Reviews

Enemies to French Kisses by Elsie Woods

moni_reads's review

4.0

4.5 out of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. This is book 2 in the Falling in Paris Series but can be read as a standalone as you won't be lost if you haven't read [b:Falling for French Kisses|123233696|Falling for French Kisses (Falling in Paris #1)|Elsie Woods|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678670116l/123233696._SY75_.jpg|144581252]. The book's blurb lets you know what to expect ,though Marc isn't a womanizer at all. It's a good forced proximity dual pov fake dating romance.

As a portfolio manager in a Bioscience company I may be getting the title wrong because, as another reviewer pointed out, I'm not quite sure what her job was, Laura is seriously focused on her job leaving her no room for anything else. She has goals of doing well in Paris & making her resume look good. Dealing with Marc, who she sees as undermining her, isn't something she looks forward to but she doesn't quietly let him get to her. When he gets amnesia & she feels responsible to take care of him, she sees a different side to him from what she knows in their work office & begins to question what she thought she knew. At times, Laura's character with her assumptions & inability to really listen did feel like a bit much & she wasn't likeable in those moments but there was never a doubt about how she felt. Also, I liked when her friends called her out & made her reflect on herself.

While Marc appears to be an arrogant silver spoon born man, it's not who he really is. Because of the insecurities he grew up with, he hides behind a mask that makes him come across as looking down on others - particularly Laura. Unknown to her, he actually doesn't feel that way about her at all but his nerves get the better of him making him be misunderstood by Laura time & time again. Though it's not specifically stated, it's implied that part of their misunderstandings are caused by their cultural differences.

Spoiler

The other part of it is Laura's own issues caused by her upbringing.

Getting amnesia is a way for Marc to prove to Laura that he's not the man she believes him to be & that they could have something special. While Marc may have not made the best decisions all the time, his feelings for Laura were genuine so you can't help but to want her to get over her assumptions about him & give him a chance.

While Marc never hated Laura, she certainly hated him though like one of her friends points out she makes him sound much worse than he actually is so enjoyers of the enemies to lovers trope may be satisfied. Their romance is a clean slow burn. Some of their retorts will make you laugh & so will the situations they experience. I know some are iffy about the amnesia trope but

Spoiler

the amnesia doesn't last long

I think it's entertaining in this one - especially as we get to learn more about Marc's feelings for her. I would've liked to see more of them as an actual couple but I did like their fitting ending. Overall, I enjoyed this book & thought it was a great follow up as the second book in the series.

lizzuplans's review

5.0

I received an ARC of this book (thank you!) and these are my own opinions.

I loooooooooved this book. The young professional woman in the big city (PARIS!!!) worked great for me, the enemy to lovers angle, all the faaaaabulous friends, entertaining side stories. Oui, c'est magnifique.
I could not put this book down. The first chapter already had me hooked and while it got a tiny bit muddled in the middle, a strong 5 star read!

While I did notice some mentions that clearly happened in the first book in this series, the books can be read out of order. Which I am going to remedy immediately by reading book 1 and then anxiously awaiting book 3!

starburst3625's review

5.0

I loved the first book in this series, and I loved this one too. (Can’t wait to read all the other friends’ stories!) There is a lot more to this story than you can glean from a book blurb. Marc and Laura both suffer from misunderstanding each other and making assumptions. Laura seems to live in defensive mode with Marc, while he just can’t push past being afraid to move forward. The “marriage” experience opens them up more to each other as their real selves, but it’s ultimately a pretence and gets complicated, especially adding in their work situation. In some ways, I almost felt like it was more Marc’s book. Poor guy was in deep. But that just made him more endearing. I really liked Marc, arrogant shell covering up a soft inside, and Laura, defensive and prickly, focused and driven, but vulnerable and caring too. Some sweet and lovely moments, and a few great kisses. I also so loved the roommate interactions. They bring the humour for sure. And they care for and ground each other. Some fun little hints as to their future romances too. And a few nuggets of Natalie and Olivier…although I hope we get more of the existing couples in the future books. As with the first book, some great tidbits of life and location in France, and cultural differences. This book is clean with no harsh language. It could be read as a standalone just fine, but I can’t see why you’d want to since the roommates are all great!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.