Book picks similar to
Love for a Soldier by Mary Jane Staples


historical-fiction
family-saga
romance
staples-mary-jane

The Tainted Crown (Horstberg Saga #4)


Elizabeth D. Michaels - 2015
    He also grew up observing the powerful and tender love shared by his parents. Determined to find that same kind of love in his own life, he is holding out for a woman who can see more in him than a marriage that will give his future wife prestige and great wealth. After more than a decade of searching for the right woman, Erich may have finally found a love beyond anything he’d imagined. But his happiness and the stability of the country is at risk when a long-dormant evil comes to the surface in Horstberg, threatening his life and that of his young nephew, who is Erich’s heir. While Erich tries to remain confident that he will live long enough to claim his right to serve his country, he is haunted by premonitory dreams that imply his life will come to a tragic end. As a force of extremist revolutionaries force Horstberg to the brink of war, the entire du Woernig family must flee into hiding for the sake of their own survival. Only when everything is on the line does Erich come to fully understand what truly matters. Please note that Book Five, the final book in the Horstberg Saga will be available for preorder on April 6th and will be released May 4th.

Daughters of the Storm


Elizabeth Buchan - 1988
     A new world is being born and the old regime is going to its death… A time when the shadow of the guillotine falls over a nation at war with itself. In France under the last Bourbon king, the extravagance grows more outrageous and the unrest of the poor more dangerous. Into this ferment, are swept the innocent English Sophie Luttrell, visiting France for the first time, the French aristocrat Héloise de Guinot who hates the man her parents have arranged for her to marry and Marie-Victoire , the loyal maid, who finds herself immersed in revolutionary politics. They are the daughters of the storm which is sweeping France – and over the world. Three women whose lives will be forever marked by this turning point in history and whose passionate struggle for love, liberty… and for life… have such unexpected consequences. About the Author Elizabeth Buchan began her career as a blurb writer at Penguin Books after graduating from the University of Kent with a double degree in English and History. She moved on to become a fiction editor at Random House before leaving to write full time. Her novels include the prizewinning Light of the Moon and Consider the Lily – reviewed in the Independent as ‘a gorgeously well written tale: funny, sad and sophisticated’. A subsequent novel, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman became an international bestseller and was made into a CBS Primetime Drama. This was followed by several other novels, including The Second Wife, Separate Beds and Daughters. She has just finished a novel about the SOE operating in Denmark during the Second World War, to be published in the summer of 2014. Elizabeth Buchan’s short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot literary prizes, and also been a judge for the Whitbread (now Costa) awards. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and of The National Academy of Writing.

A Very Dutiful Daughter


Elizabeth Mansfield - 1979
    Even Roger agreed. And he was certain his overwhelming attraction to her was returned. Then why on earth was Letty refusing his offer of marriage?

You Stole My Heart Away


Joan Jonker - 2006
    Their expanding families and abundance of friends always keep them busy. And as they walk arm in arm to the shops every day they are greeted with warmth by their neighbours, for wherever they go they bring fun and laughter with them.Their rock-solid friendship has lasted over twenty years, through good times and bad, and never once have Molly and Nellie fallen out. The two best mates love a bit of excitement so when they learn there is a wedding in the offing which will bring the Bennett, McDonough and Corkhill families even closer it gives the intrepid pair a good reason to save up for a visit into Liverpool and to the shop selling wedding hats. As Nellie says to Corker: 'It had better be a posh wedding to match me posh new hat.'

House of Angels


Freda Lightfoot - 2009
    But since the death of their mother, their family home has been far from a quiet haven as their bullying father is determined to marry off the girls to his greatest advantage.When the sisters discover their father had an affair many years ago, which resulted in the birth of a baby girl, they determine to find their half-sister, and their search begins in the local workhouse. Mercy had been unaware of her connection to the rich Angel family until her mother’s death-bed confession, and once she knows, she’s not at all sure that she wants to be part of the family after all…

Aphrodite - a Humorous Regency Novel


D.G. Rampton - 2021
    Unfortunately for her, her grandmother has other ideas...marriage.Lively and strong-willed, April does not appreciate being compelled to catch a husband. Yet, before long, she finds herself courting the affections of the Duke of Claredon, while struggling with a wholly inappropriate attraction to the insufferable Mr Royce.In the lead up to Christmas, in the year 1820, a delightfully devious campaign is orchestrated to bring together two people destined for one another, regardless of the obstacles to be overcome and the inconvenient tendency on the part of the protagonists to resist their attraction...until they are finally brought to realise they cannot escape fate, or the meddling of one determined grandmother!

