Finding Gene Kelly by Torie Jean finds Evie O’Shea living in Paris, far away from her disapproving 
mother, as she struggles to figure out what to do with her life as she deals with her endometriosis. Liam Kelly, the kid who she had a crush on that grew up to a man she couldn’t stand but still wanted, shows up in Paris, under the illusion Evie wanted to see him, thanks to Evie’s brother and one of their mutual friends.
Evie isn’t happy, but when her mother tries to set her up on a date for her brother’s wedding, she needs Liam’s help to keep her off her back. Her idea? Fake dating her brother’s best friend. Liam, who always wanted Evie as more than a friend, has no problem agreeing to the plan, but when they both realize that they have feelings for one another, what started out as something fake has a chance to become something real.
Liam is supportive and understanding of Evie’s struggles. I thought he was a good character, but he also comes across as a bit too perfect. It seemed he was always doing and saying the right things, which just didn’t feel realistic. Evie isn’t quite as likeable as Liam. I felt for her and the struggles she deals with daily, but she’s very judgmental of other people. For someone in her position, I would have expected her to be a little more sympathetic towards other people. Her behavior at times makes her appear to be immature.
I found the explanation that Evie’s mother gives her for the way she treated her to be a bit of a cop out. Considering Evie ran away to another country in part to get away from her mother, it felt like the whole thing was wrapped up too quickly and too neatly.
I will admit I don’t know a lot about endometriosis, and I thought the book is really educational in that regard. It provides a good understanding of the struggles women who have it go through on a daily basis and I think it will give others who do not know much about it a better understanding.
Overall, I’m on the fence about this book. I appreciated the author bringing awareness to endometriosis. I also liked the concept of the story. Evie, however, brings the book down for me. I honestly believe I would have enjoyed the story more if I actually liked Evie as a character.
This book would be for readers who enjoy the following tropes: brother’s best friend and enemy-to-lovers.
Book Info:
Publication: September 20, 2022 | Sunset and Camden Creative |
When five-year-old Evie O’Shea married her next-door neighbor in the wedding of the century, she had no idea she was swearing an oath to love the man who would grow into the bane of her existence until the end of time. Or that in ten years time, she’d start a long and winding journey to an eventual endometriosis diagnosis.
Now, aged twenty-six, Evie O’Shea lives in Paris, balancing precariously close to her Charlotte Lucas birthday. A burden to her parents, with no prospects and no money, Evie’s humdrum life needs a shake-up.
Enter Liam Kelly, the man Evie married at the age of five and promptly divorced at seven when he had the audacity to throw a muddy football at her while she was reading Eloise in Paris. Clad in a Henley and equipped with toned forearms and eye crinkles that rival Gene Kelly himself, Evie is determined to keep her ultimate temptation at a distance while she flails wildly navigating life, love, and endometriosis on the banks of the Seine.
But when a family announcement shakes up Evie’s world weeks before her brother’s wedding, Evie seeks Liam’s help to get through the wedding with some semblance of sanity intact.
Her request? Fake date.
Making a deal with the Devil always comes with a cost, though, and when Liam’s conditions which include elaborate backstories and practice dates, reignite passions her disease smothered long ago, Evie has to learn to fight for her dreams and break free from her life measured in ibuprofen pills and heating pad settings. Or else risk being alive but never truly living.
