Thanks to Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read an Advance Reader's Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 
 "Seven Days in May" follows two story lines. 
 The first is the story of New York heiresses Sydney and Brooke Sinclair. Sydney considers herself a modern woman. She is drawn to the Suffrage movement, as well as Margaret Sanger's birth control efforts. Brooke, on the other hand, envisions herself to be an American Princess, and would like to also be a part of the British Aristocracy by marrying a British noble. She becomes engaged to Edward Thorpe-Tracey, a British gentleman who is long on family history and short on cash. The engagement of a wealthy American woman to an impoverished British lord was not a unique phenomenon. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Old World and the New came together in the form of "Dollar Princesses," a phenomenon that captivated the public's attention. A Dollar Princess referred to an American heiress, often from newly wealthy families, who married a title-rich but cash-poor British nobleman. And Brooke's engagement quickly becomes THE event of the social season. 
 The second, and perhaps more interesting story line, is that of Isabel Nelson, a young woman who is escaping a checkered past and moves to London. She finds employment at the British Admiralty as a secretary, in support of the war effort. Though Isabel's secretarial skills are strong, she is soon assigned to "Room 40," a group whose responsibility is deciphering and breaking enemy codes. She has many interactions with Winston Churchill, and finds herself privy to some classified information -- Germany is planning on attacking a civilian luxury cruise ship, namely the Lusitania. Worse, Britain may not stop them, as this attack on American civilians may be the catalyst that brings the US into WW 1. 
 Meanwhile, Sydney, Brooke and Edward are embarking on their trip back to London, and the wedding that awaits. Naturally, they are boarding the fastest and most luxurious ship out there -- the sparkling gem of the Cunard line, the Lusitania. 
 The reader, of course, knows what is in store for them. However, I groaned, audibly, when the Sydney traded in her First Class Ticket on the Lusitania for one in Steerage. Seriously? 
 The two story lines don't come together very well, and Kim Izzo shifts back and forth between them regularly. I felt the plot, especially that of the Sinclair sisters, to be a bit too cliche. And Sydney trading in her ticket for steerage was completely unnecessary, and almost kept me from abandoning the book altogether. 
 All in all, it had the potential to be a captivating novel, but it missed, both in originality and storytelling skill.