Seven years ago, Chelsea Martin embarked on the trip of a lifetime when she traveled across Europe finding love in Ireland, France, and Italy. In the years that passed since then, she lost her mother to cancer and watched as her sister, Annabelle, marry and divorce twice. Meanwhile, Chelsea has devoted herself to her job at the American Cancer Coalition as a fundraiser, despite having to deal with her colleague and rival, Jason Knightley.
After her father announces that he plans to remarry, Chelsea is suddenly forced to realize that her life has stopped since her mother's passing. The last time she was full of spirit and adventure was that summer in Europe years ago. With that she decides to travel to Killarney, Ireland in the hopes of seeing Colin, followed by Paris, France to find Jean-Claude, and finally the Italian vineyard of Castello di Luce to meet Marcellino, in the hopes that one these men who helped her find love will be able to help her find herself again.
This book was such an enjoyable read from beginning to end that I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. I actually delayed myself from finishing it too soon with only four chapters left because I wasn't ready for it to end. It was the just the romantic comedy I needed after the heaviness I felt after finishing In Five Years, that reminded me of movies such as Leap Year and The Wedding Date mixed with the self-journey of Eat, Pray, Love.
What made this book great were all the places Chelsea visited. I loved how each place - Ireland, France, and Italy - felt so distinctive and charming in their own ways that I felt transported there with Chelsea. Her first destination to Ireland was hilarious and unexpected (an innkeeper who teaches pole dancing - I laughed and thought, sure why not?) and thought that it set the right tone for the rest of Chelsea's trip and how it was going to be unpredictable but fun. Paris - ah, Paris. This enchanting city really did pull me in to its undeniable allure and magic. For me, the best part of the book takes place here and without spoiling anything, I want to dance atop of the Eiffel Tower too. Then there is Italy, with its rolling hills and intoxicating aroma of the vineyards that it is enough to make you never want to go home.
While these places were enticing on their own, I thought that each of them represented the entire progress of Chelsea's journey. Ireland represented the beginning of her trip and how despite its nostalgia, you cannot simply go back without acknowledging the present. Paris was about romance and where I felt Chelsea really began to dig deep within herself in understanding the person she was now than the person she was before. The events that happen in Paris also pushed her to really see through what was right in front of her all along. Italy however, was the defining moment. It's where I thought she was able to accept and acknowledge everything she had been through and had been suppressing that it lead to her finally set herself free from the unresolved grief that confined her.
There was a very Eat, Pray, Love kind of feel to this book but different in that it was its own story. Earlier this year, I read The Jetsetters and unfortunately I did not like it. While it was set in several different locations through a cruise, it was bogged down by the drama surrounding the family members and their own problems that made the story feel unbalanced and uneven, and for me a little depressing. Paris is Always a Good Idea on the other hand was able to find the perfect balance that The Jetsetters lacked. It made traveling fun as it should be despite whatever reason you are going on this trip for and unexpected. It is a romantic comedy but also a journey of self-discovery blending it with humor and adventure seamlessly.
My one criticism however would be the two characters, Chelsea and Jason. There were times I liked them and times I did not like them. In the first chapter especially, I thought Chelsea was selfish and stubborn and I didn't like it. She would often jump to conclusions when something would hit her emotionally or she felt she was being undermined, which I found annoying. However, when she did let her guard down and let herself be vulnerable and open I understood where she was coming from and why she was like this. Jason bothered me sometimes too as he was depicted to be this Boston type of guy that came off kind of "bro-y" sometimes that it made cringe. The same with Chelsea though, when he put his guard down and his effortlessness charisma aside, he was actually sensitive and sweet. I think that was the author's intention and how the characters saw each other until they got to know each other with Chelsea being uptight and Jason being an alpha male when actually they were both going through some personal things that I was willing to let it slide. To be honest I already had a feeling where the story was going to go just based off reading the synopsis. There were parts that were predictable and yet I still enjoyed reading it. And are not rom-coms like that anyway? We still love them.
This was such a fun book overall and was easy to tear through. If you love traveling and are looking for something light, romantic, and entertaining than this is for you. Paris is always a good idea, indeed.
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