Catherine Hokin continues her superb historical series about the indefatigable Hanni Winter with another terrific installment, Her Last Promise.

Hanni was heartbroken when her beloved sister seemed to vanish off the face of the earth in the middle of the night. Unable to trust her high-ranking Nazi father Reiner, Hanni is sure that he holds the key to her sister’s disappearance and that he isn’t telling her the whole truth. As the years go by, Hanni’s sister is never far from her thoughts. With her entire life dedicated to raising her son, Hanni is determined to teach Leo right from wrong – so she is beside herself when he begins to share her father’s Nazi views. When Leo runs away to meet his grandfather, Hanni vows to do whatever it takes to bring her son back.

Hanni has lost her sister already, she is not about to lose her son, too. Her father’s cruelty has cost her far too much already and with the stakes having never been higher, Hanni is adamant that she will move mountains to find Leo. Determined to bring him back to safety, Hanni will use every weapon in her arsenal to bring her sadistic father to justice and to make him pay for all the damage he has caused. The road ahead is tough and fraught with heartache, sorrow and despair yet Hanni refuses to be deterred. Will she manage to get her son back? Can she stop Reiner when he is at the height of his popularity? Or is she fighting a losing battle?

Nobody can break her readers’ hearts quite like Catherine Hokin! Her Last Promise is a mesmerizing tale of courage, hope and love that will have readers sobbing as they find themselves completely caught up in Hanni’s fight for justice.

A spellbinding historical novel from a master storyteller, Her Last Promise is another superb wartime tale by Catherine Hokin.

In the fourth book in the Hanni Winter series, it is now 1963 and her father Reiner Foss is still causing her problems. Her son, Leo, is now twelve years old and is enamored by the ideologies of the Germans who deny the Holocaust and portray the Nazis as heroes. Hanni and Freddy are not living together, and Leo and his mother are constantly arguing with each other. She finds out that he has been in touch with his grandfather and wants to attend one of his schools. Hanni refuses, so he sneaks out and goes to him anyway. Hanni and Freddy hatch a plan to get Leo back while unmasking Reiner and his student, Valentin Gessner who is a political darling having just been elected to the House of Representatives.

The Hanni Winter series is one that I recommend you read in order. The first book is set during the war and each book continues in time. Hanni's father is a terrible man, a composite of the war criminals that got away. When the war ended he was able to change his identity and pretend to be Emil, Reiner's brother, who was out of the country during the war. He now runs schools that try to indoctrinate children into the facist thinking. Hanni is a determined woman who has never stopped trying to bring her father to justice. She is also a mama bear when it comes to her son. I have loved the growth she has shown since the first book. With this book set in the 1960s, it opened my eyes to what it was like in Post-War Germany. It still had a lot of troubles, especially as the Nazi ideology still existed. Life was still difficult for the Jewish people and many young ones were fighting for their rights. Life didn't go back to normal when the war ended. Hanni is still taking pictures to show the truth and now writing articles to go with them. The problem is, who would publish an exposé about her father, who they know as Emil. Freddy and Hanni make a great team and he is there when she walks down that dark and dangerous road. There are some shocking reveals that had my jaw dropping. Hanni is determined, cunning, brave and persistent when it comes to taking Reiner down and I thought the ending was perfect. There are flashbacks and the story moves into the past at times, but it is seamless, and flows well. This series has been one that opened my eyes since the first book and I definitely recommend this series to those who enjoy historical fiction, especially in the saga type format.

Simply the best. This is a beautifully written #historicalfictionnovel that’s both gripping & heartbreaking. A #historicalnovel about courage & redemption. I’ve loved reading this #HanniWinterseries. I highly recommend diving into it.

Thank you, Catherine Hokin, Bookouture, & netgalley for my copy! All opinions are my own.

The year is now 1963 and Hanni and Freddy have experienced so much loss resulting from the war. Their relationship has suffered and they are in the midst of a divorce. Hanni and Freddy discover that their twelve year old son Leo, and has been in touch with his grandfather Reinier. Leo begins to agree with the beliefs of his grandfather and ventures out on his own to meet his grandfather. Hanni is shocked and very upset and puts her life on hold to rescue her son Leo from the dangerous grasp her father has on him. Even in the midst of their separation, Hanni and Freddy come together to save their son. Hanni fears that her father will harm her son just like her sister. At the same time Hanni continues to do everything she can to expose the horrible things her father has done.

