First published 2020
Desiree Clary watches the French Revolution tear apart everything she knows. Her family faces the guillotine unless she acts. A meeting with Napoleon Bonaparte changes her path. When her sister Julie marries Napoleon's brother Joseph, Desiree becomes linked to the ambitious young general. She falls into a passionate courtship with Napoleon and accepts his secret engagement proposal. They plan to reunite in Paris once his military career advances. But Josephine de Beauharnais destroys these dreams, stealing Napoleon's heart and leaving Desiree heartbroken. Paris society sweeps Desiree into its inner circle, where she remains connected to Napoleon and his family. Then she meets Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Napoleon's trusted general. As Napoleon and Bernadotte become enemies, Desiree must choose between her husband and her emperor. Her journey takes her from the French Riviera to the streets of Paris and Stockholm, placing her at the center of an empire's rise and collapse.
Genres: romance, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance
Setting: French Riviera, Paris, Stockholm
Period: French Revolution
640 pages · Library Binding · Thorndike Press Large Print