Publisher: Penguin Teen Canada, February 7th, 2023

Format: ebook

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

For readers of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls, a dazzling novel about Ilse, a spy, and Billy, a pilot, who fall in love but are wrenched apart during World War II, and must find their way back to each other–from bestselling author C.C. Humphreys.

When Billy Coke steps onto the streets of London one December evening in 1940, he has no idea he is stepping to his fate. As Hitler’s bombers come close to burning the city down, Billy meets the woman who will change the course of his life: Ilse Magnusson, a musician from Norway, but also something more–a spy in training.

Escaping the Blitz for three days, she and Billy drive, quarrel, conceal, reveal . . . and fall finally, fully, in love.

Now they must part, each to fight the war their own way. Billy, a Canadian Spitfire pilot, to duel with the Luftwaffe over North Africa and the Med. Ilse to return to her conquered country, ingratiate herself with the Nazi elite–which includes her beloved father–and send vital intelligence back to Britain.

They know that the odds of both of them surviving are poor. All they can hope is that the other does survive–and that someday they find each other again.

From decadent pre-war Berlin to the atrocity at Guernica, from dogfights over Sicily to an Oslo ground under the German jackboot, through small victories and bitter losses, this is the story of a man and a woman at war. A tale of causes and compromises, heroism and betrayal. Of choices made, with consequences unforeseen. And finally, how sometimes . . . love can give you a second chance.

My Review:

Read if you like: instant love, torn apart by war.
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Billy and Ilse are both part of the war, Ilse as a spy and Billy as a pilot. They only have a few days together, but they fall in love.
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Overall, the story was interesting and I was invested in what happened to the characters. I enjoyed the plot and the pacing, and I think the instant love trope was developed well. Ilse’s role as a spy was interesting. If you like WW2 fiction, you will probably like this one.
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Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for the copy of this book.