The Socialite (J’Nell Ciesielski) – Review + Giveaway

Posted 4 June 2020 by Katie in Christian Fiction, Historical, Review, Romance / 6 Comments

Title: The Socialite
Author: J’Nell Ciesielski
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release date: 14 April 2020
Pages: 368

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About the Book

Glamour, treachery, and espionage collide when an English socialite rushes to save her sister from the Nazis.

As the daughter of Sir Alfred Whitford, Kat has a certain set of responsibilities. But chasing her wayward sister, Ellie, to Nazi-occupied Paris was never supposed to be one of them. Now accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle that her Nazi boyfriend provides, Ellie has no intention of going back to the shackled life their parents dictate for them—but Kat will stop at nothing to bring her sister home.

Arrested for simply trying to defend himself against a drunken bully, Barrett Anderson is given the option of going to jail or serving out his sentence by training Resistance fighters in Paris. A bar owner serves as the perfect disguise to entertain Nazis at night while training fighters right below their jackboots during the day. Being assigned to watch over two English debutantes is the last thing he needs, but a payout from their father is too tempting to resist. Can Barrett and Kat trust each other long enough to survive, or will their hearts prove more traitorous than the dangers waiting around the corner?

Excerpt

“You might want to stand back.”
Kat jumped. “Who’s there?”
A large shadow swung over the balcony and dropped next to her. She screamed.
“Shh! You’ll wake the neighbors.”
A second scream caught in Kat’s throat as she stumbled back into the rail. The shadow leaped forward, catching her around the waist. Her hand flew up and struck hard. “Ow!” Pain shot through her fingers.
“Careful of the buttons, lass. They’ll leave you smarting.”
Pulse careening, she shoved against the dark mass in front of her. “Unhand me at once, you . . . you prowler.”
“‘Prowler’?” The r rolled off his tongue in a muted burr that kicked her pulse in a completely unexpected way. The securing arms fell away on a loud snort of laughter. “Hardly.”
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” She inched away, stretching her fingers out in hopes of finding a loose rail or forgotten champagne glass to clobber him over the head with. “If it’s money you want, you should know I have nothing more than a hankie and tube of lipstick in my handbag, and the guests inside have undoubtedly lost all spare coins in their drunken haze.”
He shifted, blocking her view of the people inside. And their view of her. “I’m afraid you have me mistaken for someone else.”
“Who else but a man with sinister deeds in mind prowls rooftops in the middle of the night and scares women alone outside?” Her fingers brushed a potted geranium.
“I’ve been called many things, but sinister is a new accusation. Besides, if I’d gone out burgling, I would have worn something more accommodating.” He stepped into the shallow glow of the sconce by the doors. Tall, with dark hair combed to the side and a clean, angular jaw, he was dressed in a black dinner jacket that accented his thick shoulders. He pointed to the bow tie at his throat. “See?”
Her heart tripped. Fine jackets and starched white shirts were nothing more than a required uniform in her social circle, but this man wore them with a jagged edge of danger. As if they didn’t quite fit.
Taken from The Socialite by J’Nell Ciesielski
Copyright © 2020 by J’Nell Ciesielski
Used by permission of http://www.thomasnelson.com/

Review

What an engaging read! This book had me hooked from it’s surprising first line. I loved the setting of Nazi-occupied France—I can’t recall reading a book with this setting before, and it was expertly rendered in both its elegance and its affliction—and I loved the tension created by Kat’s sister being in a relationship with a high-ranking Nazi officer. There was a lot of potential for both Ellie and Eric (her boyfriend) to be clichéd or caricatured, but there were complexities to their personalities and their relationship that gave them dimension, even provided some glimpses of humanity in the case of Eric. Just glimpses, mind you!

Barrett and Kat were vibrant characters and their dialogue was fantastic. Banter is like catnip to me, whether it be trading quips, witticisms, or barbs, or simply an invigorating back and forth exchange. I think there was probably a bit of everything here! And the plot was intriguing, the tension stretching throughout the novel with Barrett and Kit having to downplay their anti-Nazi sentiments for the sake of their overall objectives—first and foremost, getting Ellie to leave her Nazi lover and return safely to England.

There’s plenty of romantic tension and chemistry between Barrett and Kit, but I did feel the angst was a little overdone at the end. Some of this angst was driven by an unlikely coincidence, which pulled me out of the story a little—as though I could suddenly see the author’s hand in the story—and while the final scene certainly had dramatic flair, I couldn’t quite swallow it whole. It, too, felt a little staged.

Nevertheless, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read overall—sophisticated, yet gritty, and flouting danger with every turn of the page.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.

More from J'Nell

I blame Pinterest. Too many hours are spent chasing rabbit holes of glorious pictures of fashion from eras gone by, Highlanders in kilts, WWI ambulances, and fairytale castles. One day I was browsing something super important (or possibly escaping from the actual work I was supposed to be doing, er, we’ll never know) and stumbled across a black and white picture of six beautiful girls. Who are these lovely ladies? I wondered. A quick search brought up the Mitford sisters. Six gorgeous daughters born into an aristocratic English family, each girl with a different passion: Diana the fascist, Jessica the communist, Unity the Hitler lover, Nancy the novelist, Deborah the duchess, and Pamela the poultry connoisseur. Whoa. You know dinner time around their family table was interesting. How could such different personalities belong in the same family? What would you do if your sister got moon-eyed over Hitler??

Bam. An idea was born.

In the beginning, my little rebel Ellie was going to be a full-fledged Nazi ideology lover, but she quickly informed me that it wasn’t so much the Nazis or their crazy ideas she loved, but one man in particular. One twisted Nazi who had fallen completely under her spell, and she under his. The ideas of love can often be more difficult to break as Kat finds out when she tries to rescue her naïve sister. Luckily, she has a hunky Sottish bartender to help her while providing a few romantic intentions of his own. With everyone hiding past hurts and true identities, how will they ever hope to find the love they each long for when war rages under the bright lights of Paris? Guess you’ll have to read to find out 😉

About the Author

With a passion for heart-stopping adventure and sweeping love stories, J’nell Ciesielski weaves fresh takes into romances of times gone by. When not creating dashing heroes and daring heroines, she can be found dreaming of Scotland, indulging in chocolate of any kind, or watching old black and white movies. Winner of the Romance Through the Ages Award and the Maggie Award, she is a Florida native who now lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and lazy beagle.