What Happens in Paris Read online

  Other tourists clustered around, snapping pictures and chattering in a number of languages, and for a minute, I felt lonely. I’d gotten used to traveling with Sarah, and I bet she and Camie would have been as awestruck as I was. Glancing through the columns to the famous linden trees beyond, I longed to go forward, but as much as I wanted to keep exploring, I had sort of soured on the idea of being alone. With one last look up at the magnificent chariot on the top of the gate, I turned around and began the long walk back to the hotel. If Mom hadn’t already killed Charlie, he’d be able to go sightseeing with me later, and then I would try to convince Pops to let me go on to Italy when this was all over.

  I wasn’t giving up on that just yet.

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, my deepest thanks to Meredith Rich for believing in these stories, and for helping me fall even more in love with Sarah, Joelle, and Camie…not to mention their flings! Huge thanks to the entire team at Bloomsbury US and UK for, once again, giving me a chance to tell the stories I long for. Special thanks to the talented Ashley Poston for covers that make me swoon.

  To the lovely Ally Malinenko, for turning her eyes on an early draft of these stories; infinite chocolate! As always, thanks to Jaye Robin Brown for unfaltering CP advice. Gratitude to Lory Cupero for always being ready to read and offering constant encouragement along this wild journey. Thanks to the fabulous Lisa Burstein for telling me these stories are adorbs, and for finding time to read. Tremendous thanks to the wonderful folks at Inkslinger PR for helping me celebrate these stories. Love and virtual cupcakes to the Witcherific street team, and all my friends on FB and Twitter; y’all ROCK!

  This series was born out of my wanderlust, so a huge shout out goes out to all the tour guides, hostel employees, waiters, flight attendants, shopkeepers, taxi drivers, and charming Italian men who made my travels something to remember. Thanks to Lonely Planet for never leaving me stranded, no matter where I wandered. A special thanks to the Western Michigan University study abroad office and Santa Reparata in Florence for the most amazing summer of my college years…Camie would have loved to attend!

  Deep gratitude to my family, not just for supporting my writing, but for encouraging all the random trips over the years; biggest thanks to Mom for only freaking out the first time I ran into travel trouble.

  And thanks to my favorite traveling companion, Matt; I can’t wait to see where our wandering will take us next.

  To each and every one of you reading these books: thank you, thank you, thank you a million times! I’m so glad I get to share these stories with you.

  About the Author

  A Michigander by birth, Jen McConnel now makes her home in the beautiful state of North Carolina. She writes NA, including the Isobel Key series (Bloomsbury Spark), YA, and nonfiction. When she isn’t writing, she can be found on her yoga mat or wandering off on another adventure. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time. Visit www.JenMcConnel.com to learn more!

  Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Oxford, New Delhi, New York and Sydney

  Copyright © 2015 by Jen McConnel

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  This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  First published in June 2015 by Bloomsbury Spark, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.

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  ISBN: 978-1-61963-537-1

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  Cover design by Ashley Poston