Paris is Always a Good Idea: Book vs. Series
Hallmark+ series Paris Is Always a Good Idea adapts Jenn McKinlay’s 2020 novel. Both send career-focused Chelsea back through Europe to reconnect with former loves and with the freer person she was before grief changed her life.
From Books Adapted
Which books each season covers
One novel becomes a six-part series
| Season | Book and story covered |
|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Is Always a Good Idea, adapted across six episodes with changes to Chelsea's trip and family story. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
McKinlay later gave Chelsea's sister Annabelle her own book, Wait For It, about a move to Phoenix and a relationship with her landlord. That story remains unadapted. As of October 23, 2026, no second season has been announced.
Lacey Chabert, who also executive produces, said the longer format gave the adaptation time for the book's different layers. The series follows Chelsea at three points in her life, including the earlier trip she is trying to revisit.
What changed from the book
Chelsea's family joins a different European trip
In the book, Chelsea's sister challenges her to revisit the places and men she knew before their mother's death. The series gives their mother a direct part in setting the journey in motion: she has left a video itinerary. Chelsea's father and sister join the trip, rather than simply prompting Chelsea to go.
The destinations and former boyfriends change too. The book takes Chelsea to Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy. The series keeps Colin, but the French boyfriend is Sebastian and the third is Marcos in Spain.
McKinlay discussed the changes with the screenwriters. She told KJZZ that they explained each change and the reasons for it.
About the book and the series
- Author
- Jenn McKinlay
- Year
- 2020
- Pages
- 353Buy book
- Audiobook length
- 11 hr 33 minGet audiobook
- Narrator
- Brittany Pressley
After years of putting work ahead of everything else, Chelsea Martin realizes she has not felt truly alive since the European gap year she took before her mother died. She retraces that journey through Ireland, France, and Italy to reconnect with three former loves, only to find that neither they nor she are the people she remembers.
- Creator
- Heidi Cole McAdams, Lauren Muir
- Year
- 2026
- Episode
- 43 minWatch on Amazon
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 6
- Network
- Hallmark+
- Cast
- Lacey Chabert, Scott Michael Foster, Rebecca Hanssen, Henry Czerny
- Genre
- Drama, Romance
- IMDb
- View on IMDb
After years of living for her career, Chelsea retraces the European journey she took before grief narrowed her life. Reconnecting with former loves in Ireland, Paris, and Spain may help her recover the person she used to be, while a frustrating colleague complicates what she thinks she is looking for.
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