Triggers : Violence

Favorite Quotes :
“Hardly. If anything, our reservation is that your shell is so hard and your manner so cold that no one would be fooled into thinking you cared for them.”

“Why should he force the divorce when Sylvia was content to let him eat her cake while he had his own elsewhere?”

What I thought : I really enjoyed this read! I’m a sucker for historical fictions and a good romance involved. I also enjoyed how Hobbes went back and forth in time just between a few years but it made so much sense. It worked because it explained the situation that was brought up or about to continue. I could tell there was a lot of research put into writing about how someone would go about undercover work from a normal life. It was very fun and interesting!

Characters : Sylvia is one tough cookie. She’s brave and admiring. She decided when she thought she couldn’t and didn’t want to do anything else besides help the war on the resistance side. So, so, so brave!

Read if you like : any historical fiction
Would I pick it up again? Yes

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

An Unknown Location 1944: ‘My name is Sylvie Duchene, and I am a dancer.’
‘Liar.’ These first two lines of The Secret Agent by Elisabeth Hobbes grabbed me. The first chapter was so intense, Istayed up reading a couple of nights as I could not stop. Sylvie is the name for our main character, The Secret Agent. Sylvie/Sylvia was brought up in France by her mother who was a dancer. She was the product of an affair her mother had with an English soldier at the end of WW I. She was sent to live with her father and step-mother in England. Dissatisfied with a boyfriend and her secretarial existence and not wanting to be a WREN or WAAF during the war, she sees her Uncle Max to see if she would qualify for an undercover agent.

Sylvie travels undercover to France and settles into her position as a dancer in a nightclub. The author has loaded this book with interesting characters, a German soldier who falls in love with her, and a romance with a piano player at the club as well as the other dancers…. There were some tense moments and a few chapters that I felt werea bit boring where I struggled. I am so glad I did! The last fourth of the book was so well written and emotional. Several tears were shed both sad and happy. My thanks to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an ARC. This is my honest review.

"The Secret Agent" by Elisabeth Hobbes is the story of a young English woman (though born in France) who joins the Resistance in France during World War 2. Sylvie is willing to put herself in danger to assist in the effort to free the land of her childhood from the Nazis. She works as a dancer in a nightclub in order to gain the trust of the Nazi officers who frequent it.

This book is part historical fiction, part romance novel, part coming of age story, and completely engrossing and entertaining. The characters are well developed and the writing paints a vivid picture of how wartime France was. It tells the often untold story of the women who took great risk to help the war effort. This book is the perfect way to spend a chilly Autumn day!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first novel I have read from Elisabeth Hobbes and it was wonderful! Historical fiction is my favorite genre and this was a very different take from your standard WW2 novel. It was the perfect amount of love and historical fiction and a little grittier than a lot of other novels in this genre. Absolutely loved this one! Thank you for the complimentary copy.

Excellent light reading! I really enjoyed this book. A half-French, half English woman joins the SOE and is sent to work with the French Resistance in Nantes, France. Her contact doesn't make their initial meeting, but she soldiers on and finds work, an apartment, and other contacts all on her own. She flirts with a German soldier and falls in love with a Frenchman.

I liked the steady pace of this book. The action meanders along in a way that is more realistic than most fiction. The protagonist has a fine backstory, which is expertly woven in along the storyline. Great characters, sensuous settings. A fine job of writing.

Elisabeth Hobbes is charting new territory here, and the result is superb. A seasoned writer of Medieval and Victorian historical romances for Harlequin, she is now striking out with a new publisher, One More Chapter, and she’s jumped forward into the heady and terrifying world of occupied France.


Sylvie, or Sylvia, as the more restrained English side of her family wish to call her, joins SOE in 1944 so that she can return to France, the country of her childhood, to help in any way she can. It’s clear early on that Sylvie is highly resourceful and she joins a resistance cell in Nantes dedicated to thwarting the Nazi occupation of their city. As a dancer in a club, Sylvie is able to carry clandestine messages and liaise with other agents. It also means she has access to the German officers who frequent the club each evening. This will provide opportunities to gain important information but will also lead her into danger.

