Paris is Always a Good Idea -- Release Day!

On Sale Today!

RHYS: Who doesn't agree that Paris is always a good idea? Now more than ever! But today we Reds are jumping up and down with excitement because this much anticipated day has finally come.  Our dear Jenn's beautiful, wonderful, sexy, funny break-out book is finally born.

What's more it's the perfect book to help us escape from the crazy world we're living in. Tell all your friends. Jenn couldn't have the sort of tour and publicity she would have expected for a new venture like this so let's all shout from the rooftops.

Here is enough to whet your appetite:

One of Popsugar’s Best New Books for Summer 2020

A thirty-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love—and herself—in this hilarious and heartfelt novel.

It's been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong postcollege European adventure. Since then, she's lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea's thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most successful moneymaker is unquestioned.

When her introverted mathematician father announces he's getting remarried, Chelsea is forced to acknowledge that her life stopped after her mother died and that the last time she can remember being happy, in love, or enjoying her life was on her year abroad. Inspired to retrace her steps—to find Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy—Chelsea hopes that one of these three men who stole her heart so many years ago can help her find it again. 

From the start of her journey nothing goes as planned, but as Chelsea reconnects with her old self, she also finds love in the very last place she expected.

JENN McKINLAY: What a thrill to have Paris is Always a Good Idea released into the wild! Even after so many books (Paris is my 45th book!!!) the thrill of opening a box of author's copies never ever gets old! 

This book, oh, this book. My first foray into women's fiction and it was an endeavor. It was hard. It required some blood letting, sage burning, and howling at the moon. Okay, not really, but it sure felt like it. Given that my personality is one of conflict avoidance -- as in, Oh, things are awful, okay, let's just cracks jokes and move forward and pretend we're not having any feelings -- writing about a person grappling with grief and loss and big turning points in her life, while she was traveling in three different countries, mind you -- was really freaking difficult. Oh, and it's me, so it had to be funny or why bother. In fact, I'm quite positive this book gave me shingles! Oy!

There was so much about this book that came from my own life. Chelsea, the heroine, finds herself at a turning point where big decisions have to be made. Her journey to find her happiness brought me back to the time in my life where I was standing at a crossroads, trying to decide which way I should go. Should I quit my job and move across the country to follow my dream of being a writer or should I continue on in the unfulfilling but safe job I had landed post college? I suppose it’s obvious which path I chose. Like me, Chelsea quits her job, but her journey, to try and find her former happiness, becomes much more complicated than she anticipated.

Chelsea has been challenged by her sister, Annabelle, to rediscover her old self in the last place she can remember being happy. She believes that if she goes back and reconnects with her past loves, maybe, she can find her happiness and herself again. But is it possible to go back? Can we ever be the person we once were before such a life changing event like the loss of a loved one? There is only one way for Chelsea to find out. She has to go.

It is my fondest wish that Chelsea’s journey will resonate with you, Readers. I think we have all lived through times of loss and grief, endured uncertainty while standing at life’s crossroads, and have looked to our past to inform our future, while navigating this crazy journey called life. Being able to examine these truths through Chelsea, while writing about some of the places I love best in the world was a pure joy for me in the end (despite the shingles) and I hope it will be for you as well.

So, tell me, if you had to go to Europe (hardship, I know) to make a big life decision, which country would you visit and why? 



Also, if you're in the mood for a bargain (and who isn't?) my romantic comedy EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY is on sale for $2.99, with several other terrific titles, wherever ebooks are sold!