Genre: Inspirational Historical Romance
Setting: 1939, Germany
POV: 3rd Person
Sensuality: Kisses
Violence: N/A
Format: Digital
Why I Read It: Wendy the Super Librarian featured it on her blog recently & I was intrigued by the unusual setting.
My Grade: B
Dangerous Allies has one of the best opening scenes I’ve read in a long time. The heroine is an actress. In the first chapter, she’s playing Juliet on stage. Information about who and what she sees from the stage is given to the reader through introspection. It sounds strange, but it works.
Katarina Elensky is one of the most successful actresses of the Third Reich. She’s also one of Britain’s most accomplished spies. Her latest mission pairs her with the charismatic Friedrich Reiter, supposedly a wealthy businessman, but actually a double agent. They need to work together to find plans for a secret weapon which the Germans intend to use to destroy British ships.
Katia has a personal reason for wanting to fight the Nazis: her mother, Elena, is part Jewish. Katia is afraid for her safety, especially as Elena’s method of protecting herself and her daughter is to hide in plain sight. She hopes marriage to an influential Nazi will protect them should their lineage come to light.
Friedrich Reiter is actually an American Navy officer named Jack Anderson. He supplies intelligence to the British by posing as an SS officer. It’s a dangerous game, but Jack plays it well. He’s not pleased to be partnered with Katia. He prefers to work alone and has no desire to protect a spoiled actress. But he soon realises that he’s underestimated Katia.
I enjoyed Dangerous Allies. The author creates a credible sense of place and the pervading fear under which many lived during the Third Reich. Katia and Jack are interesting characters and ideally matched. I found the ending of the book a bit abrupt, but I understand why the book had to end where it did. Note: there is an epilogue, so the reader does learn what happened to Katia and Jack in the future.
This is the first book I’ve read in Harlequin’s Love Inspired Historical line. As this is an inspirational romance, there are a few Bible quotations, and both Katia and Jack struggle to reconcile their faith in God with the horrors which surround them. Their beliefs are an integral part of the story, but I didn’t find the book overly preachy.
The author of Dangerous Allies, Renee Ryan, is writing a series of romances set during World War II. I definitely plan to read them.
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Downloaded it this weekend to my Sony. Can’t wait to read it – along with the insane Harlequin backlog I have at the moment. Sigh.
I have this book, but haven’t read yet. Too many books, too little time. It does sound good, though. I liked a Western of Ryan’s that I read, and I’m looking forward to this series.