The Paris Orphan Extended Preview by Natasha Lester is a brief few chapters, yet they are certainly enough to peak my interest in the glamorous American model turned photojournalist Jessica May, and her experiences during WWII. If you are a fan of historical fiction, this one certainly appears worthy of an add to your TBR. I am looking forward to reading this novel in its entirety.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the opportunity to read this preview.

As a lover of WWII historical fiction I have no idea why I have waited so long to read this book. After reading the first five chapters I cannot wait to see how the story unfolds.

3 and a half stars
The Paris Orphan an extended preview of the book, I found that I wanted to read more of the story but it is not the full copy which I did not realise at the time. The book started off a little slow and really interesting. It was a few chapters in the book becomes more interesting and tells a story of what women went through during the war years. I checked out the authors other books and found one that was very similar.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Forever Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Review run date 27 February for Netgalley, goodreads and Facebook, Amazon.com.au, Barnes and Noble, kobo. My Facebook reader blog page link, is https://www.facebook.com/BlueFalkon95-Readers-blog-104660277776984
#TheParisOrphan #NetGalley

This was my first book based on a true story and I loved it! 1942. This book covers a girl who goes to war to photograph and journal about what is happening over there. She was sent involuntarily as her modeling career crumbled. This story was very heart warming and opened my eyes to so much more that happened during the WWII.

This is the second book recently I have read by this author and she is very much becoming a new favourite. A strong female lead in Jessica May who is trying to re-invent how people perceive her. Throwing herself and her changing career into a war zone, and becoming friends with a charming new major, and I very much hoping that that relationship develops into something more.
It was a great preview and hoping soon that i will get the opportunity to read the rest of the book. Thanks to Natahsa Lester, NetGalley and Forever Publishing for letting me read the preview copy.

Just a preview....not enough to give a full review but enough to make me go out and by the book! Looking forward to reading the whole thing.

Based on the excerpt this books looks promising: the writing is very good, the main character is immediately intriguing and the setting is fascinating. It also feels like the kind of book you need to immerse yourself in for a more extended while because of the amount of detail it has.

"An American soldier and an enterprising photographer brave occupied France during World War II to help give a little girl her dream." So excited I got to read this although it was only a preview! The preview allowed me to read 7 chapters and so my review is based on just those chapters. This book is now available at my library, full review to follow.

I enjoyed the preview of The Paris Orphan, I am excited to read the full version. The preview gives you just enough of the story to hook you! I am very intrigued with the main character, beautiful model Jessica May. I think she represents many women who are able to walk on both sides of the road. As a model, she's used to being in front of a camera, she's used to be stared at and admired for her beauty but she's just as comfortable behind the camera, using her talent to capture images and be taken seriously as an artist. After a betrayal by her live in love, she decides to try something different. I can't wait to finish her story when the book comes out!

What I read was an extended preview, not the entire book. Which was quite disappointing, since I now ant to read the whole book, and I don't have it in my hand! (Or on my screen. Whatever.)
The female main character, Jessica, is setting out to do something women are not supposed to do in the 1940ies. She wants to do photojournalism. In Europe. During the war. And I, as the reader, want to know what happens to her, to the orphaned child she meets, as well as at least one or two of the soldiers and nurses Jessica meets.

Jessica May is a famous model in New York when she applies to go to Europe as a World War II photojournalist. She faces all the discrimination against women of the time, but perseveres. In Italy, she’s supposed to go to a hospital near the front, but alas, the hospital had to pull back and she ends up in a battle, for which she is blamed.
In a trench, she meets Dan, the captain in command of the unit. He’s a decent sort, and looks out for her. He introduces her to Victorine, the 4-year-old who was rescued by his brother before his death.
This preview is a good start, but leaves lots of questions. Obviously, The Paris Orphan is Victorine. Will Dan and Jessica marry and become her parents? Will Jessica’s journalistic career get off the ground without further censorship battles? Can she return to her modeling career off the war?

I had mixed feelings about this one. Even though I am a huge historical fiction fan I just couldn’t get into this one. It felt like the story had a lot of unnecessary information and it felt dragged out. Giving it 3 stars because of the interesting plot line but it was still too long for me.

Reading the extended preview of this book has made me very excited to read the entire book. Even with just this short preview I feel already connected to the characters and dying to see what happens to them. The writing style gripped me from the very start and I can tell this will be a book that I have a hard time putting down. Thank you to Forever publishing for offering this preview as a way to see if this book is something that I would be interested in before I buy a copy. I had a feeling that this was exactly the kind of book I would love and I’m glad to see that I was right. I can’t wait to finish it!

This was a wonderful preview. I am adding it to my tbr list.
Many thanks to Forever and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you for the preview! The excerpt seems fascinating and I've added this book to my mountainous tbr.

This was a well written book. Centers around Strong Independent Women during WW2
and how the women were treated during the war. Written in two different timelines and come together beautiful.
I had trouble getting into the first part but by the middle of the book, I could not put it down. I laughed, cried and cheered them on!
Natasha Lester did her research and this was a wonderful book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves Historical Fiction.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Thanks to netgalley for this preview of advance copy. it definitely has an interesting setting and I definitely wish to know more about Jessica. She has had an interesting life and has faced difficult situations. I do want to know more how she handled her life and how her personality is developed by various circumstances. I am sure it will be a great historical fiction novel.

