Gripping
The Last War Orphan by Jenna Ness is a gripping historical read that I just could not put down. It is the second book in the Orphans Of St Agnes series. The books need to be read in order as they follow on immediately from each other.
The series is set in France during World War II. This book sees two of the three orphans returning to Paris in order to be re-united with the third, Lucie, who had fled back to the only home she had ever known – the orphanage. Unfortunately, this is now occupied by a leading figure in the Nazi party. The reader witnesses the snake-like nature of a man who pretends to be-friend Lucie. Lucie has a caring, trusting nature, and this could lead to a downfall.
We learn what makes a family. “She was still my sister, by love if not blood.” Love unites very different characters who become one big family – added to one abandoned baby at a time.
Nazi-occupied Paris was a dangerous place to be – especially when a long-held grudge is chased. Characters did whatever they could in their fight for Paris, and for France.
We see that not all Germans are Nazis; and not all French people are patriotic. Some are out for personal gain.
Jenna Ness has created another fabulous novel that is both gripping and intriguing. The reader’s nerves are put to the test as the deeper we read, the more invested we become. I look forward to the third and final book in the trilogy.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
Buy link: https://geni.us/B0FC5Q4NC6social
I look down at the baby abandoned on my doorstep this morning. This little one knows nothing yet of the hatred taking over Paris. My arms tighten around her. I will keep her safe, no matter what…
Paris, 1940. Lucie is the last child left at St Agnes’ Orphanage when the building is taken over by German soldiers. Forced to cook and clean for the men using her beloved home as their headquarters, she has stifled her instinct to rebel, instead scrubbing floors in the silent halls that were once filled with warmth and laughter. But when she finds a tiny baby bundled up in blankets on the front step, everything changes…
Desperate to protect the child, Lucie finds an unlikely ally in one of the officers living at the orphanage. From the moment he steps in to shield her from a group of soldiers threatening her on the street, she can tell that Klaus is different. There’s an unexpected warmth in his smile, and the quiet kindness he shows her and the baby is a world away from the cold indifference she is used to.
But Klaus has a secret. And when Lucie discovers that he has been helping the Parisian resistance efforts against the Nazis, her heart leaps at his bravery, but aches at the terrible danger he is in. Holding the baby close, they run for their lives in the dead of night, desperate to start a new life together. But before they reach safety, they hear shouts behind them… Will they make it to freedom? Or will their love story be stamped out before it’s even begun?
For fans of Roberta Kagan, Kristin Hannah and Kelly Rimmer comes an utterly heart-wrenching novel about incredible courage and love against the odds that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.
Jenna Ness’s debut historical novel, THE HOME FOR WAR ORPHANS, is the first in a World War II-set trilogy about orphan girls faced with a heartbreaking choice: will they surrender to the anguish of war, or courageously fight for themselves and those they love? Under a pseudonym, Jenna has also sold four million romance novels in twenty different languages and is a USA Today-bestselling author.
She lives in Idaho with her family and two dogs who follow her like ducklings from her desk to the fridge – Cosmo, a badly behaved Labrador-Collie mix, and Scootie, a chunky Chihuahua.
Jess Readett
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