Meet Me in Monaco

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb   384 pages

Get ready to be swept away!

It’s May 1955. International beauty and movie star Grace Kelly is attending the 8^th Annual Cannes Film Festival.  The paparazzi are out in full force, trying to snap “the” picture.  Grace is stalked by a London photographer, James Henderson, who must get that picture, whatever it is, in order to keep his job.

To avoid Henderson, Grace ducks into a small boutique, Duvall’s perfumes. The owner, Sophie, recognizes the darling of the silver screen, and hides her in her office. But sparks ignite when Sophie and James meet. Although Sophie is already in a relationship, she is drawn to James.

With the perfurmery in financial difficulties, Sophie is facing some tough decisions. Should she close the boutique in Cannes and return to her labatory? Can she continue to make perfumes with the natural fragrances of the flowers that grow on the land that surrounds the lab?

James is single, but the love of his life, his small daughter, lives in London. He hates to be away from her, but he must make a living. He leaves the perfumery with one of Sophie’s sweet-smelling business cards.

James is selected to photograph Grace Kelly’s first meeting with Prince Rainier of Monaco. James accidentally gets to meet Grace, who catches a whiff Sophie’s business card that James has in his pocket. Could this chance be the catalyst that changes their lives?

The story is told in three alternating voices: Sophie’s, James’s  and news articles writte by Angeline West, a fashion editor. Readers get to intimately know Sophie and James, learning what makes them tick and watching them grow as individuals. Grace is always in the story, but is more of a secondary character to Sophie and James.

Authors Gaynor and Webb do an excellent job in re-creating the beauty of Cannes, Monacco and the French Riveria.  I felt as if I had been there.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and had difficutly in putting it down. Therefore, “Meet Me in Monaco” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose
368 Pages

When Jac L'Etoile's brother dies of a mysterious poison, she attempts to finish off a project that he had started.  A group of glass vials that purport to hold the dying breaths of several 16th Century figures was found and if the formula of the perfume maker Rene Le Florentin can be recreated would mean that those individuals could live again with all their memories.  

Part historical novel, part romance novel, this book is a mess.  While there are interesting premises that could be investigated and great subject matter, Rose fails to make any of her characters connectable and there are several times where the plot drops a thread and never has any resolution for that plot line.  Supposedly the second book of the series I could not in good conscience recommend either book to anyone.