Although I enjoyed the general plot and Charlotte’s development, there wasn’t enough depth in this story. Despite the well researched historical aspect of it, the romance felt forced. Some topics were briefly brushed upon. It left me wanting more! I was captivated by the plot as soon as I read the blurb, however the story didn’t live up to my personal expectations.

Fabulous book, loved every minute of it. Well written and full of surprises. Kept you involved with the story and brought you into that era. Recommend read

The Paris Affair pulled me into Charlotte's world almost immediately, immersing me in her journey from a small Cornish fishing village to the vivid settings of 18th-century Paris. The author does an excellent job at capturing the essence of the time period, making you feel as though you are walking the cobbled streets alongside the characters.

Charlotte's journey is one filled with intrigue, danger, and emotion, and I found her character to be well-developed and compelling. The narrative and pacing are, for the most part, engaging and effective, keeping me hooked from start to finish.

While there were a few slower sections, they didn’t detract much from the overall experience. Cornwall’s attention to historical detail and her ability to craft strong, dynamic characters make this book a good read for fans of historical romance.

Really enjoyed this book set in WW2. I love this genre & this one has a bit of everything including romance & intrigue. Charlotte & Pierre’s characters were very believable. A new author for me but I’ll be seeking out more.

The Paris Affair is the latest book from author Victoria Cornwall, exploring themes such as bravery, betrayal and love after loss set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Paris.

The chapters exploring Charlotte’s SOE training were very interesting and well-researched. I also liked the chapters following Charlotte entering France and starting to establish herself in Paris. The setting descriptions were very vivid and made Paris come alive on the page.

Charlotte was a courageous female protagonist who was very likeable. I liked the Cornish fishing village setting the book opens with and the way that fishing gave Charlotte some of the valuable skills that would end up aiding her in her SOE work. I perhaps would have liked her grief at the loss of her father to have been explored in even greater depth though.

I did also like Pierre as a character and I thought the exploration of his grief following the death of his wife and young child were a real asset to the story. One thing I was disappointed with was the fact that his interesting relationship with the Nazis wasn’t explored in the full depth I was craving, particularly as it was given such a prominent reference in the book synopsis.

This next section of the review will contain spoilers. Although I try to avoid this in my reviews it is necessary to explain my point unfortunately.

Unfortunately, around two thirds into the story the narrative started to feel very disjointed. We see Charlotte get arrested by the Gestapo and then meet her again one week later when Pierre manages to talk them into releasing her. Skipping past her interrogation and torture whilst imprisoned meant that we lost our connection with her as the protagonist, particularly as her experiences at the Gestapo HQ should have had a marked impact on her character for the rest of the story. It should also be said that she recovered from her interrogation unrealistically quickly. Anyone who has done any research into how the Gestapo treated those they had arrested on suspicion of being SOE agents would know that she wouldn’t be up and well enough to be galivanting around Paris on romantic dates after less than a week.

This was a real turning point where it felt like the novel became more about the romance plot than substance, which really missed the mark for me. I think if you are going to include a romantic element in a historical fiction novel of this nature you have to find the line between where it aids the plot and where it just completely takes over from the rest of the story. Unfortunately, it did feel like this was missed in The Paris Affair. It felt like the SOE agent plot was too complex to be competing with the romance and it therefore meant that it couldn’t be explored in the depth it needed to be.

I did also start to find the plot very predictable at this point, particularly who was betraying their circuit of SOE agents. Everything also became very convenient for Charlotte and Pierre, such as the events as they are trying to escape back to England, so any real tension was really lacking and I did roll my eyes at several points. This was an ultimately disappointing way to end the book as, as I said at the start of the review, the first two thirds of the story were much stronger.

Overall, The Paris Affair was a 3* read for me. Some fans of Second World War historical fiction and historical romances might enjoy it as a relatively easy read but for me it really needed more substance than it had.

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I have posted an extended review on my blog www.yourschloe.co.uk

*Thank you to NetGalley, Victoria Cornwall, Joffe Books and Choc Lit.

