I finished this book today reluctantly. Another winning book from my favorite author for WWII historical fiction. I fell in love with Lucie and Paul from the beginning. I can’t imagine being an American in occupied France during the war. The author brought these two together in such a way that I had to keep reading long into the night to finish. I can’t wait for the next release from Sara Sundin.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

Sarah Sundin brings another compelling WWII novel with her latest release, Until Leaves Fall in Paris.

The captivating romance between artistic Lucie and pragmatic Paul is only one reason I loved this book. This gripping, page-turning intrigue is filled with twist and turns. Sundin had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next.

German-occupied Paris is a setting I am unfamiliar with, but Sundin’s research comes through in her stunning attention to detail. From anti-Semitism to book bans to the resistance, Until Leaves Fall in Paris covers so many aspects of what residents of France contended with at that time.

If you’ve read When Twilight Breaks, you’ll remember Paul, Peter Lang’s friend. But Until Leaves Fall in Paris is a standalone you can enjoy by itself. But if you enjoy Easter eggs as much as I do, the connection makes the book even more enjoyable.

Overall, Until Leaves Fall in Paris proves to be a compelling read with a captivating romance and intriguing plot.

Green Leaves Bookstore

Exciting, Romantic and page turning can describe this book. It kept me reading way into the night as I just wanted to read one more chapter. A young ballerina, a bookstore, and an automaker and his daughter all play a part in this story.

Lucie, a ballerina, has danced with the Paris Ballet for ten years, she has lived in Paris since she was nine years old. She lived with the owners of Green Leaf Bookstore so she could study Ballet in Paris. Her parents live in New York. She is American, but she feels that Paris is her home. When the Nazi's close in on Paris she quits the ballet and buys the bookstore so the owners can escape to America. She becomes involved with the resistance movement as a place they can safely leave messages for each other.

Paul makes trucks, he is an automaker. He runs a factory in Paris. His wife died in a car crash a year ago and left him with a young daughter. He wants to take his daughter back to America but the U.S. Army wants him to stay in Paris and provide them information on the Nazi's.

Lucie and Paul meet at the bookstore and Lucie is attracted to him until she finds out that he is a collaborator and works with the German's selling them trucks from his factory. He cannot tell her the truth or it will endanger his mission and possible both their lives.

This book will keep you entertained as you follow the story of Lucie and Paul and their lives under the cruel laws of the Germans. I loved the little girl and her stories about the Rock Monsters and also the unselfish decision that Lucie made that almost cost her life. What a courageous character.

I enjoyed reading this book, and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Sarah Sundin for writing a great book, to Revell Press for Publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

There is no book I look more forward to each year than the new one from Sarah Sundin. She never fails to deliver and her latest release, Until Leaves Fall in Paris, just might be my new favorite. I don't know how she does it, but each book is better than the last. Just when I think it can't get better, she outdoes herself.

This time, we follow alongside two Americans living in Nazi-occupied Paris. Lucie, a ballerina turned bookstore owner, and Paul, an automaker running a factory in Paris, are more than they first appear. At first glance, they couldn't be more different. They're the very definition of opposites. But when they look below the surface, they have more in common than not.

It took me just a minute to warm up to Lucie and Paul, but it wasn't long before I absolutely loved them. I really admired their bravery in doing what they could to aid the Resistance. The stakes were so high and the consequences so dire if they were caught. That kind of courage is so inspiring. Paul's daughter Josie was adorable. She was such a sweet and creative little girl. I really enjoyed her imaginative stories about Feenee and the rock monsters.

I usually gravitate more towards WWII books set in the US or Germany, so to read about what it was like in France during that time was very enlightening. I learned so many new things.

I received an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.

As always, Ms Sundin does a brilliant job at conveying her characters in such a way that you are quickly invested in them, and fully immersed in their stories. You feel what they feel, and you silently hope for them and their success as you follow along.

Until the Leaves Fall In Paris was such a great look at early occupation in France, when the resistance was just beginning to form and gain its footing, before Americans were forced to leave for their safety. Most of what you read about France during the war takes place in mid 1942 going forward so this was nice to learn about. The escape when America joins the war was also heart wrenching and had me on the edge of my seat.

I loved how the story paints such a difficult picture of those who were spies for the resistance, but had to appear as if they were collaborators, essentially being shunned and despised even tho they were heroes, but not able to be honest and defend themselves. Ms Sundin does an excellent job at making you feel the pain an isolation thru Paul, and also the courage he instilled in Lucie’s confidence when she was plagued by her insecurities.

