Attraction and Repulsion

A Parisian fight-for-love story.


Having just arrived in Paris, New Yorkers William, Christina, and Pascale are looking forward to six weeks of uninhibited fun with their French friends, a group of students and aspiring actors--everyone is in their early twenties, neither settled into careers nor domestic life. Adventures are soon had in Père Lachaise cemetery, at a raucous Montparnasse loft party, and under the stars in Montsouris Park.


Matters become unexpectedly serious when William meets Genevieve, a native Parisian, and they fall deeply in love--a first time experience for both. As William and Genevieve begin to get to know one another an obstacle presents itself in the person of Baptiste, a childhood friend of Genevieve's who delusionally believes himself entitled to her affection and begins a campaign of interference and intimidation.


So insufferable does Baptiste become that Genevieve and the group as a whole sever all ties with him; enraged at being denied direct access to Genevieve, he begins stalking her and assaults William in the street. In response, a humiliating prank is played on Baptiste in an effort to frighten him off. Instead of having the intended effect, the prank further unhinges Baptiste and propels him into outright madness--a situation that forces a violent confrontation.


Love triumphs in Attraction and Repulsion, but not easily--William and Genevieve must fight through extreme tumult before enjoying their right to love one another in peace. Along the way they learn that love deepens when it suffers through opposition, and bonds of trust are stronger when forged in the fires of conflict. They also reaffirm what they already know: a circle of devoted friends is a gift beyond estimation, and fun is a very effective medication for tension. They marvel at how their chance meeting has forever altered the course of their lives.


Attraction and Repulsion is a celebration of the unpredictability, beauty, and responsibility of love; it is also an adventure story--with a large cast of colorful characters--that takes place in the parks, cemeteries, streets, apartments, and on the rooftops of Paris.


Reviews/Testimonials:


Love can't fully bloom while obstacles stand in its way. Attraction and Repulsion tells the story of a pair of lovers in Paris, as they pursue love and the forces that keep them apart try even harder. A story of love in spite of all those who would end it, Robert Scott Leyse constructs a gripping story that will be hard to put down.--Midwest Book Review


Here in the span of a few tumultuous days, in the heart of Paris, we find a dreamed love that becomes real with quick edges, a purported ménage à trois that is not a threesome, a plotted death that is not murder, where death's sanctuary becomes a playground, and where actors become characters and characters become actors.--Tom Sheehan, author of Epic Cures


Ah, to be a young man in Paris with two lovely, liberated ladies in a very contemporary ménage à trois and with a colorful crew of international misfits for friends--all of it good fun until true love and jealousy intrude, and their lives take a serious turn. Robert Scott Leyse gives us a Parisian romantic comedy with a well-earned happy ending and repartee as sparkling as the champagne.--William T. Hathaway, Rinehart Award winning author of Summer Snow


Add a love triangle and a love-hate triangle together in Paris, mix in some festive adventures and crackling dialogue, and Attraction and Repulsion is the entertaining result. Page-turning fun, love, duress, and triumph: true happiness doesn't come cheap in life, or in this novel.--George Fosty, ESPN featured author of Black Ice