The Riviera House is everything great historical fiction should be. The author's meticulous research brings the past to vivid life, while also organically teaching the reader things they may not have known from history. Strong, fully developed characters who love, struggle and persevere kept me hooked. The plot was well constructed and not predictable. I love that you got chunks of time in the past and the present, rather than alternating chapters, which built a stronger connection to both timelines for me. Finally, beautiful, nuanced writing, that broke my heart while also inspiring it, made this book the best of historical fiction. This is one of the absolute best books set during WWII that I have read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for access to this arc.

Fans of Natasha Lester rejoice, The Riviera House is a welcome addition to your beach bag! This book is almost guaranteed to give you all the big feels. There's stolen art, Nazis, war, personal sacrifice, difficult decisions, two riveting timelines, and juicy romance.

Lester does a nice job juggling the dual timelines, although the WW2 storyline, almost by necessity, is the more compelling. I really enjoyed the themes of courage and personal sacrifice and I'm a sucker for books about art. This novel is well researched and includes vivid setting details, as well as details about the art in question. I felt like I could see the paintings.

To some extent, the romance angle seems to bog down the plot, although I understand why it's included. This novel is pretty long and I grew impatient at times. For that reason, I wish there'd been a little less romance.

However, I really appreciate the evocative atmosphere and the tension in the stolen art story line. I think this book will do very well.

How do you stop at just five stars for a book that is so enchanting and heartbreaking and beautiful all in one? Part of me wanted to devour every single word at once and another part of me wanted to savor every single bit of it for as long as possible. Inspired by a true story, the Germans think Elaine cannot speak or understand German as she assists them in cataloging art in the Louvre that they intend to steal for themselves. She is actually coding each and every piece of art she gets her hands on so that one day someone will be able to get the art back to its correct owners. Her story is weaved in with the story or Remy in the present day, who escapes the recent tragedy in her life to the house she inherited on the Riviera. After discovering a catalog of the artworks, she realizes one of the paintings is hung on her own wall, and begins to dive into who her family is and what this piece of art means. It’s hard to find words for how beautiful this story was. The amount of detail written on every page made it hard not to easily be transcended into Paris in the 1940s or along the coast helping Remy discover her past. Each character has admirable traits you just can’t help to smile at, but they all also came with their relatable flaws that made you want to shake them. A book written with characters as exquisite as that is hard to come by. Everyone should pick up this book, and be prepared to transport to Paris during the middle of World War II alongside Eliane as she forms the most beautiful and heart-shattering bonds, and also alongside Remy as she works through her internal struggles and discovers who she really is - a timeless novel that will never be outdated.