REVIEW: The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
Dear Kate Clayborn,
I knew as soon as I started reading The Paris Match I would be in for a treat. Nothing about that feeling changed as I continued to read. It is a beautifully written, evocative and deeply romantic novel.
Layla Bailey is a doctor, a hospitalist, who travels from place to place in the US doing locum tenens work. She’s done this since her “amicable” divorce from Jamie Mackenzie about 18 months before. She travels to Paris to attend the wedding of her former sister-in-law, Emily, to Michael. Emily is much younger than Layla and was only 11 years old when they first met. Layla promised Emily they’d “always be sisters” but since the divorce, she’s been largely absent from any Mackenzie family events. Emily virtually begged Layla to attend the week of wedding festivities however and Layla couldn’t bring herself to say no. She’s very nervous; she will be seeing her ex for the first time in a long time and navigating her new status in the family. What exactly is it?
Michael’s best man and best friend is Griffin Testa. Griffin was severely injured in a fire some 10 years before and bears the scars of it, along with chronic pain. He would do anything for Michael though, including leaving his home – something he’s barely done since his last surgery – and travelling to Paris to stand beside Michael as he weds Emily.
Griffin is a surly, abrupt sort and he and Layla do not immediately get along. Especially when the day after Layla arrives in Paris, Griffin accuses her of saying “something” to Emily which made her question whether she should be marrying Michael at all. Griffin insists Layla “fix it”.
All he wanted was to help Michael, help him get the happiness he deserved, and why couldn’t any of these fucking people do what they were supposed to do and let it happen?
Luckily, we have Griffin’s POV too, not just Layla’s and we can see his fascination with her from the start, just as readers see her visceral reaction to him. When Jamie turns up with his new girlfriend, Griffin is incensed on Layla’s behalf and finds himself stepping in to shield Layla from the pitying looks of the other family members – because surely Layla must be struggling to see Jamie with someone new – and Layla finds there’s more to Griffin Testa than a perpetual bad mood. Once she gets him to smile, to nearly laugh, she’s a goner.
They kind-of work together to try and ensure Emily and Michael make it down the aisle but really, once they start spending time together, it’s more about them – individually and as a potential couple. Griffin finds himself revealing things to Layla he would not to anyone else and he finds he is willing to be vulnerable with her, sharing with her his pain experience. Layla is not clumsy with that trust.
Griffin clearly has a lot of unresolved trauma arising from the fire and his injuries. He will always have pain and restrictions. He will always have scars. But there are things he could do, if he chose, to make his life better. Until he meets Layla however, there’s a part of him which wonders whether he really wants to be around for any of it anyway. (There is not a lot of discussion of suicidal ideation in the book and what there is, is mentioned in roundabout ways but some readers may wish to consider if this book is for them or not).
There’s far more than “something Layla said” to Emily going on between the engaged couple as well and, as the book progresses, readers get glimpses into what that is and how it connects to Griffin and to Layla.
There is bad feeling from Michael’s parents, particularly his father, toward Griffin which which perplexes Emily and raises curiosity in Layla and there are a lot of metaphorical landmines Layla needs to navigate with the Mackenzie family.
Griffin and Layla are mature and smart, brave and fierce. They’re also careful. This is not a novel with big misunderstandings or unnecessary third act breakups. I don’t want to go into spoiler territory but I will say that the last section of the book was very satisfying and the fears I had about where the story might go were not realised.
While Layla is a doctor, she knows better than to medicalise her interactions with Griffin. That said, her medical knowledge and skill helps her to read what’s really going on with him and to understand him better than others maybe do and to be considerate of his needs without pitying or coddling him, which, in turn, enables him to be more open with her. She’s unfazed by his scars in the sense that she sees him as almost unbearably handsome right from the start and in the sense that she’s prepared to navigate things with him. For instance, cuddling up to him in bed will always be something intentional and deliberate and only ever after an enquiry to Griffin as to his pain level at that time. Touching Griffin comes with caveats and those will never go away.
I loved how fierce Griffin was for Layla. How much he hated Jamie for the crime of letting her go.
“There shouldn’t be anything amicable about losing you,” he said.
There should be a war, he thought. An army of stone gargoyles, ordered to be alive. All to come get you. All to show you that you should never shrug like that again.
“He should hurt like hell every time he sees you,” he said instead, because this wasn’t about him in his imaginary tower. “He should be in a restaurant, watching two people kiss like that, and feel starved to death. Like he never touched a bite of his meal, because he doesn’t get to taste you anymore. He should feel that way. Not you.”
How much he was always on her side and how much he wanted her to have what she wanted, regardless of whether Griffin liked it or not. With Griffin’s encouragement, Layla stepped into herself in a new way and, by the end of the book, both of them were stronger, independent of one another and better able to be good partners to one another because of it.
The writing is gorgeous and Paris is almost a character in itself and the ways in which the city affects both Layla and Griffin are intrinsic to the romance.
The Paris Match is beautiful – recommended.
Grade: A
Regards,
Kaetrin
Thank you for your enthusiastic review, Kaetrin! This does sound wonderful.
Everyone everywhere is talking about this book. Thank you, Kaetrin. Off to the library.
@Kareni: Hope you enjoy!
@Darlynne: I hope you don’t have to wait too long for it to come in Darlynne
This book is so wildly romantic. I loved it.
Thank you for the review. I look forward to reading this.
I’m curious about how Paris is portrayed. A lot of romances set there focus on patisserie shops, the Eiffel tower, good wines, etc., but not very much on the fact that Paris is urban and diverse. Or on its flaws — that the skies can be gray, that some of the French aren’t fans of people who can’t ask for directions in French, and that more than half the buildings have no elevators and going to a third-floor aparment involves climbing steps.
Why do I bring this up? Because this is why I have difficulty connecting with the Paris subgenre. And in full disclosure, I haven’t been there, but I have relatives who spent years there, and hearing about their experiences makes me feel like romcom Paris takes place in an AU version of the city.
@Angie: Completely agree
@Janine: I haven’t been to Paris either. The places in the book were hotels (with elevators) or mostly tourist-type locations – such as the Rodin museum or a boat cruise on the Seine. It wasn’t a book about living in Paris so I’m not sure how to answer your question. I found it an homage to Paris in many ways and the author and the characters in the book enjoyed their time there and found plenty to like. I have no way of knowing how accurate the portrayal was. But I think the experience of being a visitor is quite different to being a resident, no matter where the person is originally from. I think that’s probably true for everywhere, not just Paris.
Haven’t yet read PARIS MATCH, but one of the reasons I liked Clayborn’s LOVE LETTERING was that it was a romance about two people that was also something of a love letter to New York City. It appears that the difference between the two is that Layla & Griffin are visitors, while Meg is trying to show Reid why she loves the city she calls home. Very much looking forward to reading this one.
@Susan/DC: Yes, that’s right. Layla and Griffin aren’t really trying to defend Paris. Layla finds it a special place – initially because of her then-husband’s connection to the city which is kind of like her connection to his family. Layla longs for family but she finds her own connection to Paris during the book and, her own family as well, as it happens.
@Janine: one of the MC’s has an invisible disability, and yes, the stairs in Paris are mentioned and become an important part of the story. Especially in Montmartre. The story takes place in more touristy areas, and the grey skies are mentioned – but not really the diversity of the city. I did enjoy this book, especially the way it handled the disability.