Café Trocadéro

This is a creative book for sure.
You wind your characters and the story into an interesting situation that starts from the beginning. I like the interior design in the first part. The images are real and the characters form to life at a good pace.
There is a lot of art style to this book that sets it apart from other books like this.
The cover is creative and cute.
Super work with this book.

Shelby Z./Driving Winds

P.S. Please take a look at my pirate adventure Driving Winds.

Hello Ella,

This is my RCG Review:


1) Pitch.

The pitch, nicely outlined the story. I wouldn't say I'd read the book based on it, if I was reviewing it though. Just didn't grab me.

2) Plot.

Basic plotline, but just a nice little story. Ideal for a lazy read day. A nice simple sweet story.

3) Pacing.

The pacing was OK. Sometimes, I found it a little too fast, I had to think, where am I now?

4) Dialogue.

Dialogue, was natural and easy to follow. Fitted in with the setting and story.

5) Voice/Style.

I liked the style, and the way you kept getting snippets of Tristin's thoughts. Most of them made me smile.

6) Characterization.

From what I've read so far, I like all the characters, they are well thought out, and pretty easy to understand and relate too.

Overall, I liked the story (so far), I thought it was a simple yet engaging story. Which as I said from the pitch, I would pass it up, and would be wrong to do so. Perfect for a nice sunny day, it sit and relax with!

Hi Ella, thanks for sharing your story. I have really enjoyed what i've read so far.

i like Marc's amusing personality and thank god he's not the typical 2D camp friend/colleague i've read a lot of lately. Tristin is a great character too(i first thought she was a he because of her name though) i like how her mind works and how her imagination can run a little wild and her paranoia grows.

The visit to Paris catches our attention since we've seen how much she doesn't want to visit the place again. You keep us hooked with wanting to know about the friend's problem, then Lucas and then wanting to find out about Elizabeth and Chris.

Tristin is a likeable character and the feeling that she's holding back more than she's disclosed about her 'first love/holiday romance' is intriguing and gives a sense of her vulnerability making her human, easy to relate to and wanting us to keep reading so we can 'see her through' safe and sound to the other side.

i especially like the scene where she's looking through fabric in Paris. The way that she moves around, how she touches the fabric, her thoughts, the carefully chosen words you've used to describe the moment, capture perfectly how much she values what she does. It feels like an intimate moment we're seeing, she's alone and let her guard down, allowing her to be herself and do what she enjoys.

I hope to see more of Elizabeth and hope she gets a happy ending and also look forward to watching the looming romance with Lucas unfold.

I do want to mention that the underling instead of italics, as others have mentioned is off putting and stands out in the text.

You did a great job with the flashbacks, they fit in neatly with the story and altogether it follows a nice flow. I found that it was easy to flip the lid on my laptop and come back to the story whenever i wanted, sinking back into it quickly and in my opinion, that's a sign of a good book.

Well done and good luck.

Highly starred.

-Terry

RCG

Ella, I read to the end of chapter 5 and really love the story. The setting is well-drawn and the budding romance between Tristin and Lucas entirely believable. Everyone who has visited France will recognize the sort of problems the MC faced on arrival. I like your writing style, the touches of humour, the length of chapters and the section breaks. I made some notes:

Ch1. For me, the first paragraph doesn't quite work. And it's THE most important part of a story.
Later there's a sixty-four word sentence followed by one of fifty-seven words. I would look at shortening both.
The backstory about Jean-Pierre is long for what is the opening chapter. A brief mention here to be expanded upon later might work better.

Ch 3. At the end of the chapter Tristin asks herself seven questions. Too many for the reader to take in. Condensing them into one or two would be a more effective hook.

Ch 4. This scene is very well done. (big, black paper) shopping bag . . . (purposefully cheesy). I don't think you need the words in brackets.

Good pitch, good writing, good plot, great story. I can see this being published.

Camac Johnson
Hemingway Quest/Zambezi Seduction

Review for RCG and CLG,
I have really enjoyed reading the opening 3 chapters of your book. Your main character shows traits that many of us will recognise as our own and that is appealing to a reader. I like the way you have included a few of her thoughts in italics to let us get to know her a little better, the more I get inside the mind of characters the more I find I enjoy reading their stories.
The relationships that you have described firstly with her assistant, then the French lover, the stranger in the taxi and Elizabeth, all help to shape our understanding of her and her life. Dialogue between them is just right, enough for the reader to understand the relationships without overburdening with talk.
I love your informal, chatty voice, which I find very easy to read and unwind with.
A few little crits as I think this is what you are looking for.
Double check your punctuation, like me you have a tendency to overuse the good old comma. At the end of each chapter I go through and end up taking out half the commas I have put in. If there is a connective then it should be instead of not as well as a comma.
The other thing I had a query about was the underlining you use. For me it breaks the writing up and I'm not sure it's necessary.
Overall I have to say that this is a fab read and I really hope it does very well. Good luck, Kate

