The Paris setting and the opening scene convinced me to get this book. Oh, and the hot guy on the cover didn't hurt. 
 I was all in, feeling sorry for Sebastien and his loss, and wanting Valentina to find the happiness she didn't have in her marriage (Her husband was a piece of work! What a horrible person). Despite all that, because the story dragged in the middle, I almost gave up on it. I kept wanting them to get together and they just never did--not as a couple, anyway. 
 I was glad I didn't give up. They finally ended up together, and in the end Valentina grew up and gained the maturity she needed to stand on her own two feet.