The setting is the fall of 1941 in Barberton, Ohio and Agent Polly Silvester of the Department of Defence is working undercover at the airplane factory in Barberton. Where they are working on a top secret new type of airplane.
Her job to find a spy who has taken the classified files on the planes.

Staying at a boarding house with her secret identity she meets Kalena Mikloska who owns the boarding she is staying in. She also happens to works at the plane factory. The two have an instant attraction for each other. Will Kalena distracted from her work, is she the spy read to find out.

.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery and adventure in a WWII background with some great romance thrown in.

Polly Silvester, an agent of the United States Office of American Defense just got a new assignment. She’s to travel from DC to Barberton, Ohio to find a potential spy in the ranks of the Portage Aircraft plant, and the spy might just be a woman. It’s 1941, and so far America has stayed out of the war, but it’s seems like only a matter of time, and most operations have shifted to providing war materials. When she arrives at the boarding house and meets Kalena Mikloska, who also works at the plant, spark fly almost immediately, but Kalena may be the spy, and Polly can’t get involved. That doesn’t stop their growing attraction, however, and she may just need Kalena’s help, if she can stop suspecting her as the spy.

I enjoyed this one and flew through it pretty quickly, within a couple of days. The plot did get a tad draggy toward the end, but overall, it moved well. I enjoyed the growing tension between Polly and Kalena, and the added element of Polly’s suspicion made the plot even juicer. I’m not usually one for a mystery, but there were so many other elements in this story that I actually enjoyed moving along with Polly, trying to work out the spy. I’m a sucker for a queer, period piece, and this one ticks a lot of boxes. It’s out now wherever you get your books.

I love a good spy thriller and this definitely fit the bill. The thing I loved the most is that I thought I picked out the villain in chapter 3 or 4 and I was half right but there's enough of a twist to satisfy even the most prolific mystery reader. I also adored both leads, Polly is the queer hero the 40s desperately need and I would read a whole series please!

This is a well written historical romance slash mystery. The setting was beautiful. Overall, this was a fun and exciting read. I recommend 4 stars.

Thank you, Bold Strokes Books, and NetGalley.

This has been a story that has mixed a romance and a mystery and that in neither of the two aspects has been really well concluded. And if I have to decide which aspect of the two has interested me more, I would prefer the romance between Polly and Kalena more than the search for the spy in the factory.

Polly is a federal agent, in the 40s, in the United States in the days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, who must infiltrate an aircraft factory where a suspected spy wants to steal information relevant to the German side.

Kalena, of Polish origin, also works in the factory, on the assembly line, and her aunt has boarders at home, including Polly. Kalena recently came back from being away, basically to find out about her attraction to other women. Polly has already entered her sexuality, she has the experience that Kalena lacks, and the two of them, helped by the need to share a bathroom, discover their mutual attraction.

When all this is added to the work that Polly has to do in the factory, things get complicated and the two sides of the story become a bit out of focus. Polly is too easily distracted from her important work, which can be vital to her country and the world at large, inconceivable. And when the mystery is solved, it is only partially and without much explanation. Nor have I been satisfied with the resolution of the romance between Polly and Kalena, rushed.

Perhaps this story was for two different ones without so much mixing of things. But since it has kept me on my toes for quite a few moments and I have loved the two protagonists, I am going to value that above all else.

This is a work of historical fiction set in 1941 at the start of WWII. In this story we have Polly Sylvester who is a Secret Agent working for the US Defense Department. She is sent to Barberton, Ohio to an airplane factory that is making a top secret new type of airplane. Someone has broken into secret files and stolen top secret information on this new plane. Polly’s mission is to find and capture the spy. Once she is in Ohio and staying at a boarding house with her secret identity she meets Kalena Mikloska. Kalena owns the boarding house and lives there with her aunt. She also works at the plane factory. Kalena knows that she likes women but has yet to have any sexual experiences. Polly is an experienced investigator and a bad ass secret agent.

Polly and Kalena have an instant attraction for each other. And once they get together it gets very steamy. I liked both MCs and even though in some ways Polly was the experienced and dominant character, Kalena more than held her own and showed surprising strength of character and action.

I enjoyed the mystery and action scenes of ferreting out the spy in this story. Also many good feels between Polly and Kalena.

