I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. The author did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! Kelly Rimmer can do no wrong when it comes to her writing! I would highly recommend it!

This was a fantastic WWII novel. I always love reading things from the perspective of people who fought in the resistance, but even more so from the female perspective. I love how all the stories were intertwined and how there were different time periods tying the whole story together. Thank you to Netgalley and Graydon House for the ARC.

Again with the not thinking that Historical Fiction is for me. I just don't think I can truly get behind and this book was no different

This was my top book of the year. Kelly Rimmer is officially one of my favorite authors. She gives such life to history and makes me want to go learn more about this time period. What women (and men) went through was hard to read at some points but that’s exactly why we have to read it. Such sacrifice has been made for our freedoms.
Loved it and I will encourage others to pick it up. The Paris Agent will stick with me.

2.5 stars.

It makes me sad to give this low rating to one of my favourite authors. But I have to be honest in my ratings otherwise it makes no sense to review books. I had expected this to be a 4-5 star book.

1970: a daughter and her father are researching the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the secret British WWII organization that her father was a part of. Her father is looking for the man who saved his life but he can only remember his undercover name. The novel moves between 1970 and WWII.

I enjoyed learning about this important time in history. The brave men and women who were part of the SOE were an immense help in relaying important information back home as well as rounding up locals to join the Resistance, planning and completing acts of sabotage and more.

Unfortunately I didn’t connect with any of the characters which is very surprising for me with this author. I usually connect immediately and find myself more invested in the characters lives than anything else. Several times, I found myself confused between characters which likely had to do with undercover names and none of the characters feeling unique or memorable.

The pace was very long and drawn out yet the time jumps seemed to cut out a lot of back story. The storyline didn’t have enough intrigue to have me invested in any part of it. There were also a few unrealistic elements that this author never usually includes which had me feeling less than eager to pick this up.

While this story included a lot of loss and hardship, it lacked the grit and heavy impact that this author usually pulls me in with. It failed to touch my heart or impact me on an emotional level. Romance was a strong theme that also turned me off. I don’t mind subplots of romance but having it as a main focus made the book take on a lighter tone and is not something I enjoy.

This novel reminded me of the issues I have with some Pam Jenoff historical fiction novels. Some of them are gritty and impactful, while others are too cutesy and romance focused which loses any sort of appeal or interest for me.

Overall, this was a miss for me but I continue to be a fan of this author and will read whatever she comes out with next. I highly recommend her historical fiction novels, The Things We Cannot Change, The Warsaw Orphan and The German Wife. Also highly recommend her contemporary fiction Before I Let You Go which is one of my All Time Favourite books.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy!

I absolutely love Kelly Rimmer and will continue to read all of her books, but unfortunately this one did not wow me. I was bored throughout and confused by the characters and timelines. It was interesting to hear about the SOE agents, but overall this one was just okay to me.

I enjoy The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer for the history it introduces me to. It is my understanding that the female characters are based on real women like Cecily Lefort, Lilian Rolfe, Diana Rowden, and Violette Szabo. Some of the events like the destruction of the factory are based on historical events. I appreciate learning about the strength and courage of women who fought in the war.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/12/the-paris-agent.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

So I have really enjoyed everything that I have read by Kelly Rimmer before this. She is one of my top authors. For some reason, this one fell flat for me. I DNF'd at about 25% in. Not sure if it was the copy I got that made it hard to read/enjoy, it had some weird spacing in words. It felt disjointed and confusing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publsiher for the ARC.

Another winner from Kelly Rimmer. She just outdoes herself with every tome she writes.
I loved learning about the spies from the SOE and of course that they were based on real women!! Love her books. She's an auto-buy author for me.

Link coming soon.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction and Rimmer always writes it well. This story was fast paced and you could not help feel for many of the characters. Emotional and gripping, recommended!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I decided to give WWII historical fiction another try. I normally do not enjoy reading about this period in time, but this book definitely changed my mind. The characters were fleshed out nicely and I adore duel timelines in stories. I will be searching out more books by this author in the future.

We love Kelly and this was another fabulous historical fiction novel! I apologize for my delayed review! We were lucky enough to have Kelly Zoom with our bookclub and we adore her and her writing!

There is nothing I love more than WWII fiction and Kelly Rimmer is the queen of it. This dual timeline story set in the 1970s that follows two former WWII spies as they navigate their post war experience.

