40 pages 4-8 years Sourcebooks Explore publisher July 4, 2023 publication date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Discover the true feats of hero dogs, horses, birds and more with this animal book for kids ages 6-8
History is full of incredible untold tales of courageous animals. We Also Served tells the inspiring stories of the amazing bravery and loyalty displayed by animals throughout history and their vital contributions to military success. Each true story gives readers a lesson in history and a lesson in the importance of these animals’ contribution. The perfect gift for animal lovers and military families!
MY THOUGHTS
Each animal is featured with how they came to serve, which war they served in what heroic acts they did. There are pigeons, birds, dogs, horses and more. Fascinating and wonderful to see these animals get the recognition they deserve. Many of the animals received many medals.
Full color pages that children will appreciate. These animals have faithfully and heroically served.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
341 pages Lake Union Publishing February 4, 2025 publication date
ABOUT THE BOOK
A heartbreaking story of friendship, loyalty and the true cost of love, from the bestselling author of The Secret Midwife and Wives of War.
Berlin, 1944: Amira and Gisele have been best friends since they were children, and now Gisele is the only person who knows Amira’s secret. A secret that puts her and everyone she loves in unimaginable danger amid the daily horror and violence of Nazi Germany.
With the threat of exposure drawing closer, Gisele’s suggestion that Amira marries her friend Fred, a famous pianist, might just be the lifeline she needs to keep them both safe. Because Fred has secrets too.
As the two strangers promise to look after each other, a profound love develops. But while the war rages on, Amira, Fred and Gisele are soon faced with terrible choices that will test their loyalty—and their courage—to the ultimate limits. How far will they go to keep each other alive?
An unforgettable World War Two novel about those who chose to defy the Nazis from within Germany.
MY THOUGHTS
Based on true history. My heart aches for all affected by the war, any war, past present and future.
Childhood friends Amira and Gisele have enjoyed a lifelong friendship, now they are adults. Amira has a secret that she’s been shieled from and it really hasn’t affected her until her father passes away. After his death she must face the harsh realities who she is and realizes even more why her father kept her hidden away for her safety.
Full of secrets that if found out could be life altering. No one should have to worry about not being accepted for who you are and your secret meaning death if found out.
I love reading the author’s books. Her books are so well researched, and I simply can’t put them down. Engrossed in the book, it kept me company for the while afternoon.
This book honors women and the sacrifices they make. May we never forget the victims of the wars and the ultimate sacrifices they have given. This author’s writing keeps me coming back every single time. Amazing!
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Soraya M. Lane graduated with a law degree before realizing that law wasn’t the career for her and that her future was in writing. She is the author of historical and contemporary women’s fiction, and her novel Wives of War was an Amazon Charts bestseller.
Soraya lives on a small farm in her native New Zealand with her husband, their two young sons and a collection of four legged friends. When she’s not writing, she loves to be outside playing make-believe with her children or snuggled up inside reading.
Phoebe is a volunteer nurse at a Base Hospital in Étaples, France, treating men who’ve served on hte Western Front. Their courage and resilience inspires her, and though she’s meant to keep her distance, Captain Archie Bailey soon captivates her heart.
Her younger sister Celia is a nurse at a POW camp on the island of Jersey. These men fight for the forces that bombed her brother and parents, but long hours spent healing them shows her they aren’t the monsters she expected.
Despite the miles between them, both Celia and Phoebe come to see the commonality in their experiences – the sense of community and friendship, the unexpected moments of love and laughter, and a bond so strong that even war can’t break it…
MY THOUGHTS
I enjoyed this historical fiction book and found it interesting and informative.
Phoebe, volunteer nurse at a Base Hospital in Étaples, France. Matron does her best to keep the nurses minds occupied with just nursing but there’s no counting on where the heart will lead. Phoebe soon finds herself falling in love with patient Captain Archie Bailey. Planning a life together after the war when he’s well enough he gets sent to the frontline then goes missing in action, presumed dead.
Celia is a nurse at a POW camp on the island of Jersey. She knows the men she is nursing back to health are from the same unit that killed her brother and parents. After getting to know these men she realizes they are just regular men with hopes, dreams and fears just like all of us. Falling in love with one of them shouldn’t have happened, but it has.
Phoebe and Celia are sisters with many similarities, they understand what the other is going through and know the fears they face. Heartbreaking……. there are no real winners in war, it just causes some to die earlier than others. Kept my attention as you can only pray for the best. The author writes such realistic work I could vividly imagine the scenes playing out as I read.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Deborah Carr is a USA TODAY bestselling author of historical fiction. She was born and lives on the island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands where she sets most of her books.
