When I saw that this book was historical fiction set in WW2 times which happens to be one of my fave genres, it was an easy choice for me to decide to give this book a read, plus the book cover and blurb were highly appealing.

It didn't take me long to be drawn into the stories of Lily and Tom set in 1942 to 1945, I was captivated right from the first few chapters.

I loved the story, it was shocking, emotional, heart breaking and insightful in equal measures. The story really pulled me in and grabbed me tight. It was tense hard reading in places when you imagine that this is what it really must have been like in New York back in WW2 times. It was also insightful too as I learnt a fair bit more in regards to WW2, the history of which I was not fully aware of, so it’s thanks to this story that I now have a more in-depth view of just how things were really like back in those times.

I thought the story was brilliantly well written and the characters are all so very well portrayed and believable. I have absolutely loved reading this from start to finish.

Wartime found many women stepping outside their traditional comfort zones to support the efforts of those fighting the fight overseas. When Lily's friend....no, more than a friend....is drafted to fight, Lily's struggles with her mother's traditional views and the emerging changes happening every day, will force Lily to make decisions no one should have to make under duress.

A great story set during the early 1940's when the roles of many women changed in ways no one could have predicted.

I absolutely LOVE Ella Carey's books, they are so realistic that you're guaranteed to feel as though you're there experiencing it along with all the characters. This is set during WWII in New York. Lily Rose comes from a wealthy background, her mother is all about class,status and caring about what everyone thinks. It's an embarrassment to her that her daughter works. Lily is a modern woman though and is in the running to be the head chef at a prestigious restaurant. Her mother has her daughter's life planned out down to who she will marry.
When the man Lily loves leaves for war it is a tumultuous time with her mother making her life unbearable,not knowing if she'll get the job and having her country at war.
She finds comfort in her visits with her understanding grandmother.
I did not want this book to end, it was just that good. Heartbreaking and heartwarming both you'll be anxiously waiting with Lily for beau to come home from the war but then tragedy strikes.
There is a lot of anticipation here. I will be reading the rest of this series.

Pub Date 12 Mar 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I love books set during WW2, but this is the first one I have read set in America. In this novel we meet Lily, daughter of a socialite mother who wants nothing more than to secure an advantageous marriage for her daughter. Lily, however, is far more interested in securing the head chef position at the restaurant where she works. Plus, her head has been turned by handsome fellow chef Tom. As more and more American men are drafted into war, what will become of our lovebirds? I thoroughly enjoyed this netgalley read and I wished I hadn’t let it linger on my ‘to read’ shelf for so long. The good news is, this author has since continued the series and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. If you’re a fan of wartime romance novels, I think you’ll enjoy this one. This was my first Ella Carey novel but I see she has written several historical novels and I plan on working my way through them in time. I am definitely a fan! Apologies to the publisher and author for not reading and reviewing this novel sooner.

This was my first novel by Ella Carey. I CANNOT wait to read the rest of this series. This was a page turner, and so emotionally well written. 5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Time is 1942 New York and is inspired by true events that follow the main character Lily through some difficult choices she has to make about her future. I did not want to put this book down and I can't wait to read future books in this series.

This is a WWII era novel focusing on the women who stayed behind to work - namely Lily Rose who has rose to the challenges set before her in her career as a chef.

I really loved this story. Lily is such a great heroine who you loved championing, I would love to read a book about any of the other women in the kitchen or Gia! All the women were so inspiring!

It was an easy read and hard to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

In 1942, debutante Lily Rose is a sous-chef at Valentino’s, an upscale restaurant in New York, which has weathered the Depression and WWI. As America enters the war, male staff are lost to conscription, and the restauranteur/owner is forced to take on women to replace them, Lily’s simultaneous promotion to head chef causing some resentment from the older pro-Mussolini Italians. Her love of cooking above everything in life is anathema to her mother, whose attempts to force Lily to marry a wealthy bachelor are irksome. If mother gets wind that a man at Valentino’s has caught Lily’s eye, there’ll be hell to pay, so Lily is circumspect with her affections. As she opens herself up to the possibility of love for her fellow chef, Tom, he’s suddenly conscripted and disappears in Sicily. Time wears on with no word, and Lily must bury her grief and, in light of the food shortages, become more inventive and bolder with her dishes.

This is WWII as experienced from the other side of the Atlantic, the safe side, one might say, but the deprivations of war are still there. Characters come alive on the page, and the camaraderie in the kitchen is a pleasure to read. Then there’s the mouth-watering food which weaves its way through, and which transforms, as time progresses, into inspired wartime recipes. The scenes in the Victory Gardens, and feeding hotdogs to the outgoing troops at port of embarkment, are heartfelt. This is about unexpected friendships and trust, teamwork, appreciating what you have in the moment, and pushing through difficult times. As the women make way for the returning men, Carey has laid the foundation for an interesting sequel, hopefully delving into the difficulties created by the end of the war for entrepreneurial working women. A scrumptious treat.

