The Milliner's Secret surprised me. I didn't think I was going to like it - how wrong I was.

Cora Masson works in a hat factory in England; her life holds few pleasures. She works long hours to save money and invariably has all that she has earned taken by her drunken violent father.


During a rare day out at the races with her friend Donal, she encounters a handsome stranger, Dietrich von Ebling; to escape her home life she travels to France with him. Once there she reinvents herself as Coralie de Lirac, fabricating an aristocratic background to launch herself as a fashionable milliner.

Set in Paris from 1937 through to 1944 the Evans weaves in the political turmoil of the war years, black market gangsters, conspiracies, revenge and love into a detailed multifaceted novel. She successfully creates a story that is bigger than just the relationship between Coralie and Dietrich and engages the reader thoroughly with the secondary characters.

The real surprise for me was that when I started this book I thought I was going to hate it. The book opens in a seedy, smoky, French nightclub complete with sleezy bar owner (who's a criminal), the requisite SS and other German military. There is nothing wrong with beginning like this, but it reminded me of so many movies and clichéd ridden books that already exist, that it had me worried for what was to come.

I KEPT READING and I am so glad that I did. This became a book that I couldn’t put down and I wound up loving it.

Evans writes great characters. They are complex. They make mistakes. Coralie is impetuous and, at times, appallingly naive, and this often causes her great problems. There were moments when I wanted to scream at her and times I just loved her – all because Evan’s writing hooked me. Dietrich himself is a flawed hero who is, however, endlessly forgiving of Coralie. (The number of times they break up and get back together must be some kind of record.)

What I really liked is that, romance aside, the subplots and detail of the other characters is excellent. Very occasionally I was aware I was being "told" information, which lifted me out of the story – namely historic details, which perhaps were needed for some readers. However those moments were very brief. The horrendous political events of WWII – arrests, concentration camps, starvation and daily struggle to survive, the rise of the resistance, courage, endurance and inevitable loss are all very skilfully woven together. Evans covers a lot here and it doesn’t feel like she’s trying to do too much in one story.

I was well aware as I read what direction story was going to take in regard to its end point, but I HAD to finish and when I finished I felt a profound sense of sorrow that the journey was over. I haven’t felt that way about a book in long while.

Thank you Natalie Meg Evans.

Four Stars! ( )

The Milliner's Secret surprised me. I didn't think I was going to like it - how wrong I was.

Cora Masson works in a hat factory in England; her life holds few pleasures. She works long hours to save money and invariably has all that she has earned taken by her drunken violent father.


During a rare day out at the races with her friend Donal, she encounters a handsome stranger, Dietrich von Ebling; to escape her home life she travels to France with him. Once there she reinvents herself as Coralie de Lirac, fabricating an aristocratic background to launch herself as a fashionable milliner.

Set in Paris from 1937 through to 1944 the Evans weaves in the political turmoil of the war years, black market gangsters, conspiracies, revenge and love into a detailed multifaceted novel. She successfully creates a story that is bigger than just the relationship between Coralie and Dietrich and engages the reader thoroughly with the secondary characters.

The real surprise for me was that when I started this book I thought I was going to hate it. The book opens in a seedy, smoky, French nightclub complete with sleezy bar owner (who's a criminal), the requisite SS and other German military. There is nothing wrong with beginning like this, but it reminded me of so many movies and clichéd ridden books that already exist, that it had me worried for what was to come.

I KEPT READING and I am so glad that I did. This became a book that I couldn’t put down and I wound up loving it.

Evans writes great characters. They are complex. They make mistakes. Coralie is impetuous and, at times, appallingly naive, and this often causes her great problems. There were moments when I wanted to scream at her and times I just loved her – all because Evan’s writing hooked me. Dietrich himself is a flawed hero who is, however, endlessly forgiving of Coralie. (The number of times they break up and get back together must be some kind of record.)

What I really liked is that romance aside, the subplots and detail of the other characters is excellent. Very occasionally I was aware I was being "told" information, which lifted me out of the story – namely historic details, which perhaps were needed for some readers. However those moments were very brief. The horrendous political events of WWII – arrests, concentration camps, starvation and daily struggle to survive, the rise of the resistance, courage, endurance and inevitable loss are all very skilfully woven together. Evans covers a lot here and it doesn’t feel like she’s trying to do too much in one story.

I was well aware as I read what direction story was going to take in regard to its end point, but I HAD to finish and when I finished I felt a profound sense of sorrow that the journey was over. I haven’t felt that way about a book in long while.

Thank you Natalie Meg Evans.

Four Stars! ( )

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Review will be added later.

I was first drawn to this book by the cover. The gorgeous colors and figure dressed so prettily caught my attention while browsing future Amazon titles. When I saw it offered on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read and review. For the most part, expectations were met.

The character of Coralie took some getting used to. In the beginning, she read as a shallow diva out only to further her dreams and poo to everyone else. I found myself feeling no sympathy for her at all. Yet, once the crap hit the fan and everything happened to her in Paris, my opinion of her did a turn around. Her tenacity, pluck, and intelligence shined as she conquered the fashion world of Paris during the dark days of WWII, survived multiple brushes with danger, and built a life for herself.

I also enjoyed the overall storyline. The shifting alliances, shadowy Resistance activities, and the daily life in a war-torn city kept me engaged throughout. She balances the intimate of her character’s inner thoughts with the broader spectrum of events like the deportation of Jews and the assassination plot against Hitler to create a well-balanced whole. That’s a rare gift with a book this size and was well-appreciated by this reader.

The one thing I didn’t appreciate was how much melodrama was packed into the story in the second half, especially around Coralie’s and Dietrich’s relationship. It’s “off again, on again” pattern happened so many times that I lost count. There was enough drama with the spy/Resistance thriller elements that this constant soap opera quality was unneeded.

I also felt that the ending was rushed, due to the amount of page space dedicated to the melodrama. This book would have benefited from more resolution than one wimpy epilogue and final chapter and less see-sawing relationships.

An engrossing tale of resistance and love in Nazi France, this book looks to please all lovers of the genre. You’ll get behind the characters as life happens and grow to love the amazing story. While melodrama and a lackluster resolution do bog down the works a bit, I’d not let that stop you from checking out this book. I look forward to checking out the author’s other work, which I hear ties into this one.

Note: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )