The Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan

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1940 – France

German tanks rumble through the streets of Paris, forcing frightened citizens to flee. But not everyone has the luxury to leave. Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the world-famous Hôtel Ritz, must stay to support her family back home in Brittany. Desperate to earn money, Camille also acts as a lady’s maid for longtime guest Vivian Miller, a glamorous American widow—and a Nazi sympathizer.

Despite her distrust of the woman, Camille turns to Vivian when her friend and fellow hotel maid Rachel Berman needs help getting out of Paris. It’s then that Camille discovers that Vivian is not what she seems… The American has been using her wealth and connections to secretly obtain travel papers for Jewish refugees.

While they’re hiding Rachel in an underground bunker under a Nazi’s nose, a daring escape plan is hatched. But as the net grows tighter, and the Germans more ruthless, Camille’s courage will be tested to the extreme…

Trust the Stars by Tricia Goyer

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1943/Present – Historical set in Italy

Olivia Garza, a woman committed to making a difference in the world, thrives in her unconventional, service-oriented life. By day, she helps troubled teens in inner-city Little Rock. By night, she creates a viral docu-series in an attempt to better understand her mother’s desperate decisions by retracing her steps with a camera. So far, Olivia has always been the anonymous narrator, but she’s promised to reveal herself in the last stop on her documentary: Kenya.

Prince Louis, heir to the throne of the small European kingdom of Alloria, is in Kenya to run away from a broken heart—and the media circus that comes with it. When he meets Olivia, he recognizes her voice right away from the docu-series that has stirred his heart. Though they share a magical day on safari, any dreams of happily ever after come crashing down with the flash of the paparazzi cameras when Olivia realizes that he represents everything she most despises in the world.

In World War II Rome, another royal, however, has her own life-changing choices to make. Princess Alessandra Appiani could have chosen quiet safety within the walls of the Vatican, but instead she risks her life—and her family—to save the Jewish children so in need of someone to show them the love of God.

When Olivia is hired to help create a documentary about Alessandra, learning about the sacrifice of a royal who goes from palace to prison forces her to face the hardest questions of all: Should she continue on the path she’s carved for herself or trust God to give her the future she never thought she wanted?

The Juliet Code by Pepper Basham

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1915 – Italy

Newlyweds Lord and Lady Astley Finally Reach Their Honeymoon Destination Only to Encounter a New Mystery in Need of Solving
 
Frederick and Grace Percy finally make it to Italy to enjoy a delayed honeymoon and explore the beauties of the historic city of Venice. To their surprise, their friend, Detective Jack Miracle, is also in the city, investigating a series of art heists starting at the house of eccentric millionaire, Laraby Covington. Drawn into a world of boat races, mysterious houses, and parties of the rich and unusual in Venice, Frederick and Grace learn of the existence of the Juliet paintings, (Renaissance paintings feature Shakespeare’s tragic heroine) rumored to hold a secret code to an underground vault of similarly treasured artwork assumed lost over the centuries. As Freddie and Grace are pulled deeper into the mystery and their beloved Detective Jack disappears, can they use their wits and work as a team to find the thieves and Jack before it’s too late. 

The Fugitive King by Henry O. Arnold

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BC – Israel
 
One king desperately on the run…One king in vengeful pursuit…One nation in dire turmoil

David is broken off from the realm. The world behind him is destroyed. The world before him is dangerous and unpredictable. He flees from the royal household of King Saul as a fugitive with a death sentence on his head.

In his last days, the prophet Samuel passes the prophetic mantle to his proteges, instructing Nathan and Gad to serve Yahweh and the future king of Israel. But David is king only of caves and deserts, and his subjects are nothing but the dregs of society that flow to the lowest point of the land and stop at his feet. Mercenaries, adventurers, spies—or worse, assassins with no apparent loyalty.

David, who once thought of himself as “an olive tree flourishing in the house of Yahweh,” desperately appeals to the One who can save him: “You are my rock, my fortress. Into Your hands I commit my spirit.”

The Runaway Prince by Ashton E. Dorow

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1200s – Fictional Kingdom

Crown Prince Roland of Acuniel has spent his life living behind the mask of the perfect prince. And it’s slowly killing him inside. At his wits end, Roland devises a daring plan to escape royal life and forge a new future on his own terms with his betrothed, Lady Elyse of Dallin, at his side. But when Elyse breaks his heart by refusing to go with him, Roland decides to flee alone, leaving Elyse, his family, and the throne far behind.

