The Bell and the Blade

by Paullina Simons

In the heart of war, love is the deadliest weapon. A thriller and epic love story from the bestselling author of Tully, The Bronze Horseman and Light at Lavelle.

It's 1944. The world is at war. Forces of evil hold Europe by the throat.

After a mysterious massacre at sea, a ragtag alliance forms in the heart of occupied Belgium.
A handful of Allied soldiers band together with a fearless group of female freedom fighters led by Charlotte Fontaine to carry out a mission no one else can.
The unreachable.
The ticking.
The apocalyptic.

Resolute, hardened by loss - she'll stop at nothing to save the one she loves.
Sharp as a blade, he never wanted to lead, but now he's the only one who can finish it.
Radiant. Innocent. She dreams of peace, but the war won't let her go.
Rebellious, reckless, romantic-and brought to his knees by love.

With time running out, they're hunted by a brilliant and relentless German officer hellbent on their destruction. In a world on fire, it's the unbreakable bonds between the unlikely heroes that make all the difference.

From the master storyteller of The Bronze Horseman comes a thrilling, darkly funny, and heartbreaking epic of love, brotherhood, and sacrifice-when every heartbeat could be your last.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction

564 pages, Paperback

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad, USSR, in 1963. At the age of ten her family immigrated to the United States. Growing up in Russia Paullina dreamt of someday becoming a writer. Her dream was put on hold as she learned English and overcame the shock of a new culture.

After graduating from university and after various jobs including working as a financial journalist and as a translator Paullina wrote her first novel Tully. Through word of mouth that book was welcomed by readers all over the world.

She continued with more novels, including Red Leaves, Eleven Hours, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross (also known as Tatiana and Alexander), The Summer Garden and The Girl in Times Square (also known as Lily). Many of Paullina's novels have reached international bestseller lists.

Apart from her novels, Paullina has also written a cookbook, Tatiana's Table, which is a collection of recipes, short stories and recollections from her best selling trilogy of novels, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross, (also known as Tatiana and Alexander) and The Summer Garden.

Reviews

[❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books]

I am so excited for this…The bronze Horseman by this author is one of my most all time favourite series which has always stayed in my heart, a series I’ve read numerous times. So to see she’s written another war time story, I can’t wait to read it..l

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the first 100 pages, I told myself "I trust Paullina"

Then, I started being late to everything. I couldn't talk to anyone. I had to finish this book.

A very different Paullina Simons story. I feel like I jumped in to a raging river and was swept away by its strong current- this book was so fast! But brilliant. Action packed.

My favourite author of all time, always.

[what.karli.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5

𝙰 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝟽𝟼𝟶 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟿𝟶+ 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗! 𝚂𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝟸 (𝟷𝟿𝟺𝟺) 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚐𝚒𝚞𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚙𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢.

𝙼𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝙾𝚅’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚂𝚂 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛.

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.

𝙰𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝-𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝙸 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜.

𝙰 𝚈𝙴𝙿 𝚈𝙴𝙿 𝚈𝙴𝙿 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚎!

(𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: 𝐈 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 ’𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞’ 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭)

[Lynsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paullina remains the master of the epic historical love story. This one is as sharp and resounding as its title. It hits different - love is only one element, matched by ferocity, friendship, humour, heartbreak, and a game that can have no winners.

[Clarice]

Hopefully this gets a US Publication unlike Light at Lavelle 😅 Bc I want to read this so much 🥰

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real struggle to finish.. infact I didn't!

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow missed the soul of The Bronze Horseman. Couldn't really empathize with the characters except Louise. The good thing about Paullina's writing is that it's never boring. You want to stay till the end of it. The plot was really well done. Wish the characters had been given more flesh too.

[Jo Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst this was a well researched historical novel I did find elements of it unsatisfying. Perhaps due to the amount of characters, I found myself not really connecting to any of them. I did find Rheinhardt’s character, the book’s antagonist, quite interesting, and his motivation of power throughout the book contrasting with heroes of our story. This was a book that I found myself consistently googling questions. A lengthy read of nearly 600 pages.

