A Song for Her Enemies by Sherri Stewart

No Comments on A Song for Her Enemies by Sherri Stewart

Goodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1940s – Netherlands

She has the voice of an angel. But the devil is listening. 

After Nazi soldiers close the opera and destroy Tamar Kaplan’s dream of becoming a professional singer, she joins the Dutch Resistance, her fair coloring concealing her Jewish heritage. Tamar partners with Dr. Daniel Feldman, and they risk their lives to help escaping refugees. When they are forced to flee themselves, violinist Neelie Visser takes them into hiding.

Tamar’s love for Daniel flowers in hardship, but she struggles with the paradox that a loving God would allow the atrocities around her. When Tamar resists the advances of a Third Reich officer, he exacts his revenge by betraying the secrets hidden behind the walls of Neelie’s house. From a prison hospital to a Nazi celebration to a concentration camp, will the three of them survive to tell the world the secrets behind barbed wire?  

Letters Home by Rachelle Rea Cobb

No Comments on Letters Home by Rachelle Rea Cobb

LettershomeGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1566 – England/Netherlands

Since the Steadfast Love series came to a thrilling conclusion, readers have clamored for more from Cade and Margried. This Christmas, that wish is granted in this charming epistolary short story (about 6,000 words) that reveals more about Margried–and her family.

In the year 1566, she fled from an arranged marriage to a convent by the sea. Then a political and religious uprising shattered her plans to remain sheltered there, and she found safety only through an unlikely rescue.

See the events of the Steadfast Love series unfold through Margried’s eyes—and meet the sister never mentioned in those books but with whom Margried longs to reunite… if she will ever write her back.

 

Remnants by Stan Poel

No Comments on Remnants by Stan Poel

remnantsGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1940s – Netherland

Nineteen-year-old Jenny DeHaan is determined to live her life outside the confines of the family farm. When accepted to a prominent university, she sets out on the road to independence. While in school, she develops a bond with Marten Demeester, a Jewish student who shares her goal of becoming a pediatrician.

When Hitler breaks his promise and invades their country, everything changes. The peaceful land becomes a battlefield, and the Netherlands quickly falls to the overwhelming German forces. The Nazis, aided by local collaborators, begin a process of arrest, deportation, and extermination of Dutch Jews, with Marten’s family targeted by a powerful Gestapo colonel.

The race to save their Jewish neighbors puts Jenny and Marten, now members of the Dutch Resistance, squarely in the crosshairs of the cunning and ruthless Gestapo. Failure could mean death for them and for their families and friends. As the Nazis close in, the pair is forced to make fateful choices. What price are they willing to pay to save others?

Sword of Peace by Louisa Bauman

No Comments on Sword of Peace by Louisa Bauman

swordofpeaceGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1531 – Netherlands

What is the secret of the hidden meetings, which are held in the woods at night?

Anna had hoped to escape the violence of the Reformation when she moved to Amsterdam. But now, in November 1531, Charles V has sent his Spanish officials to this ‘nest of heretics’ in the Netherlands, determined to rid his empire of all those who refuse to attend the state church. The obstinate shall be executed unless they swear allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Catholic church, and citizens must report any disloyal activity they notice or suffer the same fate. But Anna can hardly betray Maeyken, her only friend in Amsterdam. The last thing Anna will do is listen to the Anabaptists, let alone join the traitorous sect!

If Charles V succeeds, the Anabaptists will be annihilated. Especially the leaders of the new faith, such as Adriaen, a new widower. Anna is embarrassed to be falling for Adriaen, not believing he could ever return her love. Besides, as an Anabaptist preacher, he is unlikely to survive the purging of heretics.

In Sword of Peace, struggle with Anna on her journey to find faith, peace, truth and love in this sweeping and romantic historical novel, set during the Reformation in the Netherlands. In those turbulent days, the seeds for the present-day Amish and Mennonites were planted.

Waves of Mercy by Lynn Austin

No Comments on Waves of Mercy by Lynn Austin

Waves of Mercywaves of mercy

1846-1896 – The Netherlands and Michigan

Geesje de Jonge crossed the ocean at age seventeen with her parents and a small group of immigrants from The Netherlands to settle in the Michigan wilderness. Fifty years later, in 1897, she is asked to write a memoir of her early experiences as the town celebrates its anniversary. Reluctant at first, she soon uncovers memories and emotions that have remained buried all these years, including the story of her one true love. 