All in all, a very difficult book to put down and I thoroughly enjoyed it yet another of Ms Sundin’s books. It did not disappoint.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lucie Girard, American ballerina living in Paris, decides to quit ballet and buy the English-language bookstore run by her Jewish friends, allowing them to escape to America before Hitler's noose closes around them. While she struggles to keep the store running with so many English speakers fleeing France or being interned, she discovers that members of the local resistance are using her store to pass messages, and she wants to help. Meanwhile, Paul Aubrey, widower with a very creative 4-year-old daughter named Josie, runs a factory that produces trucks for civilian use. Because he sells those trucks to the Germans, he's seen as a collaborator by all of his friends, who shun him and his daughter. He can't tell them about the work he's doing to help the US military, especially after it grows into other work for the local resistance. When the time comes for American's to flee or be interned as well, Paul and Lucie will have to trust each other in order to get themselves and little Josie to safety.

This book was beautiful and touching, heartbreaking and uplifting, and I don't think I can say enough about how much I loved it. The symbolism of leaves and the color green is woven throughout the entire book in a way I enjoyed—not always subtly, but I still appreciated how the author built a theme around it all. I adored Josie and the relationship between her and Lucie, as well as Paul's attempts to understand his daughter better. Josie and Feenee are a major highlight of the book.

It seems like it's been a while since I've given a fiction book 5 stars, but this one deserves it. The two main characters are both likeable and interesting. The ballet angle was a new one for me, and while it's not something I know much about, I really enjoyed reading about it. Paul's integrity, even in the face of undeserved hatred, and the way he relies on God to help him through it, is wonderful. The relationship between the two builds in a believable way, without much angst, and it's not the only focus of the book, all of which I appreciate. The first meet between these two is one of the best I've ever read.

Tension builds as the war ramps up, and the last third or so of the book is filled with pulse-pounding, tear-jerking scenes. I loved everything about it, and know without a doubt I will re-read this book in the future. My only real complaint is that Lucie and Josie's names are similar enough in style and appearance that a few times I was confused about what was going on in a scene or who was taking. But other than that, this book has cemented Sarah Sundin as one of my favorite authors (a distinction I don't assign freely). And though it doesn't appear to be part of any series, it is clearly connected to Sundin's previous release, When Twilight Breaks, as the two MCs from that book appear briefly in this one. And it appears that her next book, which I'm excited to read, will be connected as well! In case it's not clear, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction from this time period in the Christian romance genre.

This story set in France in the early 1940’s. The French believe the Nazis will never take their country. Within days, Nazi soldiers march into Paris and make themselves at home.
The story features two Americans. A ballerina, Lucie, who has lived in France since an early age and a young widower, Paul who runs an American car factory.
Caught up in their fight against the enemy, Lucie buys a bookstore from friends who are returning to America. Soon, the French Resistance finds the bookstore a key part of their fight.
Paul, considered a hated collaborator, must keep up a pro-German facade while feeling extremely lonely and trusting very few people with his secret.
If you like suspense, intrigue, and mystery, this book is for you!

This book may be published as a Christian Romance but the setting around the World War period makes it more of an historical fiction encased with predictable romance.

1941, the story is partially set inside a Paris book store specializing in English literature despite that at the time Paris was under Nazis hands. The showcase two Americans, Lucie Girard, a former ballerina, living above the Green Leaf Books store decided to leave her profession to buy the store from the Jewish owners who needed to flee. Paul Aubrey, a widowed with a young daughter stayed behind at the request of the US government to gather useful intelligence while keeping his factory open producing German military equipment.

They met at the bookstore where Lucy secretly passed on coded message for the resistance. Being a rich entrepreneur working for the German, Lucy thought Paul was a collaborator and wanted nothing to do with him. But slowly as they became closers their feelings for each other changed and love was in the air..... awe....Their lives took an about turn the day the US entered the war and Sarah and Paul secrets were uncovered by the Gestapo.

In “Until Leaves Fall in Paris”, Sarah Sundin brings the streets of Paris alive with an evocative prose that sets us right in the busy and dangerous streets of Paris. We have several tense moments told without being too graphic. Eventually when our two lovebirds realized they needed to trust each other in order to survive the narrative changed tone and became mellow and harmonious. The plot is unique, well-written and filled with great characters. It is a story that kept my attention till the very last page.

Being a Christian based novel faith is at the forefront although not overly stated. For those not into religious connotations or scriptures you will not be overwhelmed by them. But who wouldn’t pray to the Almighty if the Gestapo were on your tails....Well-done.

