I was excited to get an early copy of The Secret Stealers. Having read and loved the Beantown Girls by Jane Healey, I looked forward to this new book. Her research shows in this exciting book about the development of the OSS under the leadership of WWI hero William Donovan who was appointed by FDR during WWII. There are appearances by Julia Child who worked for the OSS and a brief appearance by John Wayne who who had an appointment with William Donovan.

From Healey’s vast research, she developed the character of Anna Cavenaugh. Anna is the daughter of a wealthy family, went to school in Paris before the war, and spoke fluent French and German. She went home to marry a young doctor who she really didn’t love. He was killed in a car accident when he went to Hawaii a few months after Pearl Harbor. William Donovan was a friend of Anna’s father and Anna applied to work for him. She proved her worth and was accepted to go to France as a spy.

I liked that Healey showed the human side of the characters. Anna and the women and men she worked with took comfort from each other, had fun, and risked their lives in the various jobs that were given them. There were times when I laughed, times when I was tense with fear for their survival, and cheered for their success.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing, Amazon First Reads, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions are my own.

This was a well-written, intriguing book. I really liked Anna and thought she was brave for going to Paris. However, there are other spy books that are better, and I knew what was going to happen in the love triangle as soon as it showed up. So this book gets 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because it really deserves 4 stars.

Jane Healey is one of my favourite writers of historical fiction, especially si9nce her focus is always so strongly on the strength of women in difficult situations. The Secret Stealers was another perfect example of that.

In this new novel we follow Anna Cavanaugh, a newly widowed woman who wants to prove to the world that she is strong and intelligent and can have a positive influence on the situations in WW2. She starts off as a secretary to a big shot general, and quickly proves her worth and travel to occupied France as a spy for the Allies. Both very dangerous and exciting, Anna makes incredible contributions to the war effort, but at a high personal cost.

Anna’s strength and perseverance are admirable, and I was constantly rooting for her. Such a likable and relatable character, even though the situations she is in are unimaginable to me.

Sometimes I feel like the WW2 Historical Fiction genre has run a little dry, but every now and then another fresh look into it comes along, and I can’t help but fall in love with it again. The Secret Stealers did that for me. I wasn’t utterly blown away, but I am enamoured with this story and its characters. I would certainly recommend this book if you enjoy hist fic!

Man, this was a wonderful surprise! This is the story of an American widow going 'under cover' in Nazi occupied France during WWII. There is so much that this book offers. If you like historical fiction about WWII then this is the book for you.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release on April 1, 2021.

The Secret Stealers is the second book I’ve read by Jane Healey, and she is becoming an auto-buy author for me! She really does a wonderful job with writing strong but relatable female characters—one who have doubts and fears, but who press on anyway, with strong convictions and fierce loyalty.
This story was a look into the French resistance during WW2, and I learned a lot abou the OSS and their role in the war effort. The author’s note at the end, explaining that many of the characters were based on real people made the book even better & more impactful to me.
So if you love historical fiction this is a good one to add to your list!

I adored this book, I loved Beantown girls so I was so excited to participate in this tour! This book is full of female empowerment, romance, and spies during WWII. I loved Anna, she was strong and brave but human. I loved the details in the book and that some of the characters were based on real life people. Definitely a winner for the genre.

The Secret Stealers brings the reader behind the scenes into the lives of the brave spies who showed extreme resilience and commitment to the cause during WWII. This book represents an extensive amount of research and includes true life heroes. Anna is a fictional representation of many woman whose stories we’re only now learning about so many years after the war.

There are several very good WWII-era books that tell the stories of the brave women who served in the OSS as well as the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). If you enjoy historical fiction and stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things, add The Secret Stealers to your list. The comradery between all the characters (both the men and women) was especially appealing. The women were treated with respect and served as equals. While not a major character, it was nice to read about Julia (McWilliams) Child, yes, that Julia Child, and her involvement in the OSS. Although it depicts serious subject matter and people facing possible death, the book is a bit lighter a read than others in the genre.

Anna Cavanaugh is a young widow. She has been teaching high school French and she hates it. A long time family friend, Major General Donovan, recruits Anna as his assistant at the OSS. Anna decides she wants more to do with the war. So she goes after an important espionage job and this changes her whole life and purpose!

This is a unique WWII novel. I have read so many lately, I was a little hesitant to start this one. But the beginning really intrigued me with the start of the OSS and all that entailed.

