Karen White was featured on the FreshFiction.com blog in an exclusive interview with Jennifer Vido, in her bimonthly Jen's Jewels interview series. You can find the post here: https://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=11232

I loved, loved, loved this book. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a fast paced historical fiction book that has love, family, friendship, betrayal, glitz, glamour, and intrigue that takes place during the Blitz of WWII London and current day.

I loved the characters in the book, how they were all tied together, and the relationship between them. If you are looking for a book that includes strong female characters like The Huntress or The Nightingale you will like this book. It also reminded me a little of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The book was well researched, detailed, and flowed very nicely. I didn't want it to end!!!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My honest review is above. Run, don't walk to get this book. You will not be disappointed. #TheLastNightinLondon #NetGalley

This book has it all...romance, suspense, intrigue, heartache. My emotions were all over the place with this one. Anger was right at the forefront. I felt my blood pressure escalate every time a certain person stepped onto the scene. That makes a good book in my mind. The ending was slightly predictable but that did not make it any less enjoyable. I was completely satisfied with this incredible book. I loved it.

Karen White is an admirable storyteller. This novel tells the story of two models who lived in London at the beginning of WWII. She alternates chapters with a young journalist who is writing an article featuring one of them. I was not enamored with the characters - they came across to me as two dimensional - not really likeable. The story is wordy and slow in the beginning - one can easily skim through may paragraphs. This was not my favorite Karen White novel. Other novels to try of Karen White's are Flight Patterns, The Sound of Glass, and Dreams of Falling - they are really good southern women's fiction.

This wonderful new historical fiction by Karen White is a fantastic read -- it's a dual time line novel with mystery, romance, fashion and family. The Prologue gives us a mystery - who is the woman that is carrying the baby in London as the bombs are dropping all around her. I didn't want to put down the book until I found out the answers to those questions at the end. Along the way, there was a story full of interesting characters during WWII and in the present day.

1940's - Precious and Eva meet at the train station in London and they quickly become roommates and best friend and felt like sisters. They are both beautiful and in London to become models. They are very different from each other - Precious is from America and is quick to talk about the family that she left behind. Eva is ashamed of her past and her poverty and has reinvented herself to a new person. Despite this difference, they both become popular models and have sparkling social lives until the war starts to affect them. Eva falls in love with an aristocrat and feels like her life is perfect until she makes some poor decisions and ends up in the midst of intrigue and secrets. As she tries to protect her secrets and wait for her boyfriend to return to London, her friendship with Precious remains the most important part of her life. Can this friendship be sustained as the bombs fall on London and change their world?

Current - Maddie is an American journalist who travels to London to interview Precious. She plans to write an article about fashion before the war and wants stories from Precious to go along with pictures of dresses from the era. Maddie's life has been scarred by the death of her mother and her fear for her own health so she is careful not to get emotionally close to anyone. Maddie and Precious get close and as her stories of WWII begin to unravel, Maddie learns that many of the stories can be applied to her own life and maybe help her find happiness.

In a dual time line novel, I normally like one story line better than the other but in this book, I found both storylines and the characters in them to be interesting and intriguing. The star of the novel is Precious and she is a big part of both timelines and a character that I won't soon forget. I loved the way that the two story lines were interwoven and came together at the end. I also enjoyed the romances - both past and present day and thought that the entire book was fantastic.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and this one did not disappoint!

I loved the dual timeline and multiple POVs that really gave a wonderful full picture of friendship and love.

The twist at the end was especially fun. Would highly recommend this book!

Karen White is so versatile and amazing. I love everything she writes - from the Tradd St series to her team W books but this novel is White plus. Everything from the research to the characters is pitch perfect and just a wonderful wonderful novel.

Author Karen White lived in London for seven years as a child. For nearly twenty years, she has wanted to write about the beautiful building she lived in near Regent’s Park and its history during the Blitz. This story is one that took years of contemplation and research to create the characters and the plot for her story. In this dual narrative, she weaves the past and the present together to unravel a woman’s past before she is gone forever.

The first story begins in London in 1939 with two best friends, Eva and Precious, working as fashion models. Eva has a chance meeting with the handsome Graham on the streets of London and her life takes a turn she never expected. Eva, formerly Ethel, has felt the need to change her life story to meet the expectations of society and who she assumes Graham needs her to be. Then WWII hits London and her past and secrets she has kept hidden are now being used against her and she is in too deep to get out unscathed.