Really enjoyed this new novel by a new author to me. She writes from the heart and tells a historical tale of a spy in war torn France.
The intriguing narrative takes you through the fear of strange land, war and the ability to make it back home safely. Its interspersed with romance and betray Mal. Turning each page you feel as if you’re part of a book.

Being a big fan of Victoria Cornwall I was very happy to receive this book and I loved it. Charlotte Bray is a young woman in a small English village helping in the war effort but she feels as if she doesn't belong. But things change when she takes on work at the war office.

What evolves is love, betrayal, courage and so much more. There is suspense, the story is well paced and interesting. There is tension aplenty and twists and turns that will keep you turning the page. A well researched book that I enjoyed reading. Well paced, well written wonderful and well developed characters and that is what makes this such a wonderful book to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

My only complaint is that it took quite a bit to get into this book for me. Once I was invested the story was great and I didn't want to put it down.

Evocative story set during the second world war; historic story telling at its best.

Charlotte has been working with her father's fishing crew almost as long as she can remember; but suddenly the crew is no more and she is left all alone. Trying to find her new meaning and place in life, she volunteers for the war effort. After some serious training she's sent undercover to France, to the front line.

Commitment, danger and unknown allegiances are perfectly interlinked up in this fantastic historical novel.

Charlotte Bray loves the sea, and is a valued member of the crew on her father's fishing trawler in Cornwall in the early 1940's. Although she is content with helping on the trawler, she wonders if there shouldn't be more to her life. When circumstances uproot her life, she vows to help the war effort however she can. Fluent in both English and French, she is recruited as a special agent, and is sent to occupied Paris. There she is assigned to a Resistance network operated by one of the men who had interviewed her and assessed her skills for an agent, Pierre. Both Charlotte and Pierre are playing roles as their covers, but when she finds out things about him, she begins to wonder if she can really trust him. With the Nazis approaching, Charlotte must make a decision to trust him to survive.

I enjoyed this book very much - it moved at a good pace and had good character development. I especially liked how the story takes a different angle, as it brings into play the sea and how Charlotte's navigational and mariner skills proved vital to surviving. Highly recommend for those who enjoy historical fiction! Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this one; all opinions are my own.

The Paris Affair is a fast paced, exciting story of a female spy in war time France. It follows Charlotte from her Father's fishing trawler in Cornwall, through her training to be a secret agent, and into Nazi occupied France. Will she help her country? Will someone betray her? Will she make it safely back home again? You'll have to read it to find out!

I was hooked almost immediately. Any book with a main character called Charlotte is a win for me. And this also had all the things I love. Its set during the war, mentions the beautiful Cornish coast, suspense, romance, some fighting. What more could a girl ask for!

I love Historical Romances so when i came upon this book I had to see if I could get my hands on one! I liked the suspense of the story. Charlotte already had a pretty tough life and seeing her become a spy was something I was really nervous about reading, or more so anxious! I love how Victoria was able to write descriptively because it made me imagine everything. Even the description of Germany, Paris and I believe Scotland. And honestly the whole time I just kept thinking of the movie Anthropoid, that starred Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy. Loved that movie as well!

I would like to thank Net Galley for sending this ARC for an honest review!

Charlotte Bray's life in the Cornish village where she'd lived her whole life changed when her mother died. Her father was a fisherman, often away for days at a time, so when Charlotte had driven her teachers mad once too often, her father pulled her from school and set her up on his fishing vessel. She loved fishing with her father and it didn't take the crew long to accept her as one of the guys. Charlotte received a mysterious invitation and when her life changed irrevocably, she decided to accept and headed for London. What followed was intense training which culminated in her heading to Paris with a new identity, undercover and fighting the Nazis at every turn.

Charlotte wasn't sure about her handler, Pierre. He was half French, half German - could she trust him? Her French was impeccable as her mother was French, but she didn't understand German. And it seemed someone within their Resistance group was a traitor. With the Germans always close by, prepared to shoot at the slightest thing, she needed to keep her wits about her...

