Under the Stars of Paris

Hmm.
This book will most appeal to you if you have a toleration for the Mr. Rochesters and M. Paul Emanuels of the world of fiction.
In other words, a romantic interest who is a bit of a jerk. Indeed, Charlotte Bronte would have been all over this plot.
There's no getting away from it. There were multiple times in this book where I sighed a little bit and thought, "Ah. So we're doing this, are we?"
The autocratic man who's rather too old for the heroine. Who keeps her guessing the whole time as to whether he dislikes her or is just indifferent (hint: it's neither).
What can I say? Mary Burchell handled it with skill and thrill.

Plot summary: Anthea is on her own in Paris, jilted by her fiancé, and with dwindling finances. A chance meeting show more gets her an opportunity to model at a luxurious fashion show, where she meets Florian, a prestigious dress designer. The rest is moments of catty girl drama, enigmatic conversations with her employer, dinner dates with a "just a friend" who wants to be more, and very Jane-Eyre-like amounts of concealed longing for the inscrutable employer.

If it sounds like your thing, it probably is. Yes, I gave it 5 stars. Yes, even though I wouldn’t be on board with it in real life, I really liked it and was totally invested by the end. show less

Under the Stars of Paris by Mary Burchell is a romantic tale of getting over an old love and starting a new one. After her fiance jilts her for another woman, Anthea decides to move to Paris and start again. At first things don’t go smoothly and a job is proving hard to find. When she is down to her last pennies, she is discovered and lured into the world of haute couture. The fashion house of Florian, needing a model with a certain coloring and an air of innocence, hires her for his Spring Collection and she is to model the plum prize of wearing the pièce de résistance – The Wedding Dress.

As she takes to the runway for the first time she sees her ex-fiance and his now future wife-to-be sitting in the second row. She thinks that show more she cannot walk down the aisle in front of them in the wedding dress. Florian gently talks her into modelling the gown and she makes her mark in the fashion world.

Under the Stars of Paris is a fascinating insight into the 1950s modelling world. Anthea is taken under Florian’s wing and the reader soon sees that the moody and difficult Florian has feelings for her. She also begins dating Roger, a man who is to become a good friend and obviously is attracted to her. I enjoyed this unusual love triangle and the not knowing who is the actual love interest for Anthea. On one hand the older Florian, who doesn’t make his feeling known to her and is often described as a monster, while on the other, Roger, a younger, pleasant man who happens to be the cousin of her ex fiance's new bride and who would give Anthea a good life. This is a sweet story that is totally un-steamy. It was originally published under the Harlequin label and I quite enjoyed it. show less

Just pretend that the man you wish to marry is standing before you," the designer instructed Anthea as she waited to model the wedding dress in the grand finale of his Spring Collection. But the man Anthea wished to marry was out there in the salon-with the woman who had taken Anthea's place as his future bride.

Renamed Gabrielle by Florian and she becomes a fashion model for the top Paris house. I loved this book but I kind of wanted Anthea to marry Rogers..she would be safe and happy with him and could love him. I really feel that her future with Florian is going to be a rollercoaster of joy, ecstasy and pain.

I was browsing through the Kindle unlimited books looking for ones that I can match for my summer reading challenge. I saw the title, read the summary, but what made me pick up Under the Stars of Paris is Mary Burchell's (Ida Cook) biography.
The book is sweet and clean Harlequin romance. It is a book that you need to read without reading any reviews, pick it up, and read it. It's incredible what these authorial whizzes could pack into such a tiny space.