Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts

Monday, December 4, 2023

Capturing Hope by Angela K Couch

During the thirty-six-day invasion, it is estimated that close to two hundred thousand Poles were killed, with many more injured or captured and thousands left homeless.

Amazing. No matter how many stories you hear about war it's always heart wrenching in its own unique way. Nadia is a girl who was raised in Polish nobility. Her father befriended an American photographer and confided in him. As the Germans begin to invade Poland, things change rapidly, and David promises her father to see Nadia safely to England. Their journey changes their lives forever, as well as some of those they encounter. Gripping story...you just have to know what will happen next, how they'll get out. So much sadness, but they also learn to recognize the miracles that happen along the way. Very well told, mostly documenting actual events.

I received this book free from the author, publisher and CelebrateLit book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#CapturingHope #AngelaKCouch #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #CelebrateLit #ChristianHistoricalFiction #FiveStarNovel

About the Book

Book: Capturing Hope

Author: Angela K Couch

Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

Release Date: November, 2023

One step ahead of the Nazis. . .leaves Nadia little room for hope.

Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this new series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.

After her father is murdered by Nazis and her mother flees to her native Germany, hope is something of which Nadia Roenne feels little—even if it is the meaning of her name. It isn’t until an American photographer sacrifices his escape from Poland to save a Jewish family, that she finds a purpose. David Reid is very familiar with failure, but when he is charged with getting Nadia safely out of Poland, he is determined to succeed—even if she works against him at every turn, putting other’s lives ahead of her own. While they race against the daily shower of bombs over Warsaw and the ever-nearing German army, Nadia grows used to risking her life. . .but dare she risk her heart?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

To keep from freezing in the great white north, Angela K Couch cuddles under quilts with her laptop. Winning short story contests, being a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest, and a finalist in the 2016 International Digital Awards also helped warm her up. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in as well. When not writing, she stays fit (and toasty warm) by chasing after five munchkins.

More from Angela

When I first decided to set a story during the invasion of Poland, I was woefully unprepared for the pain and horror I found there. I wasn’t new to World War II and had just finished writing A Rose for the Resistance, which is set in France during the war and deals with the resistance and the Normandy invasion. The atrocities and genocide in Poland cut so much deeper.

In the early hours of September 1, 1939, the small town of Wielun, Poland, woke to a shower of bombs on their community. They did not house an army or warehouses, only homes and civilian businesses. Wielun was not the only town or village targeted—demonstrating the Nazi goal to spread fear and death. Six months earlier, Hitler had promised that if Poland did not bow to his wishes, he would wipe them off the map. Over the next month, and more so in the following six years, he came very close to succeeding.

For the full month of September 1939, while German armies rolled across the country, the city of Warsaw endured daily bombardment. Homes, workplaces, churches on Sunday morning, the Warsaw maternity hospital— nowhere was safe. On the tenth of September, someone recorded seventeen separate air raids over the city. I was moved to tears while viewing photographs of women and children who had been shot in the streets and fields by the bombers after they had dropped their payloads over the city.

No one came to their rescue.

Poland was abandoned by its allies to the Nazis.

So how do you write about all that and more while still trying to keep hope alive in the story and in the characters who have to live through such a frightening and demoralizing history?

I invite you to read Capturing Hope to find out.

Blog Stops

An Author’s Take, November 30
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 30
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 1
Lily’s Corner, December 1
Texas Book-aholic, December 2
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 2
Locks, Hooks and Books, December 3
For him and My Family, December 3
Betti Mace, December 4
Books You Can Feel Good About, December 4
Life on Chickadee Lane, December 5
Cover Lover Book Review, December 5
Alena Mentink, December 6
lakesidelivingsite, December 6
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 7
Blossoms and Blessings, December 7
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, December 8 (Author Interview)
Devoted to Hope, December 8
Bizwings Book Blog, December 9
Exploring the Written Word, December 9
Holly’s Book Corner, December 10
Pause for Tales, December 10
Connie’s History Classroom, December 11
Labor Not in Vain, December 11
A Good Book and Cup of Tea, December 12
Lights in a Dark World, December 12
Joy Suzanne Hunt, December 13
Books I’ve Read, December 13

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Angela is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon eGift card and copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2909b/capturing-hope-celebration-tour-giveaway

My reviews

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The Watchmaker's Daughter by Dianne Haley

Switzerland 1942

I've always thought of Switzerland as being neutral. Just that. Anyone who went there was safe. Not very true at this time. Germany was threatening to invade, people were trying to escape from bordering countries and Switzerland didn't want to anger the Germans or be responsible for taking care of the refugees. There were Swiss police, the Swiss Army and Allies. Everyone was walking their own tightrope. Valerie's father was a watchmaker, needing to continue his business to support him and his daughter and make as many sales as possible. They had to be nice to everyone.
Valerie felt the need to help Jews and the Resistance. Philippe is in the Swiss Army, excels in leadership but is not in charge, assigned to special work with maps of their defense system. It's a dangerous time for all of them, especially when things aren't right and suspicions run high, people are being killed. And things are going on all around them both that they don't know about, friends and foes become mixed up. Tense, intense reading, constantly pulling at your heart strings. Hard to put down.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#TheWatchmakersDaughter #NetGalley #fivestarbooks #historicalfiction #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout

My reviews

Friday, February 4, 2022

Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin

Such a fabulous read! I usually read for a couple of hours before going to sleep, to relax. Not with this book! It's breath taking and so very hard to put down, especially as the story builds. It's 1940 Paris where Lucie is in the ballet. Born American, she is staying with friends of her family, had been for years, studying ballet, living above their American bookstore. Then the occupying Germans made the Jews leave. The family friends were Jews. So Lucie bought the bookstore from them and left the ballet to run it. Paul is also an American, their family making luxury automobiles, but forced by the Germans to convert their factory to making trucks. Both have to adjust their way of life as the Germans cut back and restrict everything. Their loyalty to America, ideals and the people around them, plus being willing to sacrifice themselves to help defeat the Germans is basically the same. But they don't know it, until little by little. A huge last quarter of the book will leave you breathless and unable to put it down. When you try you can almost feel the action and danger pulsing, waiting to be picked up again. Such torture! But if you're like me you wouldn't have it any other way. As always a fabulous author, this is amazing Sarah!

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#UntilLeavesFallinParis #NetGalley.

My reviews: