I acquired A Fire Sparkling as an Amazon First Reads book on my Kindle, free with my Amazon prime membership. I never get overly excited about free books, as I feel the stories are usually not that great. A Fire Sparkling was surprisingly charming, intelligent, and heartwarming.

April and Vivian Hughes are identical twins who reunite as World War II picks up speed. Vivian is the wife of a Cabinet Ministry member, and April has just returned from Germany, where she had been involved with a German officer. Sure of his merits as a standup man, regardless of his fighting for the Nazi party, April is convinced that once the war is over, she will be reunited with Ludwig and he will have denounced Germany and Hitler, only having been involved because of his German roots.

Vivian meets a sad fate, and her dying wish is that April will assume her identity. Pregnant with Nazi Ludwig’s child, April is sure to be sent to an internment camp if they figure out her involvement with a German. April grants Vivian’s dying wish and is blessed to live out most of the war without consequence.

Her ability to speak perfect French brings her face first with an opportunity to go undercover as a spy in France at the height of the war, and all secrets are threatened with exposure. April is asked, “You will be living a lie, you must lose yourself completely in another identity. Do you think you will be able to do that?” Her response: ‘Yes,’ I replied with absolute confidence. ‘I know I can.’

I typically don’t enjoy any story that relies on the use of identical twins. It seems like a bit of a lazy way to craft conflict. MacLean is able, however, to create great distinction between April and Vivian. They are two very different characters, and they both have their stories told.

A Fire Sparkling kept me guessing until the end, and had some great modern romance mixed in as well. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the intertwined story-lines and would be quick to read another Julianne MacLean novel in the future.