Well what a real gem of a book! I sobbed my heart out with emotion and have rung myself dry.. I felt for all the characters and cried and screamed for them

Loved the fact that this book covered the lesser known but equally devastating treatment of the Romany population. The Nazis went all out to destroy this community but people like the fictional Ben and Mila helped to stop them achieving this aim. Harrowing material but dealt with very sensitively by an amazing author. All Ryan's books are fabulous.

my first read of a Shari Ryan book and it was intense. I love books about WWII, and the atrocities the Nazis committed. It is so sad to realize how depraved mankind can be, solely based on ideological beliefs. I requested this book because of the two main characters. A young Jewish boy and a Romani girl. who risk everything for their love. The Nazis invade Czechoslovakia and take away Ben's family and Mila manages to hide away. The story is told from both Ben and Mila's pov.

This story had me pulling at my heartstrings. It's a book I loved to hate. I read it knowing full well that it would make me cry, but it's worth it.

Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Shari Ryan!
This is my second read of Ryan’s and definitely won’t be my last.
The author has a way of pulling you in from the get go leaving you entranced until the very last page. The story’s characters are well developed on both ends of the spectrum. How can you not love gentle Mila and love to hate Tobias!

A heartbreaking yet compelling story of the life and persecution the Jewish and Romani people faced during the Nazi invasion.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Ms. Ryan has a way of writing books that make me feel the emotions the heroine goes through and Mila is no exception. Mila is the maid that falls for the son, Ben, of the family she works for. for. When Hilter's army invades everything changes. You need to read this to see what happens, does love prevail and Ben and Milla live that happy-ever-after dream or does Hilter's military break them apart?

One thing about Ms. Ryan as an author is she can pull you into the story and I think her stories are very creative. The ones I have read have always been WWII stories, but they have all been unique.

I read a lot of WWII fiction novels, and Shari Ryan’s are some of the better. She gets to know her characters and draws their strengths out in wonderful words. Although the setting is bleak, hope glimmers past despair, bravery triumphs, and courage, love beats them all. All of these emotions are contained in this one book told through the eyes of Jewish Ben and Romany Gypsy Mila. The Maid’s Secret is a strong and heart-wrenching read both at the same time.

As the daughter of a gypsy family, Mila is sadly used to prejudice. It is only by chance that she becomes a maid in the home of a wealthy Jewish family in Czechoslovakia, and eventually falls in love with their son, Ben. Forbidden love is one thing, but forbidden love with Hitler and the Nazis closing in is another, and soon Ben is arrested and Mila is on the run.

After reading The Lieutenant's Girl by the same author, I knew I wanted to read more of her books and The Maid's Secret jumped out to me the moment I read the description. It definitely does not disappoint, drawing the reader into Mila and Ben's story immediately while worrying for their future together, knowing the the Nazis are closing in. The novel also draws in another aspect of World War 2 that is often forgotten, the persecution of the Romani as well as the Jews in Europe. While many people know the main goals of Nazi Germany, they are less likely to realize the other groups the Nazis were looking to eliminate. Ryan does a great job adding to this knowledge with Mila's story.

I just love Shari J. Ryan’s books and The Maid’s Secret did not disappoint.

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

I love Mila and Ben’s relationship

This was a very beautiful, powerful, and heartbreaking book. I would love to see this book made into a movie. I enjoyed the dual POV aspect which added another dimension to the story.

The Maid’s Secret by Shar J Ryan is set during World War 2. I liked this story but I honestly found it a bit predictable at times and it’s not a book I would be in a rush to read a second time.

This book started off a little slow, but then by the end I wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters. The courage and strength shown despite the difficulties faced, the desire to keep living and enduring was moving. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. This was a different take on a Jewish family and it included a group of people who I haven’t read a WWII book about the Romani, it was very interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mila and Ben are in love in a time when the Nazi regime is breathing down their necks to invade Bohemia and destroy all in their path. When Ben is arrested for the single crime of being Jewish, Mila goes into hiding, hoping to survive and be reunited with Ben at the end of this horror. Well written historical fiction.

