Emma's Review: The Secret Twins of Paris by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Paris, 2011: Lily Tremaine’s hands shake as she opens the envelope addressed in her mother’s hand. The faded letter inside reveals the long-buried family secret that her mother had a twin she was separated from during the Second World War. A tear slides down Lily’s cheek, knowing the loss of a sister caused her mother so much heartbreak. And now, after all these years, her mother needs Lily to find her…

As Lily begins to piece together the fragments of her mother’s story, she meets Julien, a photographer whose research contains the clues she needs to unlock the past. As they pore over faded black and white photographs together, a warm feeling begins to stir in Lily’s chest. But she knows she can’t bury her own recent heartbreak just yet, not until she has fulfilled her mother’s wish.

When the truth of what happened to the young twins is revealed, it is more shocking than Lily could have ever anticipated. And with her mother’s health failing, she is running out of time to find her mother’s missing sister. Can Lily piece together long-buried family secrets from the war in time to reunite the lost twins of Paris before it is too late?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Paris Promise by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

But when their secret is discovered and her beloved husband is torn from her arms, Antoinette’s heart breaks. She knows she must act quickly if she is to save her son from the same fate. Desperate, she asks the Resistance to secure him a place on the last train leaving Paris. Holding him tightly against her chest, she promises she will find him again. But is it a promise she can’t possibly keep?

Alone and with nothing left to lose, when the Resistance ask her to use her musical talent to spy on high-ranking Nazis, Antoinette doesn’t hesitate. Playing her violin at elaborate dinner parties each night gives her the opportunity to listen to their conversations. And although she risks her life every day, it is the only way to get her family back.

But when a Nazi commander makes advances towards her, Antoinette realizes that she will have to make a dangerous and impossible choice. Can she find the strength to do the unthinkable, in the hopes that it will save her family, and countless other innocent lives?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Bookseller of Paris by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When the Germans seize Paris, its peaceful streets fill with terror overnight, and nowhere is safe. Desperate to help her friends, Parisian bookseller Madeline Valette turns her bookshop into a sanctuary for those in hiding, but she knows it’s only a matter of time before she’s found out.

So when she is asked to join the Resistance and smuggle banned books from Berlin, she accepts, desperate to defy the Nazis. And while she wants to save precious books from destruction, she also hopes her trips to Germany might help her find the last living connection she has to her beloved husband…

Because Madeline has received a letter from a German woman called Ada, the mother of her husband’s son. Facing persecution, the Jewish boy is in terrible danger. But where are they now, and can Madeline help them before it’s too late?

When Madeline finally finds Ada and the child, she realises Ada is at the mercy of a high-ranking Nazi official and both their lives are now at risk. Can Madeline get them to safety? Or will the unthinkable happen to this innocent child? 

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: The Last Day in Paris by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Paris, 1940: All over Paris, families are being pulled from their beds in the middle of the night. And ever since her husband was shot in cold blood, Brigitte Goldstein has known she is running out of time. She and her daughter Sophie are Jewish, so it won’t be long until the Nazis bang on their door.

But before she leaves, Brigitte must find her beloved husband’s painting, which was seized by the Nazis. She desperately hopes that if she saves it from destruction, then a piece of him will live on forever. And perhaps one day her daughter will uncover her father’s legacy, and the secret hidden inside…

Working in a museum under a false identity is Brigitte’s only hope. Until she meets Isabelle Valette, who confides in hushed tones that she is part of the Resistance. And when her new friend tells her of a train leaving Paris that can take children to safety, Brigitte knows her daughter must be on it, even if it breaks her heart.

But getting Sophie onto the train is dangerous. If they are caught smuggling a Jewish child out of Paris, they will be killed. And with the enemy closing in, can Brigitte get her beloved daughter to safety before it is too late?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: We Fly Beneath the Stars by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When the love of Tasha’s life, Luca, joins the air force to fight against the evil Nazi invaders, she knows she has to follow her heart—and him—into battle. Headstrong, impulsive and a daredevil, she’s the perfect recruit.

Tasha’s sensible older sister Nadia plans only to stop Tasha’s madness and bring her home. But a chance encounter puts her in a plane, soaring above the clouds, and she also finds her calling.

Underestimated by their superiors, Nadia and her sister find themselves in airplanes barely fit to fly, being sent on perilous missions with little hope of return. But before long their battalion is being nicknamed ‘the Night Witches’ by the Nazis, their ownership of the skies second to none.

But danger is up in the storm clouds with them, and when both sisters are shot down behind Nazi enemy lines, and taken to a brutal prison camp, they expect to never see their beloved homeland again.

Until Tasha’s eyes meet across the wire fence with someone she never expected to see again: the love of her life, Luca.

