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From the Ashes by Marion Kummerow


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The Secretary


Catherine Hokin - 2021
    Down a secluded path, hidden by overgrown vines, the crumbling villa echoes with memories. Of the family who laughed and sang there, until the Nazis tore them from their home. And of the next woman to walk its empty rooms, whose courage in the face of evil could alter the course of history…Germany 1940. As secretary to the leader of the SS, Magda spends her days sending party invitations to high-ranking Nazis, and her evenings distributing pamphlets for the resistance. But Magda is leading a dangerous double life, smuggling secrets out of the office. It’s a deadly game, and eventual exposure is a certainty, but Magda is driven by a need to keep the man she secretly loves safe as he fights against the Nazis…Forty years later. Nina’s heart pounds as she steps into an uncertain future carrying a forged passport, a few bank notes, and a scribbled address for The Tower House taken from an intricate drawing she found hidden in her grandmother’s wardrobe. Separated from her family and betrayed by her country, Nina’s last hope is to trace her family’s history in the ruins of the past her grandmother ran from. But, when she finally finds the abandoned house, she opens the door to a forgotten story, and to secrets which will change everything: past, present, and future…

The Secret of Summerhayes


Merryn Allingham - 2017
    Now a shadow of its former glory; most of the rooms have been shut up, the garden is overgrown and the whole place feels as unwelcoming as the family themselves.Struggling with the realities of war, Alice is plagued by anonymous letters and haunting visions of her old household. At first, Beth tries to convince her it’s all in her mind but soon starts to unravel the mysteries surrounding the aristocratic family’s past.An evocative and captivating tale, The Secret of Summerhayes tells of dark secrets, almost-forgotten scandals and a household teetering on the edge of ruin.

The Wine Widow (The Champagne Dynasty Family Saga Book 1)


Tessa Barclay - 1985
    A compelling tale of one woman’s triumphs and tragedies which you will not be able to put down. Young peasant girl Nicole Berthois works hard to support her family in a wine-making village in Champagne. Her life changes forever when she falls in love with handsome aristocrat Philippe de Tramont. The young lovers marry despite his mother’s objections, and Nicole’s strength and determination help her husband to follow his dreams. But then tragedy strikes; Philippe is killed and Nicole must struggle to raise their two small children as a young widow. She faces many challenges as she tries to win her mother-in-law’s approval, and build her husband’s legacy into a great champagne dynasty. But will illicit passions, war and a shocking family secret destroy all she has worked to achieve? ‘Tessa Barclay always spins a fine yarn. Her novels are gripping and entertaining.’ Wendy Craig ‘Filled with fascinating historical detail and teeming with human passions.’ Marie Joseph ‘A red hot contender for the Romantic Novelist of the Year Award.’ Daily Mirror From the publishers of Hardacre and Hardacre’s Luck. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries, Margaret Dickinson, Lyn Andrews and Helen Forrester. Tessa Barclay is the author of many much-loved family sagas and historical romance novels, including the Wine Widow trilogy, the four-part Craigallan series, and the Corvill Weaving saga – all coming soon in new paperback editions and as ebooks for the very first time. Tessa began her writing career after being educated at the Miss Jean Brodie school, and has since written over 100 books.

Our Yanks


Margaret Mayhew - 2001
    The village had never seen anything like them before - certainly they were different with their wealth, their glamour, and their louche but romantic uniforms. Some of the older villagers, like the Brigadier, resented them on sight, others welcomed them with weak tea and fish paste sandwiches. But in some lives they were to make a long-lasting and emotional impact - most especially young Sally Barnet from the bakery, Agnes Dawe, the Rector's daughter, and newly-widowed Lady Beauchamp from the Manor.

Thanksgiving, 1942


Alan Simon - 2012
    Despite the stars (literally and figuratively) in Charlene’s eyes, her mother has different ideas about her daughter’s future…leading to the inevitable clash of wills as the first Thanksgiving of World War II unfolds.Meanwhile, Charlene’s two older brothers, Jonathan and Joseph, have traveled home to Pittsburgh all the way from Arizona for a brief holiday furlough from their Army Air Forces training... and for what all family members realize will be the boys’ last Thanksgiving at home for a long while. For Jonathan, this Thanksgiving furlough presents a monumental predicament: what he should do when he encounters Francine Donner, his would-be fiancé. Jonathan had just started proposing to her the previous Christmas Eve when Francine blurted out a shameful secret that halted the proposal…but what will happen eleven months later when Jonathan and Francine come together again?Irene Coleman is determined to make this Thanksgiving as joyous as possible for everyone who will gather around her table and share the festivities, despite the wartime circumstances and how difficult a year 1942 has been at war and also the home front…and even as the days leading up to the holiday itself unfold very differently than she had envisioned.Come join Jonathan, Joseph, Charlene, Irene and Gerald, and the other members of the Coleman family during the days leading up to the first Thanksgiving of World War II in this sequel to The First Christmas of the War.

Survival


Andrew Frediani - 2016
    Revenge has armed his hand. His name is Octavian. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane.Though little more than a boy, Cesar's heir is determined to avenge his adoptive father, despite the imposing figures from Rome's long political history who stand in his way: Mark Antony, Cicero, Lepidus, Brutus and Cassius. Despite some initial failures, Octavian does not give in, and gathers about him a group of allies who are just as determined as he himself: Maecenas, Agrippa and Rufus. With them and a few others on his side, he forms a sect dedicated to vengeance, with the aim of punishing, one by one, all those who have Caesar's blood on their hands.Octavian has resolved to overturn the established order, and to finish what Caesar had begun...

The Rancher's Mysterious Wealthy Bride


Ava Winters - 2020
    

The Secret of the Grand Hôtel du Lac


Kathryn Gauci - 2020
    He was sure he heard a noise outside. It sounded like a twig snapping. Under normal circumstances it would have meant nothing, but in the silence of the forest every sound was magnified. There it was again. This time it was closer and his instinct told him it wasn’t the wolves. He reached for his gun and quietly looked out through the window. The moon was on the wane, wrapped in the soft gauze of snowfall and it wasn’t easy to see. Maybe it was a fox, or even a deer. Then he heard it again, right outside the door. He cocked his gun, pressed his body flat against the wall next to the door, and waited. The room was in total darkness and his senses were heightened. After a few minutes, he heard the soft click of the door latch.” February 1944. Preparations for the D-Day invasion are well advanced. When contact with Belvedere, one of the Resistance networks in the Jura region of Eastern France, is lost, Elizabeth Maxwell, is sent back to the region to find the head of the network, her husband Guy Maxwell.It soon becomes clear that the network has been betrayed. An RAF airdrop of supplies was ambushed by the Gestapo, and many members of the Resistance have been killed.Surrounded on all sides by the brutal Gestapo and the French Milice, and under constant danger of betrayal, Elizabeth must unmask the traitor in their midst, find her husband, and help him to rebuild Belvedere in time for SOE operations in support of D-Day.

The G.I. Bride


Eileen Ramsay - 2018
    Training as a nurse, she finds hope in the new friends she makes and the American G.I.s that arrive. But when a bomb lands close to home she'll need courage she never knew she had.

The Hidden Women


Kerry Barrett - 2019
    But as their relationship progresses, Lilian can’t help but get cold feet. Deep down she’s always known that the secrets locked in her past would weigh heavily on her future happiness… London, 2018Helena Miles loves nothing more than digging into the back stories of celebrity families, making her perfectly suited for her job as a researcher on the hit show Where Did You Come From?. But when handsome superstar Jack Jones sweeps into her life, she unexpectedly finds herself trawling through her own family history. As she explores her family’s past, she discovers that there are far more secrets hidden there than she ever expected… What really happened to her aunt Lilian during the war, and why can’t she open up about it now?An inspirational tale of sisterhood and strength, perfect for fans of Tracy Rees and Kathryn Hughes.