A few miles away at the Hotel Ottawa Resort on the shore of Lake Michigan, twenty-three-year-old Anna Nicholson is trying to ease the pain of her broken engagement to a wealthy Chicago banker. But her time of introspection is disturbed after the violent storm her steamship encounters on her journey across the lake, stirs up memories of a childhood nightmare. As more memories and dreams surface, Anna begins to question who she is and whether she wants to return to her wealthy life in Chicago. When she befriends a young seminary student who is working at the hotel for the summer, she finds herself asking him all the questions that have been troubling her.

Neither Geesje nor Anna, who are different in every possible way, can foresee the life-altering surprises awaiting them before the summer ends.

The Sound of Diamonds by Rachelle Rea

No Comments on The Sound of Diamonds by Rachelle Rea

soundofdiamondsThe Sound of Diamonds

 1566 – The Netherlands

Her only chance of getting home is trusting the man she hates.

With the protestant Elizabeth on the throne of England and her family in shambles, Catholic maiden Gwyneth seeks refuge in the Low Countries of Holland, hoping to soothe her aching soul. But when the Iconoclastic Fury descends and bloodshed overtakes her haven, she has no choice but to trust the rogue who arrives, promising to see her safely home to her uncle’s castle. She doesn’t dare to trust him…and yet doesn’t dare to refuse her one chance to preserve her own life and those of the nuns she rescues from the burning convent.

Dirk Godfrey is determined to restore his honor at whatever cost. Running from a tortured past, Dirk knows he has only one chance at redemption, and it lies with the lovely Gwyneth, who hates him for the crimes she thinks he committed. He must see her to safety, prove to the world that he is innocent, prove that her poor eyesight is not the only thing that has blinded her—but what is he to do when those goals clash?

The home Gwyneth knew is not what she once thought. When a dark secret and a twisted plot for power collide in a castle masquerading as a haven, the saint and the sinner must either dare to hold to hope…or be overcome.

Snow on Tulips by Liz Tolsma

No Comments on Snow on Tulips by Liz Tolsma

Snow on the Tulipssnowontulips

1945 – Netherlands

The war is drawing to a close, but the Nazis still occupy part of the Netherlands. After the losses she’s endured, war widow Cornelia is only a shadow of the woman she once was. She fights now to protect her younger brother, Johan, who lives in hiding. When Johan brings Gerrit Laninga, a wounded Dutch Resistance member, to Cornelia’s doorstep, their lives are forever altered. Although scared of the consequences of harboring a wanted man, Cornelia’s faith won’t let her turn him out. As she nurses Gerrit back to health, she is drawn to his fierce passion and ideals, and notices a shift within herself. Gerrit’s intensity challenges her, making her want to live fully, despite the fear that constrains her. When the opportunity to join him in the Resistance presents itself, Cornelia must summon every ounce of courage imaginable. She is as terrified of loving Gerrit as she is of losing him. But as the winter landscape thaws, so too does her heart. Will she get a second chance at true love? She fears their story will end before it even begins.

Where Treasure Hides by Johnnie Alexander Donley

No Comments on Where Treasure Hides by Johnnie Alexander Donley

Where Treasure Hideswheretreasurehides

1939 – Netherlands

Artist Alison Schuyler spends her time working in her family’s renowned art gallery, determined to avoid the curse that has followed the Schuyler clan from the Netherlands to America and back again. She’s certain that true love will only lead to tragedy—that is, until a chance meeting at Waterloo station brings Ian Devlin into her life. Drawn to the bold and compassionate British Army captain, Alison begins to question her fear of love as World War II breaks out, separating the two and drawing each into their own battles. While Ian fights for freedom on the battlefield, Alison works with the Dutch Underground to find a safe haven for Jewish children and priceless pieces of art alike. But safety is a luxury war does not allow. As time, war, and human will struggle to keep them apart, will Alison and Ian have the faith to fight for their love, or is it their fate to be separated forever?