Meet Me in Monaco

Author: Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019
Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique to fend off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy.

James Henderson cannot forget his brief encounter with Sophie Duval. Despite his guilt at being away from his daughter, he takes an assignment to cover the wedding of the century, sailing with Grace Kelly's wedding party on the SS Constitution from New York. In Monaco, as wedding fever soars and passions and tempers escalate, James and Sophie - like Princess Grace - must ultimately decide what they are prepared to give up for love.

Review: I loved this novel. Hazel Gaynor is one of my favorite historical fiction novelists. Not totally unpredictable, the way the events unfolded was entertaining and true to life. Only in books and movies is life a neatly wrapped package, and Meet Me in Monaco breaks that mold.

I was also thrilled this book had a "real" title and wasn't just called "The Perfume Shop" or "The Perfumer", or something equally uninspired.