When Catherine Lambert, an effortlessly chic Parisian lawyer, receives an offer to transfer to the New York office of her prestigious firm, she unhesitatingly accepts. A dedicated follower of fashion and everything stylish, she is determined to conquer the high-flying world of Manhattan law — and love. Catherine’s dreams of glamour fizzle quickly, however, when she is faced with the hard realities of her profession. The pressure of billable hours, the incessant demands of her impossible bosses, the conspiracies of two malicious secretaries and the advances of the lecherous client prompt her to question her career choice. But then she meets Jeffrey Richardson, a powerful client, and her New York life takes on the romance she’d hoped it would — until an unexpected request forces Catherine to re-evaluate the exclusive world she’s chosen for herself.

Catherine Lambert has just landed her dream job, or so she thinks. She’s in the heart of the big apple, New York City, with hardly a friend in sight and not even an apartment to come home to quite yet. She quickly learns that the only way to survive in the cut throat business of corporate law is to scratch your way to the top or get out of the way. When her new life begins to crumble before her eyes Catherine is left wondering where things went wrong and what choices she should make next.

First things first, I would have to say I absolutely adored this cover! When I initially picked the book for review it was the cover that drew me in and had me instantly giddy when I opened the package from the post. Everything from the colors to the font and the binding of the book with deckle edging is gorgeous. I’d also have to say I was extremely intrigued to read more about the life of a high powered banking and corporate attorney in New York because oddly enough, that’s what my own husband does for a living here in California. From the description to the cover this was a debut novel I was eagerly looking forward to reading. Unfortunately it didn’t hit all the high points I was hoping for, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

For me Catherine was initially an incredibly likable character. Both my own mother and sister are fluent in French and so I grew up with a passion for a country I haven’t yet had the privilege of visiting. Because of this I found the added bits of French language thrown in quite delightful and felt it quite enhanced not only the story, but Catherine’s character as well. I also quite enjoyed the fashion that was scattered throughout the novel, it was never so overpowering that I couldn’t move forward with my reading and I quite enjoy that. In addition to her culture and the fashion in the novel I also loved her relationships with her assistant, Rikash, as well as a few of the other male characters in the book, Antoine being my absolute favorite.

One of the things that had me slightly confused was Catherine’s lack of drive when it came to the negativity being directed at her. Many times I felt that her inability to deal with difficult coworkers and clients could have been quite funny, but I was too caught up in the fact that I thought she should be more aggressive. Because in my personal experience with attorneys, you don’t get to be a part of a “big” firm without being at least somewhat aggressive. Her female counterpart at the firm, Bonnie, was more what I was expecting; bold, ruthless and conniving. Now, I could be completely wrong on this due to the fact that she initially came from the Paris office and they may have been much more laid back there, though I’m not sure that would happen either.

In addition to my inability to grab hold of the more demure New York attorney, Catherine, I also had a bit of a problem with the stories length. Not so much that I dislike lengthy books, but to be honest I feel like the first 150 to 200 pages of the book did not exactly grab my attention. I enjoyed reading the beginning at times, it was nice “listening-in” on a chat between her and her assistant or any other number of other characters, but after a while I started truly wanting the story to start getting somewhere. Having said that, once Lafleche advanced the story and things started happening with Catherine I was taken in and couldn’t put it down. Without a doubt the last half of the book was fabulous!

Overall, I’m so glad I read J’adore New York. It was a new look behind the scenes at what goes on in a big firm in New York with a delightful romance to top it all off. And though it may not have grabbed my attention in the first half of the book, the second half was, without a doubt, one you won’t put down. For lovers of France, New York, fashion, legal fiction, romance and much more this will be a fantastic addition to their reading library. An excellent debut novel from Isabella Lafleche, a new author I’m certainly keeping my eyes on for future reading.

Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy for review! Please make sure to take a look at her website.

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