The Art of French Kissing » (Bargain)

Kristin Harmel, the author of three previous novels, splits time between Orlando, Los Angeles and Paris, and she contributes frequently to People magazine.

How do you say, 'So many men, so little time,' in French?

Well, Emma Sullivan can always figure that out later. The point is — she's in Paris! Which would be great, except that she's stuck doing public relations for one of the hottest — and craziest — rock stars on the planet. Making things worse is Gabriel Francoeur, the sexy and stubborn reporter who refuses to believe her when she tells him that her client was just playing Go Fish in that hotel room with all those scantily-clad girls....

But Emma will always have Paris. The City of Light, of romance, of high fashion and of unfathomable varieties of cheese. If a girl can't reinvent herself here, there's no hope! It's time to leave the old Emma Sullivan behind and become someone courageous, exciting, successful. The type of girl who, when faced with a reporter who won't stop asking questions, knows just what to do. After all, they don't call it French kissing for nothing!

Publishers Weekly

Harmel's (The Blonde Theory) formulaic continental romance too often falls short of funny. When media professional Emma Sullivan is dumped by her fiancé the same week she's laid off from Boy Bandz records, she quickly accepts an offer from Poppy, an old friend from Europe, who hires her to handle press for the English-language launch of Guillaume Riche, a French TV star turned sexy singer. So Emma jets off to Paris, and Poppy is soon giving Emma lessons in dating French men. Meanwhile, Guillaume turns out to be an eccentric pill, causing havoc for Emma by pulling public stunts that run contrary to the saintly do-gooder image Poppy has been carefully crafting. Most of the media accept Emma's spin on Guillaume's eccentricities, but one very attractive reporter is annoyingly persistent about finding the real facts and, eventually, romancing Emma. While descriptive passages show Harmel's knowledge of Paris, the Guillaume conflict feels manufactured, and Emma's romantic disasters are too predictable to be truly comic. (Feb.)