An Eclair To Remember

by Rich Amooi

Sydney St. James has decided to settle. She says yes to Mr. Not Quite Right and sets sail on a cruise to Alaska for her bachelorette party. But when Sydney meets Silicon Valley’s most eligible bachelor aboard the ship, her world turns upside down. Oscar Martin is handsome, charming, and to make matters worse...he gets her completely.

Oscar has his own problems—and his own fiancee. He'd planned the cruise as a last ditch attempt to save their relationship, but she decided to skip it. The tide turns when he meets Sydney as they both reach for the last eclair at the dessert station. Now he can’t get the beautiful, feisty woman off his mind.

Oscar is certain serendipity brought them together. Sydney is not so sure. But the cruise will be a trip of self-discovery for both of them, and fate will have the final word.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Humor, Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Audiobook

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2015

About the author

Rich Amooi is a Taleflick Discovery Winner, Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Recipient, Holt Medallion Finalist, and the Amazon Bestselling author of 24 romantic comedies, including It's Not PMS, It's You, Dying to Meet You, Royal Crush, and Men or Paws.

A former radio personality and wedding DJ, Rich now writes romantic comedies full-time in San Diego, California, and is happily married to a kiss monster imported from Spain. Rich believes in public displays of affection, silliness, infinite possibilities, donuts, gratitude, laughter, and happily ever after.

Get a FREE romantic comedy by visiting his website at https://www.richamooi.com.

Reviews

[Cyndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of romances. But this one left me feeling unromantic. Let me explain...
Our heroine has decided she won’t find Mr. Right so she has decided to settle for Mr. Convenient. Mr. C travels a lot and works long hours, but she doesn’t care cause she works long hours and is never available, either.
Knowing how much our heroine loves to travel her best friend/bridesmaid has decided to plan the bachelorette party as a cruise to Alaska. (One of my personal dreams)
Meanwhile our hero is also engaged. He is a famous inventor and extra-handsome. Apparently he invented a hover car. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Anyway, his friend is trying to get some advertising for his new cruise line. So our hero sets sail leaving his fiancee at home to plan the wedding of the century since she is leery of ships. (Shouldn’t have watched Titanic)
He planned on breaking things off with her but used the excuse that she didn’t stop talking about wedding plans long enough.
So hero meets heroine and tries to pick her up with the ol’ serendipity line. They spend time together. They see all the sights and fall in love. (This author is great at describing scenery).
Meanwhile, back in the lower 48, their unsuspecting spouses-to-be go on about their time planning weddings.
When they get back to San Fransisco they plan to meet in a month’s time on the Golden Gate Bridge after dumping the people who they vowed to marry. (Can you tell yet that I don’t like them?)
So he arrives, but she is struck with a medical emergency on the way. She refuses to be a burden to him and won’t let anyone tell him the truth.
When he finally figures it out he saves her with a kiss. Ahh, the power of love. (Did that come across as sarcastic ‘cause that was my goal)
Yeah, for me, this book was a bit contrived and cliched.

[Ash P Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of the movies An Affair to Remember and Love Affair, will just LOVE this book. Written in Rich Amooi's uniquely humorous style this fantastic romcom novel will have you giggling uncontrollably with its cinematic visual imagery in its 200+ pages. You will see Alaska through the eyes of Oscar and Sydney, who are incidently perfect for each other but are unfortunately tied up elsewhere. Let me just warn you, Serendipity plays a HUGE role in this book so if you are not a believer, be prepared to become one, at least fictionally. I am a BIG fan of Rich Amooi's writing so I may sound biased but I can assure you that you can pick up any one of his books and be 100% entertained to the core and An Eclair To Remember (even the title is hilarious) is just as good, if not better that all his previous works.

ARC provided for voluntary review consideration

[Agnieszka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a roller coaster! I loved the story so much I can't believe it. Usually I'm not a fan of chick-lit and read those only if I need them for one of my challenges but this author could really change my mind about this genre.

