I really enjoyed the setting. The author described the city well. The story was focused on the areas where I was spending most of my time. That was purely coincidental, but for me, made the story more enjoyable.
The story was okay, but a bit far fetched. Alain owns a cinema in Paris, and every week he notices a woman attending the show. Finally he works up the nerve to ask her out. They go out have a wonderful evening, then she disappears. Around the same time, he's approached by a movie director and an actress, wanting to use his cinema for filming. The actress had fond memories of the place because she used to visit there when she was younger. The director sounds very much like Woody Allen and made me think of the movie Midnight in Paris.
As the movie is being filmed, Alain is becoming obsessed with finding this woman. I'm not going to give away the story, but I felt like there were way too many coincidences. Also part of me thought Alain came off as a really creepy, kind of stalkerish guy. For me, the logical explanation for the woman disappearing would be that she didn't want to see the guy again. And now that he'd asked her out, she didn't really feel comfortable attending the cinema anymore. If that was her place to escape to each week to watch old movies, he sort of ruined it for her by making it about him being interested in her. Of course, that wasn't the case, and this is supposed to be a love story. My theory was completely wrong, but still.
The very detailed Paris setting made the book worth reading, and if you aren't as cynical as me, the love story might be sort of sweet. It's an enjoyable quick read.
I received a copy of this via NetGalley.
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