“Ethel died the day Eva Harlow was born. The day I decided to become more than what I was.”

The other story features an American journalist, Maddie, who has come to interview Precious, a former fashion model, about her years in the fashion industry for British Vogue. As Precious reveals bits of her life, Maddie realizes there is a bigger story to tell and she only has so much time to get it out of Precious before she and her secrets are gone forever. Precious’ nephew, Colin, just happens to be an old college romance gone bad for Maddie and she can’t seem to let go of her past with Colin.

“One year of happiness is worth so much more than a lifetime of just existing. There are no guarantees in life, and you have to accept that and love all the beautiful and ugly that life throws at you.”

As you travel through the novel, alternating chapters tell the story of Eva and Precious and then Maddie and Precious’ staff and family trying to also unravel her story. The two stories collide as a mystery reveals itself and Precious is finally ready to tell the secret she never wanted to reveal which will change the lives of those she holds the dearest to her.

I love dual narrative stories because the two stories propel you through the novel to find out how they are going to meet up. In this one, there was a definite mystery element related to Precious and Eva’s story and as the reader, I was consumed with finding out what all the connections were to a specific purse and dresses from their past. The novel begins with a woman running to avoid bombs with a baby, trying to keep them safe. It isn’t until the very end that you realize who the woman was and who the baby belonged to. I had to go back and read the Prologue again to tie it all together in my mind.

Since there was a dual narrative and two timelines, that also meant a lot of different characters. I have to admit, I did struggle a bit with keeping everyone straight and who was related to whom. Even towards the end of the novel, I felt like there were characters mentioned that I didn’t remember who they were. The romance in both timelines was secondary to me. I tend to get a little bored with characters who refuse to say what they want or hide behind mistakes. But, that is what propels a storyline and a mystery, it just isn’t my favorite trope, especially in historical fiction.

I appreciate that White wanted to tell the story of the beautiful building she lived in and what may have happened there. This was her home and finding out it was damaged in the Blitz many years before must have been quite difficult to comprehend. The loss of lives over the course of the bombings and the damage to the city of London was overwhelming.

“Home is a place that lives in one’s heart, waiting with open arms to be rediscovered.”

White took great care to share the story of her London home, the details of WWII in London, and how it affected the families as well as the fashion industry. I was shocked to learn that Vogue was even still publishing during the war. Even though there were paper shortages, they felt there was an importance to continue to communicate messages to the women of Britain about consumerism and domestic life. In fact, the magazine had published a message to its readers to “swap their usual tweed skirts for trousers – but only if they were under fifty years old and weighed less than ten stone.” I only wish I could see the amazing dresses that White described Eva and Precious wearing. They sounded so delicate and exquisite.

Fans of realistic historical fiction and character-driven novels will find themselves transported to WWII London and all the secrets that were kept during the devastating days of the London Blitz.

My review of this book appears in Historical Novels Review issue 96 (May 2021):
White’s Southern novels are beloved bestsellers, and in this historical outing, she introduces a refugee from the close-knit Walton, Georgia community she created in her popular Falling Home family saga. Maddie Warner has returned to visit college chums in modern-day England, and to interview a distant relative, Precious Dubose, a world-famous model nearing the end of her long life. In the process of preparing a museum exhibit of World War II fashions, she uncovers family secrets that Precious is reluctant to revisit. She must also deal with her feelings for Colin St. John, a man Maddie rejected in college but has an undeniable attraction to.
White creates a warm, intimate atmosphere in which Maddie can come to terms with her own past fears and losses, as she, Precious, Colin, and his good-humored extended family sort through Precious’s memories of the Blitz and the love affairs conducted in its shadow. The parallel narrative set in 1940 London, in which Precious’s dearest friend and fellow fashion model, Eva Harlow, struggles to create a new identity for herself, is compelling in spite of Eva’s frustrating lack of self-awareness or moral compass. Much more interesting is the way Maddie is able to piece together a portrait of Eva’s life from the contents of a velvet purse, a hat, a fur stole. Fans of fashion in literature will be enchanted with such details.
The reader guesses the secret Maddie carefully unravels long before its reveal, but White’s obvious love for the city of London makes this a cozy and rewarding read. We’re left wanting to spend more time with Maddie’s Southern and English circles of friends and family.

