Synopsis

A LOVE STORY SET AGAINST THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Nicole Vogel survived childhood in a Paris orphanage by holding to her dreams of one day becoming a great hat designer. Inspired by the ideal of the pursuit of happiness, she has become a gifted millinery apprentice by day and a street revolutionary by night. In the treasonous world of coffee houses and night rebellions, she meets Luc Chatillon, the only son of a family that has made great wealth breeding thoroughbreds for the royal stables.

Luc, recently returned from America, is inspired by the notion of liberty and freedom. Still, caught in the mores of his wealthy father’s world of arranged marriages and conventional mistresses, he has become cynical about love and marriage. In Nicole he finds the strength and purpose he craves for his own life.

As their passion intensifies, secrets from Nicole’s past emerge, which could send her to the guillotine. She must decide if she can truly depend on Luc as dangerous intrigues threaten to destroy her and those she loves.

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Review

I enjoy historical fiction because if researched properly, it can be educational as well as entertaining.

This story is set in revolutionary France, specifically Paris. The novel melds political uprising with a love story and proves that true love will win out in the end despite the atrocities of war.

Nicole is an orphan that has a talent for designing hats for the ladies of Paris. In a way, I’m envious of the fashion of this time and can only imagine having a closet full of hats to wear on a daily basis. I loved the descriptions of the hats that we are given and could picture them in my mind. Despite her talent, she can’t remember much about her past, and the few things she thinks that she remembers she questions because no one can validate her memories. There is a long story to this and it is revealed towards the end of the books. Let’s just say I felt bad for Nicole and was ashamed of the others that could have told her the truth years ago.

Luc is trapped in an engagement he doesn’t want with a woman that he really doesn’t love. The woman he is engaged to, Georgette, has her own issues and can be downright nasty when she isn’t getting her way. Luc thinks that he might have to end up marrying Georgette, that is until he meets Nicole and the sparks fly. He is willing to defy his family to seek a relationship with Nicole. The two do love each other, but life and the revolution do get in the way at times.

There are so many intricate storylines woven into this tale and each one adds depth and dimension to the novel. Besides Luc and Nicole, there is Gus the milliner that Nicole is apprenticing under, Antoine who is in the fight to free France from the aristocracy, Nicole’s friend Aimee from the orphanage, and so many more. Each character and their story adds dimension and complexity while showing another side to the times and the battle to emerge out from under the King of France.

This story kept me engaged and I wanted to know what happened next for Nicole and Luc. Perhaps there will be a follow-up book for these two.

We give it 5 paws up.

About the Authors

Mary-Kate Summers is the writing team of Mary Janelle Melvin and Kate Evans.

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