Then there is Anna. She is a strong woman with a goal. After she sees how Paris has changed since she was a student, she is determined to do everything in her power to kick the Germans out!

I loved the intensity and the energy this story portrayed! My emotions were all over the place! Need a good WWII spy thriller…this is it! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the author for a honest review.

It's WWII when twenty-five year old, Anna Cavanaugh finds out her husband has been killed in freak accident in Hawaii. She is intelligent, professional, teaches in DC and speaks fluent French and German. Her parents want her to spend the summer resting at the family cottage on Cape Cod. She can't imagine anything worse.

In Jane Healey's, historical novel, THE SECRET STEALERS (LakeUnionPublishing) a friend of her father's, Major General William Donovan, a WWI hero approaches her at her husband's funeral about a job in DC. He asks her to come down from Boston if she's interested and when she's ready. She is.

Anna is recruited into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) a highly secretive communications center which oversaw propaganda, resistance groups and gave her a front row seat to the history and tragedy of the war. She becomes Donovan's assistant but soon she's moving up, transferred to England and working in intelligence. But Anna wants to become a spy in her beloved France where she studied prior to the war. It's not long before Donovan gives the green light for Anna to join up with the French Resistance.

THE SECRET STEALERS is about the per severance, and the friendships between brave and courageous women, who were some of the unsung heroes of WWII. Of course, there's a love story, but I was more interested in the history. I felt my heart beating so fast while reading the prose and at times fearing for Anna's life. Healey is highly adept at creating complex characters who pop off the page and well described landscapes. The novel is about love and loss and will stay with you long after you've finished.

I love reading WWII historical fiction. I always learn something new about the time, place and people. For me the over four-hundred pages of THE SECRET STEALERS flew by.

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise was intriguing, but unfortunately the execution ruined it for me. This was presumably conceived as an hommage to the women who worked with the OSS, the SOE and the French Resistance during WWII to provide the intelligence that saved so many lives - and I do so very much applaud their determination and courage. However, this book is a romance novel pushing a historical fiction narrative, and not succeeding in either genre. The main character opens the story as a grieving widow - but hold on, it turns out she detested her husband and had an affair with someone else while engaged, and then married her fiancé anyway. As the story continues, we get bits of history bookended by the main character's romantic attachments to multiple men. While I appreciate the uphill battle of women at the time to debunk the sexist stereotypes of the 1940s, having the alleged main (historical) story take a backseat to the emotional and sexual entanglements of the main character was not conducive to making me invested in the outcome of the story.

I had to sit on this one for a while because I could not decide where to land with a rating. On one hand it has quite a few things that just did not work for me - a rough start, a tendency to tell rather than to show, and a sometimes unbelievable and obnoxious main character. You would think I did not like this one. Even with all of these complaints (and you see I have quite a few), I still ended up really liking this one. It landed in the right place for me and I did enjoy reading it overall.

It is not perfect, but I think it was worth it. Look at me, I am rhyming. I think what worked for me was the high stakes showcased throughout and some of the emotional beats were very well done. Despite my cold, cold heart I was emotional during parts of this. I appreciated the history and I think it did show that urgent need for light when you are the midst of the dark. Having been in tense situations and war zones before, I know there is a truth to needing to have a party and hold on to any happy moments you can. That rang true for me from personal experience.

I also appreciated the Author's Note at the end. Jane Healey truly did incorporate quite a lot of historical information here and I definitely learned some things from reading this book. What can I say? I was won over. My recommendation, especially if you are struggling with the beginning of this one, is to keep going - it might surprise you.

The Secret Stealers details what exceptional but everyday women were able to accomplish during WWII. My daughter is the same age as Anna Cavanaugh in this book and I cannot imagine her jumping into such scary situations. Since this takes place during wartime’s, there are plenty of sad aspects. But the friendships and love found among the “spies” helped them get through it all. I appreciate that the author fully researched this subject and based some of her characters on real people. It would be great to read some of these women’s biographies!

The Secret Stealers is an homage to the women who worked with the OSS, the SOE and the French Resistance during WWII to provide the intelligence that saved so many lives. Anna Cavanaugh was fluent in French and German. After her husband’s death, she took a teaching position but when an opportunity to join the OSS as William Donovan’s assistant was offered, she saw a chance to be a part of the war effort. Before her marriage she had spent a year as a student in Paris. Now she uses her position and abilities to convince Donovan that she would be an asset in occupied France. After proving herself on an assignment in Washington, he reluctantly agrees and she is sent to England for training.