The Absolutist


John Boyne - 2011
    But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As Tristan recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will - from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain. The Absolutist is a masterful tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. This novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and will stay with them long after they've turned the last page.

All the Ways We Said Goodbye


Beatriz Williams - 2020
    . .The Resistance fighter . . .The widow . . .Three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotelFrance, 1914. As war breaks out, Aurelie becomes trapped on the wrong side of the front with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles. When the Germans move into their family’s ancestral estate, using it as their headquarters, Aurelie discovers she knows the German Major’s aide de camp, Maximilian Von Sternburg. She and the dashing young officer first met during Aurelie’s debutante days in Paris. Despite their conflicting loyalties, Aurelie and Max’s friendship soon deepens into love, but betrayal will shatter them both, driving Aurelie back to Paris and the Ritz— the home of her estranged American heiress mother, with unexpected consequences.France, 1942. Raised by her indomitable, free-spirited American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, Marguerite “Daisy” Villon remains in Paris with her daughter and husband, a Nazi collaborator, after France falls to Hitler. At first reluctant to put herself and her family at risk to assist her grandmother’s Resistance efforts, Daisy agrees to act as a courier for a skilled English forger known only as Legrand, who creates identity papers for Resistance members and Jewish refugees. But as Daisy is drawn ever deeper into Legrand’s underground network, committing increasingly audacious acts of resistance for the sake of the country—and the man—she holds dear, she uncovers a devastating secret . . . one that will force her to commit the ultimate betrayal, and to confront at last the shocking circumstances of her own family history.France, 1964. For Barbara “Babs” Langford, her husband, Kit, was the love of her life. Yet their marriage was haunted by a mysterious woman known only as La Fleur. On Kit’s death, American lawyer Andrew “Drew” Bowdoin appears at her door. Hired to find a Resistance fighter turned traitor known as “La Fleur,” the investigation has led to Kit Langford. Curious to know more about the enigmatic La Fleur, Babs joins Drew in his search, a journey of discovery that that takes them to Paris and the Ritz—and to unexpected places of the heart. . . .

The Summer Day Is Done


R.T. Stevens - 1976
    The haunting story of a forbidden love between the agent of the British King and the daughter of the Imperial Czar.

The Lie


Helen Dunmore - 2014
    He is back from the war, homeless and without family. Behind him lie the mud, barbed-wire entanglements and terror of the trenches. Behind him is also the most intense relationship of his life.Daniel has survived, but the horror and passion of the past seem more real than the quiet fields around him. He is about to step into the unknown. But will he ever be able to escape the terrible, unforeseen consequences of a lie?

By Blood Divided


Lewis Orde - 1991
     When Zalman and Rachel Isakharov’s father is murdered during a tide of anti-Semitic riots, brother and sister have no option but to flee their native land. Possessing only two handcrafted watches given to them by their father, plus their fare for passage to America, they arrive exhausted in Amsterdam and prepare to set sail. But when a fire sweeps through their lodgings on the eve of departure, Zalman and Rachel are separated, each believing that their sibling is dead. Devastated, Zalman resolves to leave for America alone – while Rachel is persuaded to sail for England. So they begin new lives on opposite sides of the Atlantic, where hard work eventually yields great success for them both. Although their existence is happy in every other respect, the Amsterdam tragedy casts a shadow over their lives – until a meeting between their children seems destined to change everything... Lewis Orde was born in Reading, England, in 1943, grew up in London and came to the United States in 1964. After serving three years in the U. S. Army, he returned to England to work on newspapers and magazines before settling permanently in the United States in 1977. He is the author of twelve novels including The Lion's Way, Eagles, By Blood Divided, and Dreams of Gold. After moving up and down the East Coast in search of the perfect place to call home, he now lives with his wife, Kay, in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.

