Is there a better place to start over than France?

Synopsis

Stranded at the altar, knee-deep in her fiancé’s gambling debts, Vicki Marchant seizes her freedom and moves to France, to paint.
It’s her time. No man will get in the way of her ambition again.
She learns two things: some men are hard to resist, and her judgement of them is still on the dodgy side.

My review

Instead of being a married woman, Vicki Marchant not only has been jilted at the altar, but her fiancé left her with his gambling bets too…
Tired of men, and wanting a fresh start and follow her passion of painting again, she moves to France. Staying at the home of a friend of her best friend, she hopes will be able to project whatever she sees as worthy to paint on canvas.
However, she also finds it hard to keep some men at distance, despite her determination. But can she trust her judgement? And who is having his cake and eating it too?

I always find it very courageous when a character in a book decides to just pack and move to another place.
So obviously I admired Vicki, because not only she moves to France, but also goes staying with a total strange.
Even if this would seem like the perfect start of a thriller, this is a beautiful, even inspirational romantic comedy!

Despite a terrible start, Vicki makes the best of the situation she finds herself in. It takes a lot of guts for not only thinking of moving to France, but also actually doing it!
I loved reading how Vicki is not only trying to find inspiration for her paintings again, but also living the actual struggles of moving to a foreign country, not completely mastering the language.

There is just something that made me immediately like Vicki. She is an artist, but she has her head on the shoulders and has the same issues with self-confidence every one of us has. And when someone believes in you and your capacities, it’s easier to see it yourself too.

Of course this wouldn’t be a romantic comedy if there wasn’t some romance in it. I have to admit, Christophe was the kind of character I held quickly a torch for. Even if sometimes he acted in a somehow negative way, I kept hoping that my gut feeling would be right in the end. And even at the worst imagine of him, I kept hoping.
So I was very happy that Vicki saw the same thing I was seeing!

But there is also Daniel, being in Vicki’s corner and persuading her to keep painting. He seems to understand whenever she needs that extra push of not giving up, and even uses his connections to help her out.

However, not everything is as it seems, and Vicki learn that also the hard way. We see Vicki doing her utterly best, but we see her also fall. But it’s not about falling, what everyone does in their lives, this story is also about finding the strength to get back up and learn from the fall.

I had laughs, yes, but I was mostly inspired by this book. Because picking up the pieces after a disaster is not easy, but doable. And realizing you made a mistake and admit it too, makes you a humble yet great person.

The only remark I have, is that I would have loved just a few more chapters. The book ends beautifully, but I just wanted to see *more*, because it’s obvious that when we reach the end, it’s only the start of something that is destined to be wonderful!