Pip’s character intrigued me when I first encountered him in The Sunny Side. He was funny, a bit snarky, and is one of those side characters that captures your attention, just crying out for their own story. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long to see him again!
Pip has an air of self confidence around others, even if he may not actually feel that himself. He thinks quickly on his feet, with snappy comebacks and witty remarks. He’s an all-around fun character to read.
Olivier lives a no-strings-attached lifestyle, not content to tie himself down to one person. While an open relationship style is not at all my type of thing personally, so not a lifestyle I can identify with myself, it’s something that has always worked for him. Or at least, it always has in the past. Enter Pip.
These two dance around each other for quite a while, more so on Olivier’s side than Pip’s. They spend a lot of time together, enough to develop a truly wonderful friendship on its own. So while they do eventually get physical with the understanding that a little fun is all it is, they already have that foundation set, making it so much harder to keep it as just fun when it comes to their hearts.
A bit of drama is introduced with Olivier’s mother and his former lover, and I do have a nit-pick with what happened as I felt like the resolution was a slight stretch given his mother’s nastiness. There are some extenuating circumstances that bring the resolution about, but to me it still felt just a bit off…though that could be chalked up to my own life outlook and how I see things like this (sorry for being vague, I don’t want to spoil anything for readers).
Overall, French Fancy was really entertaining with some fun characters that kept a smile on my face, making it a 4.5-star read for me. Plus we get appearances from Dean and Jonas from The Sunny Side along with some other supporting characters from that story, which I loved. I think all M/M romance fans will enjoy this story, which is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.
Joel Leslie does an incredible job with the narration. Parts of the story that elicited a little giggle-snort from me when reading the ebook had me laughing out loud when performed in the narration. Excellent differentiation in character voices, perfect pacing, and spot-on emotions in the narration made for a wonderful listening experience. 5 stars for the narration!