He trades his princely mask for a new one–that of the celebrated Sir Tristan, fighting in tournaments and stealing hearts all across the continent. He’s finally his own man and life could not be better. Yet why does he still feel empty inside?

When his new life unexpectedly collides with his past, everything Roland thought he wanted is turned upside down. Did he make a mistake in leaving Elyse and Acuniel behind? And if so, how can he ever return home and face the damage he has caused?

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt

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1939 – Poland

On a golden August morning in 1939, sisters Antonina and Helena Dąbrowska send their father off to defend Poland against the looming threat of German invasion. The next day, the first bombs fall on Warsaw, decimating their beloved city and shattering the world of their youth.

When Antonina’s beloved Marek is forced behind ghetto walls along with the rest of Warsaw’s Jewish population, Antonina turns her worry into action and becomes a key figure in a daring network of women risking their lives to shelter Jewish children. Helena finds herself drawn into the ranks of Poland’s secret army, joining the fight to free her homeland from occupation. But the secrets both are forced to keep threaten to tear the sisters apart–and the cost of resistance proves greater than either ever imagined.

The Peasant King by Tessa Afshar

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551 BC – Persia

Jemmah has always thought of herself as perfectly ordinary . . . until she faces extraordinary circumstances.

When her mother, the Persian king’s famous senior scribe, is kidnapped, Jemmah and her sister must sneak undetected into enemy territory to rescue her. But infiltrating their adversary’s lands proves easier than escaping them. Fleeing through dangerous mountain passes, their survival depends on the skills of a stranger they free from prison: a mysterious prince named Asher.

Asher is not who the world believes he is. Despite his royal blood, he has had to climb his way out of poverty to forge success from nothing. A manufacturer of some of the best weaponry in the East, Asher has only one goal: to destroy his father. But following his escape from prison, Asher is irresistibly drawn to Jemmah, unaware that she guards her own secret.

Jemmah must convince Asher to give up everything he has worked for, all for the sake of a higher purpose he’s not sure he believes in. The fate of the Persian empire—and possibly the Judean people—hang in the balance and in the persuasive power of one ordinary woman.

To Love a Falcon by Nancy Williams

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1945 – Siberia

When life already seems bleak, the Russians send her deeper into Siberia.

Aircraft mechanic Katya Morozov longs for her beloved Mikhail, a Russian naval officer, to return from war. But when an unwanted work assignment takes her far from her home into remote Siberia, Katya faces threats—perhaps because she and her father were engaged in covert protection for persecuted Christians.

A chance encounter with charming test pilot, Yuri Sokolov, turns into more than a passing acquaintance…igniting the flames of a conflict between Katya’s faithfulness to Mikhail and her growing attraction to the enigmatic pilot. Will messages from a mysterious woman in the woods give her the wisdom and strength she needs?

Yuri, who has hidden battles of his own, must likewise make a decision—does he follow his dreams or pursue the lovely mechanic who has captured his heart?

Crushed Hopes and Hopeful Beginnings by Carol Ashby

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126 – Egypt

Can God work all things for good if you don’t even think he’s real?

Lusario was content in Cyrene as part of the Philandros household. After he returns from serving the youngest son, Diokles, while he studies in Alexandria, Lusario expects to become a paid tutor for his master, earning the money to buy his freedom. But when Diokles uses him to pay a gambling debt, he must go to Carthago as the slave of a man who hates him. His once-bright future is gone forever. So why does his Christian friend Timon insist things will turn out so much better than he expects?

But Carthago brings new people, like Caelus Martinus, and new possibilities into Lusario’s hopeless world. Could Timon be right? When Lusario sees a chance to escape his fate, will going for it give him a future again, or only hasten his death?

Notorious by Tamara Leigh

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1354 – France

THE KING’S SPY
For years, Lady Vianne Wardieu has navigated the intrigues of the French court, supplying the English king with intelligence and preserving her cover at the ruin of her reputation. Entangled with the King of France’s advisor, danger and sacrifice shadow her every step. When her bid to return to England is thwarted and ensnares an innocent in her schemes, she vows to escape again. But her plans falter when a man from her past appears seeking revenge. Or so she believes. Discovering he was sent by their king to extract vital information, she forces an alliance, offering secrets for aid in securing her freedom. As their paths merge and they become bound by more than necessity, Vianne strives to shield her heart from her reluctant savior, certain just as her notorious past cannot be rewritten, neither can it be forgiven.

