"That's the thing, isn't it? Women sacrifice but the stories of their sacrifices usually aren't part of the formal historical record. Women's lives might veer off course for a while but then they get back on track and do what's expected of them and, well, it's still not much different, is it?"

After Willow takes a DNA test, she receives some unexpected results. She has always believed that she is mostly English, but the test results have strong French, Jewish and Italian ancestry as well. Willow asks her mom for details, but she is quick to change the subject. Willow takes a trip to England to look into her family history and the heirloom sweetheart locket that she thought represented her grandparents, Maggie and Will's, great love story. In London, Willow begins to learn about her grandmother, Maggie and the many secrets that she kept during World War II.

The Sweetheart Locket is a sweet historical romance with many unexpected twists and secrets revealed. I absolutely love dual time stories, so the two points of view between Maggie in World War II and Willow in the present day worked well for me. At points, it seemed like the points of view switched back and forth too quickly, but I was never confused about who I was reading about. I was drawn into the story immediately as Willow received her unexpected DNA results, I wanted to know what stories were hiding behind the unknown ancestry. I loved learning about Maggie's story. Her strength and fortitude for staying in England to do her bit and her meaningful friendships made her a wonderful character to follow. I was very interested in learning about her time in the Special Operations Executive as many of the stories of those women are lost to time. Willow's story in the present was equally engaging as she researched her family history with help from a new friend and uncovered more secrets than she was looking for. Willow's romance was engrossing to watch form as she figured out who she was and who she could be.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )