Weekend In Paris

The Book:  Weekend in Paris by Robyn Sisman

Summary (taken from book cover):
Small-town girl Molly Clearwater moved to London to follow her dream of a fun and fashionable city life.  Everything seems to be coming up roses when her boss offers her a perk: a free weekend trip to Paris.  Molly's ecstatic until she discovers her boss's idea of "business," and she impulsively decides to bard a rain to Paris on her own.

Within moments of stepping onto the cobblestoned streets of Paris and making her first friend at her auberge, Molly is swept up in adventure.  From infiltrating her boss's business conference in disguise to touring the midnight city on the back of a handsome stranger's motorbike, Molly find her weekend away from her troubles turning into a voyage of passion and self-discovery that will change her life forever.

What I Thought: 
Mom and I decided to read a "light" book together during our vacation last month, but this proved to be a difficult task.  Finally we settled on Weekend in Paris.  Within about 20 pages, we both realized our mistake.  It did prove to be a very light read, but it failed to keep (or ever get, for that matter) my attention.  I had higher expectations for this book with glowing reviews printed on both covers from some of my favorite authors, but I found I disagreed with their praise comparing the main character to Elle Woods and Bridget Jones.  I found Molly to be a very shallow character, changing her opinions and self images on the whimsical reactions to the surrounding characters.  Beyond that, most of the plot was driven by coincidences so unrealistic I found myself actually rolling my eyes while reading.  Now, I'm a fan of cheesy, predictable, rom-com style, but I just found this book was trying for something that never quite worked out.  I doubt I will read anymore from this author.

Rating:  2/10

The Lincoln Lawyer

The Book:  The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Summary (taken from author's website, found here):
Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn't recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.
    
Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers — they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence — it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.
    
A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney's dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career.
    
Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal — this time to save his own life.

What I Thought: 
I am a fan of Connelly and as soon as I heard this novel was being made into a movie I knew I needed to read quick, before see the movie.  I have to admit, I had a hard time getting into this book at first, but that could have a lot to do with the busy schedule leaving little time for reading.  Once I had a chance to read more than a few pages in one sitting, I found it hard to put down.  Each chapter seemed to offer a slight change in the case against Roulet and I was never quite sure what to believe.  As the reader, you are really finding everything out along with Mickey and there seems to be a twist or a surprise everytime you think you have it figured out.  This was the first of Connelly's books I read that featured Haller (I've read several books about Detective Bosch), and I'm definitely planning to find another to read soon!  I was also glad that I finished the book before seeing the movie, I think it made the movie even better somehow.  (The movie was very good, I'd recommend seeing it.)

Rating:  8/10