French Coast

French Coast by Anita Hughes, 287 pages

Serena's got it all: a great job at Vogue, a handsome fiance who's running for mayor of San Francisco, and devoted parents whose love for one another is the yardstick by which she measures all happiness. A dream interview falls in her lap when she's assigned to travel to Cannes to interview the longtime editor of French Vogue, for whom she will also co-write a memoir. But a decades-old scandal involving her father is unearthed while she's in France, throwing her parents' relationship into a new light and scaring off her fiance, who's more devoted to his political career than their relationship. Can a new friend and a mysterious man help return happiness to her life?

This is classic chick lit, so we know almost from the outset how this book is going to end. Hughes creates a high-fashion, glamorous world that Carrie Bradshaw would find quite comfortable, and throws in a few little twists and turns for good measure. That said, a few of her stylistic choices rankled me, particularly in the passages involving Yvette, the editor of French Vogue, who was always introduced to a scene the same way: by describing what she was wearing, and having Yvette tell Serena what she'd been doing before opening the door. Also, the transition into Yvette's memories is rough; the first time Hughes slipped into the past, I had to go back and reread a few paragraphs to figure out what had happened. However, if you're looking for a light read for vacation, this wouldn't be a bad choice.