Where Would I Be Without You? by Guillaume Musso

Introduction: I trusted to read this book partially because I loved the first book I read by Guillaume Musso (Will You Be There). But to tell you honestly, the beginning part was fab. But the ending... well the least I can say is that, "it just didn't impress me much!" :p

Overview: Parisian cop Martin Beaumont has never really got over his first love, Gabrielle. Their brief, intense affair in San Francisco and the pain of her rejection still haunt him years later.
Now, however, he’s a successful detective – and tonight he’s going to arrest the legendary art thief, Archibald Maclean, when he raids the Musée d’Orsay for a priceless Van Gogh.
But the enigmatic Archibald has other plans.
Martin’s pursuit of the master criminal across Paris is the first step in an adventure that will take him back to San Francisco, and to the edge of love and life itself.

My opinion: This is a really ‘different’ read, with no clear genre to categorize it with. It’s a love story, a police thriller and then turns towards the paranormal at the end. So a bit of everything, really.
Set in Paris and San Franscisco in the mid 90s, the story revolves around Gabrielle and Martin – a young couple who met during their younger days and fell in love. The story leaps forward to find Martin working as  a French policeman with a special interest in art crime. Martin and Gabrielle have not met since that summer twelve years before and it is clear that both their lives has gone pretty empty and lonely.
Martin is determined to capture the famous art thief Archibald Maclean who has outsmarted him for many years. His chase led him back to San Francisco.

It’s an interesting read, a unique plot line and although I had guessed a couple of the twists, it’s an entertaining read.

The story enters into the paranormal at the close, which was for me, a safe way of explaining some things and tied the story up quite well, but on a personal level I really didn't like. Anyway, I still enjoyed reading this book. Its different, and some of you might just like it.

My rating:

To The Moon and Back by Jill Mansen

Introduction: To tell you the truth, I hesitated reading this book after reading the exerpts. But I always believe in giving chances, in hope that the novel will touch my heart somehow:

Overview: When Ellie Kendall tragically loses her husband she feels her life is over. But eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She doesn’t need a new man when she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...
Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. If only she’d pay him the same attention she lavishes on his dog.
Moving to North London, Ellie meets neighbour Roo who has a secret of her own. Can the girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion, but a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill.

My opinion: To The Moon And Back is a sweet romantic contemporary novel about love, loss, and second chances. This is a story of one girl's struggle to go back living after having lost the only man she can possibly love. Often times we are faced with this kind of dilemma, when its hard for us to move on simply because we put what we have lost in a pedestal... believing so much that no other thing can replace it. 


Although this book is full of clichés, personally I still found the book interesting because there were quite a few surprises on it, and I almost said "NOOO!" out loud a couple of times. In other words: typical "chick-lit", but I like those books, obviously or I wouldn't be reading them. :p

I like the idea of Ellie making her husband come back to engage a conversation with her. Its funny imagining talking to a make-believe husband, yet at the same time, its heartbreaking being in this situation when the only way you can be with the person you love so much is through your imagination. My favorite character was Roo, who undergoes a massive change during the book. But I liked her both before and after. She really is a bit too much - doing things we can hardly think of doing... and then drastically changing in ways we cannot even think possible! That's why I love her!

My rating: