All I remember is the screeching of brakes and the sound of tyres swerving on tarmac. The last thing that crossed my mind was my beautiful boy Billy, waiting alone at the school gates…
When I found out I was pregnant I couldn’t have been happier. Ever since my own father died, I’d felt utterly lost. But you changed everything. Finally, I had found my purpose: to be the best mother I could be.
But I couldn’t – wouldn’t – tell anyone who your father was. I could never forget the look in his eyes that day. The betrayal written across his face. All the things we didn’t say, and the secret that tore us apart.
I thought I was hiding the truth to protect us. But now as I lie in this hospital ward, my life hanging in the balance, blinking in the bright white lights, all I can think about is how that man, your dad, could be your only hope… but how can I save us when it already seems too late? Or will I be just in time to reunite our family?
Fans of Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult and Kate Hewitt will be swept away by this heartbreaking, totally gripping page-turner about motherhood, grief and a family torn apart by secrets.
A Child’s Goodbye is emotional and heart wrenching. Keep the tissues at the ready! The author delves into questions we are afraid to ask ourselves, who will take care of our child if we are unable to? A shy child lives with his single mother, he doesn’t have many friends, is teased at school but is starting to show some independence from his mother. Depending on his mother to pick him up at the school gates 5 days a week, when she doesn’t one day his stress is evident as he waits in the school office for word on what to do. Receiving word his mother has been in an accident on her way to pick him up causes a change not only in his life but his mother’s as well. His mother is hiding a secret, she won’t say who her son’s father is and it has caused her to be estranged from her own mother. Being in the hospital has given her plenty of time to think back on the past and about her son. She loves him desperately and only wants the best for him. She comes to the realization that visiting the past and setting things straight will cause her to progress in the future. Well-developed characters that blossom and grow as the story progresses.
Pub Date 28 Mar 2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
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About The Author
Ali decided she wanted to be a writer early on and wrote her first novel when she was at primary school. She did an English degree and spent her early twenties working in various jobs in journalism, including as a reporter for the showbusiness newspaper The Stage. She started writing fiction in earnest after getting married, moving out of London to the Oxfordshire market town of Abingdon and starting a family. She has two children, a daughter and a son who is autistic and was diagnosed when he was four years old.
Ali is fascinated by families, their myths and secrets, and the forces that hold them together, split them up and (sometimes) bring them back together again. She always travels with tissues and a book and has been known to cry over a good story, but is also a big fan of the hopeful ending.
Author Social Media Links:
For updates and pictures, follow Ali on Twitter (@AlisonLMercer) or Instagram (@alimercerwriter), or on her Facebook page (AliMercerwriter)
A heart-breaking World War Two historical novel about one woman’s bravery and the face of grave danger…@Bookouture
About The Book
The Polish Wife by Gosia Nealon
Germany, 1934. Surrounded by beautiful wedding china, we share our first dinner alone as husband and wife. But, instead of sharing affections, all he talks of is his admiration for Hitler. I force a smile, but my blood runs cold. How can I stay with him, now I know what he truly is?
Six years later. When Anna is approached by the Polish resistance while sheltering in Warsaw, she is eager for the chance to fight against German occupation. Managing a network of spies behind the façade of a café for enemy soldiers will mean risking everything. But, after fleeing her fanatical Nazi husband only for war to follow close behind, Anna can’t run any more.
Every conversation she overhears between the unsuspecting officers at the café brings back awful memories of the Nazi her husband became and makes her more determined to do what is right. Spending more time with the resistance behind the scenes, she grows close to them all—especially a brilliant young doctor with deep hazel eyes called Mateusz, who shows her a kindness she has never known.
As they work together, Anna can’t help imagining what life would be like with him, instead of the man she is tied to. But one day her dreams of a future with Mateusz, and freedom for her country, are shattered. Her husband has tracked her down.
Terrified, Anna knows that living as his wife again is her chance to gather information that could help end the war. But can she keep her nerve long enough to spy on her own husband? And with such a high-ranking enemy officer watching her every move, can she protect Mateusz, the man truly she loves, from the firing line?
This is a totally inspiring and gripping page-turner that you will not be able to put down. Fans of The Alice Network, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and My Name is Eva will fall in love with this heartbreaking tale.
