02/28/2022
Dolan’s clever latest (after The Sweeney Sisters) follows a newly single art courier as she ends up on a scavenger hunt after losing the work in her care. After Joan Blakely’s social-climbing husband, Casey, reveals he’s fathered twins with his former assistant, Joan accepts an assignment to deliver a series of sketches by a 19th-century French painter depicting Joan of Arc from a Pasadena, Calif., museum to a collector in Paris. The obscure works are meaningful to Joan, whose namesake was revered and often referenced by her late father, Henry, a famous artist who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Joan meets smart, thoughtful Nate on the flight to Paris, and later, in an attempt to forget about Casey, she hooks up with him. The morning after, she discovers the sketches are missing from her hotel room safe. Joan grills Nate about the theft and determines he wasn’t the culprit. Then, envelopes appear that contain elaborate clues along with a page from Henry’s priceless notebooks, long thought to be lost in the plane that crashed into the North Tower. Dolan successfully sells most, but not all, of the far-fetched reasons for the mystery of the envelopes, and does a fantastic job depicting Joan’s love for her father and heartache over his death. This has a bit more substance than the standard Parisian romp. (Apr.)
"Fast-paced and colorful, with hints of The Goldfinch and Malibu Rising, and more than one pitch-perfect love story—Lost And Found In Paris sparkles like the City of Light itself and will have you flipping the pages quickly as you're drawn deeply into its mysterious world of art, intrigue, and redemption."
Reading Lian Dolan is like sitting next to a delightful and hilarious friend with a fine glass of champagne as she regales you with her enthralling adventures. Witty and ravishing, with an intriguing mystery, a grand love story and a quick-witted heroine, Lost and Found in Paris is magnificent.
"Dolan spins a story that is both heavy and light, spanning continents and exploring relationships. With a hint of Dan Brown and a splash of Jamie Brenner, this book will appeal to a variety of readers, especially those who enjoy character-driven fiction."
11/01/2021
Daughter of a prominent artist whose legacy she has tended since his death on 9/11, art historian Joan Blakely is so enraged when she learns of her husband's infidelity that she decides to get out of town, accepting a job as art courier and carrying valuable drawings to Paris in her overnight bag. After hooking up with handsome techie Nate, whom she met in business class, she awakens to find the drawings gone and a long-lost work by her father in their place. Now she's got mysteries to solve, with Nate's help. Billed as a "thinking woman's ultimate escapist adventure in Paris"; with a 50,000-copy first printing.
2022-01-12
A 31-year-old Los Angeles–area woman finds herself caught up in intrigue when the artworks she’s delivering to Paris are stolen.
Joan Blakely might be the daughter of an internationally famous artist tragically killed on 9/11 and a supermodel, but she's nothing like either of her parents, while being exactly like both. Hardworking, focused, beautiful, working at an art museum, and almost 10 years into what she thought was a happy marriage to a photographer, Joan is pretty OK with how her life has turned out. But then her husband drops a bombshell as he’s heading out of town: Not only did he have an affair, he has 5-year-old twin sons who are starting kindergarten and live not five miles away. Joan can either join the big blended family he envisions with his former assistant–cum–baby mama, children, and her, or the marriage is over. Joan doesn’t have to think twice, and the locks to their—really her and her mother’s—house are changed and divorce proceedings started while he’s out of town. The story follows Joan’s efforts to reclaim her life, trying to rediscover the self she lost 10 years previously when her father was killed aboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. She agrees to personally courier a set of Joan of Arc–related sketches from the museum where she works to Paris so that an interested buyer can take a look at them. One thing leads to another, and the sketches are stolen. An inexplicably lighthearted lark of a treasure hunt develops as Joan follows clues that lead her to various locations of personal importance to her, her father, and her mother as she tries to find the sketches.
A quirky novel that deals with weighty topics and emotions without taking itself too seriously.
This is a big-hearted belly-laugh of a book, told with wit and poignancy. Family secrets, laughter and tears, shocking reveals, and an uplifting ending make this a story to savor—and share.”
"Dolan spins a story that is both heavy and light, spanning continents and exploring relationships. With a hint of Dan Brown and a splash of Jamie Brenner, this book will appeal to a variety of readers, especially those who enjoy character-driven fiction."
09/01/2022
Joan Blakely, daughter of a supermodel and a renowned artist, grew up meeting famous people and traveling the world. Joan's life changed dramatically on 9/11 when her beloved father died on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center. Ten years later, Joan's life radically changes again when she learns her husband has another family that includes twin five-year-olds. She impulsively accepts a trip to Paris to deliver art work. Hitting it off with fellow passenger Nate, they have a fling. The next day, Joan discovers the art she was to deliver is missing, and she's been left a copy of a page from one of her father's missing journals. Nate helps her, following clues on a frenzied scavenger hunt through France to track down the missing art. In the process, Joan finds herself again as well as the art and new knowledge of her family. VERDICT With elements of mystery, romance, and humor voiced by experienced narrator Brittany Pressley, this novel from Dolan (The Sweeney Sisters) will hook listeners.—Cheryl Youse
