Christine Wells

Cleo knew she was adopted and longed to know who her “real” parents were. Whispers here and there led her to believe that her father might be the Prince of Wales. Could it be possible?

Despite having a warm and loving adoptive family, Cleo needed to know her origins. She was given a story where her father was the Prince of Wales and despite being skeptical she clung to the possibility. The timing might be realistic.

She longs for a life beyond the constraints of ballgowns and conventional marriage. In fact, Cleo has quite a talent for designing jewelry. Will she be allowed to expand on that talent or will she be forced by convention?

Her childhood companion has remained a stalwart friend and he is now going off to war and the feelings this stirs in her are confusing to say the least. But there are more important things to deal with at the moment than her love life; like will any of them survive the war, will she be able to design the jewelry she wants to design, and can she be of any assistance to the War effort.

To learn the answer to any and all of these questions you will have to read this very engaging and dare I say sparkling novel. As someone who used to design and make jewelry – albeit not with the kind of stones that Cleo used – I understood the allure of a colorful gemstone or a sparkling facet.

The characters are diverse and well defined and the story is not your typical War tale. The romance is also not derivative which just made for a truly delightful way to spend a day reading a book.
I received a free copy for my honest review.… (més)

Cleo Davenport is a feisty character whose goals are to find out who her parents are and to become a jewelry designer.

Cleo was left on the doorstep of a luxurious hotel in Egypt and adopted and given a privileged life.

When she turns 17 she is taken to Paris and then London.

She doesn’t want to leave, but she knows she might be able to find out more about her parents in Paris and London especially since it’s rumored that her father is the Prince of Wales - now King Edward VIII.

I really liked Cleo. She is ambitious and sweet.

Following her journey was fun.

Loved the ending. 4/5

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.… (més)

Paddy Bennett is an ordinary woman, but she gets caught up in an extraordinary plot when she is recruited to work for the Intelligence division of the British Navy during WWII. She thinks that she will be doing mostly secretarial work, but her skills and reliable nature soon have her working with top secret projects, particularly those cooked up by Ian Fleming. Fleming's imagination for spy missions knows no bounds, and Paddy finds herself having to hid much of her work life to her friends and family, even to her fiancé and husband. Meanwhile a young woman name Friedl is grateful to have escaped the Germans, but when a German intelligence officer corners her and recruits her as sleeper agent she is fearful for her life - and she clutches at the chance to gain true British citizenship and protection by becoming a double agent for them. A risky mission that involved Friedl and Paddy and Ian Fleming ties all the threads together, and leads to quite a thrilling story. This was an enjoyable tale, full in intrigue on both the domestic and wartime fronts - I particularly was kept on pins and needles as Paddy tries to keep her husband from becoming too suspicious of her odd behavior while trying to honor her vow to keep the mission a secret. I would definitely recommend this to fans of historical thrillers - especially if they want to see the female point of view emphasized.… (més)

This was an interesting, historical fiction novel. I liked the alternating points of view, it is always fun seeing the story from different angles. I love how the characters paths all intertwined and Friedl was great. I would read more books written by Christine Wells in the future.

I enjoyed Saskia Maarleveld's narration of this audiobook; Saskia was able to provide different voices for each character and it made it easier to distinguish who was speaking. I would definitely look for books narrated by Saskia in the future.… (més)