What good is a dream when the love of your life isn’t included in the story?After a less than ideal marriage, Alma, newly divorced and alone, finds herself living on a bastide in the beautiful city of Provence. Here she meets the love of her life, the very mysterious Darius Wilde. In the time that Alma starts to become a world renowned cellist, Darius accepts his true place in the world as the … true place in the world as the heir to his father’s fortune. All the while, making it onto the scene as a writer who has taken the world by storm.
When both Alma and Darius gain massive success, they both cannot fathom the crossroads that they’ve approached in their lives.
Darius, having to go on a cross American book tour, and Alma, her career, taking her across the world.
What good is the dream of your life when the one who you’re destined to be with can’t accompany you?
One thing they both knew for sure, their irrevocable love for each other would prove stronger than any force separating them.
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The Progression Of Cecilia And Darius’s Love Story Is Confusing.
Lovers In Paris is book two from French Kiss: A Second Chance At Love Box Set. Although this could be read as a stand-alone, much would be lost by skipping the first book.
In this book, Darius and Cecilia work on their blossoming careers as they build on their love. Cecilia begins work with the Avignon Symphony, earning a solo and three year contract. Darius’s book has been released to critical aclaim, and his publisher wants a book tour. He wants Cecilia to join him, but understands that she cannot.
In the meantime, Darius reconciles with his father, bringing he and Cecilia to Cannes for the film festival. People from Darius’s past, including his father, cause Cecilia doubts as she realizes how little she knows of Darius’s past.
At the festival, a figure from Cecilia’s past appears. Michael Navratilova, a Czech cellist – one of greatest of his generation. She met him when he gave a masterclass at Julliard fifteen years earlier. His presence and ability to help Cecilia with her music, something so deeply important and emotional, makes Darius jealous.
The progression of Cecilia and Darius’s love story is confusing. There are several scenes that cast doubt upon the strength of the couple’s relationship. They mostly turn out to be fantasies, but even that gives the reader pause. It feels as if these scenes are meant only to provoke. Additionally, Cecilia’s failed marriage to Bill taught her lessons – and she will not repeat those same mistakes with Darius. Yet in their young relationship, she repeatedly fails to learn from the error of her ways. She has several concerns that go months without being addressed despite her resolve to communicate openly and daily with Darius. Questions about staff and past relationships linger between the two. Cecilia also puts herself in compromising situations. While she believes she gave Darius no reason to be jealous, that simply isn’t true. Her thoughts, if nothing else, give her away. Sometimes I wondered if Cecilia deserved Darius. This ends in a cliffhanger.
The date of the Cannes Film Festival is accurate here, but the timeline does not add up with that of the first book. Cecilia was meant to begin with the symphony in September, but here she begins at the time of the festival, in May. Several months have passed here since the close of the last book, which was roughly May, again making September a more appropriate date.
This book is a tedious read. The fantasies and numerous extended descriptions of food and Cecilia’s music begin to drag. It is written in Cecilia’s POV. The plot gets a little lost in the bad choices and fantasies. The great detail used to write about food and music adds an authenticity to the experience, but is sometimes not appreciated because of the rush to finish and be done with the confusing story. Hopefully the third book in the series will wrap it all up nicely. I rate this book three stars.
I received a free advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The journey to sexual awakening continues
Lovers In Paris is the second book in the Worlds Apart series, and it continues from where the first book ends. The story is an account of Alma and Darius’s blossoming love story. Darius takes Alma on a journey of sexual reawakening, a path she willingly follows to discovering the joy of erotic pleasure and fantasy. In Darius’s arms, Alma, at last, becomes the woman she’s always felt she could be. A passionate woman with the capacity for joy in life, love, and her music. There is erotic fantasy daydreaming and erotic scenes.
Both Darius and Alma find new meaning to their lives, their popularity blossoms, and their careers explode to a new level. Alma is to go on a world tour playing her cello, and Darius is touring America doing readings of his writing. Will their new romance survive the separation? Will their love survive the demands of their careers? The story continues onto book 3, Climax In Paris.
Ms. Hayden’s writing is expressive and poetic. There are secondary characters that lend a bit of mystery to the story. And although Alma and Darius are intriguing characters, their consuming desire engaging, I find the story is bogged down with lots of detail and descriptions which took away from their romance. This book is not a fast read, you may want to devote plenty of time to delve into cultural differences and experiences to fully appreciating this story.