Take A Midnight Ride on the Orient Express

My First Book Review.... explores a world of time travel, mystery and of course, romance in the book Midnight Train To Paris by Juliette Sobanet. I first want to establish that I read this story in less than 12 hours, and, after a book marathon the past two days which included a few of her other books, I was hoping this wouldn't be so amazing and I could take a break and read it at a slower pace. I was pleasantly disappointed and immediately pulled into the mystery surrounding the main character Jillian Chambord. I could not put it down!!

First, I would like to give you guys a bit of background information about one of my new favorite authors! Juliette Sobanet earned her B.A. degree from Georgetown University and then her M.A. from New York University over in France. She earned her living as a French professor until she decided to change her course and took up writing. She is now the author of several sassy Parisian themed romance novels. I think my favorite thing about this author is that all of her books are so different. Make sure you check out her page and follow her on twitter @JulietteSobanet. Okay, enough about the author! Now, onto the book....

The book opens on a scene from 1937 in a Switzerland train station. Here, we are first introduced to Rosie Delaney as she anxiously awaits the late night train to Paris. Rosie plays a major role in the story and we find out later what exactly that is. The first chapter begins with a disjointed dream that our heroine is having about her twin sister, Isla. There are mentions of a tragic event that had happened to the twins where Jillian was too late to save her sister and eventually, we are clued into what happened. When Jillian abruptly wakes up, she finds herself in the office of the Washington, D.C. based newspaper where she works. She has been ceaselessly working on a story to bring down a senator who is involved in a child prostitution ring and two murders (we later learn that her past is tied to this revolting man). It is during this critical time that her ex boyfriend (the one that got away), international missing persons investigator Samuel Kelly, barges into her office to tell her that her that her sister has been kidnapped. We find out at this point that Jillian tends to keep her personal life and past a secret. The sisters rarely talk and have grown apart. Realizing that her twin is in danger, she uses a steamy kiss to commandeer Samuel's car and forces herself onto a plane with him. She is determined to help find her sister and save her even though her overwhelming feeling of dread tells her she is too late. 

My goal is not to give you a play by play of this book but to entice you into reading it yourselves and to tell you my honest opinion. We follow Samuel and Jillian through time as they set out to save not only Isla, but Rosie too.  I thought the writing was fantastic and the story, at times, seemed like it could never possibly wrap up nicely but it does! I did get frustrated with the constant allusion to Jillian's past, but the author does end up letting the reader know what is needed when necessary. I loved the aspect of the infamous "twin connection". The two women are connected on a psychic level and pulled to each other even when faced with the obstacle of time.

Side note: Twin readers, have you any experience with a connection to your twin? Is it similar to how its described in the book?

Time to wrap up this post..... I loved this book and could not wait to share it with you all. If any of you end up reading it I would love to hear your thoughts!!

And... Until we meet again, I must bid you adieu and happy reading!!

My Story...

Well Hello! Welcome to my tiny corner in the blogoshpere where I plan on sharing my favorite books with you, a bit of life, and a giant dose of humor. Feel free to leave comments whether they pertain to the post or you just need somewhere to put your thoughts! I want it all!

Lets talk a bit about me....I am a twenty-something married small town girl with a love of all things coffee, books, and my dogchild. I have a fabulous husband and an impressive network of the most amazing gal pals a girl could ever ask for.  I went to a small college in Upstate NY where I obtained a B.S. degree in Accounting. In the fall of 2011, my husband and I packed up our meager belongings and precious pooch and headed south. We now reside in the classy city of Charlotte, NC and are having a blast living life!

Now, let's talk about my obsession with books...... Honestly, I think obsession is putting things mildly. This morning, for example, I set my alarm for 4am to finish reading this excellent book that I just couldn't bare to put down. I have always been an avid reader and hope to some day write. My reading addiction began in high-school with late night readings of Harry Potter and finishing The Deathly Hollows in a little over 24 hours. In college I took the fated plunge into my first historical romance and haven't looked back! I remember my first novel well. It was a hot summer day and I had nothing but time on my hands (Oh how I long for those carefree days before student loan payments and grown up jobs!) I wandered into the garage and up our rickety stairs into the stale, hot air of our second floor which was mostly used for storage. Digging through some boxes of my moms stuff, I pulled out a copy of "While Passion Sleeps" by Shirlee Busbee. I tucked the worn paper volume under my arm and escaped into our cool basement to explore the yellowing pages. I WAS HOOKED! From that point forward I always had a book close by. My friends in college always knew they would find me holed up in my room or some corner of the library reading for pleasure, don't judge, I bet we can all agree that accounting text books are SO boring! When I met my husband or, more accurately, my future mother-in-law my addition soared to an all time high. My lovely MIL, as I like to call her, has the best job in the world as a director of her public library. After the initial early stages of dating awkwardness was passed, we realized we shared a love of romance and, more importantly, romance novels. Ladies, I had found my "dealer". She would smuggle me bags and boxes full of books! I was on cloud 9! It only got worse when my husband bought me my first kindle. The rest, as they say, is history!! I am excited to share with you all a few of my favorites and my thoughts! I hope you enjoy and stop in frequently to visit this bookworm who will always have a book and a cup of coffee!