Lena Malakhov, twenty-three-year-old heiress to a Russian fortune, falls for a handsome waiter in Paris. But the influence of a conniving business rival might push them apart, in Alix Nichol’s romance novel, What if it’s Love?
Lena’s father made his millions in the IT world, and he wants nothing more than for Lena to return to Russia and join the family business. However, Lena has other plans. She is finishing her master’s degree in Paris, as her thesis revolves around Marina Tsvetaeva, a Russian poet who lived and wrote in the City of Light.
Ecstatic to be on her own after breaking up with her boyfriend of two years, Lena isn’t looking for romance. She spends her time working on her thesis, exploring the city, and drinking coffee at La Bohème, one of the best but little-known bistros in Paris. As she quickly becomes a regular at the tiny restaurant, she catches the attention of Rob Dumont, a disturbingly sexy waiter. The longer she remains in the city, the closer the two become.
However, Rob has more on his mind than a pre-graduation romance.
He’s been approached by a Russian business rival of Lena’s father. This rival promises a tremendous amount of much-needed money in exchange for spying on the quiet girl and reporting any intel on her father or his business. Even though Rob is desperate for money to pay his tuition, his conscience begins to plague him the more time he spends with Lena. His decision to come clean may ruin what is becoming the best relationship in his life.
Lena embodies a key theme within the novel; she is a self-proclaimed coward.
She literally and metaphorically runs from any conflict and allows life to happen around her, instead of taking charge and creating her own reality. Her father, Anton, constantly beseeches his daughter to join his business. He more or less tells her that she will do so after she finishes her master’s. Though she wants to work on literary translations when she finishes, she refuses to stand up for her dream, telling herself that she has time rather than confronting the issue.
Lena’s relationship with her father is just one example of her running from conflict. When she begins to feel unhappy in her two-year relationship with Gerhard, she doesn’t have the courage to break up with him. In her typical passive-aggressive manner, she simply goes to Paris, and he doesn’t follow. Though she finds new freedom in her explorations, she knows she should have told him how she felt instead of just allowing their relationship to die quietly.
In later incidents with Rob, Lena does the same, running from the truth he reveals and the chance at their happiness.
She allows herself to fall into another relationship, a serious one, with a man she could never love, rather than face her fears and find true love with Rob.
Lena’s need to run probably stems from her mother’s abandonment many years earlier, as she made a deal to stay away from Lena in exchange for a monthly payment. It isn’t until Lena learns to embrace the strength within herself, recognizing that she needs to be seen and heard, that she will ever find her prince and create her own happily ever after.
Rob is a direct contrast to Lena. Where Lena is quiet and reserved, Rob is outgoing and beloved by his friends.
Rob’s good looks give him a lot of female attention, so much so that Lena doubts anyone as handsome as Rob would want her. His financial situation, the very thing that leads to his betrayal, keeps a distance between them. While Lena is so pampered she never has to work or worry about money, Rob cannot graduate if he doesn’t get the money for his tuition. Though he has loving parents, they have made it clear that they want him to return home to the country and take over the family farm.
He feels his only option is to spy for Anton’s business adversary even though it hurts him to do so. The biggest difference between the two is that Rob is willing to wholeheartedly fight for what he wants. Late in the novel, he gives up a good job to pursue his dream of creating his own business, and, as for Lena, he tries multiple times to convince her of his sincerity and love, confronting his feelings head-on.
What if it’s Love? provides a refreshing twist on a typical contemporary romance.
Lena and Rob draw the reader into a world that flows from page to page. The cultural differences between the characters and their commitment to their ideals make for a book we can highly recommend!
