keira anne with an e

It’s 1952, and Kat is determined to find out what happened to her brother during the war. She doesn’t expect a marriage of convenience to her enemy and a cooking class from Julia Child to shed light on the past, and transport her back to the days of WW2.

But in order to move on, she learns that she’ll have to face her past, and discover the truths hidden behind the lies of espionage, wartime secrets, and betrayal.

However, the truth just might change everything she’d ever planned for her future in the process.

Please note: Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing this advanced copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own. Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can find the book here.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5 stars)

I was a little hesitant going into this book after reading The Italian Ballerina, because that one was a little too dark for my taste (and sad). However, reading this one, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this one was much more my cup of tea. I was intrigued by this absolutely gorgeous cover, and pretty much instantly became interested with the different timelines and various characters.

I will say that the different POVs and timelines were a little much for my brain to wrap itself around. However, I did figure things out as I went along, but it definitely required a lot more concentration than I was expecting. I did enjoy a lot of the characters– especially the side ones.

My favorite of the timelines was the 50s one (no surprise if you know me and my love for all things from that time period), and I really liked the romance and relationships we were focused on there. Those characters were very complex, but I enjoyed their dynamic and how we saw things unfold there.

There was a heaviness to this story that is inherent in pretty much all WW2 books. The injustice and cruelty depicted is absolutely heartbreaking, but I do feel that the author handled it pretty well. Definitely some trigger warnings, but, overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the message of hope in this story, and how things came together at the end. I really hope the author continues to write more books like this, because I really enjoyed that element.

I would definitely recommend anyone who finds torture and execution scenes in books to be triggering look into this book further before reading, because that was a very present element in parts. I personally skimmed small sections because it was just very sad. I would say that it was pretty clean in other content– there is a married couple who is implied to have a “wedding night”, but nothing open-door or even fade-to-black in my opinion.

If you’re a reader of many WW2 fiction books, I would think you would be comfortable with this one, and I would definitely recommend it, because I really enjoyed the twists and turns, and the Julia Child elements. I was very happy with how things turned out overall, and I am excited to read more books by this author in the future!

EMOJI REVIEW!

• 🕰 historical ww2 setting/early 1950s setting
• 😠 distrustful enemies-to-more marriage of convenience
• 🔎 lots of secrets and mysteries we’re trying to uncover
• 🕵 spies, espionage, and resistance work
• 🧑‍🍳 julia child as a supporting character!
• 🧁 lots of cooking scenes and interesting tidbits!

Thanks so much for reading this review. I hope I’ve been able to help you determine if this book is for you. I really enjoyed it, and I’m so glad I read it!!! Have a wonderful day, dear friends, and comment your favorite WW2 story below.