When I see Sarah Sundin's name on a book in NetGalley.com, I am instantly requesting to read it. She writes historical fiction that is near and dear to my heart--the World War II era. The generation that lived through that horrific time is quickly dying out and her writings keep that part of history alive for me. My parents lived in that time and my dad served.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris takes place a year or two before the United States entered the war and at a time when Americans living abroad are leaving Europe to go back to the US at least for the duration of the war. This is where the story picks up. Lucie has been with the Paris Opera Ballet for a number of years, but she's just not advancing. Her friends, the Greenblatts, own a bookstore that they must leave because the handwriting is on the wall for the Jews in Europe. Lucie offers to buy the store and eventually it becomes a letter box for the resistance to pass messages.

Paul is a widower with a small daughter who also owns an automobile manufacturing plant. It gets taken over by the Germans to produce trucks. On the surface, Paul seemed to be collaborating with the Germans, but, in fact, he's participating in quiet resistance by work slow downs, sabotage in the assembly line, and whatever else he can do without arousing suspicion. Because he is on "friendly" terms with the officer assigned to his plant, he is required to go to parties and evenings out with German officials. He had another reason for going to the soirees--to gather information to pass on to the American consulate. Even though the United States was not involved in the war, the government wanted to keep tabs on what the Germans were doing.

Paul and Lucie meet when Paul brings his four-year-old daughter, Josie, to Lucie's book shop to find some new books. Josie is a precocious child who draws stories about a mythical creature, Feenee, who fights against the Rock Monsters. There were quite a few ups and downs in their relationship, such as it was in the beginning, but Paul did help Lucie with some business matters to help her stay in business and build up her bookstore.

At first, Lucie doesn't want anything to do with Paul because she thinks he is a collaborator, but her attraction to him grows as she observes how he treats his daughter. The romance in this book is understated and not over the top, which I appreciated because it does not detract from the seriousness of the subject matter in the book. The trials that Paul and Lucie face were realistic and at times heartbreaking. The history is accurate and while it is not a military story per se, as most of Sarah's other books have been, it is a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people trying to live their lives out as best they can under trying circumstances. The lines of demarcation between whom to trust or not are clear in this book. The only criticism I have for this book is that both Paul and Lucie have to escape from German soldiers forcibly holding them. Their escapes seem a bit super-human, but I'm not sure how I would have done it better. Toward the end of the book, the plot takes on a genuine sweetness that will gratify the readers of Sarah's books.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a beautiful little girl to tell you stories.

Revell Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

It’s always exciting to read a book by Ms. Sundin because I know I am going to be completely engaged in the story. This one did not disappoint as I was quickly transported to a sad, historical time in history. I loved getting to know Paul Aubrey, his precious four-year-old daughter and Lucie Girard. I cannot imagine having the bravery these characters had when faced with the challenges of occupied Paris and their resistance.

There were several times that I was fearful that they would be discovered and something horrible would happen to them. It’s a very emotional read which I loved for a change, it turned out to be a rather fast read for me simply because I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen in the lives of characters that became very dear to me.
Overall, I loved everything about this novel and of course I still find the author to be a masterful storyteller.
I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I know it's early in the year but this will probably make it to my favorites list for 2022. Author Sarah Sundin has written a beautiful story set in Paris during WWII. I enjoyed reading about the bookstore and it's issues, the resistance, and especially the difficulties of the Americans in the occupation. This was such a difficult time in the history of the world and I feel like I have learned even more from Ms. Sundin's writing.

I definitely enjoyed this WW2 story! I connected to Lucie and Paul right away and was rooting for them the whole time. My favourite was Josie and her stories about Feenee and Monsieur Meow, so cute and creative. There was a lot of build up to Lucie's story line with Paul and the bookshop, but not enough about them fleeing France. I would've liked a bit more on the escape, but overall it was an enjoyable read!

The Queen of World War II inspirational fiction does it again! She sweeps us into pre occupied France. As Germany starts to crack down on Paris as they slowly occupy them Lucie quits her Ballerina career to take over one of the last English bookstores still in the area. As a book lover who doesn't love a book about a bookstore! There is where she meets Paul, who owns and operates a car making factory. Both start resistance work against Germany. When both realize they are truly on the same side they come to truly understand and care for each other. The intrigue and resistance work kept me on the edge of my seat. I'm reminded once again the price that so many paid to keep the resistance running. The romance was so sweet. Lucie and Paul's isn't just a romantic love but a sacrificial love. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend. I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Vivid descriptions, gripping, heart-wrenching details combined with educational history of the occupation in Paris and heavy impact upon American expatriates expand the suspense of this historical fiction treasure by Sarah Sundin. She educates as well as entertains. Themes of danger vs. duty and how we treat those with differences of any type create thought-provoking discussions, even internally with the reader.

I received a copy of the book without obligation. This review is my opinion.

