Emily is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend when she thinks he is going to propose. She decides to take a job in France working as an assistant to a reclusive artist, Louis Marchant. They are enemies nearly from the beginning, even though there is an undercurrent of tension there. Louis starts to see Emily as more as she pushes him out of his comfort zone. She makes him go for bike rides and out into the world, plus he loves the way that she verbally spars with him and is determined to do her job even though he makes it INCREDIBLY difficult. Eventually they give and start a relationship. But there are forces determined to ruin them at all costs. Will they be able to weather the storm and find their way forward into forever?

I loved both Louis and Emily. Louis is tortured, feeling that life is over because his muse is no more. He doesn’t think that he’ll be able to paint anymore without his ex-wife as his muse, so he’s struggling when he first meets Emily. But she pulls him into her sunshine with her positivity and he starts to see that he has talent regardless of the muse, but she really does help him move forward. And Emily is so funny with Louis – fighting back against him verbally when he’s being the biggest pain in the ass in the world. It’s like she knows he’s lashing out because she’s there and he doesn’t really mean the awful things he says to her sometimes (other times she is right to be hurt by the things he says to her). And I especially like that after a traumatic experience she takes the time to get herself right so that she can be what he needs going forward. She didn’t explain it well to him, but I’m glad they both gave each other space to grow even though they are adults.