I Love You in French by Sara North: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

Sparrow 

I want a love - the hit me in the guts and make me feel something kind of love. The kind of love my parents shared. My father was American and my mother was French, and while I've never had a desire to leave my small, New England town of Birch Borough, or my bakery and café,  Sparrow’s Beret, I want to be brave. And I’m not sure that I am. 

My chances at finding a life changing love feel more like a fallen soufflé than a flaky maple croissant. 

Cue Handsome Stranger. He’s new to our town and while his voice is like the crackly top of a perfect crème brûlée, I’ve made the ridiculous mistake of falsely claiming (twice) that I’ll date a Frenchman or date no man. And, as you can see, it clearly hasn’t worked for me so far. 

Rafe 

When I landed in Birch Borough, all I wanted was to find a way to get back my creative spark so I could write the lyrics I needed to make music again. I didn’t plan on meeting Sparrow, a woman who has single handedly turned my world upside down with a glimpse of her face on a moving train car. 

To find her again feels like fate. So much so that when I end up offering to help her get the man of her dreams, I don’t realize that I’m about to be in the fight of my life to not hold on to her myself. 

And after the heartache I’ve had between Paris and LA, from famous parents to an ex who stole my songs, I can’t find the courage to tell her my secret. If she’s going to love me, it has to be for me and definitely not because I’m French. So I know I can’t fall for her. Except, I already have.

Sara North is a New England native who often dreams of Paris. While books held her heart first, Sara’s training included writing and story development for both film and television scripts and fueled her desire to create with heart.

With a passion to cheer on creatives and writers across art forms and industries, Sara recognizes the power of stories to bring healing, hope, and happiness. When she’s not writing, her loves include 90s rom-coms, Old Hollywood films, Hallmark Christmas movies, beloved sitcoms, music to match her mood, café hopping, baking, and celebrating all things fall.

Oh my goodness, this was such a sweet read... I was drawn into this story right from the first non-meeting and it held me right through to the end. The premise of this story was so fun--- Sparrow has declared that she will only date someone who is French... but when she meets Rafe (and even before), she is drawn to him... and he seemingly is not French. 

These two are absolutely the sweetest together. As avid a romance reader as I am, I have to admit I haven't found that I have read a lot of 'fated love' stories... but this one definitely has me questioning why I haven't because I very quickly fell in love with that aspect of the story. Throw in a musician MMC, a super cozy fall setting, a meddling best friend and a hint of fake dating... there really was just so much to love about this story. The way the story was written also really drew me in and felt like it had almost a lyrical quality to it... fitting with Rafe's character, but I think that also added to the romantic feel of it all. This is Sara North's debut, and it most certainly has me looking forward to seeing more from her in the future. 

I Love You in French is a closed-door romance with kisses only and no language.