The Polish Wife is the second book in the Secret Resistance series by Gosia Nealon. The author writes a realistic book that draws you into the characters life, making you care what the outcome will be.
Main character Anna escapes pre-war Nazi Germany, with the help of her mother to get away from an abusive husband who supports the Nazis. Her mother understands her situation because her husband also supports the Nazis, and she doesn’t want her daughter to experience the same things she has.
Escaping to Warsaw she joins the resistance and opens a cafe as a front while hiding in plain sight hearing all the Germans are saying. When she falls in love with a kind doctor, he goes on the run to avoid going against his beliefs, will she follow? In the face of danger, she shows incredible bravery.
Fraught with danger, and a realistic story line I once again could not put down this book by one of my new favorite historical authors.
Pub Date 31 Mar 2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
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About The Author
While Gosia Nealon is a proud New Yorker, she was born and raised in Poland. Her journey to the Big Apple revealed a wealth of cultural differences, but also the values that connect us all. Like the fierce desire to protect family, find love, and ultimately, discover who we are and why we’re here.
Gosia’s award-winning short stories have always delved into life’s biggest questions, but it was the drama, sacrifice, and tragedy of WWII that led her to pen her debut novel, which won a gold medal in the 2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY).
Growing up in Poland, Gosia heard many firsthand accounts of the war, told from a perspective rarely captured in mainstream literature. She was compelled to breathe life into two young people falling in love in the midst of the most terrifying conflict of our time.
When Gosia isn’t tapping away at her laptop, she’s often walking the streets of New York. With her husband and two young sons in tow, they search for the most succulent pierogi, transporting them back to the cobbled streets of her childhood.
“Inspired by the brave women of Bletchley Park, this is a totally gripping World War Two novel of friendship, heartbreak and hope.”@Bookouture
About The Book
1943, Bletchley Park: In the dark of night, my heart is pumping with adrenalin as I wait for news of the secret agent operating under the code name Elodie. She has a dangerous part to play in the Normandy landings and so many lives are at stake. But I couldn’t bear to lose her…
Inspired by the brave women of Bletchley Park, this is a totally gripping World War Two novel of friendship, heartbreak and hope. Perfect for fans of The Rose Code, The Alice Network and The Nightingale.
Valerie Rousseau is burning with determination to help free her beloved France from the Nazi regime. Working at the mysterious Bletchley Park, she strikes up an unexpected bond with smart, fiercely loyal Fran Morgan as they spend long days together with their heads bent over maps of France in preparation for the Allied invasion.
Their friendship grows increasingly important as they distract themselves from the dark days of war with afternoons skating across the icy pond at the heart of Bletchley Park and evenings talking late into the night. But Valerie’s wartime role is shrouded in secrecy and there are things that she can’t even tell Fran.
When Valerie volunteers for a dangerous mission linked to the D-Day landings in Normandy, Fran is devastated. Valerie has knowingly put her life on the line and Fran is terrified that she will never see her again.
Soon, Fran hears about the bravery of the agent operating under the code name Elodie. She’s certain it’s Valerie and she knows the work she is doing in her little office, overlooking the green fields of England, could be the difference between life and death for this secret agent…
Can both women secure victory for their country? Or will the fight for freedom cost them their love – and their lives?
My Thoughts
Code Name Elodie is book 2 in the Bletchley Park Girls series. I find it fascinating that it’s based on a true story. I love reading a historical novel that I learn from. The characters all have depth, with believable back stories that helps me to envision them in my mind which makes them more relatable. The book is heartbreaking and gripping, I had to read one more chapter, then one more and before I knew it, I was done.
Starting off in 1943, Bletchley Park with bombs dropping all around you can feel the women’s fear and it pulls you into the story. The 3 main characters are women, and we follow their journey as they seek freedom for their country. We still often think of men when we think of war but so many women bravely sacrificed for their country during war time as well.
War is devastating but these women had a strong friendship, displayed bravery and had determination. Through it all war doesn’t stand in the way of love though. Despite the war raging though there is hope through it all. I have really enjoyed this series and will be reading more by this author.
Published March 29,2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Author Bio
Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. You can reach her on Facebook @annastuartauthor or Twitter @annastuartbooks.