Arriving in France, she is assigned to a Resistance unit headed by Josette,a friend from her year in Paris. Together they work as translators for industrialists in a German office. It is here that they first learn of a new weapon in development. Under pressure from London for more information, they are in constant danger of discovery. While Anna had heard of the conditions under occupation, she now faces the reality as she witnesses the food shortages, the enforced curfews and the disappearances of former friends. Her assignment allows her to be re-united with Henri, her former lover, but the war has also changed him and she wonders if the love is still there.

From Anna’s early days in the Washington office to her training, her drop into France and the eventual liberation of Paris, Jane Healey gives you a glimpse of what these women went through. The friendships allowed emotional support in training, but contact on an assignment could lead to discovery and arrest. While working in secret, some of these anonymous agents later became well known, including Julia Child, Catherine Dior and her brother Christian. Healey has used the stories of actual agents and events as inspiration to bring her story to life. It is an exciting and emotional story of love and loss that will stay with you long after the last page. I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing this book for my review.

4.5 stars. The Secret Stealers is a fast paced, action packed spy thriller about an American OSS agent who works along side her friends in the French Resistance during WWII.

No spoilers. The characters are likable, well researched, and based on historical figures. The female leads are strong and talented and although there is romance, they don’t get all weak and weepy over the men in their lives. It’s nice to see strong women portrayed. The story starts right from the first page and goes until the last paragraph.

This was my first novel by Ms. Henley, but won’t be my last. If you like WWII historical fiction, this is a must.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If you like historical fiction set during WWII in occupied France with broken yet strong women characters then you would enjoy this book.
Nail biting danger and espionage as Anna recently widowed is recruited by a family friend into the Office of Strategic Services. That is how she becomes an American spy stationed in Nazi occupied France. Her desire to help, courage and determination, not to mention the danger, loss and heartbreak she and the other female spies face will keep you glued to this book.

A really good historical novel. I love female spies. It's sad that men thought that women couldn't be underhanded and devious (especially back then), but it sure helped a lot in WW2.
Anna is recruited by a friend of her fathers to join the OSS as a secretary. But she longs for more. She is recruited for a mission and she likes the sense of accomplishment she feels.
She becomes a very good member of the organization and gets some very pertinent information that gives to the liberation of France.
She gets to have 2 great loves. One darker ends in tragedy.
I live the inclusion of real life people in here: Julia Child, John Wayne (who wants to join to OSS but it's rejected because they think he'd be recognizable even overseas).
Historical fiction fans should definitely check this out!

Jane Healy has another winner with this book! She has done a lot of research and loosely based some of her characters on actual people in the OSS and SOE who were spies in Occupied France during WWII. I came to really like and care about the characters of Anna, Josette and Tatiana, all strong women trying to make a difference.

Beautiful historical fiction. Full of action and strong women. The friendships were so good. I enjoyed it all so much. Romance, spies, fashion.

Anna Cavanaugh is recently widowed when Major General William Donovan approaches her for a job at the OSS as his assistant. Anna is thrilled to be a part of the war effort. But as she meets other brave women and hears of clandestine missions, Anna desires to be overseas where the true action is.

After proving herself to Donovan, Anna gets her chance to go into Occupied France to help with the French Resistance. She goes undercover as a spy to try and gain access to crucial information from the Nazis. But it’s a dangerous mission, requiring her to work alongside Nazi soldiers. One small slip and she will be found out!

This story has such great characters and a noir-like atmosphere. It truly took me to the 1940s, with dashing gentlemen, women breaking boundaries, and romance blooming in the perils of war.

Healey’s Author’s Notes are not to be missed as she remarks on the real-life men and women that inspired this story. So many amazing women were trained as wireless operators and spies during WWII. Their lives and sacrifices made a huge contribution to defeating the Nazis and the Axis Powers.

Thank you to @healyjane @suzyapprovedbooktours and @netgalley for this #gifted copy.

This book will be available on April 1, 2021.

This book had everything I like in a historical fiction novel. A fascinating main character who is courageous and fights for what she believes. A romance storyline that had me rooting for this star crossed couple. So many great historical facts that are seamlessly interwoven with fictional elements to make the story even more exciting. Topped off with an action-packed and dangerous spy story set during WWII.