Books On Tour – The Lost Diary by Rose Alexander.

I am really pleased to be hosting a Book Tour Review for The Lost Diary by Rose Alexander and I would like to thank Bookouture for the opportunity 🙂

Book Description:

A wartime secret. A heartbreaking choice. A promise that cost her everything…

German-occupied territory, 1945. Tearing open the envelope, Katja studies every line and letter on the map. She wills herself to memorise it, copying every detail onto scraps of paper in the flickering candlelight. She’d nearly been caught delivering the letters by the SS that afternoon. Picturing Karl’s handsome face, her chest tightens. They’re in this together. But if she’s caught, what will happen to the baby?

London, present day. Jo is at a crossroads in her own life in her cosy bungalow on the edge of beautiful Hampstead Heath. Clearing out her mother, Katja’s, empty home, Jo’s world is turned upside down when she discovers a small, dog-eared diary stuffed into the back of a tiny kitchen cupboard. And tucked within its pages is a ripped, yellowed envelope with an unfamiliar, faded postmark. As she scans the scrawled handwriting, Jo can scarcely believe her eyes…

What really happened to that tiny baby all those years ago? And will this long-lost diary finally give Jo the answers to everything she’s been searching for?

Based on an incredible true story, The Lost Diary is a gripping and unforgettable tale about forbidden love and family secrets in World War Two. Fans of The Letter, The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones will be utterly swept away.

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0C93VS34Csocial

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/NsEnwJHuqtP4
US: zpr.io/jsvVwdJpT2hF

My thoughts…

The Lost Diary explores the experiences of a young woman living in Germany in WWII and that of an English POW.  This is a dual timeline story that follows Jo who finds her mother’s diary and from reading it she learns about her mother Katja’s past.  Katja lived during WW2 and endured some terrible conditions and difficult times which Jo was totally unaware of.

The novel, based on the author’s family’s experiences moves back and forwards as you follow the stories during WW2 and the present time.  You learn about Jo’s parents lives, how they met and everything they had to deal with which was unbelievable and you really have to marvel at their will to survive.  These stories were really gripping, moving and sad at times and you did not want to put the book down.  

The Lost Diary is an excellent read.  Love and forgiveness and the things you do for love are the key to this truly inspiring story.  The ending was amazing.  If you enjoy books set during WWII, and are based on true events then this book is for you.

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author Bio:

Rose Alexander has had more careers than she cares to mention and is currently a secondary school English teacher. She writes in the holidays, weekends and evenings, whenever she has a chance, although with three children, a husband, a lodger and a cat, this isn’t always as often as she’d like. She’s a keen sewist and is on a mission to make all her own clothes.

https://www.rosealexander.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/rosealexanderauthor/

https://twitter.com/RoseA_writer

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Books On Tour – The Girl Who Never Came Back by Suzanne Goldring.

I am really pleased to be hosting a Book Tour Review for The Girl Who Never Came Back by Suzanne Goldring and I would like to thank Bookouture for the opportunity 🙂

Book Description:

Someone is trying to hide what really happened to her. I must do anything to discover the truth. Even risk my own life….

Paris 1945. I sent nineteen-year-old Phyllis, my youngest recruit, into a city crawling with enemy soldiers. But she was smart as a tack, and her gold-flecked hazel eyes could capture anyone’s hearts. I was certain she would succeed. But then she disappeared without a trace. And no one will help me discover what happened to her.

I am desperate to find her – the girl I told to lie to her family about where she was going. She was excited to be doing her bit, but she was young and naïve. It was my job to make her understand the peril she would face. Is it my fault she is missing?

Now I creep into a beautiful house on a tree-lined street, the headquarters of cold-hearted German soldiers. It was the last place she was seen. I trail my fingers along the gilded furniture and see the light dance off the glittering chandeliers. On the top floor, I find the dates inscribed by beaten prisoners, and my heart sinks as I realise she was shown no mercy here.

As I search for the answers her family are begging for, I learn that the girl I swore to protect was moved around in secret. And when I find a message scratched on a food tin in a damp cell, I know I am getting closer to Phyllis at last…

But there are some who want the secrets of the war to be left in the past. Someone is sending me threatening letters, trying to scare me to stop… In finding answers about the girl who haunts my dreams, am I not only risking her life but my own too?

A heartbreaking, and completely unputdownable World War Two page-turner about the extraordinary bravery of women in the war. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and The Midwife of Auschwitz will be utterly glued to this unforgettable novel.

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0C6QTY3P1social

My thoughts…

The Girl Who Never Came Back follows Sylvia, who spends countless hours after the war searching for answers to what happened to some of the girls she recruited as spies in France. One woman in particular, Phyllis, was the youngest recruit and the mystery around what happened to her haunts Sylvia in the years that follow.  This is the story of Sylvia and her protégé, Phyllis. 

This is a dual timeline story, set in the present day and wartime, it follows one woman’s life, and her reckoning with a dark past.  Part of the story is told in first person from Sylvia’s best friend Peggy’s perceptive. Peggy had no idea what poor Sylvia went through during the war and after until much later in her life.  I found the characters very realistic and they kept the story going along nicely.