Her first book, Broken Faces was runner-up in the Good Housekeeping Novel Writing Competition in 2012 giving her the confidence to keep going. Her WW1 novel, The Poppy Sisters was an Amazon First Reads Editor’s Pick and The Poppy Field and An Island at War were USA TODAY bestsellers.
The Channel Islands was the only place in the British Isles occupied by German forces during WW2. This dark time in the island’s history is the setting for her latest novel, Neighbours at War. An Island at War and part of The Beekeeper’s War was also set during the Jersey Occupation.
She is the author behind the Mrs Boots trilogy inspired by Jersey woman, Florence Boot, the woman behind the Boots empire.
Deborah lives near the beach and begins each day walking by the sea with her three rescue dogs before sitting down to write.
352 pages Tyndale Fiction October 3, 2023 publication date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Forever within the memories of my heart.
Always remember, you are perfectly loved.
Bertie Jenkins has spent forty years serving as a midwife for her community in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Out of all the mothers she’s tended, none affects her more than the young teenager who shows up on her doorstep, injured, afraid, and expecting, one warm June day in 1943. As Bertie and her four sisters tenderly nurture Songbird back to health, the bond between the childless midwife and the motherless teen grows strong. But soon Songbird is forced to make a heartbreaking decision that will tear this little family apart.
Thirty years later, the day after his father’s funeral, Walker Wylie is stunned to learn he was adopted as an infant. The famous country singer enlists the help of adoption advocate Reese Chandler in the hopes of learning why he was abandoned by his birth parents. With the only clue he has in hand, Walker and Reese head deep into the Appalachian Mountains to track down Bertie Jenkins, the midwife who holds the secrets to Walker’s past.
MY THOUGHTS
A beautiful historical fiction time-slip novel, taking place in the 1940’s and 1970’s 1940’s: A young woman, little more than a child without the best upbringing wants to show her boyfriend how much she loves him before she moves away from North Carolina to Tennessee. At 14 she’s pregnant, her mother is dead, her father shoots her because of the pregnancy, and she runs away. The Appalachian Mountains are beautiful, wild and a good place to hide in the 1940’s but not for a 14-year-old pregnant teen shot by her father. Midwife Bertie hears her dog making a fuss in the woods and she finds the girl. Bringing the girl inside she and her five sisters live in the cabin her father built for his family of eleven but now all are gone but the five sisters living together that nurse this young girl back to health. As time goes on, she gives birth to a healthy beautiful baby boy, but she can’t stay as her father knows where she is and as she is unmarried and she’s underage he’d bring her and the baby home where she’s not wanted. This beautiful young, frightened girl develops a real affinity for her midwife as she becomes the mother she doesn’t have. The time comes for Songbird to leave, so named for her beautiful, melodious songs she treats the baby to.
1970’s: Thirty years later. A young man experiences the death of his father and learns he’s adopted after that, when his mother tells him. Feeling hurt, confused and bitter. Why didn’t they want him, wasn’t he good enough he wonders. As he explores his adoption records with the help of an adoption advocate, they go back to where it all started tracking down Bertie Jenkins, his mother’s midwife, now long retired. So much has changed in the wild Appalachian Mountains but time has also stood still in many ways. The old cabin Bertie has lived in with her sisters still stands with no electricity as things meander along here at a slower pace. Bertie holds the keys to the questions this man who became a famous singer, Walker Wylie but will she trust this stranger enough to meander back in time to a slower pace and give him the missing pieces to his puzzling questions?
This story is so beautiful so heartbreaking yet so healing and time marches on. I just could not stop reading and shed a tear or three while reading. I really enjoy reading about the olden days of Appalachia. Highly recommended!
MEET THE AUTHOR
Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including COUNT THE NIGHTS BY STARS, winner of the 2023 Christianity Today Book Award in Fiction, and UNDER THE TULIP TREE, a Christy Award and Selah Award finalist. As a woman of mixed heritage–her father’s family is Hispanic and her mother’s roots go back to Germany–she has always celebrated diversity and feels it’s important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction.
With both her sons grown, Michelle and her husband make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about.
400 pages St. Martin’s Press Publish date October 23, 2023
Pub Date Sep 28 2023 Bonnier Books UK/Jaffre publisher
ABOUT THE BOOK
From the New York Times bestselling author of the multi-million copy bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes a story of sisterhood and survival, inspired by a true story.
A phenomenal novel of resilience and survival from bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris.
In the midst of World War II, an English musician, Norah Chambers, places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe from the Japanese army as they move down through the Pacific. Norah remains to care for her husband and elderly parents, knowing she may never see her child again.
Sister Nesta James, a Welsh Australian nurse, has enlisted to tend to Allied troops. But as Singapore falls to the Japanese she joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the Vyner Brooke merchant ship. Only two days later, they are bombarded from the air off the coast of Indonesia, and in a matter of hours, the Vyner Brooke lies broken on the seabed.
After surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps. The camps are places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side by side every day, helping whoever they can, and discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness and determination.
Sisters under the Rising Sun is a story of women in war: a novel of sisterhood, bravery and friendship in the darkest of circumstances, from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey and Three Sisters.
MY THOUGHTS
One thing that gets to me when I read a Heather Morris book is how realistic they are. I love the fact that they are based on real people and situations and that I learn so much from them.
Her book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is my absolute favorite historical fiction book of all time. It’s just an incredible book. Sisters Under The rising Sun is an unputdownable book. It’s heartbreaking, yet full of courageous moments and actions.
The women displayed such bravery in the face of adversity time after time. This was a very well researched book, and I enjoyed the author’s notes in the back of the book. We learn more about the characters and their life after the events at the end of the book.
Brave women are struggling to survive in Japanese POW camps in WWII. Their lives were a living hell, faced with starvation, abuse, deprivation of the most basic needs. A novel of sisterhood, bound together by chance and the need to survive the dark circumstances that their life has become. Let us remember these women and the many sacrifices they have given.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
Heather Morris is a native of New Zealand, now resident in Australia. For several years, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Their friendship grew and Lale embarked on a journey of self-scrutiny, entrusting the innermost details of his life during the Holocaust to her. Heather originally wrote Lale’s story as a screenplay – which ranked high in international competitions – before reshaping it into her debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
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398 pages Bethany House Publishers December 13, 2022, publish date
About The Book
In the summer of 1918, Captain Marcus Weatherford arrives in Russia on a secret mission, with a beautiful ballerina posing as his fiancée. Marcus searches for the Romanov tsarina and her son–who both allegedly survived the murdering Bolsheviks–and the information behind an allied plot to assassinate Lenin. But Marcus’s sense of duty battles his desire to return home to Clare–his actual love.
Hospital orderly Clare Danner still suffers from Marcus’s betrayal and now fears losing her daughter to the heartless family who took Daisy away from Clare once before, but only Marcus can provide the critical proof needed to save her daughter.
Faced with danger and unexpected circumstances, can Clare trust Marcus, or will he shatter her world yet again?
At the height of World War I, two sweethearts face impossible odds in this powerful tale of courage, duty, and heartbreak.
In the summer of 1918, Captain Marcus Weatherford arrives in Russia on a secret mission, with a beautiful ballerina posing as his fiancée. He’s there to find the Romanov tsarina and her son and glean information about a plot to assassinate Lenin. As the danger intensifies, Marcus’s sense of duty battles with his desire to return home to Clare, the woman he truly loves, before it’s too late.
Military hospital orderly Clare Danner still suffers from Marcus’s betrayal after learning he’s engaged to another woman. Clare also fears losing her daughter, Daisy, to the heartless family who took her away once before. Only Marcus can provide the critical proof needed to save Daisy, but when an injury leaves him powerless to help, Clare’s fate–and the fate of the top-secret mission–hangs in the balance.
My Thoughts
All of Kate Breslin’s books are winners. As soon as I hear she has a new one coming it is highly anticipated and I can’t wait to get my hands on it to read it. It was great to see a character that was in another of her books as a minor character gets a starring role as a character in this book. This book combines fact with fiction in such an intriguing way that had me flipping pages, giving up sleep just to find out what happens. Intrigue, mystery, danger, romance these are all found within the pages of this book. I enjoy that the author writes about WW I and WW II, two fascinating time periods to cover. She is one of my absolute favorite Christian fiction historical writers. She gives absolute attention to details and her research is impeccable. Risk taking is at an all-time high in this intriguing book of courage, strength, importance of family, suspense and espionage. This is the author’s best book yet! Do not miss this one!
Published December 13th, 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Former bookseller-turned-author Kate Breslin enjoys life in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and family. A writer of travel articles and award-winning poetry, Kate received Christian Retailing’s 2015 Best Award for First Time Author and her debut novel, For Such A Time, was shortlisted for both the Christy and RITA awards and received the American Christian Fiction Writer’s 2015 Carol Award for Debut Novel. Kate’s fifth novel, As Dawn Breaks, released November, 2021. When she’s not writing inspirational fiction, Kate enjoys reading or taking long walks in Washington’s beautiful woodlands. She also likes traveling to new places, within the U.S. and abroad, having toured Greece, Rome, Barcelona, and much of Western Europe. New destinations make for fresh story ideas. Please visit her at http://www.katebreslin.com.
Thank you all for your patience, this holiday season has been an extremely busy one for me leaving me not much time for reading or posting. I appreciate your patience and understanding.
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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.
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