Today is a publication day for A Train from Penzance to Paris! And wasn’t I just talking about having Paris as a setting in novels? Although I’m pretty sure I was talking about historical fiction in the other post. This one is more contemporary fiction, but still has some Paris involved! Thank you again to Rachel’s Random Resources for having me on this tour. I’m excited to be able to do this for you.

When Maisie accepts a celebrated author’s invitation to mentor her, she finds herself leaving Cornwall behind on train tracks bound for the glitter city of Paris. Instead of making beds and serving coffee at the Penmarrow hotel in Cornwall, she’s making notes on her manuscript while sitting in a French cafe, meeting famous writers at private dinner parties, and trying to ferret the secrets behind the author’s unfinished future novel.

It’s glamorous, it’s breathtaking … but it’s also an ocean channel away from the place that she loves, and, more importantly, the person to whom she just recently confessed her deepest feelings. Separated from Sidney by distance and circumstances, Maisie fears that their connection will be lost despite her words to him – and maybe because of those words, and the ones she didn’t allow him to say in return.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of things in her new life trying to distract her – the professional editor hired to critique her novel, the eager young literary agent who sees pie-in-the-sky potential for Maisie’s talent, but Maisie finds solace in the eclectic group of amateur writers into whose midst she finds herself by accident. Their critique and advice is fast becoming as important as the editors – maybe even more important than the published author Maisie believed held the keys to refining her skill.

But it’s missing Sidney that fills Maisie’s thoughts the most, along with her life back in Port Hewer, and she can’t stop wondering whether his feelings are the same as her own. His unspoken answer has become one of the most important pieces of her life, even as she struggles to match the pace of her new life and keep her dreams in sight. And when she unwittingly becomes privy to a seeming literary conspiracy, she must decide what to do in light of its truth – and decide what’s most important in her quest to become a professional writer.

Join Maisie in a whirlwind tour across two of the world’s greatest cities, filled with questions, dreams, and a chance for fame that she believed far beyond her grasp, as she discovers herself as a writer, and how to embrace an unexpected future on her own terms.

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Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller ‘A Wedding in Cornwall’. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources, and Laura Briggs for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

This is my second Laura Briggs book and it was great that it was in the same series as the previous book that I got to read. I really like Briggs’ voice in these novels, and I feel like both of the books that I read from her have that been a little break for me to step away from the hardcore fantasy world that I seem to be in all the time.

Another part of this plot that I like is that Maisie is an aspiring author and she gets to go on this journey to Paris to work on her writing with an actual mentor. I think about how many times I’ve wanted to write something and I just haven’t been able to sit down and think of it, or I just lose all momentum or motivation to keep the story go. I think about how it would be cool if there was a mentor in my life that I could talk to about it, and get some advice one on one. So even just the premise of this story made me think about what kind of journey I could have if I had this opportunity.

I really liked Maisie as well, and like the notes said, even though this could totally be read as a standalone, I think it is better to read all of the stories in this series so you could fully enjoy the journey that all of the characters get to experience in and out of Cornwall. I think Maisie was a relatable character and even though she wasn’t enjoying her time in Paris as much as she really wanted to – mostly missing Sidney back in Cornwall – I think she needed to take this journey to learn more about herself and just get away from what she’s normally used to.