The Maid’s Secret by Shari J Ryan provides the reader with a really deep insight into how those who were targets or victims of Hitler’s needless persecution coped with the dreadful circumstances they were forced to endure throughout the duration of World War Two. I have read a lot of historical fiction books where Jewish people were the focus, detailing how they suffered but here a slightly different angle was presented to the reader as another sector of society featured. That being the Romani/Gypsy community and although I had previously read brief mentions, in a line or two, of the Romani community being sent to concentration camps I had never heard specifically from their perspective and that’s where our main female character, Mila, comes into play. It was fascinating to read of how Mila, from a marginalised sector of society herself marries into the Jewish community and she in fact becomes the one who seems to have the upper hand so to speak when it comes to the persecution of those not deemed worthy by Hitler to walk upon the earth.

September 1938 and Mila travels with her family through Bohemia not far from the Czechoslovakian boarder. They have reached their stopping point where other Romani families have set up camp. She has one sister and two brothers and her father is a horse trader. When his latest deal is complete he returns and says he has found work for Mila at a local estate for a Jewish family. She must tend to the two horses and act as maid in the house. Mila, although perturbed by what her father has asked her to do seeing as she is so used to the nomadic lifestyle, doesn’t seem that overly worried that her father volunteered her for this job. From the outset, I found Mila to be wise beyond her years. She had a good, solid head on her shoulders and could view life from many perspectives. She hoped that one day people would learn from their past mistakes and that people wouldn’t be treated differently because of their race or religion but times are tough with the new race laws introduced in Germany and soon German occupied territories and the family Mila goes to work for find themselves the target of said laws and their lives are changed forever.

Ben lives with his parents Hanna and Josef and brothers Tobias, Filip and Pavel. They own an estate and have lived a very comfortable life. Mila must keep secret that she is a member of the Romani community as certain members of the family show their prejudice very easily. But how will they feel when the tables are turned on them and they became the focus of racial hatred all because of their religion? There is a sense of uncertainty and foreboding throughout the book. Yes there are light moments as Mila and Ben grow closer and initially keep things secret from his family and the time they share stolen moments with the horses but overall there is a lot of darkness as the threat of Hitler extends ever further and more and more ludicrous laws are introduced.

When Mila discovers her family have disappeared, her heart is torn in two and now she knows she is on her own but Ben steps into the breach and is there for her. He is the complete anthesis to his other family members. He seemed more down to earth and willing to accept people for who they were. I do think their relationship was very rushed, it was like they met and married all within a few chapters and I questioned would this have happened in real life and would someone from the Romani community really have married into a wealthy family?

As soon as Mila became a family member it was clear that she would face a difficult road and really all the characters that featured due to their religion or race and the way the war was developing that pain and suffering were ahead of them. As the family’s world grows ever smaller due to the laws and restrictions Mila took on an important role that would hopefully save the estate and she deserved nothing but admiration for this. Given how Tobias especially viewed her if it had been me I wouldn’t have been so selfless but it really did show the love she had for Ben. Their love became all consuming but fate was to tear them apart. For simply being Jewish Ben was arrested and taken to a camp. I felt Mila really stepped up a gear here in her role within the family. Other circumstances meant that Hanna fell apart and it was up to Mila to step into the breech and take control. Again this is where I felt she was mature beyond her years as Hanna could be very cold, bitter and spiteful. Mila rose to the occasion and made many sacrifices all because her love of Ben was deep and true. But whether they can survive the tempest they find themselves in and the horrific conditions of the camps full of death and disease well you will have to read this interesting and emotive story to discover the answers.

The book overall is quite slow and doesn’t ever build a huge momentum but still despite this it is a good read. The last quarter or so of the book it did feel that details were rushed through quickly. This seems the opposite to what I have just said but it’s not that the pace picked up and the story became full of twists and turns it’s more that I found years seemed to pass within a page or two without anything specific happening or else it felt like details were glossed over as if the author knew the book needed to come to a conclusion and she had to get the characters to a certain point quite quickly. But I will say the epilogue made up for this and it provided a good amount of detail as to what happened next and I was glad I wasn’t left in limbo with many unanswered questions. It helped provide the reader with a satisfactory ending and showed some good did come out of the most horrific situation.

The Maid’s Secret is a story of forbidden love and going against the rules and regulations of society in a time when it was very dangerous to do so. The characters show immense bravery, courage and strength and do their best to keep going when all the odds are very much stacked against them. It was a good read although perhaps some of the previous books by this author would be my favourite.

My first Shari J. Ryan book, and I would love to read more of her work!
The WW2 genre is heavily saturated in my opinion, and I think new books need some unknown situations or facts to stand out.
A Romany maid falls in love with a Jew, and this scenario hadn't even entered my head, but this novel serves to remind us that it wasn't just Jewish people who were persecuted by the Nazis.
Ryan writes with emotion and compassion, making you love her characters and will them to survive their trauma.