France, 1942. “I forced myself to hold his gaze. My heart thrashed inside my chest like a bird battering its wings. They knew who I was. They knew what I’d done.” This heartbreaking and unputdownable World War Two noveltells the incredible true story Dora Schaul, who risked her life by coming face-to-face with enemy—the monsters who killed her loved ones.
Dora has lost everything to the Nazis. Her dearest friends have disappeared into thin air. Her parents have been imprisoned in concentration camps and murdered for the crime of simply existing. She has no idea if her darling husband, the devoted and brave Alfred, is still alive.
Though her world is crashing and burning around her, Dora refuses to give in to Hitler’s tyranny. The Nazis may have broken her heart, but they will not break her spirit.
Secretly working for the underground network in France, Dora risks her life on the most dangerous mission in the history of the local resistance. She goes undercover as the secretary of the Head of Gestapo; a soldier with a brutal reputation. A cold-blooded killer.
She is tasked with leaking the names of the SS to the British press. Every day, she rubs shoulders with the enemy. She makes coffee for the people she despises. She types letters for the monsters who killed her family. At any second, she could be found out…
Can she survive, turning the tide of the war and saving thousands of lives? Or will those she loved the most in the world, and millions of other innocent people, have died in vain?
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network, and The Lilac Girls will be utterly swept away by this heart-wrenching and totally gripping novel about one of history’s most courageous women.
My Thoughts
I love a well-researched historical book, whether it is fiction or nonfiction. This historical fiction book has held my interest the whole way through with its characters especially our main character, Dora. The characters are portrayed very well, and I very much enjoyed reading about Dora’s strength despite the many terrible situations she found herself in. This is a fictionalized story of true events. The evil characters made me shudder, I couldn’t even imagine thinking of tricking them the way Dora did. She saw the torture they put men through and knowing she could be subjected to the same but yet she continues to act normal and pleasant among them while at the same time extracting and giving information right under their noses without them being any the wiser. The author is an absolute magician with words. The way she has with words, she brings out such emotion in reader. Absolutely marvelous, soul stirring book that I will read again. Have your tissues with you, this is heartbreaking!
Pub Date 19 Jan 2023 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
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About the Author
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author, whose works have been translated into 14 languages. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, “The Girl from Berlin.” Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their two dogs.
A perfect mother. A loving daughter. A secret that could destroy them both.
New mother Eve is overwhelmed with love for her baby son, Kai. As she swaddles him in a fluffy white blanket, she shudders at a memory of her own childhood. She hasn’t seen her heartless mother Lydia in years, and she hasn’t told a soul about what really happened the night her baby brother died in the squalid little house she grew up in…
When the phone rings in the dead of night, Eve’s heart pounds as she hears the voice at the other end. ‘Hello Mother’, she replies, an ice-cold chill creeping down her spine. She grips her son’s tiny frame close to her trembling chest as she reluctantly agrees to let her mother visit.
But when Eve has to make an emergency call from Kai’s bedroom early one morning, she curses herself for allowing her mother back into her perfect little family.
‘Kai was fine when I checked on him a few hours ago.’ Her mother says, breathlessly as she watches her daughter’s face change from fear to rage.
Why was Lydia in Kai’s bedroom during the night? And as Lydia pleads her innocence, could it be that she’s not the most dangerous mother in this family?
Fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife, will absolutely love this gripping and addictive thriller. Her First Child will have you hooked from the very first page!