The author weaves between past and present in a beautiful way. I was completely caught up in the story and found the characters to be fantastic. This story slowly unravels and reveals twists along the way that added to the plot in a fantastic manner. I love this author and find her writing to be perfection! Loved this one so much and look forward to the next by one of my favorite authors!

Secret agents? Spies? Especially female undercover operatives? This stuff is like catnip for me. I eat it up.

Add in Kelly Rimmer’s ability to tell a story with depth, plot and character and it’s sure to be a winner for me.

And, for the most part it was.

Rimmer crafts a story in two timelines around the little known arm of British Intelligence during WW2, the Special Operations Executive or SOE. There is intrigue, drama, betrayal, a bit of a love story and, in the second storyline, dealing with the aftermath and trauma of the war nearly 30 years later.

Where this one fell a little short for me was in the telling. In the structure. We have two characters in the past who go by both their given names and their code names. Our present day character is featured in the past timelines by both names as well and then we have a new cast that joins him in the present day. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind but I struggled keeping everyone straight and felt like the story was a bit disrupted by the structure.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. Wasn't what I was expecting to say the least. I still want to change so many things in this story.

Dual timelines follow the story of Noah Ainsworth, a British SOE (Special Operations Executive) agent during WWII. In the older timeline, he’s working in France for the SOE and his life is saved by another agent. The second timeline is set in 1970, when his daughter Charlotte is determined to help her dad find the person responsible for saving him. Noah is a recent widower and still struggles with memory issues from his wartime head injury. His sudden compulsion to locate the man he owes his life to, is surprising, and Charlotte is learning there’s a lot about her father she never knew.

But this is not really Noah’s story as much as it is about two women also involved with the SOE. Chloe and Fleur (code names) are the young women who put their lives at risk and who take center stage in the wartime story. One is instrumental in helping Noah get away and later is assigned to work alongside him. The novel really focuses on these women and the work they did to subvert the Germans.

In the second timeline Charlotte spearheads the effort to uncover any details about her dad’s savior. These attempts are complicated because the SOE records are sealed and it’s only through persistence and the help of Theo, a young historian, that she begins to discover her father’s real role during the war. Part of the problem is that many of the records were destroyed and there’s the continued need for secrecy. Compounding these difficulties is the fact that there was a double agent among the SOE and suspicions lurk about anyone involved in the network that Noah and the girls were part of.

The role of women during the war is getting a lot of coverage recently, and this book is another acknowledgement of their long-overlooked contributions. Though not fighting on the front lines, their extraordinary efforts showed their bravery and their impact on the war, including the lives they saved. There have been a number of recent spy fiction that have focused on the contributions of women. To name just a few, there’s Code Name Helene by Lawhon, The Alice Network by Quinn and The Golden Doves by Kelly.

The story of Chloe, Fleur and Noah speaks of the tremendous sacrifices made by those who were dedicated to fighting the Germans. Noah was saved by a man he barely recalls. Little attention is given to this man who deposits the injured Noah at a hospital. But the man’s actions are the impetus for the uncovering of the story and thus he is integral to getting to the truth.

Rimmer’s book is very readable. Her characters are sympathetic and courageous. Besides the tension of being surrounded by the enemy, there’s an undercurrent of threat from within the SOE. Noah’s failure to share his wartime activities is not at all surprising. Many did not discuss their exploits after the war, even if they were not part of intelligence. Of the two storylines, the wartime events are more riveting, but the later setting brings Noah’s life full circle. This is a robust, moving story of lives impacted by war and of women and men fighting a brutal enemy for justice.

Rimmer sets the course for a daughter to embark on a journey to help her dad sort out his past in the closing years of World War 2. Running into hurdles to uncover answers, Rimmer chronicles the journey of the Nazi's Night and Fog program and what it meant for those whose file received that fatal label. SOE agents caught in the line of duty, tortured, and then made to simply disappear while double agents work to cover their deceit. A love lost, a child sent away, and memories that are foggy due to injuries create an intricate story of paths crossing and uniting in both the past and the present. Rimmer captures the emotions felt by each character in the various moments of the journey and grips your humanity, wondering how one chose to be brave in the face of evil.

I have always enjoyed Kelly Rimmer as an author, and this novel was no exception. A well done rendering from a woman's perspective on the war and how vital women were to ending the horrors of WWII. I enjoyed the non-linear timeline and chapters from multiple viewpoints. There was somewhat of a "mystery" feel to the book as well. If you have enjoyed Kelly's books in the past, you will enjoy this one. Do yourself a favor and give it a chance!