Jess goes to work as a war correspondent/photographer at a time when women did not do such things, after her modeling career is derailed by an ex-lover. Strikes a friendship with Martha Gellhorn, also a correspondent, mostly known as Hemingway's wife. She meets Major Dan and the orphan Victorine and I can see where this story is going. The first 4 chapters did not intrigue me, but by the 5th I was more interested but not enough to put this book on my TBR. Thank you to Netgalley for the preview.

I was blown away by The Paris Seamstress. I read a lot of WWII, female perspective fiction. I enjoy learning about the challenges overcome, feel that reading historical fiction helps honour those that came before and teaches us what to do or not to do in the future. Usually in a WWII book you are prepared to be emotionally wrung out by the end or even in the first 10%. The Paris Seamstress is different. It's not any less impactful but it's a very different story from a different outlook on WWII other than the heart of Europe, the front-line fighting or a concentration camp like we are familiar with.

Setting
Our lead gal has been sent to New York, USA in order to be out of the way of the Nazi's invading and about to occupy Paris. Our Parisian lead gal is in her late teens/early twenties through the book. She is about to have to fight hard just to survive on the streets and in the fashion industry of New York. Luckily she has had an upbringing in the Paris fashion scene and can copy fashions (or create her own) that will help her generate income. But first she has to break out and be noticed in New York.
One of the great things about how Natasha Lester has set-up The Paris Seamstress is that it could be any time period, and any woman's story of breaking into any industry. There are specifics of course here in terms of gender, the war creating a lack of supplies, and also being an immigrant but these are the 'things to overcome' that could be easily modified. The core of this story is about fighting to be seen, heard and become an influence on society in some way. Don't be dissuaded if you aren't big into fashion. Clothing is not the heart of the story; overcoming odds and persevering is what this book is really about.

Characters
The most endearing part of this story is the characters. Not only is our lead gal genuine, tough but emotional, and hard-working; she is also passionate in so many ways. Be it in her romantic relationships, her work or her desire to be successful or her sorrow over the losses of the war.
There are other wonderful supporting or 'almost main' characters including her business partners: another young gal working as a model and a man she meets on the boat on the way to New York (who cuts the fabrics economically). There is also a charming (and rich) suitor but you'll have to read it to learn about this mysterious man. I can't tell you about most of the other wonderful people we encounter as there are too many spoiler opportunities! Just know all the characters are well fleshed out and endearing in their own ways.

The War Carries On
We do experience (from a far) Pearl Harbour and the introduction of the USA into WWII. Lester also takes us back to the streets of Paris during occupation for a time and all around New York experiencing classes from dirt poor to filthy rich. These varying view points give a well rounded out feel for what WWII was like for those not in the heat of the battle or occupation; but instead living in a bustling city like New York. Even our time in Paris during occupation is a little surreal and a bit jolly at moments (which Lester does on purpose to show a point). Eventually of course the war does taper off and we find out what happens to our leading characters; but don't be deceived the war is still a major factor and is what drives many of our character decisions.

The 'Present' Story
Did I make it sound like the whole book was set in WWII time? Yeah I wish.
My sole complaint about The Paris Seamstress is I could have lost ALL of the present day story with the granddaughter of our fashionista in New York and missed not a lick of her story. There is a mystery throughout the book that she keeps alive; but I really didn't care about it at all to be honest. It felt unnecessary and the 'reveal' was way more relevant to the impact it made on our WWII characters than it was to the present time ones. I just wanted to keep being along for the stories of our characters during WWII. Of course the mystery ties everything together but honestly without it this is still be an amazing five star book. It felt like an editor told Lester something like, these days people like the split perspective in time for historical novels so add that in. I'd have preferred more scenes with our leading lady encountering high society and snobbery in New York, or our model's exploitation concerns than read about the present day granddaughter at all.

Overall
If you want to read about a strong female lead in WWII I think you'll really enjoy this. There is a lot about fashion but I'm not a very picky fashion girl and didn't find it boring. Most of the fashion talk is about conserving and using cheaper fabric, creating clothes women want to wear (not have to wear) and other feminist style ideas. There is a romance, and it is bittersweet. I can't say much more than that. For sure this is a novel about staying strong, ensuring you believe in yourself and that life is not fair but we find a way to carry forward and be content (if not truly happy). It is more driven by our characters than the mystery itself. I adored this book and cannot wait to recommend it out to all historical fiction fans and even readers outside the genre boundaries. A good story about people creates a space where the genre becomes irrelevant and is instead just a great character driven read.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free preview/excerpt. Although the premise is interesting and the perspective is unique, five chapters is not enough to make a connection with the main character. All I can say is that it seems promising. I cannot rate higher than 2 stars on an excerpt only. From what I read, it seems like the book would rate at least a solid 3 Stars. I probably will not read another extended preview excerpt because it’s too difficult to rate.