My Thoughts
I am a new reader of psychological thrillers. As a new reader of this genre, I am drawn to the synopsis of the books, and I have enjoyed the ones I have read. The pace of this one is fast; you never really know what to expect. This is my first read by this author and I am open to reading more by her. The story was very suspenseful, I thought I understood what was going on but then it flowed into another scenario, another possibility. Who can you trust when relationships are based on neediness and lies. Oh, so many lies. What is good in this life, what is bad? You think you know, but you don’t. Betrayal, abuse, neglect, despair, tension, you will find this and more. A mother unable to do the one thing she was made to do, protect her children. As her daughter grows into a woman will she inherit her mother’s mannerisms, her silence, the madness, the inability to cope with reality? In this dual timeline, there is a lot of covering up, hiding the bad, the secrets must never see the light of day. Twists and turns with a very unexpected ending.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Author Bio
Author Bio:
Bestselling Author, Sheryl Browne, writes taut, twisty psychological thriller. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. Sheryl has also obtained a Certificate of Achievement in Forensic Science and – according to readers – she makes an excellent psychopath. Sheryl’s latest psychological thriller HER FIRST CHILD comes to you from BOOKOUTURE. Her previous works include the DI Matthew Adams Crime Thriller series, along with contemporary fiction novels, The Rest of My Life and Learning to Love.To find out more about Sheryl, go to www.sherylbrowne.com https://twitter.com/sherylbrowne
Alice looked at the young girl standing alone on the platform, sensing the same vulnerability she’d once felt entering the village she now called home. Then, as the child gripped her hand, the pain and sorrow Alice had held in her heart for so long softened… And in that moment, she vowed she’d always protect her – whatever the cost…
England, 1939: When Alice marries twinkly-eyed, kind-hearted vicar David, it means leaving everything from her old life behind and moving into the draughty vicarage in the beautiful but remote village of Goswell, Cumbria. Though homesick, Alice is determined to make a new life there for herself and her husband.
But soon tragedy strikes, and she is devastated when war breaks out and David chooses to sign up to fight. But everything changes when Alice is asked to take in a child evacuee, and she makes a promise to protect this girl, no matter what it costs her…
Now: When Jane and her family move to the small coastal village of Goswell where her husband grew up, she’s afraid she might have made a huge mistake. Their new home – in what had once been the vicarage – feels a million miles from their previous fast-paced life in New York City, and Jane struggles with her empty days that seem lonely and purposeless.
But then she finds a small note, forgotten behind a shelf in the pantry. A note written in the Second World War. By a woman named Alice, whose incredible story has the power to change everything…
Two wives’ stories – told over 70 years apart – about courage, finding a home, and how the unexpected arrival of someone else’s story in your life can change your own. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Barbara O’Neal.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Vicar’s Wife by Katharine Swartz.
The Wife’s Promise is the first book in a quartet of books that will grab your heart and simply not let go. The series is The Goswell Quartet. So far, I have only read the first book in this series, but I am planning on reading the entire series. Such a gripping and emotional book, it is not one that will be forgotten any time soon. Two wives’ stories told over seventy years apart but yet the connection quickly becomes apparent. I absolutely love these time slip books, and this is an example of one at its finest. As you absorb the story you become invested in the characters. their emotions and thoughts become your own. It becomes as though you are experiencing the daily life right there with them in each time period. Taking place in England in the late 1930’s and in modern times, the characters are quite similar in many ways. There is a vulnerability to these characters. a reaching out of needing more but not quite sure how to get it.
“Two wives’ stories – told over 70 years apart – about courage, finding a home, and how the unexpected arrival of someone else’s story in your life can change your own. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Barbara O’Neal.”
Previously published as The Vicar’s Wife by Katharine Swartz.
This has zoomed right to the top of my list of favorite books I’ve read this year!
Pub Date 17 Nov 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Goswell Quartet
Though I have read the first book only I plan on reading the rest of this series. Here are all of the books in this series.
“I had to free it,” Eleanor said, and stretched her hand out to the blue butterfly that seemed almost to hover in the air. “I had to let something find what happiness it could, since we cannot.”
England, 1918: As war ends, across the world, people are trying to heal and recover. But Eleanor still feels broken. The loss of her beloved brother, killed just days before the Armistice was signed, feels impossibly unjust. Spending her time in the neglected garden behind their house, she fears her heart will never recover.
Then her father hires a man to help restore the garden to its former glory. Gruff, handsome Yorkshireman Jack comes from a totally different world to Eleanor, but he understands the nature of her grief more than anyone else seems to. And as they spend time together, even though she knows her family will never accept someone of Jack’s class, Eleanor starts to wonder if – like the butterflies around them – there is any way for her to learn to soar again…
Now: Nearly one hundred years later, Marin is not prepared for finding herself the guardian of her fifteen-year-old half-sister Rebecca, after her father and his second wife are killed in a tragic accident. The sisters are practically strangers, and Rebecca’s grief makes her seem even more distant. Marin too is in need of a fresh start, so when Rebecca begs her to let them move to the picturesque village of Goswell on the Cumbrian coast, Marin impulsively agrees.