I really enjoyed what I have read so far. There is a good strong mixture of characters. Tristin still bears scars from Jean-Pierre. Her strong bond with Elizabeth is called upon when she is scared that Chris is playing away. Lucas comes into the picture and she fights to not get involved with him. There was just enough description of Paris. Sometimes when a book is set abroad it can end up sounding like a tourist brochure. I found the humour gentle and suited this genre. This is the type of book I would like to take on holiday with me. My favourite line was 'then she realised no-one could hear her because she didn't know how to scream in French' Fabulous!

Well done and good luck with this.

Kim (Pain)

Sorry it's taken me so long to do my part of our read swap.

I really liked your pitches. They captured my attention and I even found it somewhat funny. I also really like the way you write. It feels natural and realistic and wasn't awkward to read. One thing I did notice was that you had a couple rather large paragraphs. Sometimes I feel like I can get thrown off by that just because it feels like such a heavy amount to read. I would maybe consider splitting it into two. But other than that, I enjoyed what I read. The characters have loud personalities, there's humour, and it's got a unique setting.

Hoping to hear some feedback from you!
Melissa :)
Gut Instincts
Not So Sweet Sixteen

Ella, just read the six uploaded chapters and really enjoyed it. Very easy to get into, lots of humour and I like the touches of the cultural differences.

The friendship between Elizabeth and Tristin is warm, honest and fun - perfect for chick-lit.

Good hook in what Chris is up to.

Lucas is sexy, the switch to his POV at the Tower was a nice insight into his attraction to Tristin.

One minor thing about the pitch - I'd rather not know Lucas has a wife. I'm getting wrapped up in the story, it's easy to discount Tristin's internal questions about how he recognises the signs of a cheater because of her suspicions about men (and French men in particular) but the pitch telling me he has a wife detracts from that. Let that be a surprise for the reader.

I wasn't totally convinced about Elizabeth suggesting the Cafe was bound to be out-of-date and in need of Tristin's eye. I think that would sound more plausible if Tristin had been given a moment on her own with Elizabeth to give her dismal opinion of the cafe.

I like your style and voice and think it's well pitched for chick lit and romance.

Cafe Trocadero

These are just my thoughts as I read through your work...Please use, enjoy, or disregard as you wish, mine is just another opinion in a sea of plenty...

Cover & Title – Good and original title but you need an original cover, if you don’t have one, there are plenty of people who can do one for you on here.

Short Pitch + Long Pitch – SP and LP are good, LP would do better as two paras, stop people bypassing the blurb because right now it’s just a lump of text.

Notes for the chapters I read

Chapter 1 – Putting her thoughts in italics is off putting because of the font chosen, they don’t stand out enough, also there is no need for the italics in the first place as the writing is good enough that we can tell she thinking plus you tell us by using – she argued against him silently. Tristin is an unusual name for a girl, usually given to boys, but becoming more popular ... did make me think it was a guy at first.

Chapter 2 – Good chapter, catches the madness of the cab ride well, past history is weaved in well, nothing really stands out.

Chapter 3 – You have a font formatting error half way through the chapter, just check the master file and re load. Seems silly but people will stop reading just because of that.

Chapter 4 – Good chapter, flys by very quickly and the switch between Tristin and Lucas is clear.

Chapter 5 – The – after silly and say are out of place and really un-required. Also make sure if you are using ellipsis marks (three dots) the two sections of your sentence should start and finish at each end, there should be no gaps. i.e. kiss her and expect...what, exactly? instead of kiss her and expect... what, exactly?

Switches again are clear although it might work better if the pov in the cafe was Tristins rather than lucas’s after all she is the one who was flustered and wanted out of there.

Chapter 6 – Nice mix up with the phone calls and nice weaving of Chris’s back story into the chapter.

Tristin is confident, except around Lucas. Usual blend of a chick lit heroine with a slight twist. Elizabeth is a good best friend with a mystery of her own in her husband Chris. There is plenty in this plot to trundle along and its true to its chick lit genre.

It flows a long at a good pace, the descriptive tones are well done, not over done and there is a good blend between dialogue, descriptive passages and back story.

This is a good read that will keep chick lit lovers entertained and wanting more. Good luck with this, it should do well here.

Ella, I've read the first two chapters as promised. The characters captured my imagination immediately, especially Marc with his vibrant personality and over exaggerated moves. Tristin is a likeable character that has some underlying issues and fears and I think you do a good job of enticing the reader to read on and discover more about her past and also about the journey she is about to embark on in Paris.