[Janelle Martinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was thinking maybe 3 1/2 but rounded up to 4 stars. I can be a fan of historical fiction and this was pretty good, the whole everyone taking on love with everyone thing was a bit of an eye roll but it didn't totally dominate the story so it was fine. Not quite the bronze horseman but would still recommend.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carol read this and thought I might like it too. She was right! Detailed storyteller around the end of WWII in Belgium concerning an unusual group of soldiers and female resistance operatives.
Thoroughly enjoyed it and a decent 4.4 from me

[Laurena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author sure knows how to weave a story. Great characters and an interesting plot.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to get into it, but once I was hooked I couldn't put it down.

[Rach Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put it down. Another epic story by my number one favourite author. Loved it!

[Amie Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start but then hard to put down. Great holiday read

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit if a different tale for this author, although still in her wheelhouse being set in Europe during WW2. Gave me a bit of ‘the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ vibe. An enjoyable holiday read.

[Chinchilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it

Well researched, as Simons’ books always are. It took a while to set the stage but it was a page turner. The love story is secondary to the main plot, so if you’re expecting a Bronze Horseman type of epic love story, this book will probably disappoint you.
I’ll admit I’m a hopeless romantic, so the ending could have been better. That’s all I’ll say so as to not give away any spoilers.

[Danyelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paullina Simons is my favorite author, and like many other TBH followers, I am incessantly searching for a novel that contains the same emotional and romantic depth. I feel like I am holding my breath while reading every new release by Paullina, hoping for that same feeling I get while reading The Bronze Horseman. The Bell and the Blade did not disappoint, but my tears were shed for love in a different way than they were for Tatiana and Alexander's. I did not emotionally connect with a single character in The Bell and the Blade the way I connected with Tatiana and Alexander, but I did feel a lot more emotional connection to the mission of the characters more than I felt in Light at Lavelle.

The Bell and the Blade is an epic and heartbreaking journey where the romantic element is present, but instead of the story centering around a romantic heartbreak during war, this story centers on a unique mentally and physically exhausting journey around preventing world destruction. Paullina writes masterfully nuanced characters in such a witty way I found myself laughing out loud at their humorous dialogue as if I could actually hear their voices and tones. The dialogue between friends and multiple characters who found romance (I won't spoil those) felt like bonus scenes in an otherwise intense story. The Bell and the Blade is about loyalty, the ultimate courage and sacrifice, listening to your intuition, and paying attention to details. Paullina puts you in scenes where you hold your breath and hold back tears because you so badly want a certain outcome for them, very similar to TBH (just without the romantic depth).

Throughout reading, I found myself researching the history of the A bomb as well as uranium and Europe and America's involvement in Congo and uranium mines. It is clear Paullina Simons conducted her own thorough research to create an incredibly suspenseful story where every character's decision had crucial ripple effects into the future. Each character she created tied to the complex history around African colonialism, the impact on Nazism in Europe, and set the stage for the global need for control of uranium and power heading into the Cold War and beyond. Her characters lived in a specific moment in time, but you after finishing the novel, you can feel their legacy into our present day global and political climate. You can almost see the final remembered name of the Bell suffuse the whole world with her heroism. The tears I shed while reading were for the bell(s) that quietly rang to keep the world from collapsing as well as the deep care and respect the friends had for one another until the very end of their mission.

[Lizp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read. It was an anniversary gift. I have been a fan of Paullina’s since back in the Tully days.

The characters in this read set during WW2 were great. I really liked Louise, Charlie, Fletcher (the reluctant leader) and Rafael. The SS subordinate to the subordinate of the City’s Commandant, Rheinhardt, the nemesis of the allies, was vile and ruthless. He’d messed up in his role a few times and was desperate to appease his superiors.

The book starts on 3 June 1944, just three days before D Day, the allied landing in Normandy. The story was set in Belgium in 1944 during Nazi occupation. It’s told from a number of POVs. Allied soldiers, Rheinhardt, and female resistance fighters. It spans 582 pages and is an engaging and absorbing read that I found hard to put down,

There was also an unabating, indefatigable love story set amidst the war and the turbulence. Fletcher stood with the summer scent in his nose. “Charlie was across the clearing, leaning over the large barrel as she soaped pollen and weeds from her bare arms. She was lean, purposeful. Even the way she wrung out the rag was swift and deliberate. She wore a sleeveless fitted dark green dress and combat boots. He just figured it out - she was a woman who looked and moved like a soldier. It hit him in the gut.”