But it is only when they find a locked door to a secret garden, and a photograph of a girl with a butterfly landing on her hand, that the sisters start to realise they have a mystery to solve, one about war, about secrets, and about a love that could never be. A mystery that might just bring them together…
The Daughter’s Garden is a totally unputdownable novel about tragic secrets, the chance for forgiveness, and the healing that can come from a new start. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Rhys Bowen and Lucinda Riley.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Lost Garden by Katharine Swartz.
The Bride’s Sister – Book 3
She clutched the piece of paper close to her chest, tears welling in her eyes, hardly believing what she had read. Silently thanking Sarah for all she sacrificed, she took the death certificate and slipped it under a loose floorboard – no one must ever find out what she’d done…
England, 1868: Orphaned and penniless, 18-year-old Sarah is left the sole guardian of her beloved little sister Lucy – who she’s vowed to protect at all costs. With nowhere left to turn, she is forced to accept mysterious widower James Mills’ proposal of marriage.
She believes being his bride can’t possibly be as bad as the threat of the workhouse. But nothing prepares her for the darkness of her marriage, the shocking secrets of her new family and the lengths she will have to go to, to keep her sister safe…
Now: Living in the beautiful village of Goswell, Ellen believes her family life to be idyllic… until her estranged seventeen-year-old stepdaughter Annabelle moves in and shatters the peace. Ellen fears they will never bond, until she finds a death certificate – for a woman named Sarah, from over a century earlier – hidden under the floorboards of their house, and Annabelle starts to help her unravel the mystery.
Yet as Ellen and Annabelle dig deeper into Sarah’s life and death, shocking truths, both past and present, come to light which change everything Ellen thought she knew about Sarah’s family – and the new addition to her own…
The Bride’s Sister is a powerful and moving story about what it means to be a family, second chances, and the lengths we go to for those we love. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Barbara O’Neal and Fiona Valpy will absolutely love this gripping and emotional read.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Second Bride by Katharine Swartz.
She looked down at the sweet little girl and knew she wouldn’t listen to what anyone else said. She had to do what was right. Even if it meant going against everything she was taught to believe and keeping a secret from the person closest to her…
England, 1766: Abigail is happily married to James, a tobacco trader turned sea captain, and is looking forward to starting a family and settling down in Whitehaven, deep in the Lake District. But after a series of devastating losses, she finds herself in turmoil, with her future suddenly seeming unknown…
When James announces that he will captain a ship to Africa and then the Americas for a year, it sparks a series of surprising and heartbreaking events – involving some of the darkest evils in humanity’s history, and a tiny, terrified slave girl who’s brought back to England. This helpless child forces Abigail to reconsider everything she thought she knew – and will change her life forever…
Now: When a shipwreck is discovered off the coast of Cumbria, local expert Rachel is brought in to investigate. Her first thought is that this will be a perfect distraction from her troubled marriage and the memories of her past that she is desperate not to think about. But then it becomes clear the wreck is a slaving ship from the 1700s – one that was recorded as sinking in the Caribbean – and Rachel begins to wonder if there’s more to this terrible mystery than meets the eye.
Faced with uncertainty about both the past and present, can Rachel learn from Abigail’s extraordinary story and take the first step towards a brighter future of her own?
The Widow’s Secret is a completely heart-wrenching and powerful story of courage, redemption, and compassion. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Barbara O’Neal and Fiona Valpy will be absolutely captivated by this unforgettable read.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Widow’s Secret by Katharine Swartz.
Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.
The Girl with the Yellow Star: An absolutely gripping and heartbreaking WW2 historical novel
“We have to wear the yellow star! It’s the rules!” the little girl sobs. But her mother presses a desperate finger to her mouth. “Darling, today is different. We are going to leave our stars behind and go on a long journey. We must be very, very quiet, and pray nobody finds us until we are safe in England…”
Cornwall, England, 1943. When her husband is killed fighting in the Navy, grief-stricken Gwenna Devoran tries to fill the void in her life by offering shelter to two Jewish refugees in her farmhouse high on the Cornish cliffs. But at the train station, ten-year-old Lotti is waiting all alone in her neat red coat.