It's written well, fluent and descriptive, with subtle humour, which I think is perfect for its genre.

All in all I think you've done a good job, it's a great read.

Stephanie - Feathers

Cafe Trocadero gets off to a lively start with an engaging main character, some good comic touches and the prospect of a Parisian romance. It also captures brilliantly the sense of panic that we English speakers get when abroad and faced with anything more complicated than ordering a beer. The plot seems to be developing at a good pace, and at the end of chapter 2 I was looking forward to finding out what happens next with the French chef.

One very minor suggestion – the story is told from Tristin’s point of view so it’s best to reveal her own appearance through the observations of the other characters. You might want to leave out the descriptions of green eyes and auburn hair till you get to the taxi where Lucas can describe what she looks like.

Overall, I’d say this is definitely a winner for chicklit fans.

Ella;
Well done! I truly enjoyed your work. You have a great sense of time and space and set your scenes beautifully.
Your dialogue feels free,easy and natural and Tristin is quite amusing with her distaste of anything french:)
I hope you give us more then just this little teaser. Highly stared and on my WL until I find room on my shelf.
Elke
'Ella In Between'

Hi Ella, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Café Trocadéro. Tristin is a great MC and I really like the cultural references to McDos and Starbucks. I can still remember my horror when I moved to France and discovered the nearest one was 600 miles away! I can appreciate some of the other more subtle references, like the difficulty in finding employment., too. The story flows along beautifully and your voice is perfect for it. It's quality chick lit and I can't wait to read some more. Will she hook up with her French chef? Where does Chris go when he disappears? Great stuff, Ella. A whole constellation of stars for you and I'll find some shelf space for you soon.

Melanie
La Vie en Rosé

Cafe Trocadero (forgive the absence of accents) belongs on the top shelf in the chick-lit genre: a Parisian romance written by an author who obviously knows Paris and can spell French words correctly. I enjoyed all six chapters and would like to know where Chris went. (This is the problem with authonomy: one gets into a story and encounters an abrupt end.) Very enjoyable read and worthy of shelving.

Iva P. / Fame and Infamy

Note: In chapter 6 the word gate should be gait.

Hi Ella, this is great chick-lit very amusing love the didn't know how to scream in French V good and laughing at French tv (it's dire!) Great book great writing right up my street Highly stared and W/L for more next week, all the best Karen x

Hey i just read the first two chapters, its really good. Got me hooked, i like the common views on france which you include, makes it feel more real. I have read a few books on here, this is by far the best, the story is better and so is your writing style. Only thing i would like to have known was more detail about what the characters look like, but i am glad i came back to read this. Thinking of backing it.

Hi Ella, I'm on a bit of a French roll, having just read La Vie en Rosé too. I really enjoyed your easy writing style and following Tristin's adventures. This is the perfect holiday read.

Pru

My highlight of Cafe Tricadero is the etiquette aspects. French people aren't all ill-mannered after all

Cafe Trocadero has an entertaining and bowling-along-breezily writing style, which makes it a very easy read. From a British point of view, the American-in-Paris is inherently quite a comical subject, and Tristin sportingly plays along with our stereotypical expectations by immediately yearning for Starbucks and wanting to refurbish an old cafe, giving plenty of scope for her character to develop as the story unfolds. There is not much sense of tangible Paris until about Ch. 4, and we possibly pluck a little too easily from the cliche end of the imagery library shelves at the start, with a remembered Eiffel Tower scene, even though it is a set-piece deliberate cliche. For instance, if the Pompidou Centre is a location, the text could perhaps help the reader naturally feel a bit more of the general ambience of its immediate surroundings: the narrow-street approaches, the architectural contrast, the alleys, road-sweeping machines, croissant smells, fire-eaters, bad caricature artists, art and architecture students with sketchbooks, all-human-life-is-there atmosphere, etc. The familiar setting and popular Chick LIt genre could make Cafe Trocadero very marketable, if the story turns out to be a good one, which seems quite likely so far...

It is always fun to read about Americans in Paris and this is a tale told with very considerable verve and energy and I shall be very interested to know what happens to the heroine next. Watchlisted and starred. Would you be able to look at the first chapter of my novel 'A Buccaneer' which is set amongst Pirates in the 17th century with best wishes from Strachan Gordon

Ella,
You have a penchant for the spoken word. Although your narrative prose is exhilarating, capturing color and action in fine detail, you shine in dialogue with expressions true to character, expletives well laid out and simple phrasing coming alive with startling twists and turns. Certainly the ebullient Tristan is hard to keep up with, but she is worth the chase, taking you into situations enough to get your pheremones going.Ever been on a rollercoaster ride? Same feeling. Thank you so much for the entertaining read.

Kenneth Edward Lim
The North Korean