I would recommend this book to anyone liking mystery and adventure in a WWII background with some great romance thrown in.

ARC received from Net Galley for a voluntary and honest review.

The setting is the fall of 1941 in Barberton, Ohio. Agent Polly Silvester of the Department of Defence is working undercover at the airplane factory in Barberton. Someone is stealing vital information from the plant and Polly is assigned to find out who and stop them at all costs. Kalena Mikloska works at the factory and owns the boardinghouse where Polly is staying.

Clarke expertly sets the tone for this fictional spy story. You are easily transported to the language, music and fashion of the forties. The heartwarming love story intermixed with the espionage realistically deals with the mores of that time. It is a healthy reminder to cherish our LGBTQ freedoms we have today.

The exciting action of the spy mystery easily holds your attention while the tender moments allows you to catch your breath. I was thoroughly captivated by this novel and highly recommend it.

I received a free advance review copy from Bella Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Enigma is a strong historical romance with Polly who works for the Office of American Defense which takes her on her current assignment to Portage Aircraft plant searching for someone who is giving up information during war time.
Enigma is Polly's code name, a woman many don't believe can do the job.
Polly runs into trouble and with the help of an unlikely friend must quickly untangle who is the spy and who can be trusted because there is a lot to lose for Polly as well as the country.
This is a strong story with interesting characters which goes quickly.

Thank you #NetGalley #BoldStrokesBooks for this ARC

Polly Silvester is an agent sent undercover to an Ohio airplane manufacturing plant. It is 1941 and the country is gearing up for potential involvement in WWII. The company is sure that someone is stealing critical information about the new aircraft design and production. Polly stays at a boarding house owned by Kalena Mikloska. An aunt runs the house while Kalena also works at the manufacturing plant.

I liked the setting and time period. War production is ramping up especially in manufacturing even though war isn’t yet declared. Polly is determined in her work but still takes time to enjoy being out with Kalena and friends to dance to the music of Glenn Miller. I like the inclusion of potential rationing for goods and other anticipated sacrifices. The action scenes are fast paced and exciting. The romance between the two women is careful and fitting with the times. The book chooses mostly fade to black for intimacy.

I was a little more iffy about Polly and her favorite “gotcha question”. It relies too much on her ability to read the other persons reaction. A well trained counter spy wouldn’t react. Also a few things fell very conveniently in to place especially in how the suspect pool gets narrowed quickly. The main focus is spent on the mystery but more time is given to the romance than I expected. Roughly 70/30.

If you enjoy historical romance mysteries this book is a fun and interesting read. There is expected mayhem but nothing graphic. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Polly is a secret agent who proves she just as good as men. When she assigned to investigate critical information that being being stolen from the Portage Aircraft plant in Barberton, Ohio. While staying at border house she meets Kalena and her Aunt Berta she didn’t plan on losing her heart but she does and it’s distracting her from doing her job. Kalena works at the plant and she struggling with being attractive to women and fears her Aunt won’t accept her when she meets Polly her world is thrown and they both grow closer and falls in love but when she learns who Polly really is she fears they won’t have a life together because of what Polly does and the fact that everyone sees being homosexual is still wrong. I enjoy this read I like the characters we meet.

I will start off with a couple of criticisms. They do not in any way detract from the story. I may just be too picky (and perhaps a bit OCD). Anyway, I know the author stipulates at the beginning that many names, places etc. are completely fictional but the reference to the aircraft as a P51 Anaconda seems incorrect. There was a P51 airplane during WW2 but it was a P51 Mustang. I have never seen any reference to it previously as an Anaconda. If this was a made up name (I may be wrong here, I am not an expert) I would have thought a fictional Alpha-numeric designation should also be used.
One of the Glenn Miller songs was mentioned as Pennsylvania 6-500 but should be Pennsylvania 6-5000. I assume this is a typo as I see it is shown correctly later in the book.
I wanted to read this book because it was set during WW2. And from the title I assumed it would be to do with Bletchley Park. Obviously I didn’t read the synopsis properly (Duh!). But it is a spy story and a “whodunit” type story and a romance so no complaints. It got quite tense in some bits, quite romantic in others. A thoroughly good read.