Lotti’s mother died protecting her on the journey. Now Gwenna is all this little girl has. Traumatised Lotti won’t speak a word: and when an order comes for German prisoners-of-war to work the farm she’s in more danger than ever. What will happen if the Germans find out Lotti is Jewish?
When Gwenna overhears Lotti chattering happily to German captain Max Reiner, showing him her teddy bear, her heart stops. Shocked to hear Lotti finally speak, Gwenna is terrified for the little girl she’s grown to love. But perhaps she can she trust the kindness in this German officer’s gentle voice and bright blue eyes…
As Lotti heals a little more each day, Gwenna risks everything to spend more time with Max, certain he doesn’t believe in the Nazi cause. But then a rumour starts in the village: Max himself fired the torpedo that killed Gwenna’s husband.
Devastated, Gwenna’s heart is torn between loyalty to her country, the memory of her husband, and love for the little girl she secretly hopes could become her own. With Max desperate to prove his innocence, does she dare to trust him? And should she fight for the three of them to become a family – or will the war tear them all apart?
An absolutely heartbreaking, gripping and beautiful story about how love shines brightly even in the darkest times, and the incredible sacrifices people make in wartime. Fans of The Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz won’t be able to put this down.
The Girl With the Yellow Star by Natalie Meg Evans is one of the most enthralling books I have read in a long time.
The Girl With The Yellow Star grabs your attention and doesn't let go all the way through the book and you are still thinking about it when you're done.
I would have to say Lotti is my favorite character. I fell for this young Jewish girl and her gentle vulnerability. She gets thrust into a whole new environment with people she doesn't even know after a terrible tragedy. Luckily, she has her beloved teddy bear, Rumtopf which I looked up to see is a German word for preserved fruit in rum. Well, Rumtopf is a very useful bear and saves a life.
I could go on about this little girl saying after the tragedy she doesn't speak for quite some time despite being taken in and having excellent care. She goes to school and excels at all of her subjects.
Gwenna, who takes her in has her own sadness and problems to deal with but gives of herself by taking care of this sweet child. When she hears Lotti chatting with German captain Max Reiner, showing him her teddy bear she is so surprised to hear her speaking but scared for the little girl. Will they take her away?
As she gets to know Max more, she finds herself starting to trust him. I enjoyed seeing the trust develop between Gwenna and Max and also a relationship.
While Lotti heals a bit more each day Gwenna hears a terrible rumor in the village, that Max actually fired the torpedo that killed her husband. Max is desperate to have Gwenna trust him and prove his innocence, will he be able to?
"An absolutely heartbreaking, gripping and beautiful story about how love shines brightly even in the darkest times, and the incredible sacrifices people make in wartime."
One of the best books I've read this year. I need to see what other books the author has out right now!
Pub Date 28 Oct 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own
About The Author
Natalie Meg Evans has been an art student, actor, PR copywriter, book-keeper and bar tender but always wanted to write. A USA Today best-seller and RITA nominee, she is author of four published novels which follow the fortunes of strong-minded women during the 1930s and 40s. Fashion, manners and art are the glass through which her characters’ lives are viewed. Each novel is laced with passion, romance and desire. Mystery is never far away.
An avid absorber of history – for her sixth birthday she got a toy Arthurian castle with plastic knights – Natalie views historical fiction as theatre for the imagination. Her novels delve behind the scenes of a prestige industry: high fashion, millinery, theatre, wine making. Rich arenas for love and conflict. Most at home in the English countryside, Natalie lives in rural Suffolk. She has one son.
Under a Brighter Sky: A completely gripping and heartbreaking WWII historical novel (The Resistance Girl Book 2) by Dianne Haley
1943, Nazi-occupied France. Clinging to her little girl’s hand, a young woman runs through the forest and stumbles in the dark. Behind her there are angry shouts in German and shots ringing through the pine trees. Her heart in her mouth, she prays desperately that her husband and son are safe, and that they will see each other again…
As the mountains come alive with bright alpine flowers, Jewish families flee into Switzerland from Nazi-occupied France. Young Resistance fighter Valérie Hallez has hidden Pierre and his little son in the dusty attic of her mother’s bookshop. At night, by flickering candlelight, Pierre tells Valérie of his fear that his precious wife and daughter have been captured. And as they both look to more hopeful days ahead, Valérie writes letters to her soldier fiancé Philippe, dreaming of the day when they can be safely reunited.
