“As he dressed for the ball, the glittering cuff links with their chains reminded Scott that gifts often came with a price.”
Scott Stoddard is finally embarking on his life when he boards a boat heading from America to Switzerland. The plan is for him to study abroad before coming home and helping with his father’s company. Well, that’s his parents’ plan. Scott plans to enjoy living far away from their watchful eyes and it doesn’t take long before he finds ways to be distracted from his studies. Set in the 1960s, An Improbable Pairing sets a romance story in the settings of Paris and Switzerland among people who are enjoying their wealth.
The author of An Improbable Pairing contacted me on my Web site about reading his book. The plot sounded interesting and it’s not often to find a historical fiction book that adds romance when the main character is a male. Different cultures and different classes are brought to life as Scott enjoys life in Europe.
On the boat over, several women catch Scott’s eye, but there is one who he can’t get out of his head – the Countess de Rovere. She’s French, divorced and Catholic. Scott is young, not wealthy and Baptist. Scott believes she is out of his league so he pursues other relationships before seeing her again several months later. There’s an undeniable spark between them, but he has a hard time finding a balance between the pressures of his parents to complete his studies and falling in love with someone accustomed to a lavish lifestyle. It can’t last, can it?
An Improbable Pairing was surprisingly delightful. I enjoyed reading about the settings – including fashion and menus. It was refreshing to read a book that had a romance story that wasn’t graphic and where the man was the one falling in love. Readers who want just a bit of romance tied into a good story will enjoy this book. It shows how love can overcome obstacles.
What book has your favorite love story? Share on the blog!