This book is a treasure! I was taken up right away with the story. Rose and her fellow agents welcome you into their stories and the incredibly painful sacrifices they made to help with the war against the horrors and evil of Hitler's Nazi regime. It truly was written as a personal story and not as a boring historical text. I learned so much from this book and at the same time was impacted by the character's struggles. The love story was not drippingly sentimental or the opposite - constant "skin contact". This was the ache of love that sacrifices everything to save another. Though the main characters survive prisoner of war and concentration camps, several well-rounded characters are wrenched from this life by the horrors of WW2. My husband was so impressed with the book reviews and my glowing endorsement that he wants to read it! I would definitely recommend it. Though you might want to have tissues ready for the tears! This should be made into a movie! ( )

First of all, I would like to thank Kensington Books and Goodreads for sending me this page-turning book. It is about SOE agents in Paris, France, in WWII. All they ask is that I give an honest review.
I had just finished a historical novel set in the 1800s about a ballet dancer in London so it took me a few pages to get into this novel. Once I did, however, I became thoroughly involved with these wonderful characters.
I will never tire of reading about the good people who stood against evil and for liberty. For all the evil that took place through the Nazi machine and allies (including some of the inhabitants of the lands they occupied), there were motivated and compassionate people who saved countless others through their resistance. That is why I read books about this period, tragic and eye-opening as it is. This one did not disappoint. Hope and love are the themes of this book.
Evil is once again raising its ugly head but Good is still resisting. ( )

From the start, the reader is taken on the journey with the protagonist as she goes from being a London switchboard operator to a secret agent in the Specials Operations Executive (SOE), working with the French resistance in Paris during WWII. This aspect of the story was very interesting, and I appreciated the author’s research into such operations. And while I liked both our main character and her love interest, I didn’t buy into their romantic attachment, which seemed to develop too quickly from little but their circumstances & one shared goal. (And though petty, I thought the author overused the phrase: his/her skin tingled from her/his touch).
Thank you to the author and publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. ( )

If you read one book this summer it should b Churchill's Secret Messenger by Alan Hlad. This book had me from the beginning and took me on an edge of your seat emotional ride. I couldn't put it down. This is a well researched book that weaves history into a great fiction novel. The characters are realistic and complex. I am so thankful that I had the privilege to read this book. If you are enthralled with historical fiction especially WWII you have to read this book. This will be one of those books I will read again and again. I highly recommend it ( )

I read a lot of WWII fiction and some of it gets kind of boring and repetitive. That is not the case with this new WWII book by Alan Hlad. The book is so suspenseful that I was enthralled until the last page. It's full of wonderful characters who end up in dangerous conditions as they work to destroy the Nazi hold on Paris.

London, 1941: Rose works as a secretary in the Cabinet War Rooms beneath the streets of London. Her brother was killed during the beginning of the war and she works as much as possible to do her part to end the war. When Churchill becomes aware that she is fluent in French, he has her interviewed to be part of the SOE - a secret group that sent spies to France to work with the resistance. She accepts the job and her role is to act like a cosmetics salesperson so that she can bicycle all over Paris without suspicion. Her real job is to get information about the Nazi's plans and to send information back to London. The consequence of discovery will be death and every minute she is in Paris is fraught with danger. One of Rose's first assignments it to work with Lazare - a member of the French Resistance who is upset to see what is happening to his beloved city at the hands of the German troops. He risks danger every minute as he does what he can to free Paris.

Rose is a strong resilient woman who wants to make sure that Churchill's faith in her is justified and that she can help her country defeat the Germans. Rose and Lazare work well together and try to spend more time with each other as their interest grows but in war torn Paris, the job has to take precedence over any personal relationship. Will they be successful and live until the end of the war?

Be sure to read the author's notes at the end of the book where he describes some of the situations and people that the novel is based on. ( )