Her Last Promise written by author Catherine Hokin is the fourth book in the Hanni Winters Series. This book was an amazing addition to such a phenomenal series. I enjoyed this story so much and I cheered Hanni on to the very last page. My heart was broken for her and the struggles she endured while I was amazed at her courage and unwavering love for her family. My suggestion is to read the series from book one and follow Hanni’s footsteps all the way through her life. This is definitely a favorite series for me, and one that I will recommend over and over again, I loved it.

Hanni has come so far from book 1, this was easily my favorite of all. The story, the past and the future are all up for grabs in this latest installment from Catherine Hokin. I loved this story, thank you to Bookouture for the review copy!

Hanni has come so far from the brave and young girl we met in the first book, The Commandant’s Daughter. Her determination has increased as well as her current situation. She’s now a Mom and still a wife to Freddy but their relationship is still not where it once was. Leo is a young, curious man who wants to know about his grandfather but, where will that curiosity lead him?

The love, the fear, the challenges are all at high alert in this story. Hanni’s in danger of losing her family and possibly even her life. I was on the edge the whole time reading this. It was so good and I definitely recommend it. Well written, the characters feel as though you’re right there in the situation with them. Five stars all the way!

Catherine Hokin’s Hanni Winter series has been brilliant from start to finish and this new book, Her Last Promise, number four in the series, brings things to a fitting conclusion. Yes, there could be room for one more if the author really wanted to stretch things out a bit but I sincerely feel that would be overdoing things. The title couldn’t be more apt as Hanni has always had firmly in her mind one last item on her agenda. The final thing that she has promised herself that if successfully completed will bring things full circle and revenge will be achieved and be worth it for all the things her father Reiner has put her through. Not to mention it would mean so much to all those people whose lives he cruelly took through his desire to have a high position in the Nazi party. This story can be read as a standalone book if you really want to but now as it is the last book personally I feel it would be to your best advantage to go back and read the books one after the other if possible.

Her Last Promise is set in 1963 where Hanni and Freddy live in Berlin. They have been separated for many years and their relationship can be compared to the wall that divides their city of Berlin in two. They are close because of their son Leo, now aged 12 and very impressionable. Yet they are so far apart in terms of their physical and emotional relationship because Hanni finally admitted the truth to Freddy. It broke my heart when this occurred but given everything that had happened there really was no other course of action to take. Hanni continues her photography work and Freddy is a chief police inspector and they tentatively manage the present because they never revisit the past. A lot of shaky ground still stands between them where Freddy feels hurt, lost and betrayed. Secrets are never a good thing and when they come out in the open, they only cause untold problems and that is why they find themselves in the situation they are currently in.

There is a lot of background story as to the reasons for the void that exists between Freddy and Hanni. To say too much would give the entire storyline of the series away but suffice to say both their polarised experiences of the war have moulded them and being on opposite sides a such (not through choice on Hanni’s part) mean a way back to each other could be unattainable. Hanni knows the importance of telling the truth through pictures and she has reached the point where she doesn’t care anymore as the people that matter to her know the truth about her father Reiner. She knows deep in her heart that the time has come to bring things to a firm conclusion once and for all and even more so when Leo decides that he will join the school that Reiner has created. It’s not any normal school instead the ideology of the Nazi’s is taught to the children and they are brainwashed. How can Reiner be getting away with this and why has he not been brought to justice for everything? Things have got even more personal now that Leo is involved and Hanni and Freddy set out on a mission to get their son back and hopefully Reiner’s evil ways will be brought to light and he will get the come uppance he so justly deserves. I thought this quote summed up everything very well. ”The tree was diseased but the tree was still growing. The time had come to tear the tree down’.