THE KING’S MAN
Commanded by King Edward to retrieve intelligence from his spy at the French court, Sir Warin Wulfrith’s disdain for the lady’s notoriety and anger over her endangerment of his sister tests his honor—and further when she sets terms for her cooperation. As they navigate treacherous terrain to outmaneuver her pursuers, his perception of her alters when he discovers great depth and vulnerability beneath her wild beauty. With the line between duty and the need to safeguard her blurring, he questions whether his fiercely-guarded emotions are at risk of falling under her spell. And if true salvation lies not only in escaping external threats but finding solace and redemption in each other.

Capturing Hope by Angela Couch

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1939 – Poland

One step ahead of the Nazi’s. . .leaves Nadia little room for hope.
 
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?  

The Edge of Promise by Mesu Andrews

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BC – Israel

Aaron’s Wife has been angry and afraid for as long as she can remember. Why did God have to choose her men to serve as His priests? Is it possible for her to intervene on their behalf and perhaps keep them safe? If she were to register her complaint to God directly (is that even possible?) would He hear her? Elisheba is teetering on the edge of faith.

Life for The Shepherd Boy is just plain unfair. Why won’t his family consider him a man instead of a boy? What difference does his age make when compared with his ability? And how could a mere boy feel such passion when he’s near his childhood shepherdess friend? Lemuel is perched on the edge of manhood and love.

Rahab’s Sister has always been a victim of circumstance. Why does she have to live in the obscurity of her “famous” older sister? What is it about the men of Jericho and the gods they serve that leaves them all so bleak? Is it possible to live differently, like the strange people encircling her city? Gera is hovering on the edge of hope.

Abounding Hope by Cindy Kay Stewart

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1939 – Poland

Poland’s looming defeat forces an American teacher to escape with children wanted by the Nazis.

The Nazis are threatening Poland, but American teacher Irena Simmons refuses to flee to safety. She’s dedicated her life to serving in her church and school, and she’s watching over the little German boys she whisked to safety the year before. When her former classmate, Jonathan, surprises her in Lvov and insists she leave with him before the war starts, Irena balks. Nothing will interfere with her work—especially a man making demands.

American shipping magnate Jonathan Huntwell had a crush on Irena in school. When their former classmates select him to travel to Poland and escort her out before it’s too late, he doesn’t expect the inner turmoil she ignites in him. Although honor-bound to aid any friend in trouble, Jonathan acknowledges that Irena is more than an obligation to him. However, he must keep his feelings hidden, or he’ll jeopardize their friendship.

Irena soon discovers that the Gestapo agent she successfully evaded in Germany has found her in Poland, and he’s after her young charges. When the Germans invade, Jonathan is in Denmark on business, too far away to help. As the rising danger threatens everything Irena holds dear, she must find a way to protect those she loves.

Royal & Ancient by Amanda Lauer

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1691/Time Travel – Scotland

Bronwyn Campbell’s end-of-summer plans were simple: wrap up her job at Saint Andrews Country Club, meet her friends one last time at the virtual reality arcade, and move across the country—again—with her father. But when lightning strikes while she’s working the club’s Saint Andrews Heritage Day, she’s transported from an American fairway to the home of golf, The Links at St. Andrews, in Scotland—and in the year 1691, no less.

When Iain MacDonald discovers Bronwyn knocked out cold on the seventeenth green, little does he know their meeting would change not only the course of their lives but the course of history. The son of the chieftain of Clan MacDonald, Iain bears the weight of responsibility for his family and his clan’s survival on his shoulders. Family drama and the growing discord over religion in Scotland add to the heavy load he carries daily while stepping further into his role as future chieftain.

As political events between England and Scotland heighten the conflict surrounding the MacDonald lands, Bronwyn and Iain rely upon their shared faith and growing feelings toward each other for survival. Amid the questions that plague both of them, though, one stands out: How can you be with the one you love if your choice ultimately influences history?

A Dare and a Prayer by Julie Lessman

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1944 – Saipan

He’s a hotshot who takes up a dare.
She’s an aspiring missionary who wants to beware.
But will love become a gamble with a dare and a prayer?

