Book Review and Giveaway: J'adore New York

**Giveaway is now closed**

It's never easy to be the new girl in town, and this difficulty is escalated in the competitive and fast paced world of corporate law, as Catherine Lambert finds out on her first day in New York, after transferring from a more laid back law environment in Paris. She barely has a chance to drink a cup of coffee before being sent off to a small town to do research. Then she comes back to a series of bosses who have various expectations of her and aren't always nice about what they want. On top of that, she also has to deal with a creepy client, backstabbing assistants and her disapproving mother. Soon, she finds romance with a wealthy man who is able to wine and dine her, but when he takes a step too far, Catherine has to figure out what she truly wants for herself.

Melissa A:

Law may be reason, free from passion, but for Catherine Lambert, it is never free from fashion!

I really enjoyed reading "J'adore New York" by Isabelle Laflèche. It had a feel similar to "The Devil Wears Prada" with the fast paced life, the difficult bosses and all the fashion name dropping. It also had a fun and complex romantic element. It was well written in that it was compelling and I didn't want to put it down. I love how Catherine tried her hardest to be the best lawyer possible and also felt she had to second guess herself at times. Her assistant and gay best friend, Rikash, was a lot of fun too. He reminded me of a past coworker who used to be my fashion consultant, as well. And speaking of fashion, Ms. Lafleche described clothes so perfectly that I felt like I was the one shopping for them. She allowed me to be vicariously well-dressed, as a result.

While I realize that a book about law is going to feature shop talk, so to speak, I also felt that this shop talk was only geared toward other corporate lawyers. I felt lost during the times Catherine and the other lawyers were using lawyer terms. It didn't cause me to lose interest in the story though, and I appreciated Catherine's attempts to explain the terminology to someone with no experience in the field of corporate law. The other issue I had was with the story wrapping up a little too neatly, in an almost unbelievable "fashion." However, I wanted only good things to happen for Catherine after reading about all the torture she had to go through to get to that point.

"J'adore New York" is as fast paced as Catherine's career and readers are taken along on the ride with her. It's easy to get lost into her world, to sympathize with her various plights and to cheer for her when something good does come her way. I was glad I had the opportunity to read this novel and get lost in Catherine's world, even when mine is just as busy sometimes.

Melissa P:

When I first had the chance to interview Isabelle Lafleche last year, I was already dying to read "J’adore New York." The name alone was enough to hook me. It’s no secret to those that know me that I love both New York and Paris, my two favorite places on earth. Top it off with fashion and crazy bosses and this book is a page turner! I loved every word, I couldn’t get through it fast enough. Literally. I just started a new job at a very large financial firm, and just couldn’t seem to find extra time in the day to devour this amazing book as quickly as I would have liked. I also was able to sympathize (and commiserate) with the main character, Catherine, about the long hours and extremely high (and unreasonable in her case) expectations. Not that my job is anywhere near as crazy as Catherine’s, but I could literally feel her stress as I read. It’s hard to navigate a new place alone, especially when you don’t know who you can trust, if anyone.

Although the book is close to 400 pages, it absolutely flies by. For me it went too fast and I really hope that we will see Catherine again in the future. I appreciated her willingness to appease the most awful, backstabbing colleagues so she can be up for partner someday and also avoid getting her head ripped off. She may not have wanted to, but I respected her for sucking it up and paying her dues, but I also wanted her to put some of the many antagonists in their place! I felt as torn as she seemed to be. All of the characters were really well developed and I felt the drama, panic, and excitement that Catherine must have been feeling, having just moved to a new country with a fast paced new job.

For any of you that loved “The Devil Wears Prada”, this book is definitely for you. Go out and get it immediately, you will not be sorry. Great job to Isabelle for giving us a stylish, funny, and adventurous read.

Thanks to Crystal Patriarche from BookSparks PR for the review copy and for sharing a copy with a lucky reader from the US or Canada, right here!

How to win "J'adore New York":

Tell us who you think is the worst fictional boss (can be from books, television or movies). Please include your e-mail address or another way to easily contact you if you should win.

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends October 10th at midnight EST.