The Bohemian and the Banker (Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon)
3.5 stars
Ah, Paris … the City of Lights, the city pour de l’amour et les amoureux. All right, maybe I’m seeing Paris from the eyes of someone who doesn’t live there. Maybe I’m romanticizing the city as someone who only knows about it from movies (American movies too!). But I can’t help the feeling that when I was reading this, I felt like I was being swept away with the love and romance of Paris…
I could easily put myself in Nigel’s shoes … Nigel Warren, a Londoner, a banker, one who lives his life with the safety of numbers and routines, who then finds himself in a drag cabaret where he’s being enchanted by the performer, Jean Michael. There is magic in the air, les chansons de l’amour, the wondrous sound and sight from the roof of the city, as Jay – the real man behind the Jean Michael persona – shows Nigel to let himself free for that such short time.
So the beginning of the story was enchanting. However, the story fizzed in the middle though – when Jay decided to come to London and tried to be with Nigel, leaving Paris and the Jean Michael persona behind. Maybe because the setting moved from Paris and for me the spark was somehow missing, even if Nigel and Jay spent days exploring their love and Nigel learned more about sexual things men can do (yes, too much of sexy times made me yawn). Or maybe because it felt rather predictable: I could see what the authors were trying to do, telling me that Paris and its freedom were good, London and its stuffiness were bad. Whatever it was, I felt quite bored in the middle.
Until we got the ending again – I won’t really spoil anything, I am sure if you love your romance you will know how it will end and what path that these characters will follow. It might not be something new, but as I reached down the finish line, I couldn’t help but smile and felt content. It is a romance in Paris after all and our men get their own happily ever after.
Afin viva la Paris, viva l’amour!
PS: Forgive my poor French, everything I wrote here I used Google translate. Feel free to correct them.
Ah, Paris … the City of Lights, the city pour de l’amour et les amoureux. All right, maybe I’m seeing Paris from the eyes of someone who doesn’t live there. Maybe I’m romanticizing the city as someone who only knows about it from movies (American movies too!). But I can’t help the feeling that when I was reading this, I felt like I was being swept away with the love and romance of Paris…
I could easily put myself in Nigel’s shoes … Nigel Warren, a Londoner, a banker, one who lives his life with the safety of numbers and routines, who then finds himself in a drag cabaret where he’s being enchanted by the performer, Jean Michael. There is magic in the air, les chansons de l’amour, the wondrous sound and sight from the roof of the city, as Jay – the real man behind the Jean Michael persona – shows Nigel to let himself free for that such short time.
So the beginning of the story was enchanting. However, the story fizzed in the middle though – when Jay decided to come to London and tried to be with Nigel, leaving Paris and the Jean Michael persona behind. Maybe because the setting moved from Paris and for me the spark was somehow missing, even if Nigel and Jay spent days exploring their love and Nigel learned more about sexual things men can do (yes, too much of sexy times made me yawn). Or maybe because it felt rather predictable: I could see what the authors were trying to do, telling me that Paris and its freedom were good, London and its stuffiness were bad. Whatever it was, I felt quite bored in the middle.
Until we got the ending again – I won’t really spoil anything, I am sure if you love your romance you will know how it will end and what path that these characters will follow. It might not be something new, but as I reached down the finish line, I couldn’t help but smile and felt content. It is a romance in Paris after all and our men get their own happily ever after.
Afin viva la Paris, viva l’amour!
PS: Forgive my poor French, everything I wrote here I used Google translate. Feel free to correct them.
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