Review: The Frenchman by Lesley Young

The Frenchman 
by Lesley Young
Series: Crime Royalty, #1
Pub Date:  Dec. 2, 2014
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  276
Format: eARC
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
  

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Fleur Smithers rarely veers off the straight and (excruciatingly) narrow. So moving to the seaport town of Toulon to live with her newfound biological mother—an inspector with the French National Police—for one year is a pretty major detour. 

Son of France’s crime royalty family and international rugby star, Louis Messette, is devoted to his sport, famille and nothing else. But the carefree American he meets one night changes everything. She sparks a desire in him like no other. Possession takes root. She will do as he commands. 

Bit by bit Fleur slips into the Frenchman’s realm of wanton pleasure agreeing to his one condition: that she keep their affair secret. She serves up her heart without reservation in the hub of the glittering Côte d’Azur, and the along the soulful Seine in Paris, unaware of the danger she is in. For her new lover’s family business will pit her against her mother, the police woman sworn to bring down the Messettes. And by then, far more than Fleur’s heart will be on the line.

I am not a francophile, so this is the only frenchy book I have read (at least where the main setting and characters were France/French). I think I liked it enough to read more frenchy books in the future - assuming the male characters are big handsome broody bastards like Louis. I don't care for the frenchmen that are characterized as effeminate. Once Louis was described as the dark and handsome rugby player, I could not help but envision him as Stuart Reardon. So that certainly helped along with the reading of this book. It may have even prevented Fleur, who was ridiculously and unbelievably naive, from getting on my nerves quite so much. I mean seriously, there is only so much willful blindness I could take.

This book was told in first person from Fleur's POV. The writing was very flowery, which I usually do not like. However it seemed to fit in to this story and made me think of the French as melodramatic and over-the-top. There was some mystery, family drama, relationship drama, slight mob-type activity, and reasonably steamy sex. It was a good read, but I would have liked it to be more detailed I think. We got mainly surface facts without learning anything too deep about any of the characters. I didn't feel like actions were fully explained... particularly the situation where Fleur sent Louis packing. I didn't get it. The book would have also benefited nicely from an epilogue.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

Crime Royalty Series

My Review	My Review