WWII Fiction

War-Torn Heart by Allison Wells – Review & Giveaway

March 18, 2019 by Suzie Waltner 3 Comments

Welcome to the Blog & Review Tour – and Giveaway – for War-Torn Heart by Allison Wells, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: War-Torn Heart
Author: Allison Wells
Publisher: Ambassador International
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: March 20, 2019

Abigail Walker, a young woman from rural South Carolina, is on the cusp of womanhood, aching to be able to run wild as the younger children do, yet yearning for things she has yet to understand.

Awkward and unsure of herself, Abby is flustered when she meets Harvey Nicholas, a cadet from Clemson College. As summer begins, Abby finds herself constantly in the company of Harvey and falling quickly in love with him.

As rumors of war begin to reach the States, Abby begins to fear what may come for her older brother and Harvey.

Once Pearl Harbor is bombed, the boys are eager to protect their home and the women they love. But will Abby and Harvey’s love be able to withstand distance, rumors, loss, and hurt? Or will the war be what tears apart Abby’s heart?

War-Torn Heart is a kleenex-box book with a story of hope, of love, and of perseverance through World War II, which will make the reader cry, scream, and long for more.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository |CBD

The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin (Review & Giveaway)

February 26, 2018 by Suzie Waltner 19 Comments

I was long overdue for a Sarah Sundin read, so the start of a new series seemed the perfect time to finally read a book from this author I’ve heard so many wonderful things about.

Y’all, why did I wait?

In My Opinion

In The Sea Before Us, Sundin takes readers behind the scenes and into the precision, planning, and preparation during the months leading to World War II’s D-Day. Anyone who has taken a high school history class knows about this battle and has seen the pictures (and perhaps a movie or two about it).

A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron

March 30, 2015 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Sera James looks forward to marrying William Hanover, but when they are immersed in a legal battle immediately after their wedding, the life she’s dreamed of now becomes a nightmare she never anticipated. As she and William fight to clear his name, William’s refusal to open up to her about his past causes Sera even more concert. When she’s given some more life changing news, she’s determined to solve the mystery.

In 1939, Kàja Mokovsky flees Nazi-occupied Prague at her parents’ request with a promise in her heart that she will return to her beloved city some day. Working in London as a secretary at the Daily Telegraph, Kàja is thrown into the war during the London Blitz. When a report comes across her desk stating Jews are being killed by the thousands, she knows she must return to Prague to find her half-Jewish family.

Kristy Cambron once again seamlessly combines the two stories throughout A Sparrow in Terezin. I enjoyed spending time with William, Sera, Penny, and Sophia again (from The Butterfly and the Violin) and the struggle between Sera and William is true-to-life (marriage still takes work after you say, “I do.”). While it took a little longer for the connection between the two stories to come together, once they did, there were two mysteries that held my interest through the end of the book. Cambron’s insight into the children in the concentration camps and ghettos is original and tugs on the heartstrings. While her stories are fiction, they are steeped in the real horrors and atrocities of the Nazi regime.
While heavy reading, I found myself crying a couple times during this one, The Sparrow in Terezin is steeped in hope—the hope of a happy future for the main characters. Cambron is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors, and I can’t wait to see what she shares with her readers next. You will definitely want to pick this one up (available everywhere April 7)

****Thoman Nelson Fiction (via NetGalley) provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own