Review: The Swiss Affair by Emylia Hall

Title: The Swiss Affair
Author: Emylia Hall
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Publish Date: January 28, 2014
Source: Netgalley

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "For Hadley Dunn, life has been predictable and uneventful. But that is before she spends her second year of college abroad in Lausanne, a glamorous Swiss city on the shores of Lake Geneva. Lausanne is imbued with the boundless sense of freedom Hadley has been seeking, and it is here she meets Kristina, a beautiful but mysterious Danish girl. The two bond quickly, but as the first snows of winter arrive, tragedy strikes.

Driven by guilt and haunted by suspicion, Hadley resolves to find the truth about what really happened that night, and so begins a search that will consume her, the city she loves, and the lives of two very different men. Set against the backdrop of a uniquely captivating city, The Swiss Affair is an evocative portrayal of a journey of discovery and a compelling exploration of how our connections with people and with places, make us who we are."

My Two Cents:

"The Swiss Affair" is the story of Hadley who travels to Lausanne, Switzerland during college to study abroad. Hadley is sort of sheltered when the book opens and is instantly swept up with Kristina, her Danish roommate, who seems much more worldly than Kristina. They fall into a fast friendship until suddenly their idyllic life in Switzerland comes to an abrupt halt. This book was a mixed bag for me.

I really liked the setting of the book. You all might know that I really like armchair traveling. I loved how the author was able to evoke a sense of wonder through how Hadley views the city. You can picture where she is living and the beauty that she was experiencing. The setting was really my favorite part about the book. The author had so much detail woven into the story that in some points, it almost felt as if Lausanne was a character in the book, which I absolutely loved!

I really wanted to know more about Hadley and what made her tick. This book is very much action driven and I wish that I would have had a little bit more insight into what made Kristina tick. Why did she seem so sheltered and naive? Why did she handle things the way that she did after the big twist (I don't want to give anything away)? She begins to mature in the book but I was sort Because I wanted these things, it made it a little hard for me to get into this story.