The Paris Apartment

I was so disappointed with this one, after enjoying the guest list so much I thought this was also going to be a 5 star read, but unfortunately it was not. It was fast paced, and the atmosphere was superb, but those were the only positives I managed to find. I guessed some of the reveals (which rarely happens as I am horrible at figuring things out), and even the ones I didn't see coming did not shock me one bit. I appreciate it trying to be more complex and not a straight forward mystery, but it just did not work for me. I can't really pinpoint what about it didn't work for me, I'm not sure if its because to me it felt very telenovela at times, or because the characters were so unlikable, or maybe I'm the problem. I'm not sure, but it wasn't a fun reading experience. I still can't get over Ben as a character, I've met my few share of overly charismatic people but I still couldn't help but roll my eyes when Ben once again was able to charm another person. He felt very mary sue and Jess felt like “im not like other girls” type of character which took me out of the story several times. If you end up picking this one up I'd recommend reading it on a cold gloomy/rainy day to really set the mood.

Spoiler of what happens in this book:
Turns out that Nick, Mimi, Sophie, Jaques (the husband), are a family (also add Nick and Mimi's other violent brother, who I can't for the life of me remember his name). But wait, there's more. This family is rich because of their supposed wine business left behind by Jaques first wife after she passed away. She is also the biological mother of Nick and the violent brother, making Sophie the step mother of those two. Ben actually finds out that this wine business is actually a front for this sex slave ring, where immigrant women are forced to dance and do sexual acts on gross rich men. Each wine represents a type of girl that a man wants to purchase, either for the evening or forever.Sophie is not actually a high born french woman but actually from Russia and was originally one of the women in this sex ring. Jaques took an interest in her and bought her out so she could become his wife. The concierge's daughter ended up being one of these girls and ended up getting pregnant, but dies while giving birth. Sophie really wanting children of her own ends up taking this baby and with the help of Jaques forges documents so 'legally' this child is theirs. Who is this child you may ask? Mimi. Ben charms his way to living in this apartment because Nick fell in love with him during this European trip and thought having him around would be like old times. Then he charms his way to becoming BFF's with Jaques, and even Sophie who loathed him ends up sleeping with him, multiple times. Mimi also ends up becoming enamored with him and believes he feels the same way about her. Basically, this is entire family, minus violent brother is in love with Ben. But Ben is only interested in finding out more about their dark secret to expose them and become the amazing journalist he thrives to be. Jaques finds out that Ben knows and is obviously pissed so he comes to his apartment and starts beating him up and I believe he stabs him as well. Mimi who sees this through her window decides to stop her dad because she loves Ben. When she arrives she ends up killing her own dad to save Ben. Sophie walks in on this and to protect her daughter ends up masking Jaques body and making her step sons believe it's actually Ben, so they bury him. Sophie puts Ben's body up in the attic where she tries to take care of him because he was in critical condition. Everyone eventually finds out about everything and Jess takes her brother to the hospital because somehow he was still alive even after all these months. She exposes this family but lets Sophie escape to a different country because she felt bad for her. Oh and the concierge you may ask? Violent brother pushed her down the stairs and she dies from the impact. Violent brother also commits suicide after the exposé. Things turn out fine for Jess and Ben. Mimi goes to a boarding school to escape this mess and Nick well truthfully I don't remember and it doesn't really matter. And that's all.