Surviving in a new city with few people to trust, Sylvie strikes up a tentative alliance with Felix, the club’s jazz pianist. Their mutual attraction, evident from the start, plays out in this fraught world of resistance and danger, and Hobbes juggles the different strands of her plot with ease. As with all of her novels, her thorough historical research provides a very secure sense of historical context – the particular joy of this one is that Hobbes’ love of history and her details about women’s experiences in different periods are able to shine through all the more prominently. It is very easy to get lost in her 1940s Nantes, a place Hobbes evidently knows well, and the tension between her characters is palpable.

The Secret Agent confirms Hobbes as an exciting new historical novelist. I thoroughly enjoyed this – highly recommended

Sylvie is French born but living in England when WW2 starts, she volunteers to serve undercover for the SOE in Nantes as a dancer as she feels that she must do something to help her native country. She becomes part of a resistance cell acting as a courier, picking up and dropping off packages.
I normally read more "feel good" stories across several genres, however I was intrigued by the book description and decided to try this one by another new to me author. I could not do what the SOE operators did at the time, with the constant threat of discovery, torture and execution. This story brought that experience to life, with that constant feeling of dread that she was experiencing. Flashbacks give insights into Sylvia's past and reasons for some of her choices and Felix is the French love interest.
Definitely worth reading if you enjoy stories set during WW2, with a mixture of action and a touch of romance.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Novels about the French Resistance during World War 2 are always inspiring and informative. The exploits of the Resistance fighters are exciting. However, the backstories as to why people would undertake such dangerous work is often lacking. In The Secret Agent by Elizabeth Hobbs, we meet two such fighters, Felix and Sylvie, and learn about their reasons for joining the resistance, e.g., patriotism, divorce, family conflict, end of romance etc. We also meet the enemy in the person of Dieter and Nikki. There is an insight into the character of each of these people. We learn what makes them who they are and how it impacts the relationships between them. I particularly liked the descriptions of Sylvie’s delivery assignments, which require her to often come up with spur of the moment and cleaver ways to change the parameters of her assignments to avoid possible danger for both her and others. She shows herself to be very resourceful and quick on her feet. Through all the danger and sometimes confusion, she manages to keep some perspective as to the enemy and her job as a member of the Resistance. Her encounters with Dieter are particularly poignant as she often sees in him some confusion about the war and an innate kindness. The conflict between her duty and her friendship with Dieter is often a struggle for her. Throughout the book, I am amazed by what people are capable of doing when called upon to defend their country and their principals. Although not filled with the detailed intrigue and descriptive language of some espionage adventure novels, this was an enjoyable character study of ordinary people making decisions that throw them into difficult circumstances and more than rising to the occasion.

Sylvie Crichton trains to be a Special Operations Executive and she’s the perfect choice, she was born in France, her first language is French and she’s keen to fight to free her homeland. After she passes the grueling training in Scotland, Sylvie's dropped into France in 1944; reality of her situation hits when she sees her first German soldier and has to go through the first check point. Sylvie’s orders are to meet her contact; her code name is Monique and begins working as a dancer in a nightclub called Mirabelle in Nantes. Sylvie’s thrust into a world where she can’t trust anyone and it’s really hard when she’s working with a group of friendly girls and the attractive club piano player Felix is always lurking around.

The plan's for Sylvie to use her job as a way of meeting German soldiers, to encourage them to drink, let their guard down and hopefully tell her vital facts she can pass onto the resistance. She’s also required to be a courier, transport equipment, liaise with safe houses and the local resistance and help with acts of sabotage against the Germans. When she gains the unwanted attention of a Nazi soldier, how far is Sylvie willing to go to get the information she needs, he becomes a constant nuisance and not only does it put her life in danger and the entire network could be at risk?

The Secret Agent is a story about Sylvie’s time working as a SOE in France, it’s interesting to read about the training the agents went through, all the skills required to be one, the work they did for the resistance and how it was difficult for them to keep it business only. People have feelings; they make friends, form relationships, fall in love and being involved in WW II didn’t change this. I received a copy of The Secret Agent in exchange for an honest review; I highly recommend reading the book and five stars from me.