Lieutenant Henry Dennehy is a cocky and carefree fighter pilot in the Pacific Theatre of WW2, known for scoring big, both in the sky and on land. But when his buddies offer a bet he can’t refuse to turn the head of the “untouchable” nurse at 369th Station Hospital—a woman who’s shot down more flyboys than the enemy—he’s bound and determined to win. Problem is, if he wins the dare, will he lose at love?

Lieutenant Amy Leigh MacArthur was on her way to the mission field when she detoured to fight for her country instead, an Army nurse whose interest lies only in healing the wounded and teaching orphans to read. Certainly not in men, and definitely not in Henry Dennehy, the boy who ridiculed her years ago as a shy and homely teen. But when Henry pursues her and won’t take no for an answer, Amy finds a way that gives him no choice.

Until, that is, love does the same for them both …

April’s Promise by Terrie Todd

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1928 – Canada

Emmaleen Kimball is fourteen when she becomes convinced she was born to traveling acrobats and left on her parents’ doorstep. Why else would there be a thirteen-year age gap between her and her closest sibling? When her family won’t tell her the truth about her origins, she’s determined to solve the mystery herself.
 
Bernadette Kimball is twenty-seven and living back at home to help with a family crisis, but she can’t wait to get back to her career in the city. She doesn’t fit in with her family. Not that she cares. Who needs a family? Families are just one big mess of secrets and lies.
 
April Kimball-Madden carries the burden of a secret she promised never to reveal. She wishes she could tell Emmaleen the truth. But she’s convinced that if her husband Joey ever finds out who Emmaleen’s biological parents are, her marriage won’t survive.
 
As a world war wages across the globe, the Kimball family faces a different kind of conflict at home. Will their personal battles drag them down and tear their family apart? Or can the faith they’ve been taught, and the mercy they’re shown, lead them to victory?

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette

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1042 BC – Israel

As the eldest son of a Levite and a Philistine, Avidan is torn between his duty to his family legacy and the desire for something more. After an enemy attack strikes close to home, he takes the opportunity to fight with his cousins for the newly crowned King Saul. But when one of the cousins goes missing during the battle, Avidan refuses to leave him behind.

Keziah is the daughter of one of the most powerful clan chiefs in the territory of Manasseh. On the brink of a forced marriage to a loathsome man decades older than her, she has no choice but to run, hoping to find sanctuary with her mother’s family.

United during their journeys and battling to survive the dangers that surround them, Avidan and Keziah make a pact to travel together. As challenges pile up, they must not only rely on each other to stay alive but also learn to trust the true and eternal King of Israel to guide their every step.

Brilliant by Lisa Richardson

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1838 – Turkey

A recent graduate of England’s most exclusive—and unusual—boarding school, Lady Portia Blythe has been accepted into the Praetorienne—though not without reservations from those who head the queen’s all-female secret guard. Determined to prove herself as part of Queen Victoria’s protection detail on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople, Portia stumbles into a secret arms auction. She discovers Jack Harding working a case, and he joins her in uncovering the purveyors of this devastating weaponry as well as a sinister plot to assassinate the queen and start a war.

With trouble at every turn, Portia draws on her training, marvelous gadgets, and her courage. Though troubled by self-doubt, she protects the royal entourage, leads their flight across Europe, and thwarts assignation attempts. She must trust in allies—former and new—and her prayers for God’s help to escape the threats, prevent full-blown war, and safely escort the queen home for her coronation.

To Free the Stars by J’nell Ciesielski

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1927 – America/Europe

“Fate is fickle and the stars are silent, but I do know this: No matter how difficult the circumstances or how savagely the world tries to tear us apart, I am here with you.”

Ten years have passed since Jack and Ivy, elite operatives for the secret agency Talon, rescued their friend Philip and completed their fateful mission. The 1920s are in full swing as American speakeasies thrive amid Prohibition, and despite the team’s best efforts, the deadly cult, the Order of the Rising Moon, lives on in the shadows. Which is no surprise to Ivy; nothing has gone as she expected since that day after Poenari Castle.

When a wave of assassinations strikes world leaders, intel confirms the Order’s involvement. Ivy holds them responsible for the tragedy that changed her life, and she is determined to find and destroy the villains once and for all—but she must do so before their relentless assassin eliminates his next target. Her.

Except, there’s something oddly familiar about the way he moves, the way he anticipates each of her moves. It’s as if he knows her. But that’s not possible. Is it? Ivy will have to rely on every skill she’s learned if she hopes to survive—and save those she loves. No matter the cost.

Starlet Spy by Rachel Scott McDaniel

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1943 – Sweden

Hollywood Star Turns Spy
 
Movie producer Henrik Zoltan approaches Amelie Blake under the guise of offering the Hollywood star a leading part in his upcoming film, but he has a more meaningful role in mind. Amelie’s homeland of Sweden declared neutrality in the war, but Stockholm has become the “Casablanca of the North.” When top-secret atomic research goes missing in Sweden, the Allied forces scramble to recover the files before they fall into Nazi hands.

The United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) needs someone who’s subtle enough to spy on the Swedish elite without triggering suspicion. Who better than the “all beauty, no brains” Scandinavian starlet? Fluent in three languages and possessing a brilliant memory, Amelie loathes being labeled witless but uses the misconception as her disguise. She’s tasked with searching for the crucial files, but Finn Ristaffason keeps getting in her way. Is the charming shipping magnate after the missing research? Or does he have other reasons for showing up at her every turn?

With the Gestapo on her heels, Amelie must rely on her smarts in addition to her acting skills to survive a world of deadly spies and counterspies.

Journey of the Shepherd Woman by Carlene Havel and Sharon Faucheux

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30s – Israel

Saul of Tarsus instigates persecution against followers of the Way, forcing shepherds from Bethlehem to run for their lives. Channah and her family escape to the seaport of Joppa. They hope to make their way to Ephesus where Channah’s husband grew up. However, travel is difficult and sometimes treacherous. When disaster strikes, Channah relies on the mercy of a kind woman named Dorcas. Through many trials, the little family cherishes their goal of finding a place where they can freely worship Jesus.

Ladies of the Lake by Cathy Gohlke

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1905/1935 – Canada/Connecticut

After two young women’s deep bond is torn apart, what will it take to bring them together again?

When she is forced to leave her beloved Prince Edward Island to attend Lakeside Ladies Academy after the death of her parents, the last thing Adelaide Rose MacNeill expects to find is three kindred spirits. The “Ladies of the Lake,” as the four girls call themselves, quickly bond like sisters, vowing that wherever life takes them, they will always be there for each other. But that is before: Before love and jealousy come between Adelaide and Dorothy, the closest of the friends. Before the dawn of World War I upends their world and casts baseless suspicion onto the German American man they both love. Before a terrible explosion in Halifax Harbor rips the sisterhood irrevocably apart.

Seventeen years later, Rosaline Murray receives an unsuspecting telephone call from Dorothy, now headmistress of Lakeside, inviting her to attend the graduation of a new generation of girls, including Rosaline’s beloved daughter. With that call, Rosaline is drawn into a past she’d determined to put behind her. To memories of a man she once loved . . . of a sisterhood she abandoned . . . and of the day she stopped being Adelaide MacNeill.

The Prince’s Pier by Lisa Prysock

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1811/1911 – Canada

Will an inheritance and destiny ruin everything, or make room for love?

Miss Margaret Wright, fondly called Maggie, grew up on King’s Crossing near Prince Edward Island in a comfortable farmhouse near Raleigh Point Castle. The daughter of the master farmer tasked with managing the farmland for the royal family at the turn of the century, she and her sister have reaped the benefit of a good education, fine tutors, piano lessons, and ultimately, finishing school.

While some part of Maggie has longed to find acceptance among the nobility who frequent the glamorous Prince’s Pier, she has largely remained content with her lot in life, taking in sewing for ladies of noble birth, destined to marry a farmer like her father. Will stunning news received on her twentieth birthday along with unexpected events change everything as she meets the man of her dreams and finds herself swept into a crisis of not only the heart, but turmoil and subterfuge surrounding her identity

The Woman from Lydia by Angela Hunt

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51 – Greece

Widowed Euodia, known to her neighbors as “the Lydian woman,” seeks to make a fresh start by moving to the foreign city of Philippi. She finds new purpose after meeting Paulos, apostle to the Gentiles, who opens her eyes to helping those in need, particularly women and those who have been enslaved.

Retired Roman soldier Hector has settled in Philippi with dreams of a future filled with wealth and status, pooling his army earnings with Lucius, his fellow comrade-in-arms turned business partner. His hopes are dashed, however, when Paulos robs their youngest enslaved girl of her lucrative ability to foretell the future, rendering her worthless to Hector’s ambition.

Determined to find someone to restore the girl’s valuable “gift,” Hector is willing to travel to the ends of the earth to do so. Following close behind him, Euodia and her servants embark on a journey to rescue Sabina and set her free forever.

To Calm a Storm by Heather Gilbert and Jen Cudmore

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1000 – Fictitious Country (Scandinavia area)

Get swept up in an enthralling saga featuring women who rule the hearts of Viking men.

For years, Kadhrin has anticipated marrying her betrothed, Vikarr, who is now second in command only to the king. As she settles into married life, she becomes increasingly convinced that her husband would make a far better ruler than his distracted cousin, and she urges him to heed advisors calling for an overthrow.

Vikarr is honored to marry such a noble bride, but he hasn’t bargained for Kadhrin’s boldness. Although pleased by the growing passion between them, he struggles to understand her motivations. As rumors of an insurrection build, Vikarr is torn between the captivating woman who has laid claim to his heart, his loyalty to his king, and his growing desire to seize the kingship so he can unify his country against looming threats.

Caught up in a web of political intrigue and personal betrayal, Kadhrin and Vikarr must choose not only which war to wage, but also which side to stand on, even if it means sacrificing everything they hold dear.

Plagues and Papyrus by Christine Dillon

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1200s BC – Egypt

What if life is built on the wrong foundation?

Kheti and his family have farmed papyrus along the Nile for generations. Kheti is confident the gods of Egypt and the harmony maintained by the divine Pharaoh are the sources of his prosperity. Then he watches his beloved river turn to blood, his crops fail, and his nation descend into chaos.

 
The Hebrew God wants his people released from slavery.
 
When the gods remain silent and Pharaoh is powerless to stop the carnage, Kheti wrestles with which way to turn. Replant his flattened crops and cling to Egypt’s gods? Or forsake his roots to follow new friends and a new faith to a distant land?

Could there be a place in God’s family for an Egyptian who kept God’s people as slaves?

Estuary by Lisa T Bergren

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Time Travel/Medieval – Italy

Can a family bond stand the test of time?

Lady Tiliani Forelli is the epitome of the She-Wolves who raised her, an adept archer with a mind of her own. It is long past time for her to wed, but she deems each young lord who comes to bid for her hand lacking. With battles upon their border, and rumors of war growing louder on every front, Lady Forelli’s decision could secure her kingdom’s peace . . . or bring about its destruction.

Centuries later, history major Luciana Betarrini takes a summer job alongside her twin, Domenico, as a period actor at Castello Forelli in Italy. As incoming college seniors, this might be their last chance to spend meaningful time together, so she’s soaking up every minute. But when Nico’s theory that their lost Betarrini relatives have traveled through time becomes potentially real—and they might be able to follow—Luci fears they’ll be forever divided.

Beneath a Peaceful Moon by Debby Lee

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1944 – Japan

Mary’s Language Skills Could Help End the War in the Pacific
 
Mary Wishram, an orphaned Yakima tribal member, aches for her brother who suffers in a POW camp in the Philippine Islands and her Japanese friends who languish in a relocation center. Determined to end the war by any means necessary, she employs her language skills to become a spy. Leaving Camp Pendleton for the South Pacific, she faces escalating threats of peril to help bring her loved ones home.
 
John Painted Horse, a proud Navajo, struggles with the loss of his father who died in WWI for a country that didn’t consider him a United States citizen. Though his home state doesn’t offer him the right to vote, he joins the Code Talker program at Camp Pendleton. Thrust into mounting danger in the South Pacific, he hopes to bring long overdue recognition and honor to his people, no matter the cost.
 
Will these two wounded souls find healing from their past traumas and a deeper relationship with God, before it’s too late? Or will they lose their chance at love, and everything they hold dear?

In Feast or Famine by Mesu Andrews

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1693BC – Egypt

Thrust into an arranged marriage, the daughter of ancient Egypt’s high priest plays a pivotal role in Joseph’s biblical narrative in this powerful novel from the award-winning author of Potiphar’s Wife.

After four-year-old Asenath’s mother is murdered by Egypt’s foreign rulers, the child is raised to be a priestess by her overprotective father—high priest of Egypt’s sun god. For fifteen years, Asenath is sequestered in the upper levels of Ra’s temple, convinced it is her destiny to heal the land by becoming queen to the next Egyptian pharaoh. But when Egypt’s foreign king instead gives her as a bride to the newly appointed vizier—a Hebrew named Joseph—her entire world is shaken. 

Beyond the walls of her tower, Asenath discovers treachery, deceit, and conspiracy that force her to redefine her destiny and weigh where her true loyalties lie. Can she still trust the gods of Egypt? Or is Elohim, the foreign God of her husband, the one who will heal her nation during the feast and famine to come?

The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee

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1941 – Philippines

Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire.

Life in the Philippines seems like paradise–until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history.

What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive.

Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope.

A Brighter Dawn by Leslie Gould

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1930s/Present – Germany

Ivy Zimmerman is successfully navigating her life as a young Mennonite woman, one generation removed from her parents’ Old Order Amish upbringing. But when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Ivy’s way of life is upended. As she deals with her grief, her younger sisters’ needs, the relationship with her boyfriend, and her Dawdi and Mammi’s strict rules, Ivy finds solace in both an upcoming trip to Germany for an international Mennonite youth gathering and in her great-great-aunt’s story about Clare Simons, another young woman who visited Germany in the late 1930s.

As Ivy grows suspicious that her parents’ deaths weren’t, in fact, an accident, she gains courage from what she learns of Clare’s time in pre-World War II Germany. With the encouragement and inspiration of the women who have gone before her, Ivy seeks justice for her parents, her sisters, and herself.

Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel

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1935 – Ireland

Brianna Kelly was abandoned at Ballymacool House and Boarding School as an infant. She has worked there since she was a wee girl and will likely die there. Despite a sense that she was made for something more, Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds, looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.

When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry, is sent to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, he finds himself drawn to Brianna, immediately and inescapably. There is something about her that feels so . . . familiar. When Brianna finds a piece of silver in the woods, she commits to learning its origins, with the help of Michael. What they discover may change everything.

A Divine Romance by Ifueko Fex Ogbomo

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BC – Egypt

Hers is the flawless face no man has seen—except her father.
His is the foreign face everyone reveres—save his family.
The royal decree that couples this unlikely pair will make or break the history of an ancient empire.

Considered a gift from the sun god due to her arresting eyes, Asenath was veiled in childhood and destined to marry Egyptian royalty. The 17-year-old is resigned to a loveless future in the royal harem, when Pharaoh’s shocking declaration forces her to marry the new vizier of Egypt—a mystical foreigner with powers of divination.

Known as Zaphnath-Paaneah, her husband turns out to be handsome, charming, and possibly insane since he worships an invisible god and expects her—the daughter of a high priest—to do the same. Facing a fate seemingly worse than that she grew up dreading, she desperately searches for a way out of the arranged marriage. The secrets she uncovers usher her into a world of intrigue and treachery that questions all her beliefs about men, gods, and love. Will theirs be the most monumental mismatch made in Egyptian history, or will her daring demand for a sign from his god make all her childhood fantasies come true?

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

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1940 – Denmark

When the Germans march into Denmark, Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt exchanges his nobility for anonymity, assuming a new identity so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden.

American physicist Dr. Else Jensen refuses to leave Copenhagen and abandon her research–her life’s dream. While printing resistance newspapers, she hears stories of the movement’s legendary Havmand–the merman–and wonders if the mysterious and silent shipyard worker living in the same boardinghouse has something to hide.

When the Occupation cracks down on the Danes, these two passionate people will discover if there is more power in speech . . .

Wells and Wanderers by Christine Dillon

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1700s BC – Ur (Iraq)

Sometimes freedom and family are found in unexpected places.

Inanna, an Amorite chieftain’s daughter, craves to be free as the eagles that fly above her hometown. Utu, her loyal twin, just wants to keep his wayward sister out of trouble. Neither succeeds, and their dreams are uprooted as they’re sold into slavery. During their forced travels, they encounter nations they’d only known from stories, palaces beyond description, and fickle kings claiming to be all-powerful deities.

 
Yet when serving the wandering household of Avram and Sarai from Ur, they encounter a mystery god intent on upturning national boundaries, calling new loyalties, and directing the eyes of his followers to dreams vaster than the star-filled sky.
 
But what has this god of unexpected paths and promises to offer two Amorite slaves?