I loved very much all characters, the realistic development of the plot and the fun style with a sprinkle of drama. The only thing I was struggling with was the serendipity issue. In the beginning it was somehow fun but got pretty fast annoying - though I'm aware it's most likely my very personal issue.

I enjoyed the twist with Sydney going blind on the way to their meeting. I expected they won't meet that day (they never exchanged any contact data and had no contact for one month - so it was somehow predictable) but the way the author solved it was realistic, heart-breaking and still beautiful.

This was my second book by Rich Amooi but for sure not my last :-)

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based to the movie An Affair to Remember. This was OK but very unrealistic.

[Ruth Barrineau-Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Eclair to Remember was exactly what I'd hoped it would be -- a light, funny, romantic escape novel. The characters are irresistible, and the book is virtually impossible to put down. It's that perfect detour from everyday life.

[Anisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a totally cutesy, quick read!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

sweet

This was a quick, light read. Fun if you like cruising and Alaska. Not heavy on the romance, a bit too PG for me, but I enjoyed this.

[ɑƨħŵɑɡ ♥Team Magnus Damora FOREVER♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Éclair to Remember is about these two people, Oscar and Sydney, who are engaged to different people. However, they meet on a cruise, their significant others did not want to go on. Oscar and Sydney start spending time together and consequently fall for each other.

Personally, I have an issue with cheating and books that revolve around it. I think a great burden is placed on the writer to make the case for his character to make them reach the point of where they are now. In other words, it has to have depth. In this one, it felt a bit technical; Point A to point B to point C and so on. Oscar spent a lot of time trying to woo Sydney and he felt pretty sure she was going to fall for his charm, at that point, he seemed like an a**.

Then comes the end, which had this twist that, I swear, was a copy of a Bollywood movie called Mann. I loved that movie and that's why the whole story especially the twist at the end made me realize it's a copied story of that movie with very little changes. Even then, I liked the scene where Oscar faces his fear to spend time with Sydney.

Overall, this made me want to go back and watch that movie again *sigh*

[Zoé-Lee O'Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book for me was split into 3 separate parts. We have a cruise where Sydney and Oscar meet. You have the end of the cruise and the promise of the future. You then have the future and frustrations with it!

This was a cute love at first sight book. Sydney on her bachelorette party with her best friend Gina. Oscar meant to be on a cruise with his fiancé to repair their relationship. However, when these two meet it is an eclair to remember! One moan, I wanted more Gina and Leo!!!

Oscar is more open to his feelings to Sydney at the beginning. Sydney trying to deny her feeling due to her fiancé at home. Sensible vs reckless here. However, serendipity just will not leave these two alone! Always in the same place, matching clothes. It’s meant to be no?!

This book had some cute little quirks. It’s made me want to get my ass on a cruise to Alaska though as everything sounds so beautiful and I’ve always wanted to go on a helicopter. It was a breathtaking and scenic voyage. The glaciers and the towns are described in a way that you were in the adventure too, and I really wish I was a fifth wheel on this journey.

As much as it was wrong you really couldn’t help but want Sydney and Oscar to hurry up and get together. But they were sensible, although they shared a chaste kiss they knew they had to go their separate ways but planned to meet one month in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Oh my days what follows next, well I was tearing my hair and I had a lump in my throat! How could Amooi be so cruel to me! Yes me, I take this personally! It was hard reading these bits, I just couldn’t understand if it was serendipity then why was fate playing such a horrible hand. Do they not talk to each other, I mean seriously!

Life doesn’t always flow so easily for this gorgeous pair. For me, this was a different kind of book I am used to from Amooi, this time we had nothing in the past to hold back our characters just their present. No baggage just fiancés so for me it was a nice change of flow. Rather than waring characters, we have 2 people who want to be together despite knowing its wrong. Aaahhhh!

