The Paris Housekeeper

 This is actually a story of three women facing difficulties in World War II, and the friendship that the three of them forged through the hardest of times.  Vivian was a resident of the Ritz Hotel in Paris until the Germans took it over.  Rachel and Camille were housekeepers in the hotel.  Vivian often asked for Camille's assistance and tipped well. As the Germans infiltrated Paris, Rachel got singled out as the Jew on the staff and eventually had to go into hiding because the Jews were going to be rounded up and sent to a death camp.  

A German officer who has moved into the suite where Vivian once resided and then is promoted and given a house closer to his  work.  He takes Vivian as his mistress/hostess and Vivian recommends Camille to be his housekeeper at three times her normal wages.  

Camille finds a tunnel under the house where there is a couple of cots set up and she hides Rachel and her mother until new papers can be acquired for them to escape France and to move into Spain. It all comes to a head when the German officer finds the forged papers and realizes that the two Jewish women had been hiding in his house for months.  

I didn't find this book as compelling as the other book by Renee Ryan that I have read.  The plot moved very slowly and the characters weren't as engaging.  Many of the characters seemed two dimensional to me and lacked depth.  Those who like World War II fiction may like this and this may have been just the mood I was in when I read the book. So I will give it three stars. 

Harlequin Romance provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.