reecaspieces

Overview

Two women, a world apart. 

A secret waiting to be discovered…

VE Day 1945: As victory bells ring out across the country, war bride Ellie Burgess’ happiness is overshadowed by grief. Her charismatic Newfoundlander husband Thomas is still missing in action.
 
Until a letter arrives explaining Thomas is back at home on the other side of the Atlantic recovering from his injuries.

Travelling to a distant country to live with a man she barely knows is the bravest thing Ellie has ever had to do. But nothing can prepare her for the harsh realities of her new home…

September 11th 2001: Sophie Parry is on a plane to New York on the most tragic day in the city’s history. While the world watches the news in horror, Sophie’s flight is rerouted to a tiny town in Newfoundland and she is forced to seek refuge with her estranged aunt Ellie.

Determined to discover what it was that forced her family apart all those years ago, newfound secrets may change her life forever…

This is a timeless story of love, sacrifice and resilience perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Lorna Cook and Gill Paul.

Review

Sophie’s flight to NYC has been diverted to Newfoundland. She is not very happy about it…at all. She must get to NYC for an interview. However, this diversion takes her on a quest to learn more about her family history and to possibly discover love in the process.

I enjoyed the setting on this one. You do not read too many books set in Newfoundland. I also loved the 9/11 segment. But, the WWII part was a little boring and drawn out. The story comes together with quite a few twists and turns. But, there were sections which I struggled with. Now…this could be more about me than the author. I have read so many WWII books lately. I could just be ready for something new.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin’s silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn’t right. 

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved. 

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heavencomes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.

Review

Sophie has become a mail order bride. She could not take the tenements in NYC anymore. So, she answers the ad and moves to San Francisco. She meets and marries her new husband, Martin Hocking. He is a handsome man but he is very aloof. However, he has the sweetest little girl named Kat. Sophie begins to be very attached to Kat and when her relationship with this little girl is threatened, Sophie stops at nothing to protect her.

Sophie is a strong woman fallen on hard times. She takes a risk to change her stars. Little does she know that her husband is not who he says he is. She finds this out right before the earthquake changes her and Kat’s life.

Wow! This is a super good read. It is twisted, heartbreaking and intense all at the same time. I adored Sophie. She is a lady of integrity and strength. This is proven time and time again during this read.

This is a story you will not stop once you start. It is captivating and powerful! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

A startling and timely debut, Julie Carrick Dalton’s Waiting for the Night Song is a moving, brilliant novel about friendships forged in childhood magic and ruptured by the high price of secrets that leave you forever changed.

Cadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn’t she always know her secret would surface?

An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, now a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie’s memory then all her other years combined.

Now grown up, bound by long-held oaths, and faced with truths she does not wish to see, Cadie must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to protect the people and the forest she loves, as drought, foreclosures, and wildfire spark tensions between displaced migrant farm workers and locals. 

Waiting for the Night Song is a love song to the natural beauty around us, a call to fight for what we believe in, and a reminder that the truth will always rise.

Review

Cadie is an entomologist studying beetles in New England. A long lost friend, Daniela, sends her an urgent message. Cadie and Daniela now face a dark secret which they have both held close to their chests. Now they both have sacrifices to make.

The writing in this story is very unique and quite beautiful. But the story itself is a little too slow paced…for me. That being said…someone else may find it much more enjoyable. It is well written, it just did not grab me quite like I needed it to.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

Summer 1940: Hedy Bercu fled Vienna two years ago. Now she watches the skies over Jersey for German planes, convinced that an invasion is imminent. When it finally comes, there is no counterattack from Allied forces—the Channel Islands are simply not worth defending. Most islanders and occupying forces settle into an uneasy coexistence, but for Hedy, the situation is perilously different. For Hedy is Jewish—a fact that could mean deportation, or worse.

With no means of escape, Hedy hides in plain sight, working as a translator for the Germans while silently working against them. She forges a tentative friendship with a sympathetic German officer who is likewise trapped by circumstance. But as the war intensifies, Hedy knows she is in greater danger each day. Soon, her survival will depend not just on her own courage but on the community she has come to cherish and a man who should be her enemy.

