A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

First, thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this title and was grateful for the opportunity to read it. I loved the history it is based on. While, historical fiction and obviously the author had to create portions of the story, it was still interesting to hear about that time period and to learn about the documents and facts that the story is based on. Lorna Cook is a great storyteller and really pulls you into the characters and their lives. I would recommend this to any friends interested in historical fiction, especially surrounding a well known figure during world war II.

Excellent. This is a great story for a lover of WWII historical fiction. The story line is interesting a full of excitement. The narrator does a great job. I highly recommend.

Dual timelines blend fact and fiction with mystery and intrigue. A very good novel.
Many thanks to Harper 360 and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A fascinating, gut-wrenching read of the France Occupation during WWII involving Coco Chanel who lived at the Paris Ritz Hotel which housed much of the senior staff of the Nazis. I liked the way this story revolves around the assistant to Chanel and also with a different timeframe story of the assistant’s granddaughter. It is told with the women of Paris and evokes one to question how would I have reacted during that time period. Not an easy-to-digest but a book that will have your attention throughout the book. Thanks to #NetGalley and #Harper 360 for an ARC of this book and my honest review that this is a historical fiction book very much worth reading.

If you like reading about historical fiction or WWII, this is the book for you. It has a dual time line that I usually cannot get into. However, this one flows rather well. Reading about Adele and Chloe both living in Paris at 2 completely different timelines was rather interesting.
Adele is very brave and I enjoyed reading about her. She was torn between working for Coco Channel and the man she loves. What is she willing to risk? Nazi supporter or Resistance?
You also read about Chloe, her grandaughter, and her search to find out what her grandmother never speaks about. She's determined to find out the secrets that her grandmother keeps.
What will she find out? His will she react to the information she discovers? Read this book to find out more. I definitely recommend this one.

A very well done story that masterfully weaves in the story of Coco C's Nazi collaboration with two beautifully told love stories. The story of Coco does not detract from the excellent character building and subplots throughout the story. I would recommend.

The Dressmakers Secret
By: Lorna Cook
Review Score: 4 Stars

Five Key Feels
-I loved the time jumps across Paris.

-It was fun to get a peek into Chanel’s life during that time.

-You could feel the tension in this story as they interact with the Resistance movement.

-Adele felt very authentic, you could feel her loyalty, but also her conflicted feelings towards her employer.

-I enjoyed how the story wrapped up with Chloe.

——

The Dressmakers Secret was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Harper 360. Thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Release Date: Out now!

The Dressmakers Secret was such a great book. I really enjoyed the suspense of the story.

Cook does such a good job of taking you into the Ritz during the Nazi Occupation, and then really brings you to the present of trying to decide what really happened, and who to believe.

There were some really great plot twists in this story, and that really added to the overall picture.

I highly recommend checking out The Dressmaker’s Secret.

#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #historicalfiction #arcreview #netgalley #thedressmakerssecret #lornacook #harper360

While The name Coco Channel is very familiar, the facts about how she survived WWII are not. Lorna Cook has woven a marvelous multigenerational story around these facts.

With a flashback format, chapters alternate between Adele, Coco’s personal assistant or Chloe, a newly divorced young woman who has come to Paris to try to heal. Cook has masterfully developed all of the main characters such that they all trigger strong emotional responses in the reader.

This historical fiction story is loaded with secrets along with mystery, drama, and romance. From its dramatic beginning to its surprising ending, The Dressmaker’s Secret is a powerful and unusual view of WWII in Paris.

The Dressmaker's Secret is a dual-time line story that takes place in both World War II and 2018. During the WWII chapters, you meet Adele, who is an orphaned young adult that travels to Paris in search of a better life and finds herself working for Coco Chanel. During the 2018 chapters, you meet Adele's granddaughter, Chloe. Chloe is recently divorced and moved to Paris from England for a new beginning. Some of the book focuses on Coco Chanel and her questionable behavior during the war with the Nazi's: was she a collaborator or was she simply a survivor? You, as the reader, get to decide. The other parts of the book focus on Adele and how she survives through the war working various roles for Coco (seamstress, lady maid, secretary etc.) and also in present time focuses on Chloe finding out about her grandmothers mysterious past. Both Chloe and Adele's characters find love during their chapters and it's interesting to see it all intertwine with Coco Chanel's story too.

Although the story was a bit slow at times, I really enjoyed the author's style of writing. They were very descriptive and very easily and effortlessly brought the story to life. The characters were very likable and fun to follow along with. I know a lot of World War II stories often start out with a grandchild on a mission to discover their family history and so the story unfolds from there, this one was well done in that aspect and the storylines meshed together well. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books and Lorna Cook for an ARC.

I love a good historical fiction novel. The writing of this book was really good and the over all story was very touching and interesting one. I do think I would suggest this one.

Even though there have been many books written on this topic, it was still an enjoyable read. Well written, a good flow of the story, and the characters are likeable.

Book received for free through NetGalley

This book was so hard to put down once I started it. Loved the characters and couldn’t put it down.

At first I was afraid this was going to be like many of the historical novels I've read, that go back and forth in time, yet I couldn't have been more wrong. The characters and plot drag you in, I couldn't put it down. Add in the Chanel and the Ritz in Paris, you have yourself an amazing, heart pounding read.

Very interesting historical fiction. 1941, WW II, the Ritz, Coco Chanel. Love learning something new about this time.