Also shared to my Facebook and Twitter pages Curling up with a Coffee and a Kindle

This novel is based in Czechoslovakia at the beginning of WWII. Mila is a Romany and Ben a Jew who's family are wealthy. This is their story. The author is brilliant at telling us historical novels but I felt this particular one was a slow burner. I wasn't gripped by it but at the same time, I wanted to go on the characters journey with them..

Although this is a work of fiction, the author has excelled in adding so much detail and history to the story to make it so believable.

Set in Czechoslovakia, this is tale of forbidden love in the midst of the most trying of times.

Ben and Mila having everything going against them. Mila is from a Romani family, while Ben is a Jew. She’s a maid in his father’s house. Yet both of them see beyond the obvious and set aside the prejudices of their families and society and fall deeply in love.

As World War 2 rages on and the Germans start to invade the country and persecute the Jews, this couple and their family, attempt to hold things together. Will they succeed or will they lose to the forces of evil that threatens their lives and all they hold dear?

Will hope and love triumph over evil?

An absolute heartbreaking story that had me in tears more than once.

Mila and her family were Romany gypsies, travelling from place to place, leaving when the nearby townsfolk wished them gone. Their arrival at a small clearing not far from a town saw Mila's father leave immediately to sell two horses to the family at a nearby manor. When he was there, he and the owner struck a deal which would see Mila care for the horses, also working in the big house as a maid. Times were hard with the war having recently begun and the residents of the small Czechoslovakian town were uneasy. The owners of the estate, Mister and Misses Bohdan and their four sons, were Jewish and were as concerned as all the Jews in the area.

Mila and the second eldest son, Benedikt, spent time together, working with the horses and they gradually fell in love. Mixed marriages were one of the rules the Germans were strict about, and it wasn't long before they took Ben away, to the devastation of Mila and his family. Would Mila ever see Ben again? Mila was strong and determined but gypsies were also being taken away...

The Maid's Secret is another excellent, heartbreaking historical novel by Shari J. Ryan, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ben and Mila were well crafted characters, as were Pavel and Filip and their father. Tobias I wanted to smack, as well as his mother! A different story of the war, set in Czechoslovakia with Romany gypsies and Jewish characters - but still, the horrors were all the same! Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Czechoslovakia, 1940: This was such a trying and horrible time for so many people. People that were Jewish during this time lived in immediate danger, and feared for their life. Mila Leon’s father had sold a couple of horses to Benedikt Bohden’s father and Mila and Ben became friends. Eventually Mila became a maid and she worked for Ben’s family. Mila and Ben grew closer together and their only hope was each other. His family was Jewish and his life was about to change forever. Every day they would listen to the news on an old radio. At every breath they feared for their lives, wondering if they would survive the night. One horrific night the Nazi soldiers come knock on the door and they usher Ben into a wagon headed to a horrible camp. Mila is beside herself, with the love of her life imprisoned with thousands of others. But Mila refuses to give up hope and is hanging on to the love that they have for each other, knowing that is what brings them through surviving another day.

I was absolutely humbled by this amazing story. I was completely broken by this story written so vividly with such emotion. I was full of hope for Mila and Ben and I felt like I was the only one that was rooting for them, the only one that was on their side. I felt such pride with them and I loved their courage. This story grabbed me from the very beginning and didn’t let my heart go until the very end. I was so completely emotional and so heartbroken. By far a complete favorite of mine, I’m actually speechless. This phenomenal unputdownable book is a must read and I highly recommend it.

Wow, thank you so much, Shari J. Ryan, for such an amazing, incredible and indescribable story. This is one I will never forget. I loved it.

This is where Shari Ryan truly excels. The importance of history is to learn how not to repeat it. But for many, history is dull or difficult to deal with. Storytelling like this brings us the history in such a way that you are completely transfixed by the characters and their landscapes. You become so wrapped up in their lives, dreams and hopes that you keep reading all the difficult parts with so much hope. Hope they will survive all the atrocities that are visited on them simply by virtue of their birth. While we know that Mila and Ben's story is fiction, it still gives you a view of what so many people and families had to deal with during those turbulent years. This story is one well worth reading, whether or not historical fiction is your favorite.

As usual this is the latest brilliant novel by Shari Ryan. She has a way of writing that is full of empathy while telling the harrowing stories of her characters.
If you like historical fiction, then I recommend this book.