by Gary Dickson
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Published: January 2019
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Genre: Historical, Romance, Travel, France, Switzerland
Paperback: 240
Rating: 3
First sentence(s):
How different Scott's life would have been had he been attracted to the young girl, the one more his age, who was standing at the railing of the ship, rather than her companion, the beautiful woman wearing a soft gray suite, her hair blond and straight, a cashmere scarf of a crystalline blue that matched her aquamarine eyes draped casually across her shoulders.
It began as a simple flirtation ...
In September of 1963, Scott Stoddard, an American graduate student, is traveling to Switzerland, when he meets the Countess de Rovere, a French divorcee; he is smitten, and she is intrigued. What begins as a little coquetry soon becomes a serious love affair, much to the consternation of the Countess’s ex-husband and mother, not to mention the Countess’s friends of European high society. A meeting of equals poses problems enough, but what about one between two people who seem to have so many differences? And when a man of traditional attitudes couples with an independent and self-confident woman, something’s got to give. It won’t be the countess. As their liaison transcends an affair that cannot be dismissed, they all agree that something must be done.
An Improbable Pairing is a historical romance that chronicles the enduring themes of a young man’s coming of age and the rebellious love of the mismatched. This pas de deux, set in the golden years of 1960s Paris, Geneva, Gstaad, and Cannes, provides an insider’s peek into the worlds of haute couture, three-star gourmet restaurants, and lavish hotel suites—the domains of rank and privilege. But society’s privileged resist when an interloper threatens to upset their cozy structure.
My two-bits:
This love affair with royalty was interesting to follow as it is portrayed from a young man's point of view.
The tediousness of social obligations and responsibilities makes this romance rocky which made the reading frustrating at times.
I liked the scenes of hobnobbing at the Cannes film festival as that is a place I want to visit in the near future.
Got me thinking of the reality of fairytale royalty romances.
* review copy courtesy of author