This book is the perfect balance of historical fiction during WWII and romance. I loved this book and was captivated from the first page. It has been awhile since I finished a book in one day! I found I loved both of our main characters and their different roles in the resistance against the germans soldiers who had a hold on their beloved city, Paris. I found this book really encapsulated what it would feel like to live in Paris during this time and I loved the intricate details the author included.

A good , clean story of Lucie, a ballet dancer turned bookstore owner, an automobile maker, at the beginning of World War II. Lucie buys her favorite bookstore when her trusted friends, who happen to be Jewish, have to go to America. She takes care of the bookstore, but soon learns the resistants are leaving messages in her books. She becomes a point of message trading, even though it is very dangerous. Paul in the meantime is viewed as a collaborator, even though he will purposefully sabotage his own trucks. They meet, and even though she doesn't immediately trust him because of his reputation, she can't help but like him, and she just loves his four year old daughter. It's a great story I enjoyed reading!

American Lucie Girard is a ballerina with the Paris Opera Ballet during the buildup to World War 2. As a favor to some friends who are fleeing Paris due to their Jewish faith, Lucie buys their bookshop. When the resistance wants to use the shop as a letterbox for passing messages in books, Lucie thinks ITV’s exciting. Paul Aubrey is a wealthy American car manufacturer. When he agrees to produce trucks for the Germans, he also agrees to pass along sensitive information when he turn in his weekly report to the US Embassy. A widower with a young daughter, Josie, Paul knows there will come a day when they both must free to America. When things start closing in, will Paul, Josie and Lucie escape to America in time and have a future together? Find out in this riveting tale by experienced World War 2 novel by experienced writer Sarah Sundin.

A likeable tale set during Paris in the early years of the Second World War. I enjoyed following the stories of Lucie and Paul and watching their growing love for one another. I was a little frustrated that some of the characters changed so much through something smaller that happened to them (Bernadette, for example) and I found it odd that the two other ballet dancers were mentioned frequently as being Lucie's roommates and yet she had next to no interaction with them for large chunks of the book, except when it felt as if they were needed again for plot points. If I was being particularly nit-picky, I would add that I disliked how very short the paragraphs all were - no more than two sentences and sometimes only one. I can understand that it helped to move the story along at a rapid clip, but it also gave the impression of it being a more slight story than it deserved.
Thank you, Revell, for this complimentary copy of Until Leaves Fall in Paris. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris

by Sarah Sundin

Revell

Rated: 4

Back of the Book: “As the Nazis march toward Paris in 1940, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. Lucie struggles to run Green Leaf Books due to oppressive German laws and harsh conditions, but she finds a way to aid the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books.
Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. After they meet in the bookstore, Paul and Lucie are drawn to each other, but she rejects him when she discovers he sells to the Germans. And for Paul to win her trust would mean betraying his mission.
Master of WWII-era fiction Sarah Sundin invites you onto the streets of occupied Paris to discover whether love or duty will prevail.”

Impressions: Who can you trust? There is no easy way to determine friend or foe during the war. Lucie and Paul put their faith in the Lord as they navigate the Nazi’s invasion of Paris. Without knowing who to trust they find that showing love to others opens the door to an unexpected relationship with each other. I enjoyed the beginning and middle of this book but felt the ending felt too put together. The shift from being under Nazi control to having freedom would have been a very interesting transition. Having experienced the loss of freedom and then being immersed into a people who’ve not experienced such loss would be challenging. Overall this was an interesting book with intrigue, suspense, and romance.

Quotes: “’ Nothing of any worth lies on the easy path.’”

“’ Remember sometimes we have to lose what we most love before we can find what we most need.’”

“’ So embracing discipline is a way of embracing God.’”

“’ If I were to ban sinners from this church, the pews would be empty. So would the pulpit.’”

“’ You’re not stupid, not in the slightest. Do not confuse education with intelligence.’”

“’ If you can imagine it, you can work for it. And if you work for it, someday you might be able to achieve it.’”

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review shared here.

Until Leaves Fall In Paris by Sarah Sundin is such a powerful WWII fiction to read. It is written so clearly that is is easy to see the fear the people must have lived through at that time. I kept reading this book to see what was going to happen. This story did a great job of showing how the Nazis slowly took control of Paris and how it got control of those living and working there. Lucie could not sell certain books and Paul was forced to make vehicles that could be used to benefit the Nazis. It was interesting to see how Paul and his daughter were treated by those from their church. And how Paul and Lucie had to hide their true relationship to survive.

I can’t begin to imagine what it was like for those who lived through these events, the strength the needed to survive. The trust they needed to have to survive while fleeing to safety and the faith they needed to know they would reunite with family. This is a great book that gives just a small glimpse as to what it may have been like for those who lived in Paris in the 1940. This story has suspense and a touch of romance.

I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this story from Net Galley and Revell Publishing. This is my honest review.