Bookish Thoughts: Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

The parcel was wrapped in brown paper and tied with an unblemished silk ribbon. ~ Opening of Paris Time Capsule

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

Lake Union Publishing, 2015

Romance; 290 pgs

From Goodreads: 

New York–based photographer Cat Jordan is ready to begin a new life with her successful, button-down boyfriend. But when she learns that she’s inherited the estate of a complete stranger—a woman named Isabelle de Florian—her life is turned upside down. 

Cat arrives in Paris to find that she is now the owner of a perfectly preserved Belle Époque apartment in the ninth arrondissement, and that the Frenchwoman’s family knew nothing about this secret estate. Amid these strange developments, Cat is left with burning questions: Who was Isabelle de Florian? And why did she leave the inheritance to Cat instead of her own family? 

As Cat travels France in search of answers, she feels her grasp on her New York life starting to slip. With long-buried secrets coming to light and an attraction to Isabelle de Florian’s grandson growing too intense to ignore, Cat will have to decide what to let go of, and what to claim as her own.

Imagine learning that you have inherited the estate of a person you have never heard of before. Imagine traveling to Paris to find out just what that estate might be, learning it is an Époque apartment, one that even the stranger's family had not known about. New York photographer Cat Jordan is intrigued and flummoxed, not sure she should accept such an inheritance given the stranger's daughter and grandchildren are still alive. Cat decides she cannot accept the inheritance, not without first understanding what exactly the tie is between this Isabelle de Florian and her own grandmother--why exactly this Frenchwoman left her estate to Cat. Isabelle de Florian's grandson, Loic, wants to know the truth too, and together he and Cat begin their search for answers.

Oh, what a dream come true this would be! Even though I haven't exactly had this dream . . . Still. Imagine! I quite enjoyed this lovely story in all its historical intrigue and fairy-tale-esque charm. Loic, of course, is good looking, but also extremely nice and ever the gentleman. I liked him from the start. I liked Cat too, but I do wish she had a little more back bone. She seemed a bit too passive. She worried at times that she was intruding on the de Florian family by wanting to know more about the woman who first owned the apartment, Marthe de Florian and her daughter Isabelle, seeming to forget her own tie to it--through her grandmother. Didn't she want to know more about her own grandmother and what part she played?

It was obvious the attraction Loic felt for Cat and she for him, even despite her commitment to a well to do business man back in New York. Cat had long sworn she would not fall into a marriage like her own parents, wanting a marriage in which her opinion and desires would be respected. Even from the very first page, I knew he was the wrong man for her. 

I loved the setting of the novel, the descriptions of France, the countryside, the city, the villages . . . I longed to be there myself, standing in Cat's shoes. It was so obvious she was in her element there, and I quickly grew fond of Loic and his family.

A mystery and a romance, Paris Time Capsule, was both romantic and intriguing. I was completely fascinated by the look back in history, during the Belle Époque and later, the Nazi's occupation of France and how it tied to Cat and Loic in the present.  Even more fascinating is that the apartment at the heart of this story, the one belonging to the granddaughter of Marthe de Florian, is real, having been discovered in 2010. While the majority of the story in this novel is complete fiction, it does make one wonder at the possibilities.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this novel. I do wish Cat had shown more insight into her relationship with Christian, especially in the end, but I cannot complain about the outcome. It was just how it should be.


To learn more about Ella Carey and her book, please visit the author's website. She can also be found on Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.

I hope you will check out what others had to say about Paris Time Capsule on the TLC Book Tours route!

Many thanks to the TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to be a part of this book tour. I purchased a copy of this book myself.

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© 2015, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.