Helena Fairfax

Today is the release of my romance short story/novella Come Date Me in Paris. Hooray!

Come Date Me in Paris is now available on Amazon for just 99p/99c. It includes some delicious French recipes, a delicious French hero (c’est vrai!) and a poodle who steals the show. It’s a feel good story for the summer, perfect for a weekend read on the patio with a café au lait – or a glass of white wine :) – and for a virtual trip to lovely Paris.

Here’s the blurb:

Come Date Me in Paris is the most popular blind date show in France. Alice’s editor wants her to go on the show and write about it for their magazine, and so Alice agrees. After all, it’s not likely she’ll pass the screen test. But then a letter arrives telling Alice she’s won a place, and she’s thrown into a panic. The show involves cooking for your date – and in the country of haute cuisine, Alice can’t even boil an egg.
Forced to throw herself on the mercy of her chef neighbour, Edmond, Alice asks him for lessons. But will she be cooking up a romance…or cooking up disaster?

If you follow my newsletter you’ll know that I was looking for an image to use for the cover. (If you don’t follow my newsletter and would like to, you can subscribe here.) I have some gorgeous images of Paris on my Pinterest board, but of course they are under copyright and so I wouldn’t be able to use them for commercial purposes.

Seeing my dilemma, my husband very kindly offered to paint a unique piece of artwork for me to use especially. And here it is…!

I absolutely love it. I love the way he’s incorporated elements of the story, such as the cheeky poodle and the heroine’s pony-tail (she really does have one).

The Eiffel Tower only gets a  brief mention in the story. I wanted to concentrate on some lesser-known areas of Paris, such as the beautiful Bois de Vincennes, as seen here:

and also the vibrant French markets, where the hero – Edmond – takes Alice to buy the ingredients for her meal

So you can see why the story was fun to write. A French hero who can cook, and some delicious French food, plus the romantic city of Paris. What could be better for a summer read?

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Here’s the Amazon link , and if you do read it, I hope you enjoy Edmond and Alice’s story!