
The novel is filled with delightful descriptions of Paris that whisked me away to the city of fine art, food and love. Mentions of Van Gogh and Renoir add additional sparkle to an already lively and loving text. These rich scenes are so well delivered I wanted to escape to Paris and immerse myself in that inspiring environment. The characters are a delightful mix, too, with their own individual positive and negative traits and concerns.
There’s plenty of action in the plot, that includes a number of amateur sleuths who try to guess who is behind the Paris Cupid website. They don’t like the secrecy and lack of transparency and worry about their personal information. This activity initially gets Lilou worried and feeling stressed. It is bad enough that there are a vast number of rumours flying around with guesses that it is someone with a connection to love letters. Maybe it is Benoit with his calligraphy or Pascale but he doesn’t seem the romantic type. And there is Felix with his hand-pressed greeting cards. The guesses are understandable but then a seedy reporter stops by Lilou's market stall saying it is her and threatens to expose her and her past love-life. How does he know who she is? Oh yes, the visible trail of comments and photos left on social media she has forgotten to remove. It reminds us of how vulnerable we can become without privacy settings: an open book or target for bad characters to violate. This realisation has left her in a quandary. Should she come clean and let everyone know she is behind the Paris Cupid or hold on tightly to her identity? And what becomes of her own love life?
Lilou has a secret admirer that is perfectly presented at the end. Their beautiful meeting is one of my favourite scenes in the novel. Does she get her happy romantic ending or exciting new beginning? You will have to read it and find out. This is a heart-warming, funny and well-written romantic tale that will spark hope and happiness in those who read it. A Love letter to Paris is quirky and fun, festive and feisty. 5 Adorable Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for a review copy.