Hanni needs to unpick her life in order to find out the truth. With Freddy by her side they make an incredible team and it makes you long even more for the pair to find their way back to each other. It was fascinating and quite frankly appalling what Hanni uncovers and learning more about her family particularly about her mother and sister was a real eye opener. But it felt now was the time for this angle of the story to be brought into the open. It wouldn’t have worked in the earlier books. Hanni ventures down a dark and dangerous road and takes you into spaces and a mindset that if she knew what was ahead of her she would probably just have abandoned the cause. But Hanni is full of determination, spirit, grit and bravery and she pushes herself beyond her boundaries. I found all the details regarding Hanni’s search for that one thing that she could conclusively pin Reiner to absolutely fascinating.

There was a quite frankly mind-blowing revelation that would just turn your stomach and leave you open mouthed with shock and Catherine Hokin was drawing the readers attention to a little-known aspect pre-war which had such a snowball effect for the war itself. I admired Hanni’s cunning and daring and she was clever in how she went about bringing Reiner’s downfall. Freddy’s sister Renny is mentioned in the story but I felt she didn’t play as prominent of a role as she could have. I understand the importance of her storyline but I felt she was very much out on her own agenda and wasn’t really listening to Freddy or Hanni but maybe she could say the same about the pair. To be honest, I was too caught up with Hanni’s storyline that I didn’t give much focus to Renny.

Without doubt, this has been one of the best historical fiction series I have read in a very long time. Catherine Hokin plotted and developed the entire story so well and it never felt like any of the storylines were there as a means to fill in pages. Rather everything gelled together so well. She knew where she was going with this series right from the very beginning and she expanded it from there to turn it into an incredible story that has you hooked from the very first word. What I found brilliant was that this didn’t focus specifically focus on the war years instead it showed us that the effects of the war ran deep for many many years. Freddy and Hanni’s story showed the reader the troubles that existed in post war Germany as the Nazi’s beliefs and the many people that fed into them didn’t just disappear over night. What both of them had been through altered their lives and when revelations came to the fore they in turn affected how Hanni and Freddy viewed one another.

Throughout this book you have your fingers crossed that they could hopefully find a way back to one another because it truly does break your heart that they are connected through Leo yet so far apart in other terms. Perseverance, strength, courage and tenacity are all emotions that spring to the surface whilst reading as well as hope and love. One-line mentions finishing with the past and writing a new future and that sums up Her Last Promise perfectly. You just hope that this aim can be achieved. Congratulations to Catherine Hokin for writing such a fabulous, gripping series, Hanni and Freddy are characters that I won’t forget in a hurry. Catherine, certainly has her work cut out for her in writing future books as this series will take something special to top it.

Her Last Promise by Catherine Hokin is a gripping and heartbreaking World War II novel that explores the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit. The story follows Hanni Winter, who is determined to find her beloved sister after she suddenly disappears in the middle of the night when they were kids. Hanni’s high-ranking Nazi father, Reiner, is suspected to be involved in her sister’s disappearance, and Hanni knows that he is not telling her the whole truth.

The novel is beautifully written and does an excellent job of transporting the reader to various times in Hanni’s childhood as she tries to remember. The characters are well-developed and complex, and their struggles and triumphs are both heart-wrenching and inspiring. Hanni, in particular, is a strong and determined protagonist who will stop at nothing to find her sister and protect her son from her father and the horrors of the Nazi regime.

Her Last Promise is a powerful and emotional read that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a reminder that even in the darkest of times, love and hope can endure. It’s the perfect end to a brilliant series of books!

As with the rest of the Hanni Winter books, I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and stories of courage and resilience in the face of adversity.

Her Last Promise is the fourth book in the Hanni Winter series and it’s now 1963. Hanni and Freddy are in the middle of a divorce. Renny, Freddy’s wild sister, wants to change the world and Leo - Hanni and Freddy’s son thinks he knows best!

Throughout the book, I was rooting for Hanni and I was with her every step of the way as she searched for a way to bring her evil father to justice. She was full of grit and determination and, despite the many obstacles in her way, she kept the end goal in sight.

WWII novels are often harrowing, but I found it difficult to read about Hadamar, the Nazi killing facility that the SS operated during the war. How another human being can even have thought about such a facility is beyond me, but as is true of many novels set in this era, it is educational and definitely something we should all be aware of.

