AustLit

At twenty-four, Samantha O’Brien scores her dream job as a dancer at the famous Moulin Rouge, only to arrive in Paris to find her well-laid plans in disarray. Fortuitously, Sam is rescued by the eccentric, tarot-card reading proprietress of Hotel Hollandaise, who cautions that Paris is for lovers, but not always love.

As Sam launches into her new career, the show’s super sexy, Sicilian stage director, Tony Di Falco reveals he is more than just a creative genius and hard taskmaster, leaving Sam to wonder whether secrets, specifically her own, are indeed best shared.

Meeting Philippe Lacroix, a struggling, young artist in Montmartre saves Sam from imploding under the pressure. He introduces her to the city of love, captivating her with his angelic good looks and sensuous touch. Yet the mounting attraction intensifies between Samantha and her passionate nemesis Tony, and a tense, sexually-charged relationship threatens to overwhelm them both. But the show must go on.

Filled with backstage bitchiness, tough rehearsals, a sprinkling of cocaine and the French addiction to cigarettes, Samantha grapples with her new life. Then without warning, Sam’s destiny changes literally before her eyes and she finally discovers that even in the most romantic city of the world, you don’t find love, love finds you.