The Bright Blue Sky


Max Hennessy - 1982
    Dicken Quinney never forgot that first flight in a fragile contraption of sealing-wax and string, the start of a lifelong obsession with aviation. He was to spend the next four years in the deadly cut-and-thrust of aerial dogfights over France and Italy, collecting a chestful of medals, and a reputation as one of the Great War’s leading aces.He would hone his skills in an array of aircraft – the BE2, the 1½-Strutter, the Camel –  and as the war reaches its climax, Dicken is maturing into a daring pilot. But then he must undergo one final test in order to emerge victorious. And with his life intact… The Bright Blue Sky is a love letter to aviation, a brilliant read, perfect for fans of Thomas Wood, Wilbur Smith, and Mark Sullivan.

Where My Heart Used to Beat


Sebastian Faulks - 2015
    But his subject seems more interested in finding out about Robert's past than he does in revealing his own. For years, Robert has refused to discuss his past. After the war ended, he refused to go to reunions, believing in some way that denying the killing and the deaths of his friends and fellow soldiers would mean he wouldn't be defined by the experience. Suddenly, he can't keep the memories from overtaking him. But can he trust his memories and can we believe what other people tell us about theirs?Moving between the present and past, between France and Italy, New York and London, this is a powerful story about love and war, memory and desire, the relationship between the body and the mind. Compelling and full of suspense, Where My Heart Used to Beat is a tender, brutal and thoughtful portrait of a man and a century, which asks whether, given the carnage we've witnessed and inflicted over the past one hundred years, people can ever be the same.

The Three Disgraces Series


Elena Greene - 2014
     The Incorrigible Lady Catherine ~ Lady Catherine Harcourt, daughter of a duke, tries to escape her cold, repressive family by eloping with a rake. She is exiled to her aunts’ cottage in the Lake District, where she meets Philip Woodmere, a gentleman farmer as kind as he is ruggedly attractive. She is drawn to Philip’s strength and warms to his lively family, but a secret from her past threatens their chance for happiness. The Redwyck Charm ~ Marcus Redwyck, Earl of Amberley, reluctantly agrees to wed an heiress in order to save his estate. But his equally reluctant bride, Juliana Hutton, runs away and masquerades as an opera dancer. When they meet, passion leads them to the edge of scandal. Even when all is revealed, it will take all of Marcus’s resolution and the fabled Redwyck charm to win the spirited Juliana’s heart. Saving Lord Verwood ~ Penelope Talcott distrusts Lord Verwood, a notorious rake who’s meddled in the lives of her friends. But she accidentally saves his life and becomes entangled in his affairs. Someone is trying to kill Verwood. Despite herself, Pen is impelled to help. Scandal forces them to marry and return to his estate in Cornwall, where Pen must solve the mystery of the tortured man she has come to love. Reviews: The Incorrigible Lady Catherine “The story gives fresh new twists to traditional Regency plotlines and introduces a well-drawn cast of characters, three of whom cry out for their own tales to be told—the notorious Lord Verwood and Catherine’s two school friends . . . Elena Greene is a talented writer to watch for when looking for a pleasurable, meaty Regency romance.” – Jane Bowers, in Romance Reviews Today The Redwyck Charm “I consider The Redwyck Charm one of the best Regencies I’ve read in the past few months. Elena Greene is a reliable author who delivers the kind of story Regency readers love.” – Barbara Hume, for Rakehell Saving Lord Verwood “Elena Greene writes an intriguing tale of hope, love and joy. In this clever story of just who rescues whom, the political intrigue and developing passion between the main characters neatly blend together to make a highly pleasurable read.” – Romantic Times (4 and 1/2 stars)

Maisie Dobbs


Jacqueline Winspear - 2003
    Fearing dismissal, Maisie is shocked when she discovers that her thirst for education is to be supported by Lady Rowan and a family friend, Dr. Maurice Blanche. But The Great War intervenes in Maisie’s plans, and soon after commencement of her studies at Girton College, Cambridge, Maisie enlists for nursing service overseas.Years later, in 1929, having apprenticed to the renowned Maurice Blanche, a man revered for his work with Scotland Yard, Maisie sets up her own business. Her first assignment, a seemingly tedious inquiry involving a case of suspected infidelity, takes her not only on the trail of a killer, but back to the war she had tried so hard to forget.