We have a trio of new novels to recommend for spring and summer reading lists. Two novels have Paris as a theme and bring into question happily ever after and what ifs. The third is a stunning mystery.

Will Amy Get Her Happily Ever After?

Paris Ever After is K.S.R. Burn’s sequel to her bestselling novel, The Paris Effect. When we last encountered her protagonist Amy, she had returned home to her husband after  what was supposed to be a short secret getaway by herself to Paris turns into several weeks.  Rebuffed by her husband who is none to happy that she disappeared, she returns to Paris. The sequel starts six months later and Amy is celebrating her 30^th birthday and is settling into a new and very different life than one she had back home.  And then unexpectedly her estranged husband arrives. With lots of twists and turns, humor, mouth watering descriptions of food and the “City of Life” you will savor Amy’s adventures and this delightful book. And while you do not have to read The Paris Effect to enjoy Paris Ever After, trust us, will want to. Get the books.

What If?

We loved Sue Watson’s We’ll Always Have Paris, because it so embraces The Three Tomatoes ethos that we are never too old to live our dreams.  During her first week at art college, Rosie Jackson, almost seventeen, locks eyes with the charismatic Peter from across the room of their nude figure drawing class, and the course of her life is changed forever. Now, on the cusp of sixty-five and recently widowed, Rosie is slowly coming to terms with a new future. And after a chance encounter with Peter forty-seven years later, she is brought back to that summer of 1968, when she gave her heart away to love, pain, and loss, and when she dared to dream boldly of a life in Paris. As Rosie and Peter pick up where they had left off, they both begin to wonder what if . . .The story is told with wonderful humor, tons of heart and will have you rooting for Rosie all the way! Get the book.

A Beautifully Crafted Mystery

Birds of Wonder, a debut novel by Cynthia Robinson, is a beautifully crafted mystery that will keep you reading way into the night. Set among the hills and lakes of upstate New York and told in six vibrantly distinct voices, this complex and original narrative chronicles the rippling effects of a young girl’s death through a densely intertwined community. By turns funny, fierce, lyrical and horrifying, Birds of Wonder probes family ties, the stresses that break them, and the pasts that never really let us go. The author is a gifted writer who brings her flawed characters brilliantly to life – and death.  And we did not see the ending coming.  Get the book.