I have read many historical fiction books over the years. A New York Secret immediately intrigued me. I was so excited to start reading it and it completely lived up to my expectations. The story focuses on Lily Rose, a young and passionate woman who is close to getting her dream job as a head chef and falling in love with one of her colleagues Tom Morelli. As the war speeds up in Europe, it becomes more and difficult to remain unaffected by the circumstances.

A New York Secret by Ella Carey is a beautiful and emotional story. It talks about relationships familial, professional, and personal in a realistic way. The World War II setting adds emotional weight to the story as the characters struggle to adjust and make sense of the world around them. The novel is engaging from start to finish. I never got bored while reading the book, I was curious to know what happens ahead. It is a wonderful read.

This is the first book in a new trilogy by Ella Carey set in New York City during WWII. It's a story about love, friendship and survival during a time in the US where there was a huge difference between the social classes. Her novels are always exciting to read and this new trilogy looks like it will be a definite must read.

It's 1942 in NYC and Lily Rose is a chef at an up-scale restaurant. Even though she grew up very wealthy, her love is cooking and making interesting food. As the men in the kitchen go off to war, Lily is working to become the top chef in the kitchen. Her snobby mother is appalled that she would want to work in such a place instead of attending parties and lunching with friends. She wants Lily to make a good marriage and even has the man picked out for her. The only problem is that Lily has chosen her own man - Tom, one of the chefs in the kitchen, who is from the poorer part of town. Despite that fact that her grandmother encourages her to follow her heart, her mother is insistent that she live as a wealthy member of society and her refusal greatly affects her relationship with her parents. When Tom gets drafted, Lily throws herself into her job to help her overcome her worry for him. Will she be able to continue her job as a chef and wait for her love to return from war or will she give in to her mother's wishes and return to being part of the rich society of the city?

This was an interesting look at the effects of the war in America. The girls drew lines on the back of their legs so it would look like they were wearing silk stockings when silk was no longer available for non-combat items and the food shortages made for some interesting dishes prepared in the kitchens - no matter how exclusive the restaurant was, they still had to deal with food shortages. Lily was a strong and resilient woman who continued to work in a man's world despite the views of her mother and of the men in the kitchen.

I really enjoyed this book I'm happy to know that there are more books coming that are set in New York during WWII.

World War Two drama featuring some strong female characters.Mother versus daughter in trying times.Ambition and desire versus social status.

Thanks to Bookouture & Netgalley for a digital advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I loved this book! The premise, the characters, the setting - all were engaging - and it was so good for a change to read a historical novel about World War II that doesn't take place in Europe. What captured my attention was the appealing story of a strong likeable woman fighting against sexism from her parents as well as employers, lots of back-of-the-house upscale restaurant details, and the attitude of 1940s New York society.

Author Ella Carey skillfully juxtaposes her story of independent young chef Lily Rose and her love for fellow chef Tom Morelli with the limitations of everyone dealing with the wartime restrictions - victory gardens, food, clothing, gasoline. Lily frequently travels from her wealthy uptown family to the Village home of her beloved gram, which is also in the neighborhood where Tom and his Sicilian immigrant family live. The physical locations illustrate Lily's struggle between the pampered and shallow life her mother has planned for her with her treasured dreams of running her own restaurant someday.

This novel was my introduction to Ella Carey, and I look forward to reading more of her novels. In the meantime, I highly recommend this one, which I've added to my list of favorites.

Not only does Ella Carey never disappoint, she keeps getting better. I'm already impatient for the next in this series.

Being overprotected by a parent can border on possessiveness. Lily Rose was living her life in a bubble of a society Princess until the 1942 War started to infringe and she also became more her own self when she wanted to be a culinary chef.
Tom Morelli, a chef of immigrants who were also very talented shop owners and cooks in their own country of Italy which as currently under attack by Germany. Tom & Lily are drawn to Lily which is never going to be allowed by society including Lilys mother!
War may have erupted overseas, but volcanoes had erupted between women and right to choose their spouses, but when the men come back this sparks another eruption!

This book has strong characters whose choices are of free agency and the author takes them where their path naturally leads them to go. The only thing I wish is there were areas that seemed to move really slow and the build up was bland and if the author would have just kept letting it go naturally it would have been a little bit like her other books in regards to a better flow.

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

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I love Ella Carey books but this would be my all time favourite. What a delightful range of characters with the exception of Victoria!! Found myself unable to put it down...I just needed to know what happened.

Would definitely recommend!

Such a great read by Ella Carey - based in wartime New York City it tells the story of Lily Rose a privileged young girl who is expected to marry into ‘the right’ family & live her life being told what she can & can't do but Lily has a mind of her own & gets a job in Valentino’s restaurant in the city - the men who run the kitchen are all being called up to the war effort so Lily & her team keep the restaurant running through the toughest times. I love to read about this era & this was fabulous!

