Review: The Women of Chateau Lafayette

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: The Paris Secret

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: The Paris Model: A Novel

The Paris Model: A Novel by Alexandra Joel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would like to give this a 3.5. I enjoyed the storyline, but it kind of read like a Danielle Steele (those kinds of fans will love this!) so I didn't enjoy everything. I thought the story was very original, an Australian girl marries the boy she dated before WWII, but life is not always the same after the war, so she changes her ambitions in life. I won't spoil the how, but you can tell by the title that she ends up in Paris working as a model. Her adventures modeling very much follow that Danielle Steele vibe featuring intrigue, and identity crisis, and a man. The book is laced with interactions of famous people like Picasso and Jackie Kennedy and I very much enjoyed these conversations.

All in all, this was a quick read and a nice way to escape to Paris for a couple of hours.


I received a free book in exchange of my honest review.

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Review: The Paris Library

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: The Paris Hours

The Paris Hours by Alex George
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Mistress of the Ritz

Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For most of this book I was in my usual place of WWII a little romance, survival mode of the characters in the face of the invading Nazi government, and some spy adventures to boot. This one takes place primarily inside the Ritz hotel. Lush decor, plump cushions, white gloved treatment, gourmet meals, an answer to your every whim, I mean who would not want to go there? Not during this time you would not! There was lots of deception going on, rations, spies and lots of folks terrified that the next step would be the last.

In a hotel you know that the cast of characters could be quite large. Coco Chanel was present (I have yet to read anything enduring about her behavior while living at the Ritz), Hemingway makes an appearance as does Marlena Dietrich and plenty of Nazi soldiers. The primary characters would be Claude and Blanche Auzello. I may have heard of them before and did not retain their names or any of their actions. As a matter of a fact, I had to look them up early on to verify they were real people. For the most part they behaved as I expected them to in a Nazi occupied France/hotel...but there was a twist I never saw coming. Well two twists. I am not going to spoil either of them, but I was shocked. With the last third of the book this tale advanced to one of my pick books of the year!!!!



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Review: The Girl They Left Behind

The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book started out fantastic! I was sucked right into the story with the hope of no release. Then I got some questions (some of which I never had answered) and thought that I didn't really like the book. I kept reading and fell madly in love with the last little bit. I was just a big ball of emotion by the end.

I hate to give away to much of the plot, but what happens is Natalia's parents have to go into hiding because they are Jewish and they cannot take their little girl. They leave her and she is adopted by a wealthy family. Then the tables turn and communism takes over and the family loses their wealth and standing. We will meet many character that weave in and out (very quickly at times) of the family's life. The family will experience many different situations in our quick journey with them, but the theme is there "FAMILY". Being together is what they all long for, what they all need to keep going no matter what happens to their social status or the diminishing amount of food on the table...none of that matters as long as they are together.

Natalia has no control over her life in any way at any time in this book. I am not sure I like that part, but I very much like how the book ended.

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Review: The Lost Girls of Paris

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions. I hated a character, then I loved them and then I wanted to hug them. While some of the book's text is reminiscent of other WWII stories I have read, this one was very unique in its circumstances. I found myself caught up in the middle of the same emotions that the characters were feeling. There is one part that I was TERRIFIED!! (you will see what I mean).

I thought it was worthy of my time and enjoyed the ending. It wasn't a perfect read for me, but very good.

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Review: The Parisians

The Parisians by Marius Gabriel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and I was thrilled because I had wanted to read this one!!

There is a lot going on in The Ritz hotel during WWII. For most of the book, the Nazis have taken over the hotel, leaving the regular residents either out of a home or in different quarters. It was odd to see a side of a famous designer, Coco Chanel that I had never seen. We also see a middle-aged actress, Arletty and her lovers. We see a chambermaid, Olivia, find love and risk everything for something she truly believes in. I hate to give away the plot because I am a person that hates spoilers, but I will tell you that some of the things are shocking!! The way the Germans could treat people will forever shock me no matter how many WWII books I read.

I enjoyed this book. My only issue with it is that it kept me up too late because I did not want to put it down.

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Review: The Paris Seamstress

The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book made it onto the list of best books that I read in 2018. The story takes place in two time periods, WWII and modern day. The modern day character is a relative of the past character. The past character is a famous fashion designer, but here you get her beginnings. How she got started and what she risked to get there. The modern day character is dealing with her own issues, but she also uncovers a past she knew nothing about. It is simply marvelous the way the two time periods weave together to form a wonderful ending.

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Review: Mademoiselle Chanel

Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have never been a fan of Coco, just of her designs. I thought I would give this a try because it is set in the period that I like to read about. Even though it did not change my mind about Chanel the person, it was a very enjoyable read. It read like a bio even though it was fiction. It did not portray Andre as Coco's child, as I have often read, but as her nephew; which was how he was presented to the world. Only Coco would know the real story there.

If you like the 20's-40's and fashion, you would like this book. If you are reading because you think you like Chanel....well, maybe you should rethink that and read it for some other reason. She is not an easy person to like because of her beliefs and this book does not change them to make her more likeable, and I liked that it stayed true to how CC was.

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Review: Becoming Marie Antoinette

Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am going to admit, that I struggled through this one. I am not sure why as the subject matter thrills me, I don't think it was the entirely the writing. Even though I like tales that grip you and don't let go and this one just did not. I did try to read this while reading a Chernow book and maybe that was some of the issue. I am going to read the 2nd one just because as I stated, I love the subject matter.

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Review: The Paris Winter

The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I will tell you that I almost stopped reading this book at about 7% in. All I was getting was a poor girl that wanted to paint and she had a wealthy Russian friend. I actually stopped reading and picked up another book. For some reason, I opened this on my Kindle one last time and started reading. There it was the TWIST. That changed everything. I was sucked right into the world of 1909 Paris. As I said, Maud was boring to me at first. Just a typical starving artist until Tanya introduced her to Mr. Morel and Sylvie. Sylvie we find out is addicted to opium and Mr. Morel is trying to hide that fact from everyone, stating she is his little sister and he would do anything to protect her. The lies Mr. Morel tell get bigger from here until he does something that completely shocked me!! I mean my jaw dropped. From this point on, I could not wait to see what was going to happen. I am going to give this a 4 star because from about 12% on, the book was superb.

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