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A review by isitcake
Wanderlust by Lauren Blakely
fast-paced
4.0
This completely romanticizes Paris while also being a fairly accurate portrayal - the language barrier in France is intense. I love the meet cute for these 2 characters that they hit it off before realizing that Griffin has been hired to be Joy's interpreter. I also liked that she had a very STEM profession, even if its being applied to create perfumes instead of some other chemical industry. She makes a ton more money than he does. Both characters were really well developed. Joy is so optimistic, embraces life to the fullest, and is fairly confident about her likes & dislikes. Griffin has this sad part of his past which drives him today and his goals. They both circle around each other until finally giving in, come what may, and the ending was very sweet as well.
Joy is getting out of a years-long relationship with Richard, a guy she was falling out of love with but he hurt his back and she felt compelled to stay with him for another year and it took over her life. After finally breaking up she's taken a transfer at her company to Paris where she wants to start fresh. She's practiced some French but quickly realizes it's not nearly enough to get by - she can barely have everyday conversations let alone the advanced words needed to talk chemistry at her job. Her company hires an interpreter company and Griffin is assigned due to his degree in (marine) biology. Griffin and Joy had met previously at a bakery and then later at a cafe before realizing they needed to maintain a professional relationship. For weeks they do their best to maintain this professionalism until both their friends convince them to live life and go for it.
What follows are really passionate days where they explore Paris and enjoy each other's company. However, Griffin's past means that their time together is short. Griffin's brother Ethan had a car accident that left him paralyzed and he got an infection and died. They were really close and Ethan gave him basically a bucket list of items to complete such as live in Paris, run a marathon in Indonesia, travel the world, etc. As soon as Griffin has enough money he had planned to move to Indonesia to run and from there would travel the world. He tells these plans to Joy and she feels she can't hold him back from his dying brother's wish but she also points out to him what if this list is not filled with Ethan's dying wishes but rather this is a list he made of things that you had wanted to do at the time because he wanted you to keep on living life to the fullest. Griffin dismisses this initially.
The other thing that happens is that Joy gets an offer from her company, she's been doing so well they want her to come back to Texas to head up the whole perfume department! It would be a big move up. But she's just created this new perfume to launch in Paris and she loves living there. Griffin feels he can't ask her to stay since it's her dream job.
Griffin goes to Indonesia and while he's gone Joy has to make her decision whether to stay or go. Without contacting each other, Griffin shows back up on the day she was supposed to leave and admits he can't live without her that he realizes she was right about Ethan's intention for the list. And Joy had made the decision to stay. So they live HAE in her six-story walkup with rooftop terrace looking at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
What follows are really passionate days where they explore Paris and enjoy each other's company. However, Griffin's past means that their time together is short. Griffin's brother Ethan had a car accident that left him paralyzed and he got an infection and died. They were really close and Ethan gave him basically a bucket list of items to complete such as live in Paris, run a marathon in Indonesia, travel the world, etc. As soon as Griffin has enough money he had planned to move to Indonesia to run and from there would travel the world. He tells these plans to Joy and she feels she can't hold him back from his dying brother's wish but she also points out to him what if this list is not filled with Ethan's dying wishes but rather this is a list he made of things that you had wanted to do at the time because he wanted you to keep on living life to the fullest. Griffin dismisses this initially.
The other thing that happens is that Joy gets an offer from her company, she's been doing so well they want her to come back to Texas to head up the whole perfume department! It would be a big move up. But she's just created this new perfume to launch in Paris and she loves living there. Griffin feels he can't ask her to stay since it's her dream job.
Griffin goes to Indonesia and while he's gone Joy has to make her decision whether to stay or go. Without contacting each other, Griffin shows back up on the day she was supposed to leave and admits he can't live without her that he realizes she was right about Ethan's intention for the list. And Joy had made the decision to stay. So they live HAE in her six-story walkup with rooftop terrace looking at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.