With the police going door to door hunting refugees, Pierre and his son must go further into Switzerland before they are caught. But Pierre will not leave without his wife and daughter, and nobody in the Resistance knows what has happened to them. Desperate to reunite the family, Valérie puts herself in more and more danger. But when Philippe discovers that the Germans have her listed as a key Resistance fighter, he begs her not to go back to the border. If she does, he might never see her again.
Valérie knows the Nazis will kill her if they find her, but she cannot bear to abandon the mother and child. Breaking her promise to Philippe, she crosses over into France to look for them. But one of Valérie’s friends in the Resistance is betraying secrets to the Nazis, and her life is in terrible danger. When Philippe hurries to save her life, will they both survive? And will Valérie’s efforts to reunite the family be in vain?
A completely unputdownable and heart-wrenching novel about a woman who risks everything to reunite a family torn apart by war. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones will be swept away by Under a Brighter Sky.
Author Dianne Haley has written a superb book. There have been many WWII books written and they are good but one that has a different topic covered such as this one really catches your attention. What keeps your attention is the page after page reading of danger, heart wrenching heartbreak the characters face though not of their own causing. Such injustice done to children just trying to escape to a better life. I could not put this down; my heart was beating fast, and I was holding my breath while reading this. You get very invested in the character’s lives, I was hooked as I read about the risks they are taking through espionage and secret communications. France has fallen to the Nazi’s and Switzerland’s people know they could be next, but a long-time jeweler needs the business with the Germans to survive. As his daughter does bike deliveries for him, she, unknown to her father, smuggles messages for the French Resistance, hidden among his watch deliveries. It is a huge risk she is taking but she does it while thinking of Philippe, her childhood sweetheart who is a soldier based in secret military fortresses in the mountains. Someone she knows is betraying secrets to the Resistance, who could be putting them in perilous danger and why? Heart wrenching story about a woman who risks it all, including her own life to try to reunite a family devastatingly torn apart beyond their own control by war. When unexpected danger strikes will she stay safe, will her father? Highly recommended!
Pub Date 25 Apr 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
Originally from the north of Scotland, Dianne now lives with her husband in Edinburgh and has two grown-up children. After a thirty-year business career in London and Edinburgh when Dianne wrote between projects, she is now writing full-time.
Dianne and her family have been visiting the area round Lake Geneva since 1992 and love the Alps in all seasons. The inspiration for her series set in WW2 Switzerland came from a drive through Geneva’s old town on a rainy October evening, the cobbled lanes a perfect setting for secrets and hiding places.
A totally captivating story about long-lost family secrets and new beginnings, that will whisk you away to the village of Sandy Cove on the gorgeous Irish coast.
Heartbroken and feeling lost after the end of her last relationship, Edwina is looking for a fresh start. And when she hears that a coastguard cottage in the tiny village of Sandy Cove is for sale, she knows it could be her chance. She remembers the village from her childhood with its beautiful sandy white beaches, and wonders if using her life savings to buy the cottage might give her a new beginning in the Irish town beside the sea.
Not long after she arrives, Edwina discovers a message in a bottle during one of her walks along the coast. Written twenty years ago and washed ashore at Wild Rose Bay, it tells the story of a desperate young man, driven to despair after a terrible accident that left him separated from his true love. Touched by his heartbreaking letter, and haunted by its contents, Edwina resolves to find the person who wrote it.
As she begins her search, Edwina meets Shane O’Flaherty, a charming local doctor with green eyes, with whom she feels an instant connection. As the pair walk the cobbled streets of the village together, Edwina’s feelings grow stronger, and she begins to wonder whether Sandy Cove might be the place she can finally call home…
But when she uncovers the identity of the person who wrote the letter all those years ago, everything Edwina thought she knew about Shane changes in an instant. Has she unearthed a secret that should never have come to light? And will it force her to leave the place where she thought she had finally found happiness?