Vividly recreating little-known events, this is an unforgettable tale of resilience and bravery, and of the extraordinary power found in quiet acts of heroism and love.

Review

Hedy fled the Nazis several years ago and evacuated to the Channel Islands. But her safety is now in question as the Nazis have invaded the islands.

Hedy cannot escape the island so she is now in grave danger. But, the Nazis need her help. She is fluent in several languages and so she takes a job as a translator for the Nazis. Hedy is very resourceful and ends up confiscating…well that may not be the right word…steal is more like it…gas ration coupons. She gives these to the local doctor so he can continue to make house calls and help the people on the island. As you can guess, this leads her to more danger but it also leads her to love.

I love Hedy. She is smart and kind. And the kindness leads her many dangerous situations. I also enjoyed the setting of the Channel Islands. This is a very unique place during WWII. So, I learned a good bit and I could just picture this quaint town on the edge of the sea.

Need a wonderful book with a wonderful setting…this is it! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

About the Author

Jenny Lecoat was born in Jersey, Channel Islands, where her parents were raised under German Occupation and were involved in resistance activity. Lecoat moved to England at 18, where, after earning a drama degree, she spent a decade on the alternative comedy circuit as a feminist stand-up. She also wrote for newspapers and women’s magazines (Cosmopolitan, Observer), worked as a TV and radio presenter, before focusing on screenwriting from sitcom to sketch shows. A love of history and factual stories and a return to her island roots brought about her feature film Another Mother’s Son (2017). She is married to television writer Gary Lawson and now lives in East Sussex. The Girl from the Channel Islands is her first novel.

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Overview

Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Library Journal and Goodreads

​Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.

A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors—The Paris Libraryshows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.

Review

This is a new take on WWII. I have read quite a few of these novels lately. This one is a little different. It involves a library! This story is narrated by two voices and in two different time periods.

Lily is a teenager in the 1980s. She reaches out to her French neighbor, Odile, for a report about Paris. There is so much going on in Lily’s life that she ends up depending on Odile for a multitude of things. Odile becomes a guiding force in Lilly’s life. And Lily helps Odile realize there is much more in life than her past!

I loved all the book references. Plus the history surrounding Paris and this library during the war is very uniquely done.

Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

From New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller M.J. Rose comes a provocative and moving story of a young female architect in post-World War II Manhattan, who stumbles upon a hidden treasure and begins a journey to discovering her mother’s life during the fall of the Romanovs.

Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother’s secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother’s effects—a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.

Isobelle’s research into the tiara’s provenance draws her closer to her mother’s past—including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler, who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners. 

Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars. In 1915, young Sofiya Petrovitch, favorite of the royal household and best friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, tends to wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital within the grounds of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobelle Moon works to break through the rampant sexism of the age as one of very few women working in a male-dominated profession and discovers far more about love and family than she ever hoped for.

In M.J. Rose’s deftly constructed narrative, the secrets of Sofiya’s early life are revealed incrementally, even as Isobelle herself works to solve the mystery of the historic Romanov tiara (which is based on an actual Romanov artifact that is, to this day, still missing)—and how it is that her mother came to possess it. The two strands play off each other in finely-tuned counterpoint, building to a series of surprising and deeply satisfying revelations.

Review

Isobelle is a woman in a man’s world. She is an architect in the 1940s. She has worked on one of the government secret projects. But nothing captures her attention quite like what she discovers about her mother. As Isobelle is cleaning out her mother, Sophia’s, room after her death, she comes across a box with a tiara frame. Isobelle has no idea why her mother has this piece or why it has no jewels.

This story follows Isobelle’s quest and her mother’s past. Isobelle has no knowledge about what has transpired during her mother’s past. Sophia would never talk to her about it or even tell her about her father.

I was immediately captivated about the mystery surrounding the tiara. I love a book which has me researching. Then there is the Russian history mingled through out this novel. Talk about wanting to know more!

I have been a huge fan of this author for quite a while. I love her strong women characters, her historical references and her wonderful mysteries. This story captured all of the above plus it has a little romance thrown in.

Need a good historical mystery with a twist….GRAB THIS ONE TODAY!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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