To be honest they had me with the title. Much as I love being a Londoner, there’s a small part of me that longs to be Parisian, starting my days as I would with a coffee and a croissant from my favourite neighbourhood bakery, ending them with a glass of vin rouge in a dimly lit bar espousing on the important issues of the day, all the while dressed in some effortlessly cool outfit, which would probably involve something leather, or denim, or both.

Written by four Parisian girlfriends, the book is divided into five sections (Get The Basics, Own Your Bad Habits, Cultivate Your Allure, Dare To Love and Parisian Tips). It got lots of pre-publicity mostly due to two (teeny) sections called How To Make Him Think You Have A Lover (appear lost in thought: sit by a window and stare into space) and The ABCs Of Cheating (rule number one: DENY, DENY, DENY). However there’s so much more to it and, it turns out, I have more in common with the Parisian woman than I thought.

Like the Parisienne I’m very much in favour of having a signature item of clothing. Mine’s a Whistles leather jacket, bought in a moment of extravagance, albeit with a hefty discount from Grazia. I wear it so often it was definitely worth the splurge and, as it’s a little different from the standard biker jacket (it’s more like a blazer) it still gets compliments three years down the line.

Beauty wise she takes care of herself while giving the impression that she doesn’t take care of herself. I look after my skin (or at least I’m trying to) but otherwise my approach to beauty is, erm, minimal to say the least and generally I prefer to look as if I haven’t made too much of an effort. I leave my hair to dry naturally and always instruct my hairdresser to make my hair look better than I could, but not as if I’ve been to the hairdressers and, beyond tinted moisturiser, a couple of coats of mascara and my beloved Charlotte Tilbury Beach Stick, I wear very little make-up. All perfectly normal according to the book.

What else? She feels a little uneasy in the countryside. Me too. Whilst an overnight stay is fine, I’m a city girl at heart. She considers an aromatherapy massage an investment in her wellbeing, as opposed to a luxury. I’m totally with her on that one. She carries a notebook with her at all times (preferably a black Moleksine). Yup, and like her I use it to jot down anything from a quote I read in a book, newspaper article or magazine feature that I liked, endless to do lists and lyrics to songs I plan to look up later. At this point I was considering researching my family tree to see which side is responsible for my Parisian sensibilities.

As well as making me think I was probably Parisian in a previous life, the book includes plenty of other stuff that makes it worth the investment. There are recipes for French classics (crepes and mayonnaise), dinner parties (lemon chicken and chocolate fondant) and Sundays (aubergine caviar and baked apples). There’s an address book that includes suggestions for the perfect place to steal a first kiss, an end of the night restaurant, a garden in the city and place to put yourself together the morning after the night before (doesn’t everyone need one of those?). Plus lots of tongue-in-cheek observations that will make you want to find a Parisian best friend immediately.

Real people reviewers either loved it or hated it, but then people only tend to write reviews when they feel strongly one way or the other I guess. I liked it but then my bookshelves include lots of similar dip-in-and-out life and style type of books. Granted you can read the whole thing in a few hours (I devoured it all on the train journey between Cornwall and London) but it’s thoroughly enjoyable. My one regret is that, as I was so impatient to read it, and miles away from a shop on the day it launched, I bought it on my iPad. Having since seen the hardback version I wish I’d waited and bought that instead.

You can buy How To Be Parisian here.

Have you read it yet? Were you perhaps Parisian in a previous life too?!