Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lucie is a French prospective lawyer with a secret wish to become a tailor. She’s in London working all hours at her former classmates’ new start up while attending a marketing class at university for the purposes of joining the school’s law society and networking events. She’s a hard worker with very little time for a social life. When a class project requires her to team up with Marius, a charming business student, she begins to wonder if there’s more to life than working all the time.

Both Lucie and Marius were very sweet, likable characters. It was lovely to watch their friendship unfold into something more. Lucie has a lot of insecurities that date back from her childhood. She’s often reticent, but Marius pulls her out of her shell. Her obsession with tailored clothes leads to fun moments, and you can’t help but root for her to follow her true passion.

Marius is being groomed to take over his father’s company once his father begins his political campaign for Prime Minister. What I most appreciated about him was that he was not cynical and cold, but rather warm and kind. He sees the best in people despite growing up in a world full of illusions and groveling aristocrats looking to garner favor with his father.

I really enjoyed the slow burn of their relationship. It unfolded naturally both learning more about each other the more they spent time together. Overall this is a sweet, angst free novel.

Where to even begin? There was so much I loved about this.
Lucie is so feminine and does not hold back telling other women that they are beautiful. It’s such a breath of fresh air and so supportive. Even when you think a rival is introduced who wants to start something with her, she immediately shuts it down, yet never puts this other woman down, remaining kind to her and describing her in a positive light.

Marius is unusually popular and surrounded by people who want to be with him for his high position in society (reminded me of Simon from Bridgerton) and Lucie absolutely doesn’t care about him aside from their project… at first. She acknowledges that he is handsome but mistakenly assumes he is much younger than her given how he is a student and she recently graduated, so she doesn’t even entertain the thought. This allows their relationship to grow into a friendship which slowly progresses into something more. Their attraction is very emotional. Marius is very self-aware of his privileges and I just love that. It’s very different from the trope of the grumpy, stuck-up or mean rich protagonist.

Lucie and Marius are very different, yet also very similar, both wanting to be something other than they are set to become and both wanting someone to really see them. Lucie’s past, which explains her insecure and no-fun workaholic personality, is revealed incrementally and you get hints here and there but if you blink, you’ll miss them. It sometimes feels like reading a mystery with some foreshadowing before the big reveal. Marius helps her figure things out and understand why she sees herself and the world the way she does, and it’s honestly great character growth. Only once she starts loving herself does she start falling for him. There’s an overarching theme of figuring out where to fit in this world and finding yourself, a bit like a coming of age story for early-20’s adults. Lucie is constantly in situations where she is out of place: a new country with a different culture, a course full of younger people with vastly different priorities and mindsets, and a world of wealthy upper-class people. Only when she is with Marius does she feel a sense of belonging.

It’s an easy read with a strong focus on dialogue and the best part is that there was no third-act breakup so it remained sweet and stress-free throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.