Cleo Davenport is a very interesting character - told she's an orphan, left at Cairo’s Shepheard’s Hotel she's called "Princess" by the hotel community. Is she really the Prince of Wales' daughter? She goes on a search to find out that lasts the length of the book. When she turns 17, she's sent to London with an aunt to prepare for her debut. However, there is something more interesting to her than ballroom etiquette. She loves jewels and wants to become a jewelry designer. However, it's her search for her father that is the main story. There is also a secondary story with Brodie - also raised at the hotel with Cleo and sent to London with her. His story takes him to many places without Cleo, but they always come back together.

It's a well crafted story that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next. The characters are wonderful and there is so much going on to keep you entertained.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

The Royal Windsor Secret by Christine Wells is a stellar piece of historical fiction.
I enjoyed reading this historical story.
This is my first book by this author which I enjoyed from beginning to end.
I absolutely adored this novel and was fully engrossed in the story, the characters and settings, and the lovely descriptions from the first page to the last.
Great writing and attention to detail.
This is a beautifully told story, rich in historical detail and larger-than-life characters. A captivating tale of a young woman who sets out to discover the truth about her mysterious past.
The research that was completed for this book is well demonstrated throughout the book through the details.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and William Morrow for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

The Royal Windsor Secret is a story of self-discovery. Abandoned as a baby, 17-year-old Cleo Davenport longs to discover who her birth parents are. Upon hearing a rumor that the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) is her father, she sets out to learn the truth.

What I liked:
Cleo’s character
The historical settings and events in Cairo, Paris, Lisbon, and London.
The mystery surrounding Marguerite Fahmy

What I didn’t like:
The large time jumps. The story started slow, picked up a bit, then felt very rushed at the end.
Given the synopsis and the title, I had expected much more royal scandal. It felt very minor in the grand scheme of the novel.

I will say that I did predict the “twist” towards the end and I felt like it was brushed over quickly. I honestly think Cleo would have had a more significant reaction.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story about Cleo learning who she is and honing her talents during an interesting time in history. While the timing of this story spans before, during and after WWII, it is not at all a WWII novel. I believe "The Royal Windsor Secret" is even a deceptive title. Cleo grew up with an "aunt" at a hotel in Egypt and there have always been rumors that the Prince of Wales could be her father. The storyline regarding the Prince of Wales/King Edward VIII/the Duke of Windsor was intriguing to me but it didn't even feel like the main focus of the novel. It was just a joy to follow along as Cleo grew and searched for her purpose in life. Her passion is designing jewelry and there is a lot of talk about gemstones and related topics throughout the story. I thought it added to the depth of Cleo's character to learn more about what she loves. Toward the end, I did feel it all became a bit gimicky as one plot point resolved by throwing every possibility in to get the resolution. Over all, I still enjoyed my reading experience and recommend this to historical fiction readers.

The Royal Windsor Secret is out September 12th!! Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for my e-arc!

I enjoy Historical Fiction, but I really enjoy Royal Historical Fiction so I was excited to get an ARC of this book. This one started off slow for me but after a few chapters I started getting more into it. If you know about Maggie Meller, aka Princess Fahmy, she is also in this book. This book takes place just before WWII through after. Cleo was dropped off at a doorstep as a baby in Cairo. She has no idea who her real parents are but she is raised quite well off. She grows up in the Shepheard's Hotel. Cleo moves to London for her to be introduced for the season. She gets involved with Marguerite Meller, who tells her that she is her mother and the then Prince of Wales is her father. She is excited to meet the now King Edward VIII but also extremely nervous. She desperately wants to know where she came from. King Edward VIII has now abdicated and Cleo gets sent to be a secretary for Wallis Simpson and to keep an eye on the now Duke of Windsor. She wants to confront him but what will he say or do? I ended up enjoying this book. A kind of What If scenario.

An interesting take on the Windsors, "The Royal Windsor Secret" revolves around the heroine, Cleo Davenport, and the mystery surrounding her parentage. Cleo was abandoned as a baby on the steps of the famous Shepherd's Hotel in Cairo, and adopted by a well-to-do lady scholar, and rumors abound as to who she really is, among them the illegitimate daughter of Prince Edward, Prince of Wales. Cleo is fascinated by jewelry design, and when she leaves Cairo with her "aunt" to take part in the London Season, she takes full advantage of her time in Paris to make connections with the famed house of Cartier. A inside look at Europe between the wars, Cleo goes from Cairo to Paris, London, the south of France and beyond to try and discover who she is, and more importantly who she wants to be.

Wonderful historical fiction set in Egypt, Portugal, France, and British Isles. The book starts in Cairo as we meet young Cleo, the heroine of our story. She is and orphan who has fortunately been taken into the care of some generous aristocrats. Cleo has lived a carefree life until she is taken to France/England to prepare for her debut into society.

I enjoyed reading about the different designers and places as she visits. The back story of a Cleo gets to begin her task of becoming a jewelry designer and finding out about her birth parents. It had been rumored that she is the love child of The Prince of Wales. The backstory from the popular courtesan adds to the intrigue.