This is a fast moving, action packed story. I highly recommend it to others, especially Paullina Simons’ fans.

[Lynette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many who will read this book, I come back to Paullina Simon’s books every time in the hope of finding something as moving and exceptional as The Bronze Horseman.
I need to get on and accept that it’s not possible to recreate that again.

The Bell and the Blade is not in that league despite revisiting WWII.
It’s a long book and there’s a lot of detail, but sadly not really in the characters this time and I didn’t connect with them at all.

The main characters are likeable but I never found myself rooting for any of them and I didn’t feel anything despite there being plenty that should have moved me.

There’s a group of female characters that are quite central to the plot but they blended into one another and I couldn’t tell them apart.

The pacing in the middle of the book felt slow though it picked up towards the end and I’m happy with where it went but compared to the Light at Lavelle which I loved and only read 6 months ago, this one feels more forgettable.

[Sherryl Caulfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, reading a Paullina Simons novel always feels like coming home. This WWII story set in occupied Belgium has a premise that was new to me and highly original for this sphere of war.

Narrated by four characters, The Bell and the Blade had a larger band of characters than many of her novels and was a bit of a slower burn at the start.

About one-third in, however, the race-against-time nature of this story more than made up for things, with daring and adrenalin-inducing action and tension. This novel didn’t move me to tears like some of Paullina's other works. Still, I enjoyed it immensely. I found it thoroughly believable and I liked how it confronted gender stereotypes. A great cast of characters and a wonderful tribute to the many heroes of this time and place.

[Mandy Blackspoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the characters and they were given just enough detail for you to feel a connection and then feel the loss.
I did not get the ending, not for anyone or any thing, and it made the love story weaker not stronger.
I loved the story because it was filled with intrigue, knowledge, atmospheric exploration and I was invested in the outcome. But my investment did not pay off.
I gave it four stars because it’s a good book. I just wish I understood the endings and also French. I felt at times the book was too edited. Probably a lot of pressure to make the already large volume smaller but I think this effected the pace of the plot and had the endings fading away instead of clarified.

[Vivi Widodo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie (Charlotte) is on a mission to drop off a Jewish kid at the ship, yet the ship hasn't arrived as planned. Instead, both Charlie and the kid, Zeus, found an injured Congolese man who survived the massacre. He knows there's something on the La Fortuna ship that the Germans can never be allowed to find.
A handful of Allied soldiers led by Fletcher met with a group of female freedom fighters led by Charlie, working together for one mission. They have to work around the clock to ensure a German officer, Rheinhardt, won't discover whatever was kept in La Fortuna.

The book is divided into four parts, and the suspense builds with each new part. However, while the book is slightly overly long, it is really entertaining, with lots of funny, witty conversations and likable characters, even I am kind of liking the antagonists 😆. I really didn't expect that I would chuckle so often throughout the book.

The chapters of Hubner and Rheinhardt are really entertaining. And, it is not Paullina Simons without a love story to make you cheer and cry.

[Lyn Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, my all time favourite genre and although a little drawn out at times was thrilling to the very end. The epic story line told of sacrifice, bravery and the importance of the female freedom fighters support for the allied soldiers during the war . The romance between Louise and Rafael and Charlie and Fletcher was so beautifully written. I have been to Belgium twice and so fell in love with Brussels and Bruges

[Lana Kortchik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was nothing like I expected. It was unlike every other Paullina Simons book I have read and loved. But like every other book by Paullina Simons, it made me fall in love with the characters, only to break my heart. What a journey this story was, one that will stay with me for a very long time.

[Priscilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of this author for a while. Her book 'The Bronze Horseman' is one of my favourites of all time. This one isn't as good, but still an enjoyable read. The romance and character development are taking a back seat from the main plot and I wish we get more of them.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paullina Simons - back to her best, Light at Lavelle was good, The Bell and the Blade…phenomenal and I couldn’t put it down. It was like reading a movie. Action packed, love, grief and heartbreak. I laughed and I cried. A well deserved 5 stars.

[Joanna Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down and did not want it to end. I kept thinking about it once I had finished it. I really hope she writes a sequel to this incredible book so that we can find out more about what happens to the survivors

[Denise]

2.5/5

[Erin Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this so much, one of the best books I’ve read all year

[Ashley McWhannell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo good!!! Loved