The Queen's Secret: A Novel of England's World War II Queen

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There's just something about Cal that makes me ooh and aah. I love the guy so much and I was so happy with everything that went down. Well, not the scares and stuff that revolved around him or Lilac. That was not fun to digest but I could see why it happened and how things were going to go down after that. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins.

Now I wont say that each and every twist amazed me - because that would be a lie. For some, they felt a bit predictable or dare I even say it - forced. Especially when it came to either the King or her mom. Something just felt off and it felt like Lilac was more compromising than anything. So I didn't necessarily want her to be lonely because of her following her duty while her own husband got to be happy with his mistress. Hopeless negotiations are over. “Life soon turned into nightmare (…), when Hitler’s forces invaded Poland on 1 September 1939.”Her skills for planning are in need to smooth everything out with Mrs. Roosevelt and General Eisenhower. Both are essential to the cause of uniting both countries to end the war. And she takes this very seriously to carry her load to influence them both.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews. AND besides all of these ridiculously stupid plot points, NOTHING ELSE HAPPENS. It's the most boring WW2 book I've read since All the Light We Cannot See. The writing was the equivalent of speaking in a monotone, there was no emotion. I ended up skimming lots of it because it just did not hold my interest.

Elizabeth, our "Queen Mum" has always been a figure of great interest to me. I was aware of how profoundly loved she was by her subjects in the UK. And, I was drawn to the twinkle in her eye and her obvious high spirits. So, I looked forward to reading Karen Harper's historical novel about her life with the King during WW2. Harper's descriptions of London during the Blitz (and other elements of the war) were tales twice told---we all know the basics and I depend on good historical fiction to bring those stories to life. To make me feel part of the scene, part of history. This never happened for me with this book and I struggled to complete it. I did, and the end was just as flat as the beginning and the middle. Despite being called the most dangerous woman in Europe, she has a soft side. She is a caring mother to her children and a caring queen to her people in trying times when good word or warm smile can mean so much. She has her weaknesses and struggles as well. She feels miserable as a wife, at least at times, and its cause is rooted in the past event. – This cause gets repeated quite a lot, especially in the second part of the book. It could be curbed a bit.