What I'm Reading Wednesday: Love + Paris--What more could you want?

Hi guys!  It's been a busy week so far, but I've still been reading!  I'm excited to share two companion novels this week.  I was pumped to get the second one from the library last week after a year of anticipation...you know how that is, series fans!

5/5 Stars

I snapped up Just One Day shortly after it was released last year, immediately intrigued based on the fact that I'd loved Forman's duo If I Stay and Where She Went...and, let's face it, because Just One Day is set in Paris.  Come on, a YA love story set in Paris?  Who can resist!  Anyways, I picked it up from the library last fall and started reading without even looking at the jacket. (This is important.  Remember, I dove in nearly blindly.)

If I had read the complete summary that was there plain to see on the jacket, I would have been more prepared for what happens in the story--instead, I almost abandoned the book after the protagonist Allyson meets her love interest on pg. 8...I remember groaning, "Seriously?  Already?"  More importantly, I wouldn't have been as shocked when Allyson wakes up alone after spending the perfect day in Paris with her dream boy, Willem.  I couldn't believe it!  I was looking for a "happily ever after," and not a third of the way through the book Allyson's heart was broken!!  It was only then did I read the jacket and realize, duh, this is the entire premise of the book and was spelled out right there on the cover.  Whoops!  While I was as devastated as Allyson, this twist made me love the book immensely more than i would have had it been a plot-less happily ever after.  Allyson spends the rest of the book reinventing herself and traveling and working tirelessly to track down the mysterious boy she knows little about.

4/5 Stars

I absolutely ADORED Just One Day to the point that I stayed up half the night to finish it and recommended it to about 10 people the following day.  It was just such a beautiful coming of age story filled with self-discovery.  Imagine my excitement when I found out Foreman was writing a companion novel, Just One Year, telling the story of what happened after that perfect day from Willem's point of view!

At first, I must admit that I wasn't as into the story as I was reading Allyson's point of view.  I mean, I already knew how it all ended!  But somewhere along the way, I forgot all of that and fell in love again.  During the year Allyson spends reinventing herself and discovering who she is and what she wants, Willem takes a similar journey as he struggles to overcome past demons and decide whether to let fate control his life or to take the wheel himself.

A quote that stood out to me while reading:

"That was pure will, Willem.  Sometimes fate or life or whatever you want to call it, leaves a door a little open and you walk through it.  But sometimes it locks the door and you have to find the key, or pick the lock, or knowk the damn thing down.  And soemtimes, it doesn't even show you the door, and you have to build it yourself.  But if you keep waiting for the dors to be opened for you..." she trailed off.

All in all, highly recommend these two books!  (Oh, and pictures are borrowed from goodreads.com) :)

What have you been reading this week??