The story takes us through the war, the scandal of the abdication of the Englands King and some of the aftermath of the war. One becomes vested in the core characters and the glimpse of romantic possibilities. All of this combined makes for a memorable and enjoyable read. Thank you netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

The Royal Windsor Secret by Christine Wells is a delightful trip into the England of the 1930’s, as they prepare for war and mourn the loss of a king. Against this background comes Cleo Davenport. Cleo is an orphan determined to find her parents and learn why she was literally left on the doorstep of Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo. While she was raised by a wealthy woman and had great friends at the hotel, especially a young groom named Brodie, she still felt there was something missing. She needed to find her roots. She finally discovers the name of the maid who left her at the hotel. When both Cleo and Brodie end up in London under the care of Lord and Lady Grayson, she puts her investigative skills to work and sets out to find her biological parents. What an adventure she has. Along with way Cleo meets many interesting characters, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Marguerite, a first-class courtesan, to name a few. This novel reads like a mystery as well as a historical novel. When I started reading, I thought it was going to be just another “romance novel”, but it is much more. Christine Wells does a terrific job describing the manners and history of this era. A truly enjoyable read.

A glorious new novel by one of my fav authors, featuring intrigue around the parentage of Cleo Davenport, possibly the daughter of the Duke of Windsor long before Wallis Simpson came on the scene. The riveting tale transports readers from England to Cairo to Paris as WWII nears. Histfic fans will love it, as I did!

The premise of the story caught my eye and I think I was expecting something other than what I read. I found the story to slow and not enough build up for the romance. This would be a perfect book for someone who likes a slow burn and likes to read small chucks of a story at a time.

A young girl grows up not knowing her true parents. She needs to know who she is. She also wants to be independent and aspires to be a jeweler, with her talent she sketches designs in hopes of one day fulfilling her dreams.

This novel has it all: scandal, romance, mystery of who Cloe’s parents are, war and jewels, oh so many jewels. I enjoyed how this book surprised me. Cloe’s life interested me. Her character development was perfect. I liked watching her grow from a child to an independent woman. I enjoyed the romance as well as the war aspects in this novel also, it wasn’t overpowering. I also liked seeing how rotten Marguerite’s character was. She was very well written to be the character I loved to hate. Thank you NetGalley and William Marrow for an ARC.

A fun quick read with some intrigue. The characters were sometimes hard to get into. The setting was fun and interesting. Overall all not bad read.

Truly enjoyable historical fiction set just before the start of the second world war and ending in the early fifties. The book follows the life of a young girl and her travels, loves and a life well lived under not so usual circumstances.

Thank you to Net Galley and William Morrow for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are my own. I liked the beautiful descriptions of the jewelry making, and the descriptions of the settings. I also liked the fact that the Royals were involved in this story. What I didn't like was the flow of the story-it seemed there were so many plot lines and none of them were explored enough to truly draw me into the story. Overall, this is a good historical fiction read, but I found parts of it really long.

This was an interesting look at WWII in Cairo, Paris and Britain. The sense of place was very good, and the descriptions of jewelry making were unique to me. However it seemed overly long.

The Royal Windsor Secret follows the story of Cleo, who is told she was an orphan but has been brought up under the guidance of the wealthy, even being called Princess. She has a deep need to know who her parents are, especially whether or not the Prince of Wales is her father. As she sets forth on her journey to become a jewelry designer, the question of her parentage continues to linger.

I enjoyed that The Royal Windsor Secret is a bit mysterious. There’s more to the story of Cleo’s parentage than she knows, and it’s hard to know whose story to trust. Cleo’s a determined, unfiltered young lady and I had no doubt she could achieve whatever she set her mind to.

Overall, this book is quite the journey. I’d recommend it for those who like a little mystery to their history, have interest in jewelry making and love a good historical fiction book!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and independent publicist Angela Melamud for the opportunity to read this book. The review expresses my own opinions.

Cleo Davenport has lived at her childhood home, a luxury hotel in Cairo with her aunt as she does not know her biological parents. The rumor is her mom had an affair with the Duke of Windsor, but no one will tell her the truth. As she grows into adulthood, she is sent to London and Paris to be introduced into society. From there she'll be presented to the Duke and question her heritage. Is she a royal? All the while the WWII is starting to break out and things among society changes and she's forced to join the war efforts keeping her away from her true passion, jewelry.

A well written book despite the numerous plot lines happening. A quick easy read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Cleo is a compelling main character, searching for her birth story as well as for a place in the world of jewelry design. I appreciated the various settings, including a setting and storyline in Egypt with which I was unfamiliar. While I normally enjoy dual timelines/perspectives, Marguerite Fahmy's story was just okay for me, even though she seemed to be a fascinating person.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC. Christine Well's earlier novel, Sisters of the Resistance, was my first ARC on NetGalley ever! The Royal Windsor Secret is another great historical fiction novel. I loved learning about WWII Cairo because I feel as though that is not often a focus of mainstream WWII writing. Cleo and Brodie were lovely. In spots, it felt like there were too many side characters to keep track of but overall I think the way in which Wells took this character of Marguerite Alibert and spun out a whole narrative from her was incredibly deftly done and well developed.

I loved this book. The history that was built into it is AMAZING!!! It kept me guessing the whole time!!! Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read!!