I really don’t know what words I can use. I am sure you are all bored of me gushing by now. An Eclair to Remember is definitely worth read! It’s not my favourite out his books (doesn’t mean I didn’t like it) because he has written so many bloody good books and they can’t ALL be my favourite, but it’s still such a cute, funny, romantic read! He just proves that romance is NOT dead, and also a cameo from a man who sings a lot about is in it 😉 Your clue….. well we just haven’t met you yet !! 😆

I am never going to look at an eclair the same way now that’s for sure!

[Michaele · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Spoiler alert*

The book starts out ok- was humorous and charming, if a bit sappy.

I enjoyed the book until the end, as soon as they left the cruise ship and agreed to meet in a month with no other way to contact each other I knew something would keep one of them from the meeting and the book became annoying to me- too predictable. And why didn't she want Oscar to know she was in the hospital? Even more annoying. Better to let him think she didn't care? So she didn't care about hurting him in order to keep him from seeing her that way? Grrr.

I think I rolled my eyes about 20 times. I get that it is supposed to be an homage to an Affair to Remember, it just took it too far and lacks originality as a result.

[Melindeeloo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was pretty much an updated version of the movie An Affair to Remember. I had forgotten that I really did not like that movie and that covered most of my problems with this story. Even though it's not in the title both the leads are engaged but their fiances are back at home so this is still a ship board affair. No sex doesn't equal no cheating, and it still is cheating even if they both were questioning their decisions to get married (he at least came in knowing he was going to break things off after the trip.) I did kind of roll with the pair getting to know each other and there were a couple nice moments - a side trip to a glacier and a visit to his sister. Then we get to the part of the story that I disliked in the movie and dislike here - they are supposed to meet in a month on the middle of the golden gate bridge, she has a medical episode on the way and he waits eight hours for her before giving up and leaving. In the movie and the book the leading lady ends up disabled, here she has what may or may not temporary blindness and she doesn't want to be a burden, so she just ghosts him. That actually made me mad. If this was someone you loved, it would be decent to let them know what's going on. And when she runs into him with a friend at a concert, she doesn't even try to be pleasant and talk to him. He does actually find out the truth - because her friend and his sister team up - and he forgives her easily. Honestly, I think that the way she handled things is a huge warning flag for the way she will handle problems during their relationship in the future - but then again the fact that both had an emotional affair when committed to someone else is also a big red flag.

Anyway, this was sort of a one off for the author, because I liked everything but the over arching plot (which wasn't his anyway) and the ending, and I generally like his characters and his romances. Oh I did this in audio and the male reader giggles when the female characters laugh - not a fan of that.

[Nancy Silk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Serendipity Hard At Work"

This author is quickly gaining popularity as his stories are so enjoyable. This story is inspired by the great movie, An Affair To Remember." Engaged Sydney St. James says bye to her fellow who's to busy at work to join her on a cruise liner to Alaska. On board she meets the Silicon Valley's most eligible bachelor, handsome Oscar Martin. His fiancee refused the trip and the tide changes for both Sydney and Oscar. Just imagine seeing them both reach for the last eclair on the dessert table. Sparks start flying. There's much humor until the emotional ending. You'll love the trip at sea, so make sure you have your sea legs on!

[Kate Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever I need a quick read that is light-hearted and sure to lift my spirits, I turn to Rich Amooi. If you couldn't tell, this is a retelling of An Affair to Remember. Up to the last couple of chapters, this book was kind of flat, mostly dialogue-driven and generic. However, after meeting the sister, grab a box of tissues (or was it just my emotional state when I read the ending) for the ending. As always, though, it was a book that isn't too heavy-hitting and as perfect as an eclair for a sweet, quick read.

[Maria Loeber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serendipity. Apparently I'm all in for it. I really liked the book.. I loved it was in Alaska, the settings described, the characters, the romance and the humor. It could perfectly be a Hallmark movie.... which is my guilty pleasure hahha.