The Paris Affair by Victoria Cornwall is another excellent historical novel which I liked very much. It was easy to see its direction early in the story, but I was able to appreciate Ms Cornwall's depiction of events as I came to the conclusion. Recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I've read several of Victoria Cornwall's novels and enjoyed them, and this is no exception. Charlotte has lost much in her twenty three years. Her mother died when she was young and now her fisherman father has been lost as sea, his trawler going down with all hands on board. This motivates Charlotte to use her fluent French to join the war effort. She soon finds herself undergoing training and joining a resistance cell in northern France. There she is reunited with Pierre Lesieur, who tested her language abilities back in London. Unfortunately her first meeting with him left her with the impression he was both arrogant and rude. Now they have to learn to work together.

It's a story of passion, of danger and bravery. Well researched, with great atmosphere and detail, it's an excellent read, especially for those who enjoy novels about the Second World War. Recommended.

I would like to thank Choc Lit, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of The Paris Affair in exchange for an honest review.

Born to a French mother and an English father, Charlotte Bray has always felt like an outsider in her small Cornish fishing village. She spends her days on her father's fishing boat, helping to feed a nation at war. But war brings devastation, and it's not long until it reaches Charlotte's front door. Her world is rocked and forever changed by tragedy. With nothing left to lose, she accepts a mysterious invitation to work for the war office as a spy. Nothing is as it seems, and she finds herself in Nazi=occupied Paris with a new identity. Charlotte begins working under the somber but handsome Frenchman Pierre Lesieur. But do his allegiances lie elsewhere?

At the age of twenty-three, Charlotte has already suffered a lot of tragedy in her life. The year is 1943 and Charlotte gets a mysterious invitation to work for the war office as a spy. There are plenty of twists, likable characters, and the plotline was engaging. We get descriptive descriptions of France, England and Scotland, This is a spy story mixed with romance. It has also been well researched, but it could also be a bit predictable. I quite enjoyed this story about two SEO recruits working in France during WWII.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #JoffeBooks and the author #VictoriaCornwall for my ARC of #TheParisAffair in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and felt as if I was actually Charlotte, the heroine as she negotiated the sadness, excitements and uncertainties of her life and relationship with Pierre.

The Parisian scenes, particularly the characters’ visit to The Sacre Coeur took me right back to a long ago visit to Paris.

Victoria Cornwall is a skilled storyteller who makes you care about her characters and root for them as they tackle dangers and challenges.

I have always wondered how I would have coped in times of war and hope that I would step up to the challenge of helping with the war effort just as Charlotte, Pierre and their colleagues did in the book.

A thoroughly enjoyable read that made me reflect on the war experiences of members of my family.

I do like books about SOE operatives and this one was no exception. Charlotte Bray’s journey from fisherwoman to war heroine is both emotional and very well researched, and her relationship with the enigmatic Pierre beautifully portrayed.

I could not put this book down! I was rooting for the characters so much and I just absolutely needed them to survive. This book had my anxiety through the roof but in a good way so that I needed to keep reading to know what happened.

I loved the characterisation of Charlotte as a strong and determined woman, wanting to help her country. I also really liked the pace of the relationship between Charlotte and Pierre.

I thought the ending was maybe a little rushed and some more time spent on the boat back maybe should have been a little longer.

Overall, I really enjoyed the pace and writing of the book and the characterisations were spot on for me.

Couldn’t recommend this book enough! One of my favourites of the year so far.

I quite enjoyed reading this book about two SEO recruits who had been working in France during WW2, but some parts felt like a real chore to read. I guess for me a great book is one that I don’t want to put down, I just want to keep reading until the end, but this one just missed that feeling for some reason. Maybe it was because the whole story moved quickly and there wasn’t enough detail? Maybe it was because the ‘problem’ didn’t really seem all that big and then was quite easy to solve apart from a storm which put a (little) spanner in the works. Maybe it was because the chemistry seemed off between the two main characters. I’m not sure. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a novel set during WWII, and it was a very light, easy read. The protagonist, Charlotte, struck me as a strong, determined character, and I was interested in her. It wasn't long before I became invested in the story, and reading this felt like a little escape.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.