Her Last Promise is a must-read if you have read the other three books in the series but even if you haven’t and you start with this one, I’ll almost guarantee that you’ll want to go back and catch up with Hanni from the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review Her Last Promise by Catherine Hokin.

This was the perfect ending to this hard hitting series.

I think the thing I love most about this series, is that nothing is simple or easy, it all takes work and comes with complications, much like real life. And our MC's Freddie and Hanni are full of flaws and can handle things badly and try to work through the fallout.

Leo and Renny, I really tried to not judge their attitudes and tantrums, living in that time, when the world was trying to heal could not have been easy. BUT... I also wanted to smack their heads together and scream for them to listen to Freddie and Hanni.

I feel this really did pull all of the strings together and tied all of the arcs in the story in a messy imperfect bow to give us all some much needed closure.

I will be keeping an eye out for more from this author.

Her Last Promise is the fourth book in the Hanni Winter series and this time she is not just fighting for justice but for the safety of her own son Leo. Several years have passed since Hanni last crossed swords with her father and the aftermath of that encounter caused more damage to her family than she ever thought possible.
Hanni had made the decision to not let her father ruin her life and for years she had managed to do so but life with her son Leo was getting hard as he didn’t believe that his grandfather was the evil person she had made him out to be. When he disappears in the night her worst fears are confirmed, he has gone to the school run by her father and the only person she can turn to is Freddy, but their relationship has never really healed, in fact it has got worse as he tries to bring up his sister and give her the life that he feels guilty she never had.
Hanni is definitely having her resolve tested as all she wants to do is rush to get Leo, but she also knows that it is exactly what her father wants. Thankfully Freddy will do anything he can to help her, even if that means using his police resources at his disposal to dig for something that can be used against him. With Germany split in two they also have to do deals with people that may require favours being paid back in the future. Their investigations were dangerous as Reiner have spies everywhere, meaning anyone who was willing to assist was immediately put in danger.
For both Hanni and Freddy it is a time where they have to confront their past in order to change their future, this is something that neither one wants to do but it may be the key to finally bringing Reiner Foss to justice. Learning a little bit more of what Freddy had to suffer whilst in the concentration camp gave a better insight into the nightmares he had suffered in previous books. Learning about how even after the war life was still hard for the Jewish community and they were still treated with distrust as Germany still refused to believe that anything bad happened in the camps. As Hanni learned the truth of what really happened to her sister you could not help but feel for her or recoil at just how evil her father truly was. Her decisions are not always ones that were sensible, but you could understand how she must have felt it was often her only course of action.
Throughout the book I found myself not only hoping that once and for all Reiner would get his comeuppance but that somehow Freddy and Hanni would be able to find a way back to each other and start fresh. Despite the horrors that the war and its aftermath caused this series is also one that shows the hope that people could find a way forward and I have loved every minute that I have been immersed in the world of Hanni Winter

In this fourth book in the touching WWII historical fiction book by Catherine Hokin, the war is now over. However, this does not mean that Hanni and Freddy are living an idyllic life. In fact, they both have experienced so much during their war years and while the war itself is over, their relationship has taken a huge hit.

During the course of this series, Hanni has been desperate to have her father caught and punished for his war crimes. With a name change, he is still reigning well, but Hanni can never forget his despicable acts during the war. Meanwhile, Hanni and Freddy have a teen son who not only idolizes his grandfather, he starts taking on his grandfather's ideologies, even leaving home to join his grandfather's school.

Despite their troubled relationship, Hanni and Freddy join forces to bring their son back home. Hanni's father Reiner was despicable from book one and for every book in this series. He represents many former war criminals who got away with their cruel behavior during the war. I love Hanni's determination to bring her father to justice despite the many dangers facing her. Also, this story shows a mother's love for her son and trying to save him from becoming like his grandfather.

I was so very drawn to this and all of the previous books in the series. Not only was I powerfully affected about Hanni and how her father was, I was pulled into the drama that was Hanni and Freddy's relationship and kept rooting for them. One thing that I really learned while reading this book that was although the war was over it did not mean things were all that much easier for the Jews. Post-War Germany had more than its share of troubles, especially as the Nazi ideology still existed. Maybe I am telling on myself, but I thought - the war is over, life can start again.