The Girl Who Never Came Back is brilliantly written, expertly researched and a real page turner!   Women are so strong and brave and this book is a great reminder of how important and also how forgotten they are in history.  I am sure no one who went through that experience really recovered from it. It is a really   heartbreaking story, but very well told and keeps the reader hooked.  This is Historical fiction at its best and I highly recommend it.

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author Bio:

Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Whether she is working in her thatched cottage in Hampshire or her seaside home in North Cornwall, Suzanne finds inspiration in the secrets hidden by everyday life.

https://suzannegoldring.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/suzannegoldringauthor

https://twitter.com/suzannegoldring

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Book Tour – Coming Home to the Cottage by the Sea (The Island Cottage Book 4) by Rebecca Alexander.

I am really pleased to be hosting a Book Tour Review for Coming Home to the Cottage by the Sea by Rebecca Alexander and I would like to thank Bookouture for the opportunity 🙂

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture (18 July 2023)

Print length ‏ : ‎ 327 pages

Book Blurb…

As Olivia watches the island grow larger on the horizon, she wonders if returning to this place was the right decision…

When Olivia Elliott decides to spend the summer on the remote Morwen Island where she grew up, she can’t help but wonder if returning home is a good idea. After all, she still remembers the heartbreak she left behind on those shores many years ago.

Back on the island, Olivia soon adjusts to life as an islander and rents a cottage for the summer. But, before long, she runs into her first love, Jory Trethewey, a handsome local boatbuilder who never left the remote community. And despite the fact she can still recall their painful breakup, Olivia finds she now can’t stop thinking about him…

When Jory offers to help Olivia fix up the cottage, the two begin to spend more time together. And as they renovate, they realise the house has its own secrets and they decide to put the past behind them and investigate its history.

Soon they uncover a story dating back to the Second World War, of a wounded airman who came to this island to hide from the world, and of the woman who fell in love with him, and risked everything to be with him…

As Olivia tries to find out what happened to the young woman and her airman, she finds herself frustrated by the lack of answers. What became of their story? Did risking everything for love work out for them? And, if it did, should she follow in the lovers’ footsteps, and finally trust her heart?

A totally heartbreaking and unputdownable read, perfect for fans of gripping family dramas, and for those who enjoy the novels of Debbie Macomber, Fiona Valpy and Nancy Thayer.

My thoughts…

Coming Home to the Cottage by the Sea follows Nancy and Libby.  This story is told in chapters between Nancy who was a land girl in the Second World War on the islands and Libby who is in modern day on the islands. The story is based around a cottage, which has been stood firm for years, but now, is in need of repair, which when started on reveals some hidden surprises. The cottage has loads of memories from the past tied to it, as only one family has lived in it since 1942.  Told over two time lines, we learn how the cottage’s summer house, the place where Libby is sleeping due to work being undertaken in the Cottage, came to be built,

This is a really well written book with great characters.  Both Nancy and Libby  had similar troubles with their feelings and their were some great love twists. Both parts of the story are alike, feelings between characters aren’t acted on, until something happens and actions force both characters to make their true feelings known.  Can Libby and Nancy overcome their troubles and find love? 

Coming Home to the Cottage by the Sea is a great book with fabulous characters and wonderful descriptive settings. It is a brilliant read and I couldn’t put it down.  I highly recommend it.

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author – Rebecca Alexander

I write women’s fiction, crime and fantasy, with an interest in folk and superstitious beliefs. 

My latest series in women’s fiction tells the stories of womenc onnected by an island in the Atlantic. In the present day, each comes with a challenge. Ellie (in Secrets of the Cottage by the Sea) has inherited a house from an old woman she’s never heard of. In the past teacher Patience brings a baby back to the island in a carpet bag.

In Memories of the Cottage by the Sea Charlotte runs away from the shell of a relationship to close down the island school while in 1941, Jenofeve struggles under German occupation in Brittany.

Nicole (in Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea) is struggling with the aftermath of an accident, returning to a place where she was both happy and whole. In 1941, Lily leaves the wreck of her bombed out house to grieve for her daughter and perhaps her marriage.

A Baby’s Bones asked the reader: is a dark house haunted by the dreadful violence committed there in the past, or is there a scientific explanation that triggers the darkness in the people who are working there? A Shroud of Leaves asks why a young girl is buried in a pile of leaves on an estate that seems haunted by the disappearance of another young girl in the past. 

I wrote The Secrets of Life and Death series out of that love of magic and fantasy. I tried to bring a single element of fantasy into the real world and it seeped in all directions. Dr John Dee believed sorcery was possible – it was his idea of technology. I just wondered … what if he was right? What if a child’s life could be saved by magic when medicine fails? Then I had to go back and follow Dee and his sidekick, Kelley, as they did their experiments and worked out how magic works in the castle of Elizabeth Bathory, the sadistic ‘Blood Countess’. 

My website is: http://www.rebecca-alexander.co.uk

I blog about writing at http://witchwayblogspotcom.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Contact me at reb@rebecca-alexander.co.uk.

Book Series…