The Jilted Countess by Loretta Ellsworth

 

Title:  The Jilted Countess

Author:  Loretta Ellsworth

Narrated by:  Caroline Hewitt

Publisher: Harper Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 24 minutes

Source:  Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harperperennial for the review copy of the paperback copy The Jilted Countess by Loretta Ellsworth.  Audiobook copy purchased from Audible.com.

What is your favorite Valentine’s Day candy?  I am a fan of chocolate myself – dark or milk chocolate!

Roza Meszaros was a ballerina in Vienna and a Hungarian Countess.  WWII destroyed the opera house, and the communists have taken the family estate.  Her father never returned after being taken by the Nazis. The one bright spot is her fiancé, Joe, an American GI.  After falling in love and becoming engaged, Joe returned to the US.  They continued to write and figure out how to get Roza to the United States.  Two years later, she arrived in Minneapolis, ready for marriage with Joe, but he doesn’t show up.  She soon discovered he has married another.  Needing to find a husband in just under two weeks to stay in the US, Roza tried a desperate bid and told her story to the Minneapolis Star newspaper.  She received over 1,000 offers of marriage.  Who will she marry, and will it work out?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       How terrible to travel all the way to the United States to marry your GI American fiancé, only to find him married to his former American sweetheart.

·       This book was set in St. Paul and Red Wing, Minnesota. This was the second book that I read within two weeks to mention a date at Como Zoo in St. Paul.  I visited that zoo once when my kids were small, but it made me want to visit again. 

·       This was a very engaging story; I didn’t want to stop listening to the audiobook!  The narrator was fantastic.

·       I loved how the letters and dates made it seem like an old-fashioned bachelorette.

·       Roza is a fish out of water in Red Wing Minnesota living a very different life than what she grew up with as an aristocrat.  I loved how she was able to make a life that worked for her with starting a ballet school.

·       This historical romance had one of my favorite tropes of marriage of convenience. 

·       The romance was closed door.

·       Finn has PTSD after losing his entire platoon in WWII.  He has invisible wounds that no one can understand except for Roza.

·       Finn has a degree in mechanical engineering and works for the railroad.

·       I was very annoyed by some of the poor choices that Roza made, but I loved the ending.

·       There is a fascinating author’s note at the end about the real-life countess who inspired the story.  It was interesting that there is no trail for what really happened to her after she was married.

Overall, The Jilted Countess by Loretta Ellsworth is an engaging historical romance that shows how life can go on with a marriage of convenience when two people work together on their relationship. 

The French Winemaker’s Daughter by Loretta Ellsworth (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harperperennial for the review copy of the French Winemaker’s Daughter by Loretta Ellsworth.

Do you like wine?  If so, what is your favorite type of wine?  I enjoy many, but one of my favorites is Riesling.  Another favorite is Pinot Noir which is featured heavily in this book.

The book starts off with a bang.  In France in 1942, seven-year-old Martine is handed a bottle of wine by her father and is told that it is her legacy, and she is hidden in a cupboard.  Her father is then taken away by the Nazis and they only barely miss taking Martine.  She has a note pinned on her to send her to her Aunt in Paris.  After a perilous journey to Paris, she arrives only to find that her Aunt is gone.  Saved by Sister Ada, Marine starts a new life hiding in a convent.

In 1990, Charlotte is a female airplane pilot in a man’s world.  Her boyfriend, Henri, invites her to attend a wine auction with him and gifts her a bottle of wine that is deemed to be not valuable.  Charlotte takes off the label and discovers beneath it another label.  It starts her on a journey of discovery to determine what happened to this Jewish family and their winery during WWII.  Will Charlotte find the answers she seeks?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This was a quick read and a riveting story.

·       I enjoyed both the 1940s and 1990s storylines equally.  Often, I enjoy one storyline more than the other, so I am always happy to find one where I enjoy each of the storylines.

·       This book really made me think again of all that the Nazis confiscated from the Jewish people and others that they deemed enemies.  Your family winery and all its stock would be gone in an instant.  You yourself could be gone.  They made entire families disappear from the world.  It’s horrifying.

·       I liked that Charlotte’s quest was also a journey of self-discovery for herself.  What did she want out of life and love? 

·       I loved that Marine even as a young girl had a knack with the grapes and vineyard.  Her story made me realize the sacrifices that many made to help others during the war.

·       This novel had both great memorable characters as well as an interesting plot line.  I did guess the ending of this one, but it was a great journey to that ending.

·       I also liked the side theme of struggle between family obligations (i.e. keeping your family winery running) versus pursuing your own dreams.

·       There was a great author’s note at the end of the novel on the winemakers in France, how their wine was stolen, and the secret resistance they had with trying to hide their wines behind false walls and false labels.

·       This was my time reading a book by author Loretta Ellsworth, but I will be looking for more of her novels in the future.

Overall, The French Winemaker’s Daughter is a riveting WWII story with great characters.  I learned a lot about wineries in France during and after WWII.