It’s my stop today on the blog tour for Fly Me to Paris by Helga Jensen. Many thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite.
Penny is not living her best life. She works at a children’s boutique, selling dresses to ill-tempered rich kids. Her boyfriend shows no signs of commitment – so, no developments in the love life either. Then, comes a shock. Just when Penny thought he’s going to propose, he… broke up with her!
The boyfriend’s “work friend” is pregnant with his child and breaking up with Penny is the right decision for him. Penny’s turned fifty and she starts to question her choices in life. By chance, she meets a woman named Carly at the store. Carly has been travelling around the world and gets paid for it too. Now, isn’t that a dream job? On a whim, Penny applies to a cabin crew position at Carly’s airlines.
On her first day of training, she bumps into a nasty yet handsome pilot named Matt. As Penny starts flying around the world as a cabin crew, she and Matt meet many times. At an unscheduled stopover in Paris, chemistry between them grows. Is it love? Or is Penny set up for another heart break?
I read Helga Jensen’s A Scandinavian Summer sometime last year and I was looking forward to reading more of her books. I love her storytelling and character portrayal. Also, Helga writes romantic and uplifting stories (second chances) set in gorgeous locations.
Fly Me to Paris by Helga Jensen is a charming, hilarious, uplifting, and delightful story. Penny is turning fifty and has no family. She wanted children but never found the right man. Now, it seems to be too late to be thinking about children. She’s been in a steady relationship with her electrician boyfriend. Though he hasn’t spoken to her about making a bigger commitment (marriage), she dreams that it will happen one day.
They go out on a date and Penny is pretty sure he’s going to propose. But the opposite happens. Heartbroken and betrayed, Penny starts to cry in her workplace in front of a customer. The customer consoles her and says to look at the silver lining. The customer is a cabin crew and gets to travel around the world for free. Penny befriends her on Facebook and when she learns of a vacancy at the airlines, she applies for it.
Penny gets selected and has to undergo training before she can start working as a cabin crew. There’s detailed explanation of what all training a cabin crew goes through. I lived this experience through Penny – from CPR to swimming to sharks to whatnots, it does seem like cabin crew training is super fun.
Of course, we have a dash of romance here. Penny meets a nasty yet handsome pilot named Matt. She’s at the dressing room getting her make-up done when Matt enters. She’s smitten by his looks. Then, she accidentally drops a bottle of foundation, splashing its contents onto his pant legs. Oops! Matt is furious and blames Penny for the delay.
Then, they meet again. On a flight to Paris. Penny is smitten by the baritone voice of Captain announcing their flight would be delayed. Turns out, the captain is none other than Matt! Though Penny avoids him, it becomes pretty clear that they are attracted to each other.
I loved, loved, LOVED, every bit of this gorgeous story. Penny and Matt’s initial ‘clashes’ are hilarious. Penny faces a lot of ups and downs throughout the story. Things with Matt might have started on a wild note, but as the story proceeds, we see both parties stuck in their guilty conscience and misunderstandings. The story ends on a very sweet note.
I highly recommend Fly Me to Paris by Helga Jensen.
The Book Decoder 