Immediately I loved the idea of a secret agent, spy novel. I've not read many books set at the time of WW2, even though I love historical books and learning about the past, so I was intrigued and delighted to jump into 'The Secret Agent.' From the first few chapters I felt like I was in an episode of 'Chuck,' which scored huge brownie points from me there. (If you haven't seen that show, then you MUST watch it now!! It is the best tv show ever...ever!!) I was hooked on Sylvie's lifestyle and finding out how she got to be doing what it was she was doing.

Sylvie was a fantastic leading lady. She was everything rolled in to one. She was hard and strong, but also kind, caring and vulnerable. Each time I was left wondering about her character traits and the job she was in, a chapter followed explaining her story so far and everything made sense. Elisabeth tied all this in beautifully. It flowed from present day adventure to past experiences that made her who she was, leaving me constantly captivated and enthralled by it all. Then as each new character was introduced, I was left on edge as to who she should trust and who I believed. It made me feel right in the centre of it, like I was trying to pick up clues and work out who was undercover and who may be lying!! All very thrilling!

To me, these stories are mesmerizing for extra reasons too. 1. I always find the authors incredible for the detail they put in and knowing so much. I love history, but I've said it before in that my brain doesn't retain a lot of the information I wish I could store. These books give me a fictional insight with truth in there too and I like locking away those certain true bits, you know in case I'm ever on The Chase! 2. My fascination also comes from the fact that I can never get over what life used to be like. We learn about the war, we read about it and can watch tv shows on it, but to actually be there, we will hopefully never know what that was like. To be in the middle of this story, in occupied France, going about the day with Sylvie, it was truly eye opening and just made me feel grateful for today. I can't begin to fathom how scary and horrible it must have been back then.

I'm going to pass 'The Secret Agent,' on to my sister Jen, as I think she'd love this story too. I know I've rambled a bit, but at least I've not given too much away...like a spy!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish and couldn't wait to pick up my kindle each night, so if you're a fan of war stories, or fancy something new, I highly recommend getting yourself a copy! Thank you Elisabeth, as always, for thinking about me. I am beyond thankful each and every time I receive an email with a new book! :)

Sylvia Duchenne goes under cover to help her country during the war. She is a dancer, a cover for who she really is. She is gaining information from the Germans. Information that can help her country. She is constantly in danger and could be discovered ar aby time. Courage and perseverance keep her going.
A great thriller. Imagine yourself in her position. Danger and espionage at best.

"My name is Sylvie Duchene,and I am a dancer.

Based on factual events that have been fictionalized. The amount of research the author has put into this book is very apparent.
The SOE, Special Operations Executives, the women and men who where in it led a bleak life and their commitment was a life commitment . Using fake identifications their training was ongoing and a slip up easily meant death. Secret drops for pick ups and code phrases to see who was on board with you was common.
Sylvia is for the Resistance and is French but when the enemy, a German man makes his interest in her known she finds herself falling for the enemy.
Jealousy rears it's head though and we find a bit of a love triangle going on for a bit here.
This book was intense,high action and nonstop.
The plot was fascinating and I had a hard time putting it down. I loved the feeling of suspense in not knowing if the main characters where going to be able to maintain their safety.
The ending was not what I was expecting, excellent book.

Pub Date 27 Nov 2020
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own,

A gripping wartime story focusing on the SOE’s (Special Operations Executive) efforts in France during the latter stages of WWII. Sylvie is a strong, determined main character and I loved her relationship with Felix. Ultimately they knew what they were there for, but would their love survive?
Monsieur Julien was a great additional character and I loved his back story with the costumes that no longer fit.
The research into the roles expected of the SOE’s was extremely detailed and added to the emotional story.

This is one of my favorite genres to read, but I had a really hard time with this book.

This turned out to me more of a love story than I expected based on the blurb. There was a lot of jumps between the past and present, and they weren't as seamless as they are in some books. I liked Sylvie, and the fact she was a dancer was a unique angle, but I didn't find the book as engaging as I'd hoped. Nothing overly wrong, but nothing overly memorable, either.

