Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Paris
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: December 2010
Pages: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis (from goodreads):
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near – misses end with the French kiss Anna – and readers – have long awaited?

My Review:

I’ve been hearing so many good things about this book since it was released two years ago. I’ve had a copy for a while but kept putting it off because I often find that my expectations get out of control and I end up disappointed when there is so much love around for a particular novel.

Happily, this was not the case with me and Anna and the French Kiss. It’s a sweet story of Anna who – despite her own wishes – gets shipped off to Paris for her senior year of high school. Her father (a famous novelist who from the sound of things is the next Nicholas Sparks) wants to appear more cultured in his circle of friends. His solution for this is to send his daughter away from her mother and younger brother so she can spend her senior at a prestigious French boarding school in the heart of Paris’ Latin Quarter.

I love books set in boarding schools. And books set in Paris (or really anywhere in Europe). So add a somewhat naive 17-year-old and a gorgeous boy with incredible hair and a British accent and it’s probably no surprise that this book had me swooning.  I didn’t want it to end.

For me, the key to my enjoyment whilst reading a contemporary romance is to have a hearty dose of realism. These characters aren’t perfect. Anna was, at times, slightly frustrating and St Clair was broken is his own way. But it was because of these flaws that these characters had such an effect on me. They’re fantastic on their own but I was really pulling for them as a couple even when things seemed impossible.

I loved the supporting characters too – I wanted to know more about all of them. Both the ones still in the US and Anna’s new classmates in Paris. They all have their own stories and baggage.

This is a very sweet romance that’s fun, flirty and set in France.

Purchase the novel from:

Amazon / Book Depository