Beatriz Williams (The Secret Life of Violet Grant) continues the saga of the Schuyler sisters and their knack for uncovering secret histories as Pepper Schuyler meets a French widow whose past hides an epic love.
In 1966, being single and pregnant is bad enough, but Pepper's also on the run from the baby's famous father, who's anxious to hush up the potential scandal. After restoring and auctioning off a vintage Mercedes, Pepper plans to use the money to have her baby in safety and ensure their future. However, when glamorous Annabelle Dommerich buys the car, she confides to Pepper that she and her husband used it to escape Germany on the eve of World War II. Instantly sympathetic to Pepper's situation, Annabelle insists on taking in the younger woman, and slowly she unspools her secrets. At the age of 19, Annabelle saved the life of a charismatic Jewish man in France and quickly fell in love with him. When he seemingly abandoned her, she hastily married steadfast widower, baron and German army officer Johann von Kleist. However, even as marriages, misunderstandings and global politics worked to keep them apart, Stefan and Annabelle found their way back to each other time after time, and middle-aged Annabelle bets cynical Pepper that she can convince her to believe in true love.
Williams knows how to pour on the glamour--Parisian landmarks and luxury yachts feature prominently, and Annabelle's debauched aristocratic family lives in decidedly genteel poverty. Headstrong Pepper also knows her way around high society despite her dire straits. Passionate and starry-eyed, Williams's latest romance is a beautiful escape from everyday life. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads