The Paris Affair by Fiona SchneiderSynopsis: “In Paris 1942 a woman disappears in the middle of the night, leaving behind the man she loves.

French chef Sylvie was sent to Paris as part of the resistance, while German soldier Christoph is doing his duty to save his sister. As the two begin to discover the people beneath their uniforms, the rest of the world, and the war raging on, fades away. But Christoph can never know Sylvie’s identity, which might end up destroying him.

Sixty years later, Christoph’s health is declining, and his memories are fading. Having returned to Germany to help her mentor, Julia discovers a book filled with ‘the recipes of us’ and sets out to cook each dish in the hope of reviving Christoph.

As his memories resurface, Julia begins her own quest to find the woman he lost to the war. Can Julia discover the truth behind Sylvie and Christoph, or will it be too late?“

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My Review

I loved this dual timeline historical romance set in Paris in 1942 and 2002.

The 1942 storyline was definitely my favourite, even though I don’t tend to read books set in Europe during World War Two any more. I loved Sylvie straight away and admired her bravery and determination to play her part in the French Resistance. I wasn’t too sure about Christoph, but I did warm to him in the end as he finally stood up for what he believed in.

I loved the discovery of the recipe book in 2002, and Julia’s determination to help Christoph recover his fading memory, despite his son Daniel not wanting her to proceed. There was a lot of tension in both timelines, but for very different reasons and it worked really well for me as I kept turning the pages to find out what was going to happen in 1942 and 2002.

The romances between Sylvie and Christoph in 1942 and between Julia and Daniel in 2002 were both slow burns and quite complicated, which made them feel very natural.

Highly recommended if you enjoy dual timeline historical romances set in Paris.

Thanks so much to Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my digital ARC.