Fans of Sheila O’Flanagan, Mary Alice Monroe and Debbie Macomber will fall in love with this gripping, heart-warming and utterly charming Irish romance.
Being of Irish nationality I love to visit Ireland through books as I dream of actually visiting there someday. This was a magical visit to the beautiful south-west of Ireland to the fictional village of Sandy Cove on the gorgeous Irish coast. Edwina is ready to settle in and make a new start and she does so by buying five cottages in Sandy Cove. Immediately the gossip starts with villagers speculating on who bought the cottages and wondering if they will be torn down and what building will replace them. You just can’t escape the small-town gossip mill. Walking along the beach she finds a bottle that has been washed up upon the shore and after reading the heartbreaking message the only thing she can think about is finding the person who wrote the letter. She’s not sure if this will even be possible as the message has been written twenty years ago. I was drawn into Edwina’s life as she discovers family secrets, has a reunion,shows graciousness and forgiveness and finds a special relationship. A mix of the perfect amount of romance and heartwarming scenes. The author pulls you into her writing world with the scenery, set up and characters. The loose threads from previous books have come together and I look forward to more in this entertaining series.
Pub Date 20 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
AUTHOR BIO
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than twenty novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre. She has been the wife of a diplomat (still is), a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a ramshackle house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or keeping fit in the local gym, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
Christmas in the Little Irish Village: A page-turning Christmas romance to fall in love with by Michelle Vernal
Welcome to the little Irish village where Christmas celebrations are in full swing! Twinkling lights, cosy fires and big mugs of hot chocolate are in abundance as Shannon Kelly returns home to the Shamrock Inn. Will this be the year she finds the man of her dreams or is she destined to be forever unlucky in love?
Thirty-four-year-old Shannon is heartbroken following an unexpected break up. Seasonal joy is the last thing on her mind, as she wonders if she’ll ever find the kind of long-lasting love she’s always dreamed of. Even the comforting distractions of her big Irish family can’t cheer her up. Then things get even worse when Shannon slips over on the ice and finds herself red-faced in the arms of a gorgeous American man…
Despite the embarrassing encounter, Shannon can’t help wondering who the handsome stranger is. She soon finds out when James Cabot takes a room at the Shamrock Inn. Their second meeting is equally disastrous when she gives James the tour – without realising her skirt is tucked into her knickers! Shannon isn’t sure how she’s going to survive living under the same roof when she has such a talent for making a complete eejit of herself, and resolves to avoid their new guest at all costs.
But when Shannon discovers James is in Ireland because he’s claiming to be the long-lost grandson of her elderly neighbour, Maeve Doolin, she is immediately suspicious. Shannon has known kind Maeve since she was a little girl and feels protective of her, so she’s determined to find out the truth. Even if it means spending more time with James…
The two of them end up getting closer than she’d bargained for when they take a tour of Emerald Bay and end up snowed in together. But just as James begins to make Shannon’s heart melt with his cheeky grin and awful carol singing, a shocking secret threatens to shatter the growing romance between them.
Can Shannon trust James? And will she get the happily-ever-after she’s been hoping for this Christmas?
This gorgeous festive romance is the perfect cosy read to snuggle up with this Christmas. Fans of Nicola May, Trisha Ashley and Debbie Macomber will love this wonderfully uplifting novel.
You will get the full Irish experience while reading this one. Being that my ancestors came over on a boat from Galway I knew this one was the perfect read for me. You’ll be immersed in the authenticity of the Irish humor,foods and settings. An American guy,an Irish gal snowed in together with an elderly neighbor it looks like love may be a blooming in this charming rom-com. When secrets are revealed though it just may send that fledgling romance south . This book is just lovely, so entertaining. The humor is great and had me laughing out loud. Heart-warming and charming, so looking forward to the next in this series.
Pub Date 14 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
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About The Author
Michelle Vernal is a New Zealand author who writes stories that will take you onto the page with her characters and make you feel part of their lives. She writes with humour and warmth, and her readers describe her books as unputdownable, feel good and funny. Her writing has been likened to Maeve Binchy but with a modern-day vernacular. In 2015 she was shortlisted for the Love Stories Award. In 2020 she won the Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal Award for Chick lit, and in 2021 was shortlisted for the Page Turner Book Awards.
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