So if I loved it so much.. why 4 stars and not 5? Honestly... I felt the last part wasn't that necessary, the story was really good without the additional drama... that's the only 'but' I found in this...

[Cindy Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yummy story

Another great book by Rich. I loved the Alaska storyline. If you have never been to Alaska please put it on your bucket list. It is one of the most beautiful states. And the nod to our neighbors to the north of us. Another beautiful part of the world. His description of the sites was spot on. The storyline is really cute. Cue the music. Cue the tears. An affair to remember and thank you for a nice get away from this world's craziness.

[Avid Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off to the bakery

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie An Affair To Remember but I loved the movie Serendipity. This book is so charming and sweet. Who doesn’t love a story about a feisty woman and a romantic man?

I’m a “read eater” and since I already have the man of my dreams, I’m taking my man and my eclair craving to the bakery. Then it’s on to the next Amooi book!

[Patti Fischetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Golden Gate Bridge instead of the Empire State Building.

Who can forget the movie "An Affair to Remember! A wonderful movie that tore at your heart strings. Well this book has the same spirit. It is funny and very romantic. It also San Francisco instead of New York. If you are an incurable romantic then I think you'll love this book.

[Rhonda Shedore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book you won’t wanna put down!!

Once again I pick up these books Rich Amooi writes and in the first chapter I know it’s going to be an all nighter. I always feel connected to the characters and love the story lines. Growing up in California makes it easy to read these books and be able to incision where the characters are. Keep up the amazing work!!!

[Linda Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Lot of Laughs

They meet on a cruise and are attracted to each. Only thing is they are both engaged to someone else. A tussle over an eclair leads to more encounters. Humor and romance, a great combination.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute romance story. Even though it was predictable, I still liked it. The characters were fun and believable. I liked the Alaskan cruise setting since I have been on two myself. Since it made me want what they had, it served its purpose.

[Paula Bothwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Eclair to Remember - PG
Violence: None
Language: <5
Sex: None, but a few kisses

Rich Amooi writes the best leading men! I enjoyed the nod to *An Affair to Remember* and the meet-cute here was an awesome introduction to the romance to come.

[T.E. Antonino · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An Eclair to Remember" was a light-hearted and enjoyable story. I found myself reading it in cafes, waiting in the dentist office, and pretty much anywhere that was conducive to reading. I like sunshine and this book had it coming out the seams. Happy reading!

[Sandy Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A twist

Still a lot of humor and romance. I lol'ed several times. But this time the author provided heartache as well. There is a nice balance of laughter and tears. I love these books!

[Violeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of this authors books!

I love all of this authors books and highly recommend them to anyone who love comedic romance and love. Once you start reading you won’t want to put it down.

[Hannah Clitheroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little cheesy and over the top for my liking. I think I rolled my eyes about 40 times in the last half the book. It should have ended with them meeting at the bridge let’s just say that. The ending was over dramatic and ruined the previously quirky banter.

[Brenda Bankston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Snook does it again

Another great romantic comedy by Rich Amooi. His stories are always great and fun reads. His characters are relatable and enjoyable to follow along their ups and downs.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read

I love all of Mr. Amooi's books. They have helped lift my spirits on many occasion this year. They have so much love and laughs to take you away from all the real world stress and this one did that too.

[Cathy Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Affair to Remember

A book based on my favorite movie, by someone who is becoming one of my favorite authors..yes, please!! He did justice to the movie and the book itself. I loved the characters and all the serendipity. A must read if you love romantic comedies.

[Prajakta Pradhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to remember

Smart characters, lovely backdrops, amazing locations. Fun with the banter and high on emotions. You get it all here. It was amazing to 'read' An Affair To Remember!

[Safari · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a book about NOT being with the one who you're engaged to

Going on a cruise without your betrothed can only lead to one thing, finding love with another. This story had an unexpected kind of twist towards the end.