The Paris Match

Author: Kate Clayborn Title: The Paris Match Publisher: Berkley Date Published: 04/07/2026

Read Dates: 03/06/2026- 03/07/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

The Paris Match is a dual POV forced proximity romance. Layla is traveling to Paris to attend the destination wedding of her ex-sister-in-law, determined to put on a good face and show everyone that she is completely fine following her amicable divorce. And no, of course she's not upset to be coming alone and facing her ex-husband and his new girlfriend. But after dinner with the bride-to-be, where she apparently says something that sends pre-wedding jitters into overdrive, Layla is confronted by Griffin, the taciturn and sometimes abrasive best man, who demands that she fix this- even if it means the two of them have to team up to save the wedding. Working together brings the two of them closer in unexpected ways, and while they are focused on saving a wedding, they might also be saving each other.

Every book I have read from Kate Clayborn has been beautiful, and this was no exception. Layla and Griffin were both such compelling characters, and watching them get to know each other and slowly let down the walls they had built was fantastic. The setting and journey were both beautiful, and I really liked how they were able to be what each other needed, while also learning to be what they needed on their own.

Physician Layla Bailey has spent over a year telling herself she's moved on from a painful but amicable divorce from her college sweetheart. Staying friends with her ex seemed like the mature thing to do, but when Layla is invited to her former sister-in-law’s destination wedding in Paris—where Layla once spent her own romantic honeymoon—she knows her commitment to maturity might be her worst enemy…especially since her ex isn’t attending alone.

The only thing that could make the week more difficult is getting through it without the distraction of the wedding.... But when what Layla thought was a harmless conversation about the choices of her younger self leads to the bride getting cold feet, Layla finds herself facing down the groom’s mysterious, taciturn best man, Griffin, who will do anything to make sure this wedding happens.

Since she broke it, Griff demands she help him fix it. Going along with his plan to alleviate the engaged couple's doubts seems like Layla’s best chance at maintaining a good relationship with a family she once called her own. But as she learns more about the past heartbreak that’s driving Griff to help his friend, she gets closer and closer to confronting the true depth of her own pain…while finding herself more and more willing to risk it all again for Griff.