I love this dual timelines story. We have Eva and Precious-2 models working in England in 1939. We also have Madison (a relation somehow to Precious) in 2019-writing a story on Precious and her modeling days. Maddie also comes back in contact with a guy (Colin) she once dated.

What we get is a mystery. Precious is holding something back same Maddie is determined to give it what it is.

The 2 timelines are such seamless transitions they really helps the flow of the novel. I enjoyed both timelines. At some point, I figured out a bit of the mystery... Maybe not so early but before it's revealed. I liked getting to learn why this certain thing had to happen.
I probably loved the timeline in the WW2 era more but both are so good.

The Last Night in London is the newest historical fiction book by Karen White (available now), but it was my first book by this author. The story is told in the dual timelines of present day and during the WWII Blitz on London. I can honestly say that Karen White spins a fantastic historical fiction tale and it was good, but it didn’t quite work for me.

What I loved:
-Intriguing plot with a mystery twist
-Romance storylines, especially with the enemies-to-lovers trope
-Second half was a page-turner
-Amazing ending

What was just OK:
-First half was very slow
-Book is LONG
-So many characters across the dual timelines became confusing at times
-Fashion element wasn’t for me (Let’s be honest, I wear the same pair of leggings 7 days a week)

Even though The Last Night in London is not my favorite historical fiction book I’ve ever read, I can definitely respect Karen White’s ability to write great historical fiction and I plan to read more of her books! This one would be perfect for fans of fashion and who love a little mystery and romance along with the historical fiction.

Thank you so much to Uplit Reads, Berkley Pub, and Netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This started off with interesting characters, a good pace and then it dragged. I did like the different time periods and the history but it could have been wrapped up in less pages. Still will look forward to reading more from this author.

I was excited to see that Karen White had ventured in to the land of WW2 historical fiction and was anxious to dive in to The Last Night in London.

This is a dual timeline with two main POV both mainly set in London. Precious is a model in London as the world is about to erupt in to war. Maddie is a current day journalist and distant relative who goes to London to meet Precious and write an article about her modeling career and fashion. Maddie soon discovers there is much more to Precious than meets the eye.

This is a story of friendship, betrayal, love and loyalty. This is a story that will keep you interested until the end.

I received an ARC of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

My first Karen White, and I really enjoyed it!

I loved the dual timeline!

Precious and Eva are models pulled into war-time secrets, and Precious is interviewed in modern times by Maddie.

Some of the plot lines were predictable, but I was invested and had no problem continuing to read!

I love how the ending pulled the novel together- I can’t say enough that it was good!

I’d give this 3.5 stars. I am a big White fan, but honestly this book got a little long for me (and it ran over 450 pages). I love the characters and the historical fiction of WWII....I wish the story line would have sped up more. Probably all to blame on my distracted reader’s mind these days

As a huge Karen White fan I was really excited to read this book. It started off good and I was quite intrigued with both storylines. Unfortunately, for me, as the story progressed it started to drag and my curiosity as to what would happen died. Even though this was not one of my favorites I am still a fan!

I loved the different storylines. I felt myself more entranced however with the past and the mysteries that were the be uncovered. I did however love the characters in this books and the suspense it had being it a historical fiction. I felt like we could have had more revealed sooner at points but overall I really enjoyed the story.

Another slam dunk winner for Ms White. Normally, I dislike books that jump time periods in each chapter, but Ms White does it masterfully and without losing the authenticity of each narrative voice. I hate to admit it, but I totally guessed that Eva had assumed Precious’s identity. I love how she wove Maddie’s journey to accepting love with Eva’s story of how she had to become a stronger woman.

The Last Night in London is a dual narrative, with Eva in 1939 and Maddie in 2019. Eva wants to be a fashion model with her friend Precious, but WWII strikes London hard and she finds her world changed forever. On the other hand, Maddie is an American journalist reporting on Precious’ journey pre-WWII while going through her own struggles. While interviewing Precious, Maddie uncovers some secrets that have long been buried.

Overall, I give this 4 stars out of 5. I had very mixed feelings for the first half of this book, but the second half saved it. I enjoyed the character dynamics and the mystery was fun. I’m not big on the fashion world so I wonder if that had an impact on my opinion for the first half. The mystery helped the pacing pick up and I was surprised by some of the twists.

Thank you to Uplit Reads, NetGalley and Karen White for this copy in exchange of an honest review.