Our Father


James Farner - 2016
    Republicans, rogue soldiers, and communists are rampaging through the cities and villages of Germany. Faced with destruction, the nationalists fight back against their enemies, turning the country into a battlefield. In Munich, Erich and Johann Brandt are a pair of impressionable teenagers just trying to get by. When Erich falls under the sway of young speaker Adolf Hitler, he joins the party without a second thought. Erich drives further and further into Hitler’s inner circle, which all culminates in a deadly march through the heart of Munich. Horrified at his brother’s fall into National Socialism, Johann does what he can to fight back against the spell that Hitler has placed the country under. That is until he attracts the brutal attentions of SA captain Oswald Yorck. As elections turn against the democratic parties, Johann does his best to save his country before it’s too late. But it could cost him his life…

Missing in Action


Denise Deems - 2012
    Evelyn Blake's Army nursing career is that she has to tell her parents that she's accepted a dashing English pilot's hand in marriage. But when Evelyn's transport plane crashes just hours before one of the biggest operations of World War Two, Evelyn Blake finds herself Missing In Action. Evelyn Blake's adventure finds her forced into Operation Market Garden, where she teams up with a rag tag band of American paratroopers and their brave but infuriating Lieutenant to escape the Germans. But, when Evelyn returns back to her own unit, she is ordered to forget the men who saved her life. Missing in Action is a wartime romance that spans the war in Europe. Lt. Evelyn Blake is a plucky flight nurse, who's experienced in war, but naive in love. Her fiancé, Victor Wellington, is her ideal prince charming, both a Lord and a dashing RAF pilot. But, is he any match for Lt. Patrick Mitchell, All-American officer and sometimes gentleman, who finds Evelyn hiding from the Germans in a cafe in Holland. Rumors swirl. Did Lt. Evelyn Blake really kill five Germans? How about those two marriage certificates? Only Lt. Mitchell and his men know for sure.

The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach


Pam Jenoff - 2015
    Young Adelia Montforte flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away to the shore by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. Here, she meets and falls for Charlie Connally, the eldest of the four Irish-Catholic boys next door. But all hopes for a future together are soon throttled by the war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home.Grief-stricken, Addie flees—first to Washington and then to war-torn London—and finds a position at a prestigious newspaper, as well as a chance to redeem lost time, lost family…and lost love. But the past always nips at her heels, demanding to be reckoned with. And in a final, fateful choice, Addie discovers that the way home may be a path she never suspected.Originally published in 2015.Don't Miss Pam Jenoff's new novel, The Woman With The Blue Star.

Orphans of War


Leah Fleming - 2008
    As the bombs fall, the orphaned Maddy Belfield is evacuated to the Yorkshire Dales to live with her remaining relatives – those that haven’t been killed in the blast which destroyed her home.But the war has a way of bringing people together, and Maddy soon finds a strong group of friends out in the Dales – friends who swear to stay together for life. When tragedy strikes, can their promises hold? Will their friendships stretch across the country? And can childhood games hide a bigger secret than anyone could have imagined?ORPHANS OF WAR is a moving tale of love and loss that brings the terror of World War II back to life and shows how strong the bonds of friendship can truly be.

Annabelle Enchants the Rejected Earl


Hanna Hamilton - 2017
     Annabelle's life is turned upside down when her father declares that he has found an excellent suitor for her, Lord Watson Ashdown. What he does not realize, is that Watson is cruel and inappropriate for the Hathaway reputation. But that is not the only problem... Annabelle did not mean it to happen, but she has fallen for Floyd Brewer, the stable boy who works on her family’s land. Or so she believes about him… He is kind, loving and caring and nothing like the horrible Lord, but he is not a man that her father will find acceptable. How will Annabelle get out of her marriage? And what will happen when she discovers that Floyd has some secrets about his real status? ♥ A historical romance novel full of twists that'll keep you turning the pages ♥ *Annabelle Enchants the Rejected Earl is a historical standalone story of 80,000 words (around 350 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after. Get this book for free with Kindle Unlimited!