Lily Rose defies her family's expectations of making a good marriage. She works as a chef in one of New York's top restaurants, enjoying the challenge of creating culinary masterpieces using wartime rations. The man she loves, Tom, as well as the man her family insists she marries, Nathaniel, are both drafted into the military. Will she have to choose between her family and her heart or will war decide for her...?
A New York Secret is an historical novel set in the USA during the Second World War. The tastes, sights and sounds of the setting are clearly evoked through the descriptions within the book.
Lily is not content to simply accept her role in society so uses the opportunity of war to forge a career. Her mother is desperate to secure their social status with a successful marriage with wealthy Nathaniel. But Lily's heart lies elsewhere, with her restaurant colleague Tom. Both men join the army and Lily hopes for their safe return.
The majority of the book shows us Lily's perspective but there are other chapters to show her mother and grandmother's viewpoints. The war showed the world what women were capable of, stepping out of their traditional roles. Lily defies convention and the expectations placed on her by virtue of her sex, age and status.
I enjoyed the different perspective that this book offered. There feels like a feminist agenda underlying the plot due to the focus on women's roles. Lily's story provides a unique view of the class system, gender relations and personal politics of the era.
A New York Secret was a very enjoyable novel about love and life in the face of war and social expectations.

While I normally read book set in WWII from the heart of the war this book was set in New York City and encompassed all of those on the home front that had to continue on and adjust to a new way of life.
Lily is a society girl, coming from a well to do family. She could have it all, settle down with Nathaniel who she has known since she was little. It was all mapped out by her mother, they will get married and Lily will have everything she could dream of having but Lily does not agree. She does not love Nathaniel and she does not want to be “arm candy” for the rest of her life. She has dreams and she wants to make them a reality. Lily loves to cook and has been working at Valentino’s restaurant proving that she is more than capable working her way up the bridge of cuisine. It is only when several of the chef’s start to enlist and head off to war that Lily has the chance to become head chef. Lily is beyond excited about the prospect of becoming head chef if it weren’t for the fact that she is falling for Tom, the current head chef, that may be shipped off to war.

This was my first Ella Carey read and I throughly enjoyed it. We see Lily as a strong female character who is not about to follow anyone’s lead but in fact beats to her own drum and is forging out her own path in life. I love that Lily wasn’t alone in this thinking and that we see so many strong females around her that she looks to for guidance.
I loved that we got a glimpse into how the restaurant business had to adapt to rationing and shortages in many foods that they would normally use daily and the new recipes they came up with to survive these war years.
It also put into perspective how the war changed so many people. The men who went off to fight in the war as well as those who stayed behind,
A lovely read and I look forward to reading more from Ella Carey.

Thank you to Bookouture and Net Galley for the advanced copy.

Ella Carey is back with a heart-breaking, emotional and dramatic historical novel that continues to cement her standing as a writer at the very top of her game: A New York Secret.

The world might be at war, but for chef Lily Rose, life seems free of all the stresses and challenges that have transformed the lives of millions of people all over the world. With a job she loves, a beautiful home and wealthy parents who adore her, Lily has everything she could possibly want and when she meets handsome Italian Tom Morelli, she is quickly swept off her feet by the talented and charismatic grandson of Sicilian immigrants who sets her heart ablaze. Love quickly blossoms between the two of them, but with the dark shadows of war about to change the life of everyone in New York, does their relationship standing any hope of surviving? Or is a future going to prove to be absolutely impossible for the two of them?

Lily and Tom refuse to be deterred. Working at the restaurant Valentino’s, they vow to do whatever it takes to create delicious dishes that will distract New Yorkers from the dangerous threat that is upon them. However, they quickly realise that they cannot continue to ignore and turn a blind eye to what is really happening around them – especially when Tom receives a devastating summons that will compel him to leave his life in New York behind and return to his beautiful homeland to fight a destructive war.

Lily feels as if she has lost everything and in desperate need of support turns to her beloved parents for succour. Only, her parents are appalled that their daughter got involved with the son of Italian immigrant and force her to make an impossible choice that will completely break her heart: her family or the man she loves. Forced to choose between duty and desire, will Lily find the courage to make the right decision for her future? Or will she only have a lifetime full of regret and heartache to look forward to?

A New York Secret is a stellar tale of hope, sacrifice and the ties that bind that tugs at the heartstrings and will make readers cry buckets. Completely immersive and immensely enjoyable, A New York Secret brings the past to life and holds up a mirror to women’s courage and strength in times of adversity, the sacrifices people make for the ones they love and the prejudices and fears that sadly remain present in our society.

In A New York Secret, prolific author Ella Carey has once again written a sensational historical novel that readers will not easily forget.

A New York Secret was unique. As a reader of historical fiction based in WWII - the majority I have read are based in Europe; thus, a NYC backdrop was perfect switch. This novel portrayed family loyalty and relationships, love, family secrets, and the power of female relationships. The main character Lily was ahead of her time, breaking down female barriers. I loved that she claimed the right to make her own choices, despite what others had to say about it. Her compassion was unmatched, and it was interesting to see her empathy towards soldiers in the war that were an ocean away, while other characters seemingly ignored that there was a war occurring. Another new "theme" for me - women working in the restaurant industry (as opposed to female spies that can take centre stage in WWII novels). I also loved that the author allowed her readers to see the aftermath of the war, and how much damage it does to families, loved ones, and the survivors. This novel is a must read! Ella Carey's novels will now be a go to for me, and cannot wait to read more of hers!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy of A New York Secret for exchange of an honest review.