Kelly Rimmer delivers another masterful WW2 historical fiction novel from yet another perspective of this ugly time in history.

This dual timeline story toggles between mid 1940’s Britain/France where we meet Chloe and Fleur, two young spies for the SOE (Special Operation Executive), a British spy organization and 1970 Liverpool where we find Noah Ainsworth and his daughter Charlotte. Noah is still haunted by his role as an SOE spy and desperately wants to find the person who saved his life all those years ago. Charlotte undertakes this project for Noah and what she discovers is a shocking revelation and a Pandora’s box of secrets.

Told in the alternating voices and time periods of our protagonists, pay close attention to the code names and real names of our spies, so as not to lose track of who is who. This was a refreshing story from the perspective of the brave men and women who made huge sacrifices during this horrific time.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House for the opportunity to receive this digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
Publishing date: July 11, 2023

Wow, this book was incredible. I loved every page of this "edge of your seat" heartbreaker! I do wish there was a Cast of Characters though. Not only was there multiple time-lines but many characters had code names too. It was confusing. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the sneak peek in exchange for my honest opinion.

“The Paris Agent” by Kelly Rimmer is a WWII historical fiction book. In this book, the reader follows two (or three) timelines - two occurring during WWII and the occupation of France and the other in the 1970s in England. The two timelines in France follow two UK undercover female agents, while the one in the 1970s follows the daughter of a former male UK undercover agent. I will admit that it took me a while to keep the two female agents apart. It also took a while for the three stories to come together, though it was pretty obvious how the stories were going to merge. I did learn some new information, but unfortunately this book was a bit predictable. I’ll always be impressed and amazed at the courage people had to fight with the resistance during WWII - bless them.

Incroyable.
It has been many years since I’ve read fiction because I was tired of being let down by bad fiction. This book is truly phenomenal. It pulls you in right from the start of the book and keeps you engaged until the very end.

This book tells the collective stories of a group of people (4-6) through the POV of three separate women. Charlotte is the daughter of a spy agent who served in WW2, and reeling from the death of her mother, she throws herself into helping her father find the man who saved his life. This throws her into the path of others who are on their own missions searching for truth in a world hidden behind inaccessible “classified” folders.

Eloise and Josie were two women spy agents who both have stories to tell and narrate their classified heroic stories in chapters interspersed throughout Charlotte’s progress.

The stories are so beautifully woven together and progress quickly enough that it’s never boring. If I had one critique of the book (and honestly, I’m not sure how you get around this one just by nature of the story), it was difficult to place Eloise and Josie throughout because they went by code names Fleur and Chloe and occasionally by other names. The chapter headings use their given names and the bulk of the chapter content uses their field agent names. About midway through, I was able to distinguish the two women and their stories by both their names.

Loved this book and highly recommend. A special thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for my eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read all of Kelly Rimer's books and this followed the same thing. Since I have read all of them, I did find the outcome a bit predictable but I do also learn, and continue to be impressed about the risks people took during this incredible time period.