A troubled American teen in Paris is torn between two guys: one who encourages her to embrace life, while the other—attractive and dangerous—urges her to embrace her darkest fatal impulses. Eighteen-year-old American Summer Barnes just moved to Paris to repeat her senior year of high school and live with her mom.

After being kicked out of four boarding schools for flunking, or drinking, or both, she has to get on the right track or she risks losing a hefty inheritance. Mom is usually on another continent and Paris is as beautiful as advertised, but the city's seamy side that most people don’t see confronts Summer at every turn.

In her tangled thinking, she’s convinced that meeting the right guy and falling in love will solve her problems and give her life meaning. She meets two.

Munir, a. k.

a Moony, a charismatic classmate, is recovering against all odds from a serious childhood car accident, and he convinces her to help him hunt for props in the flea markets, Les Puces. He and Summer form an unexpected connection and Summer is amazed to realize that Moony’s got her back and wants what’s best for her.

He tutors her so she won’t flunk again, and he even persuades her to attend and then accompanies her to an AA meeting. Her feelings for him quickly grow stronger.

And scarier. She knows she doesn't deserve him.

But Summer also meets Kurt, a hot, mysterious, and sophisticated older guy who has a knack for showing up when she’s at her weakest. He leads her through the creepy underbelly of the city and way out of her depth.

Never mind, Kurt accepts her for how she knows she really is—worthless—and more and more often, drunk. When Summer's volatile behavior manages to alienate everyone else, even Moony, she's finally forced to decide if a life so empty and painful is worth living.

Then muster the energy to take action. Haunting, wry, and beautifully written with a sharp, distinctive voice that could belong only to this character, the ending will surprise even seasoned readers.

Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an utterly compelling novel about a young woman stuck in a lopsided love triangle as she battles despair and discovers deliverance. Winner of the Housatonic Book Award For Young Adult Literature.