This story is different in the best way. Historical, haunting and beautiful, it's one you should definitely read.

WW II is my favorite. I love to read the history of the war, the history of the people in Europe and how the war affected them, the history of the people in the US left behind by the soldiers fighting the war in the but mostly I love to read about women in the war. I love to know how women coped with their men leaving, what those who were living with the fighting going all around them, and how life can go on with all the horrors they are witnessing. The French War Bride has everything I love within its pages.

This story was uniquely written. There are two points of views. Both women had a love in common, Jack. I was enthralled with Amelie’s story of war, Joshua, being a spy, and being a woman in Nazi occupied Paris. Her story was heart breaking, eye opening, and truly remarkable. She lost her entire family in WWII yet she never gave up on life. The friendship with Yvette, her best friend, was amazing. From childhood neighbors and best friends to both working against the Nazi’s during the war their friendship never wavered. The way the two of them worked together and trusted each other is amazing. Kat, the one Jack left behind, is jilted. With her death, due to cancer, looming in the near future she is looking for closure. She wants to know why she was jilted. I felt like Kat was extremely selfish. She listened to Amelie tell the story and jumped on anything that was said in a positive way about her. I didn’t dislike her; I just didn’t really like her. I felt like she was the prom queen, mean girl who just assumed everything revolved around her. The war affected both women in different ways and caused changes to their lives that were not expected.

The French War Bride is fiction yet there was so much history in it. Robin Wells did her homework. The descriptions of the war planes in the sky, the treatment of Jews, and so many other happenings were true to life. There was so much description in the paragraphs that I could picture the life that those in France were living with the Germans in charge. This is an incredible WWII story. I recommend everyone who loves this era as much as I do to pick up a copy today.

Amelie O’Connor is 93 and living in an assisted living center when she gets a surprise. She receives a visitor she never expected, the ex-fiancé of her late husband. Amelie was a “war bride” who came back with Jack from France, even though he was already engaged to Kat. After all these years, Kat finally wants the truth about what happened with Amelie and Jack. Amelie finally tells Kat the truth of what happened during the horrendous years of World War 2 when the Nazi’s occupied France and how she and Jack fell in love.



I have to admit, this review for The French War Bride was hard to write but not as conflicting as book was to read. I both liked and disliked Amelie at different times. I couldn’t quite warm up to her relationship with Jack due to her constant deception. I could understand the reason why she was deceptive. However, I was also left feeling as though the author had made Kat a thoroughly unlikable person to justify Jack and Amelie’s actions. While having given both Jack and Amelie shades of gray, the author seemed to make Kat a one- dimensional character. I’ve read many books by Robin Wells and truly enjoyed them so I have to admit I was shocked to find myself so dissatisfied with this one. But I think there will be those for who this book hits the right spot but it wasn’t my cup of tea.