The Secret by Elisabeth Hobbes is a marvelous book. I am unabashedly a fan of historical fiction especially during WWII. This is my first Elisabeth Hobbes book. From the first chapter I was hooked. Our heroine, Sylvie, is sent into occupied France during 1944 as an SOE (Special Operations Executive) operative to work with the Resistance. The Secret Agent is a tale of loss, re-imagination, heroism and bravery. The story is well written and the characters are written deftly. The characters are endearing and you find yourself worrying and cheering for them. There is definitely the suspense of having a spy for a heroine but the story has the added bonus of a sub-plot with a love story.

This is one of those books that make you contemplate the bravery of those SOE operatives during WWII. How does a young person find it within themselves to be brave enough to cross into enemy territory and help the resistance against the Third Reich to help their Country? While there was a great deal of research done on the SOE and the resistance I can only imagine that the story only touched the surface. I can only imagine what type of person it takes to work undercover in the face of the enemy. This was a very delightfully satisfying read. I am looking forward to seeing what Ms. Hobbes has in store for us next.

I would like to thank the author, One More Chapter and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sylvie grew up in France- until her mother died and she found herself living in the UK with her previously unknown British father and his wife. Now, though, WWII is raging and she's working for the SOE. She heads to Nantes where she works in a club as a dancer and runs errands for the resistance. She also finds herself in a relationship with a German soldier, and, more appropriately, with Felix, her piano player. This is a mild version of a SOE activity- it skims the surface of life in France under German occupation-and it emphasizes romance as much as war service. It also tells the story by going back and forth in time; Sylvie's training etc. might have been better served by a straight line narrative but her life story worked fine this way. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

What if she finds more than she expected...

I was thinking when did I read a WWII story, outside Anne Franck diary, read a long time ago, the only other story was The Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.
As a French woman, it is not my favorite historical period, it was such an awful period, demonstrating all the ugliness of humankind.

This story narrates the romance between Sylvie and Felix while in parallel they both play their own game in the fight against the German invader. As it is told from Sylvie’s point of view, the author explores her past with flashbacks which drop her at major turns in her life, when her journey was altered to a new path, until the present when she collides her two identities together to built a new one.
She is a complex character having to leave one life behind to endorse a completely different suit, so very opposite of the carefree and lively one she had prior to the death of her mother.
Until an other heartbreak alters once again her path.

This is a coming of age tale, one which sees the heroine seek her inner strength and discover who she was meant to be.
For her birth roots, she will risk her life and leaves everything behind, to discover love was not what she thought it to be.
Thankfully it was not a dark tale, not also a full of glitters’ one, as it shows the tiny acts that one by one were set to defeat from the shadows the intruder.
I was remarkably surprised by this story as I know the author’s previous work. It is a very different tale not only for its historical period but also the narrative style.
A welcome surprise.
4.25 stars

I was granted an advance copy by the publisher, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

Alluring, charming, and knowing fluent French are skills Sylvie had that the British government wanted to use in order to infiltrate the German take over of France. Sylvie was French born, but her father was a British soldier from the previous skirmish of when England & Germany were at odds. Her mother raised her alone while she traveled from dance theatre to theatre as a dancer.

Sylvie also became a dancer of sorts and as an agent she was placed in a club that German officers patronized. One German in particular was intrigued by Sylvie and he had first hand information about certain things that could be of use for the Resistance possibly.

Sylvie had to be also careful of the individuals working in the club because they could be German sympathizers and she didn’t know if Felix the piano player who she has a love hate relationship with is on what side.

This book is a PageTurner and I had to keep reading until I finished it! I loved the style of the authors writing because it is cohesive and it flows. The characters are strong and have depth!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

Very good story of a dancer who is recruited to work for the French Resistance during WW2. She will work in a nightclub and run errands for the Resistance. There is a lot of danger and a little romance too.

This is an interesting novel about World War II and a young dancer, Sylvie Duchene who joins the French Resistance. Told from different time perspectives which include Syvie’s upbringing with her mother who is a French dancer, her wealthy English father, and her various adventures as a spy, is easy to follow and, at the same time, flushes out the characters quickly without boring paragraphs filled with unnecessary details. The reader quickly discerns who Sylvie is and can easily relate to her desire to serve her homeland. Finding love in such an unexpected time and place only makes this novel more appealing. A good read. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to give feedback on this enjoyable book.