Well, Hanni and Freddy's story proved otherwise and I applaud Catherine Hokin for crafting such a well-written series with compassionate characters that were very easy to care for.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping novel

the 4th book in the series and boy does it have enough drama to leave you gasping for air

hanni is having trouble with her son...who idolises her father and doesnt believe everything he hears about the war and what the nazis did to the jews and runs off to join him

hanni is distraught

but somehow finds the strength to carry on and find the evidence needed to bring her father down...

its a perilous journey as her father has spies everywhere

one of the best books in this series couldnt put it down...

The war is long over but Hanni feels like she will never get out from underneath its stain.
Hokin delves into Hanni’s difficulties with her son, her continuing struggles with Freddy and also her sinister father.
She also discerned the truth about her little sister’s death.
I commend Hokin for grappling with such sensitive topics within this series. It’s hard enough to read about the facts, but to also write historical fiction based on the 1930s-1960s takes real fortitude and tenacity.
Hanni perseveres and hope prevails, because without it, life is very grim.

Her Last Promise is an intriguing and heart-wrenching historical fiction novel that had me cringing and shaking my head with tears in my eyes.
As always the characters show such courage….overcoming loss and finding redemption.
The ending of the story was one I had hoped for.
I highly recommend reading this series in order.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This whole series has been an emotional rollercoaster. From the beginning of Hanni and Freddie's story when they first met working together to solve a murder, their relationship growing, Hanni's secrets about her past coming out and destroying them and then facing up to life without each other. Now, 13 years have past and they still haven't been able to move on. With the threat from Hanni's evil father hanging over them, there is no way that they can be together or be safe without first dealing with him.
This book was harrowing. The more we find out about him, the more it becomes clear just how evil he is and how important it is to stop him. This book had me on the edge of my seat, wondering if we would finally see him getting what he deserved.
I loved this series, it was hard reading at times, but I still didn't want to put it down. I'm usually reluctant to leave well-loved characters behind when a series comes to an end, but this time it almost feels like a relief to move on, knowing that we're leaving Hanni and Freddie finally happy and with a chance at a real life.
These books were fantastic, but work best if you read them all. If you haven't already, go back and start with the first one.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Will Hanni find the answers she's seeking in this fourth and the last book of this series? Emotionally charged, fast paced drama! Readers should read the series in order for complete understanding. I did not find the characters likeable but the Nazi era was such a dark time.

This one was even more of an emotional read then the last one ,.and showed even more of the courage, love, loss as well as redemption in it then the other 3 had, as well as the human spirit .

The heart rending story of a daughter trying to prove she isn’t her parents and trying to forge a better life for herself and her new family after WWII. Sometimes when we try to hide our pasts, they can destroy or damage our futures …

Absorbing read, kept me glued to every page. Satisfying ending to an amazing series. I loved how Leo wasnt the perfect child but gave his parents grief. The descriptions of post war Germany were very interesting and easy to picture. Reiner was the perfect character as, for me, he highlighted just how charming evil people can be and how easy they can dupe others into following their brand of the truth. I loved the interaction between Hanna and Freddy - so much more believable than insta love. Highly recommended.

Enjoyed it. This was my favorite book in the series. I usually love historical fiction books about WWII, but this series has been a bit of a struggle. I didn't like any of the characters. Renny made it difficult for Freddy and Hanni to have a relationship. Her judgement of Hanni was extremely harsh and it wasn't her place to tell Leo the truth about his mother and grandfather. Renny was lucky Freddy was a police officer and able to get her out of trouble. She was so hot headed and wouldn't listen to anyone. Leo was not what I was expecting. His admiration for Reiner/Emil and claiming the Holocaust didn't happen was outrageous. It's hard to believe Hanni and Freddy's son turned out that way. Freddy and Hanni should have talked more to him about what happened to each of them during the war. I hoped the evil Reiner would finally be taken down and brought to justice, although it seemed like he had friends everywhere and was above the law. The saddest part of the book was the truth about Luise.

Recommend giving the book a try. I loved the author's previous book, but this series hasn't been my favorite. I'm happy to see how everything ended for Hanni and Freddy. Hopefully all their secrets are out in the open. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Loved the cover of the book.

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