This Foreign Affair by Harper BlissThis Foreign Affair by Harper Bliss is the 4th installment in her Pink Bean series. Like the others, it fully stands alone, even though it features characters from the other books and follows the continuity of what’s happened so far.

Zoya Das’s day could be better. Not only does she have to meet with her ex and their lawyers to work out the details of their split, but she had to get up extra early to deal with a fire alarm mishap at their Airbnb property. The one silver lining is Camille Rousseau, the beautiful French tenant who’s staying at their flat while in Sydney, who asks her on a date. Zoya may not be ready for a relationship, but a fling while Camille is in town could be just the thing to mend her broken heart.

Both women quickly develop deep feelings and Camille has to return to Paris within a week. Can a relationship truly survive when you live on opposite sides of the world?

The Characters

Zoya and Camille are my favourite couple that Harper Bliss has written so far (I almost said “ever” and then remembered that she’s still cranking out several books a year, so they may be dethroned soon). They’re both super sexy, accomplished women in their late 40s, and watching each of them make space for the other in their lives is so satisfying. I particularly appreciated seeing how vulnerable they got, because it made them feel so real. And given that the entire book is told in the first person from Zoya’s perspective, I’m also happy that I never felt like I didn’t understand Camille or her motivations. I loved Camille’s maturity, because it meant she had the confidence to be authentic with Zoya right from the get-go.

Fans of Harper Bliss will be happy to know that not only do we see some of our friends from the other Pink Bean books (especially Caitlin), we get to see Stephanie and Dominique from her French Kissing series too. I haven’t read the first two volumes in a couple of years, so I was especially happy to see them because they’re my favourite couple from that series.

The Writing Style

This Foreign Affair has a very easy style to it that made the pages turn quickly. It has a little more sex than the other Pink Bean books, making it more of an erotic romance, with the deeply emotional stuff we’ve come to know and love in Harper Bliss’s full length novels.

The Narration

Oh, how I loved this audiobook! Of course, it helps that I love the story and characters so much. Dawe is a great narrator and I’ve enjoyed other performances by her before, so I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed this one. Two things to note:

  1. Even though it’s set in Australia, Dawe doesn’t do an Australian accent for any of the local characters (she does a French accent for Camille). I thought it was an interesting choice and I’m a bit curious why. That said, having complained in the past about mangled accents, I’d rather have an American use their own accent than have a bad accent pull me out of a story.
  2. I found that some of the Australian characters weren’t always particularly differentiated from each other. And, given that this is the fourth book in an ongoing series with a cross-over to another series, there were a lot of characters. It was easy enough to keep track of who was talking at what time, though.

The Pros

Everything. Literally everything. I want to kiss this book on its face.

The Cons

It ended and I wanted more Zoya and Camille.

The Conclusion

taras favourite lesbian booksThis Foreign Affair is a gorgeous book and I loved every minute of it. Harper Bliss fans will love it and it’s a great place to start if you’ve never read anything by her. If you enjoy books that are super sexy with a lot of feelings, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Excerpt from This Foreign Affair by Harper Bliss

Maybe it’s the wine, or the fairy lights, but most likely it’s simply sitting across from Camille, listening to her accented tones and getting to know her better, but I feel enchanted. Enraptured. And to think I didn’t want to come tonight. I was going to catch up on work. Watch television. Or just stay at Caitlin’s and get wasted while I remained pissed off at Rebecca.

“I knew it was a long shot, but…” Camille pauses. “I’m very attracted to you.”

“You’re wooing me.”

“I feel like I have no choice.” Her voice goes low. “I’m on the clock and I have no time to waste.”

“Every minute is precious.” I gaze into her eyes and I know she feels the same way. I actively remind myself of Caitlin’s words. I truly have nothing to lose.

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Series

Pink Bean Series 

No Strings Attached

Beneath the Surface

Everything Between Us

This Foreign Affair

Water Under Bridges

No Other Love

Love Without Limits

Crazy For You

Bits and Bobs

  • ISBN number: 9789881491084
  • Publisher: Ladylit Publishing
  • Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Audio
  • Narrator: Angela Dawe

Harper Bliss Online 

Note: I received a free review copy of This Foreign Affair by Harper Bliss. No money was exchanged for this review. I will always review books as honestly as possible and on occasion I refuse to review books.