***ARC provided by Netgalley.com***

My goodness, where do I start? I suppose with a 'thank you'! I feel so privileged to have been allowed the opportunity to read this novel before it is published. Aside from expected copyediting issues, this book was an absolute pleasure to read. I finished it today at work in between phone calls and miscellaneous tasks, and I nearly cried.

About halfway through my read, I wrote this note in my notebook:
"Historical fiction seems to provide a perfect opportunity for character-driven introspection. As the depth and emotion of humanity's historical events play out in a fictional/dramatised narrative, the main character is given both the allowance and encouragement to explore their own humanity. Therefore, within the pages of a historically based novel, the complexity of personality, character, and development is thoroughly explored and thoughtfully expressed - just as the facts within a historical fiction piece require genuine care and eager research, so does the introspection within a character's thoughts and emotions."

Now that I have finished the book in its entirety, I am even more convinced that the theme and purpose of this story was meant to highlight introspection. Within the confines of terror and uncertainty that war and occupation present, within the thrill and warmth of a romantic relationship, and within the pain and insecurity that trauma keeps lingering in one's mind, introspection thrives. This novel, Lorna Cook, did an excellent job of addressing introspection, tying it in with a heavy period in this world's timeline that will resonate with every reader.

This is my first five-star rated book of 2022, and it is well deserved. I will be recommending this book to everyone I can and encouraging them to purchase it now that it is released.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper 360 Avon for allowing me to read this book and give my honest opinion. I can't put eloquently into words my obsession with this book. I was late to start and then devoured this book in three days. This is the story of a granddaughter and grandmother, flashing back and forth between WW2 France and modern day France. Grandma, Adele and Granddaughter Chloe were both exploring their lives at very different times. Chloe is a recent divorcée who moved to Paris to help a friend with her store while her friend is on maternity leave. Adele, a personal assistant to Coco Chanel during world war one. Adele witnesses Coco change her life completely to live comfortably at the Ritz. Adele's portion of the book starts just as France is under occupation and then ends after the war. Adele falls for a doctor she meets who is helping the resistance. Chloe, who goes to an auction for items from the Ritz Hotel and meets an art gallery owner. This book has twists and turns and made me do independent research into Coco. Please do not sleep on this book!!!

Coco Chanel a Nazi? Wait. What?!?!

I love historical history!! I love it even more when I learn a new piece of history, especially as surprising as Coco Chanel’s work with the Nazis.

When Lorna Cook dropped that little nugget of information, I had to stop reading and do my own research into the facts (which is not uncommon when I read historical fiction). After doing my own research, I found that the Coco Chanel portion of The Dressmaker’s Secret is, in fact, factual. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. I used to teach history and had no idea. In fact, I was so flabbergasted that I busted into a friend’s gym, in the middle of his workout (He is also a history teacher), scowl on my face and hands on my hips and in I’m sure was a quite accusatory tone, and asked, “Did you know Coco Chanel worked with the Nazis?! How did I not know this?!?!?!?!” As I ranted, pacing back and forth, throwing hands in the air, irritated by my own ignorance, he sat on the weight bench staring at me like a deer in the headlights. When he finally was able to get a word in, he told me that he did not know about Chanel either. He is like a history encyclopedia, so his lack of knowledge on the subject made me feel a tad bit better. (To be honest, I’m not sure he even knew who Chanel was until I told him.) Nonetheless, I felt as if I should have known about Coco Chanel and her Nazi ties.

The Dressmaker’s Secret is a brilliant marriage of fact and fiction. Cook’s masterful use of Chanel’s history along side that of Chloe and Adele makes the story come to life. The Dressmaker’s Secret is basically a story about a woman who wants to know more about her grandmother, who worked for Coco Chanel during the war. Oh, but this story is so much more.

I cannot recommend this book enough. My heart still races as I think about Chloe’s search into her grandmother’s past and all that she uncovered. In fact, The Dressmaker’s Secret is so good, that I have ordered the entire Lorna Cook collection. I can hardly wait!!

This one comes off as more of a love story than a novel about the WWII resistance in Paris. It is a dual timeline novel with Adele as Coco Chanel's assistant in Paris during the German occupation, assisting the French resistance and falling in love with a young American doctor, all the while living at the Ritz with Chanel right under the Nazis noses.
The present day timeline is about Adele's granddaughter Chloe who after going through a difficult divorce, moves to Paris in hopes of getting a fresh start on life. There she meets a man who seems to know something about Coco Chanel's involvement with the Germans during the time Chloe's grandmother was working for and living with her at the Ritz.
I have read several non-fiction books about Coco Chanel, some focusing only on her career as the famous fashion designer and inventor of "the little black dress" and Chanel #5, others about her role as a collaborator and spy for the Germans during WWII, all of them I found extremely interesting, I had high hopes for this novel. It was interesting, the portraying of Chanel as collaborator was a different spin than is usually done, but for me when reading about WWII I don't want to read a touchy feely love story, I want the excitement and danger of the war, and the pain and joy of the surviving heroes of the war.
I can say this book is well researched, details fit with everything I have read about Chanel and that time in her life. The characters are nicely developed and have that "real" quality I find necessary in fiction novels. All in all not a bad story, just not gritty enough for me. I am sure others will enjoy it way better than I. I am still giving it 4 stars for readability and entertainment value.
Thank you to Harper 360 and Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

An absolutely fascinating book about life with Chanel during the occupation of Paris. Told by the granddaughter of her assistant it brings to you the story of war and survival. Based on real facts this book is a must read if you are at all interested in life during the war. Enjoy!,