What Happens In London/Paris by Jen McConnel

What Happens In London by Jen McConnel
Release Date - June 16, 2015
Publisher Website - Bloomsbury Spark
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 99 pages
My Rating - 3/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**

What Happens In Paris by Jen McConnel
Release Date - June 16, 2015
Publisher Website - Bloomsbury Spark
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 250 pages
My Rating - 2/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**

**Spoilers for What Happens In Paris**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis for What Happens in London

Four countries.
Three girls.
Three loves.
One adventure abroad they'll never forget.

Sarah landed in London, just hoping to leave her home behind and escape her family. But she didn't plan on falling headfirst into Carson's arms.

Get ready for a summer of self-discovery and romance in the first of the New Adult novella series, Adventures Abroad!

Here is the Goodreads synopsis for What Happens in Paris

Four countries.
Three girls.
Three loves.
One adventure abroad they'll never forget.

Camie can't figure out what she wants, from college or life…until she meets Hunter. But will the magic of a romantic night in Paris last till the morning?

Fall in love with the second novella in the New Adult series, Adventures Abroad!

The travel enthusiast in me immediately purchased these books when I heard about them. This novels were pretty much tailor made to be 'me' books with their promise of European adventure and romance. Sadly, the novella format, and a few storyline issues made connecting to them much harder than I anticipated.

My wanderlust wanted to experience the destinations in the book. I wanted to fall just as in love with the settings as I did the stories. I wanted the setting to become a character in the story. There are certainly hints at this, and some of the places mentioned did make me want to travel. I never quite felt immersed into the setting, and I think that is due to the problem that is the overlaying issue with the book - there wasn't enough space within these pages for the story to be told to it's fullest.

The story in What Happens In London starts out promising. It is actually my preferred out of the two I am reviewing today. It's a mix of travel, book stores, meet cutes, and romance that was enjoyable to read. The romance portion feels rushed, but could have worked if given the opportunity to build the connection between the characters. Many of the story issues I had were mainly down to the format chosen. I think the story was done a disservice by using novellas to tell it, as there are some complex issues within these pages that I would have loved to have seen explored. The potential is the thing that haunts these pages the most as it's definitely there.

I wanted to fall in love with what Happens In Paris so badly. Paris is such a beautiful city, and it's such a fantastic place for a YA/NA set romance. Sadly, I didn't end up loving this one any where near much as I had hoped.

**SPOILER ALERT** There is an element of dubious consent going on in the romance part of the story line that left a bad feeling in it's wake. Camie gets drunk while on a romantic date with Hunter, so drunk that she doesn't remember having sex with him when she wakes up the next morning. She obviously doesn't recall agreeing to have sex, and that is where the sinking feeling in my stomach kicked in. Camie was in no shape to give consent, and that element is barely addressed. In fact, Hunter seems unhappy with her that she is unable to remember. There isn't a deeper conversation about how Camie might be feeling, or the implications of this type of hook up. I, personally, felt that there were other ways to get the desired outcome (Camie rushing to leave Paris due to her embarrassment) instead of this disappointing turn of events that happened. It's an importantly, timely topic, and I felt this failed to leave the lasting impression it should have. **SPOILER ALERT**

Other than this the novella was fun with some promising banter between the two characters (and a swoon worthy meet cute). The limited time spent with didn't allow for any character connection, and the story felt scrunched together to fit the pages provided.

Lastly, those looking for the more sexy side of New Adult novels will not find that here. It's relatively tame in the sex side of things, and more heavy in the romance department when compared to most New Adults. It's not unwelcome, just different and those expecting it will leave disappointed if that is what primarily draws them to this type of book.

These novels are light, mostly fun, but not quite as developed as they could be. Jen McConnel does her best with the limited format of novellas, but everything just feels rushed, and undeveloped. There is potential here in both the writing and the story lines themselves that the space a full paged novel could have brought out. The novella format didn't work for me in this case, despite my travel wanderlust.