But with love comes peril… Will one sister have to sacrifice everything to save the other?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Garden of Secrets by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

1941, England: When Anya is sent to rural England to work as a spy, she’s glad to escape a terrifying situation at home in war-torn Russia. But as she settles into life as a land girl, she fears she’s made a terrible mistake.

With her life at risk every day, she can only turn to her fellow informer, Nikolai, who she finds herself impossibly drawn to. They both desperately want to join the fight against the Nazis and when they are told Russia has switched allegiance, they start to believe their love might stand a chance.

But no one can ever know their secret history, and being together puts them in the gravest danger. So they devise a plan. If they’re ever separated, they will find their way back to each other. They just have to follow a series of secret coded messages. Clues no one else could possibly understand.Starting with a small key, left in the place that has become most precious to them: the secret garden.

Now, England: When Laura agrees to restore a beautiful garden in the grounds of an English stately home she sees the opportunity for a new start, away from heartbreak. But when she finds a box buried under the weeping willow tree, she is spellbound by its contents – a key and a cryptic note. As she begins to piece together the fragments of a love story that stretches across wartime Europe, Laura doesn’t realise it, but she is embarking on an unforgettable journey. One which will change her own life forever.

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: When the Nightingale Sings by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When an impossibly shy young woman named Judy Morgan finishes her studies in Physics at Cambridge University, it is with dreams of changing the world for the better.

Meanwhile, a beautiful, young Jewish woman decides to flee her beloved Austria, changing her name to Hedy Lamarr, and risking everything to get to America, as far away from the Nazi threat as possible.

A powerful friendship is formed when the two women meet in pre-war London—with Judy’s passion for science a perfect match for Hedy’s brilliant talent for invention. So when the world is gripped by a war that nobody could have imagined in their worst nightmares, both Hedy and Judy know they must act now.

As their lives repeatedly collide, in Cambridge, California, Pearl Harbor and beyond—throwing both their lives into danger and tragedy—Judy and Hedy both find themselves seeking ways to end the war.

But neither of them will know that one of them is on a path of tragedy. A path that could change the outcome of the war, but also threaten their friendship forever…

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: Under a Sky on Fire by Suzanne Kelman

 Reviewed by Emma Crowley

September 1940, London

As the German Luftwaffe begin a terrifying bombing campaign that will come to be known as the Blitz, thousands are evacuated to safety. But Lizzie Mackenzie finds herself heading towards London.

She knows she must help in the war effort. But she has another reason for leaving the security of her Scottish village: the illegitimate child she gave up for adoption nearly five years before is somewhere in the city. And – as the bombs rain down – she will stop at nothing to find her and make sure her little girl is safe.

Then she finds herself trapped in a dark theatre during a bombing raid, where she meets Pilot Officer Jack Henson. Against all her instincts, she falls in love. But what chance is there for that love to flourish? Because if he discovers the secret shame of her past, he may never forgive her. And with Jack facing the enemy every day in the sky, and Lizzie’s job guiding pilots into battle – life and love has never felt so fragile.

Until a chance encounter with a little orphaned girl changes everything, forcing Lizzie to ask herself what truly matters. Because, in the darkest days of war, every life counts. And – when tragedy strikes – saving one child’s life might just give Lizzie a reason to survive…

Amazon Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: When We Were Brave by Suzanne Kelman

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

The face of the woman in the photograph was tilted upwards, as if enjoying the sunshine just for a moment, even as the wreckage of the bombed-out street lay behind her…

1944, Cornwall: Blinded by love, Vivienne Hamilton eloped to Paris with a Nazi prisoner-of-war, never to be seen again. A disgrace to her family, her name would not be mentioned by any of her relatives for over 75 years.

Present day, London: When Sophie discovers a photograph of her great aunt Vivi from World War Two, it throws her into a world of confusion. Because, as she learns about this secret relative, she quickly realises that the photograph doesn’t fit with her family’s story. It shows Vivi leaving an address associated with a spy network in London – a place she had no reason to be – and it is dated right before she disappeared.

Meanwhile Sophie’s own life feels as blasted and bombed as the blitzed city in the photograph she’s looking at. Her beautiful daughter – as full of joy and wild energy as Vivi had apparently once been – is gone; and Sophie’s heart has been left broken into pieces.

Retreating to the family home in rural Cornwall to seek solace from her pain and the feelings of guilt that she could have done more to protect her daughter, Sophie finds herself becoming obsessed with Vivi’s life.

But nothing can prepare Sophie for what she is about to uncover – the story of a woman who risked everything for the person she loved the most; and a secret family history that could be the key to Sophie’s own future.

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback