Books like 'Taking Heart'
Readers who enjoyed Taking Heart by Rowena Summers also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century military war
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The Secret Midwife by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsLondon, 1995: When on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz a news broadcast runs an appeal for information on the identity of a midwife who saved hundreds of lives, Emilia knows it is time to finally tell her story... -
A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsAn Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller. From the USA Today bestselling author of A Curve in the Road comes a spellbinding novel about one woman’s love, loss, and courage during wartime... -
The Rebel by Tess Thompson
She watches helplessly as the man she loves leaves to fight with the Allies overseas. He promises her he will return to her alive and well. Will he be able to keep his promise, or will he be yet another lost soldier in a war against tyranny?After four years at a university, Delphia Barnes returns home to Emerson Pass as America prepares to join the war... -
Home Sweet Home by Lizzie Lane
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsWill they meet again? Frances Sweet can’t really remember her real parents. Brought up by her uncle, her cousins Ruby and Mary have always treated her like their little sister.As the war continues to keep her cousins separated from the men they love – Frances is growing up fast enough to catch the eye of dashing American soldier Declan... -
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All My Tomorrows by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe compelling new Second World War novel from the author of Always in My Heart. In defending herself against her brutal husband, eighteen-year-old Ruby Clark is forced to flee London. She has no idea where Cliffehaven is, or what she will find there, but she knows that she will never be able to return home again. At first it seems she's fallen on her feet... -
The London Girls by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Last Correspondent comes a remarkable story of three young women who defy the bombs to do their bit for Britain. Will they survive the dark streets of London to see the Allies win the war?London, 1941. The Blitz... -
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsBased around the pivotal WWII battle of Stalingrad (1942-3), where the German advance into Russia was eventually halted by the Red Army, and around an extended family, the Shaposhnikovs, and their many friends and acquaintances, Life and Fate recounts the experience of characters caught up in an immense struggle between opposing armies and ideologies... -
The Parisians by Marius Gabriel
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsParis, 1940. The Nazis have occupied the city—and the Ritz. The opulent old hotel, so loved by Parisians, is now full of swaggering officers, their minions and their mistresses.For American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid at the hotel means denying her nationality and living a lie, every day bringing the danger of discovery closer... -
New Neighbors for Coronation Close by Lizzie Lane
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsBristol 1936Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with their two children. Like many others, husband Roy struggles to find work at the docks but a chance encounter turns his outlook and the family's fortunes around.Not only does he get regular work but they are also allocated a council house on Coronation Close on the outskirts of the city... -
The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsInspired by Picasso’s great masterpiece Guernica, New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards returns with a riveting story of love, intrigue, deception and bravery in the face of war…On an April day in 1937, the sky opens and fire rains down upon the small Spanish town of Guernica. Seventeen-year-old Sibi and her family are caught up in the horror... -
The Last Letter from Juliet by Melanie Hudson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 26 ratings"The USA TODAY bestseller for fans of Soraya M. Lane, Heather Morris, Fiona Valpy and Pam Jenoff. Inspired by the brave women of WWII, this is a moving and powerful novel of friendship, love and resilience. A story of love not a story of a war. A daring WWII pilot who grew up among the clouds, Juliet Caron's life was one of courage, adventure - and a love torn apart by war... -
The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Orphan comes an unforgettable historical novel about a secret collection of Dior gowns that ties back to the first female pilots of WWII and a heartbreaking story of love and sacrifice.England, 1939: The Penrose sisters couldn't be more different. Skye is a daring and brash pilot, and Liberty the one to defy her at every turn... -
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton—a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy... -
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People Like Us by Louise Fein
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFor fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime.As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich... -
The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFor readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Kate Furnivall comes a gritty tale of courage, betrayal and love in the most unlikely of places. Germany, 1944. Taken from the camps to serve the Fuhrer himself, Anke Hoff has been assigned as midwife to one of Hitler’s inner circle. If she refuses, her family will die... -
The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsLoch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed... -
The Hidden Letters by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsOn the eve of a world war, a forbidden love will blossom in the garden of a stately home and one young woman will make a choice that will change her life forever…As the storm clouds of war gather, Cordelia seeks refuge in the grounds of her family estate.Isaac has recently arrived to tend to the gardens, and the connection between him and Cordelia is as immediate as it is forbidden... -
Wartime with the Tram Girls by Lynn Johnson
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 13 ratings‘ Absolutely loved this book from start to finish, I couldn’t put it down ' ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review While the men are off fighting, the women keep the country moving… July 1914 : Britain is in turmoil as WW1 begins to change the world. While the young men disappear off to foreign battlefields, the women left at home throw themselves into jobs meant for the boys... -
The Ops Room Girls: An uplifting and romantic WW2 saga by Vicki Beeby
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen Evie’s dreams come crashing down, she’s determined to still make something of herself in these trying times…It is 1939 and working class Evie Bishop has received a scholarship to study mathematics at Oxford when tragedy turns her life upside down... -
Weaver Street at War by Chrissie Walsh
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe BRAND NEW release from Chrissie WalshPraise for Chrissie Walsh'Full of joy, sorrow and a big pinch of fun. I loved it' Elizabeth Gill'A captivating story of family, relations and the complexities of life. With truly heart-tugging moments that make you shed a tear... -
Army Girls: Operation Winter Wedding: A BRAND NEW heartbreaking, emotional, Christmas wartime saga series from Fenella J Miller for 2024 by Fenella J Miller
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPreorder the next instalment in the emotional wartime Army Girls series from Fenella J Miller. May 1942Since joining the ATS all Clara Felgate has wanted to do is be a dispatch driver and serve with the brave boys abroad, doing her bit for King and country. But almost as soon as she arrives at Camberley Barracks, Clara seems to bring a string of bad luck with her... -
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsJean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life... -
The Lost Dressmaker of Paris by Suzanne Fortin
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Darcie purchases several old suitcases at auction that had been abandoned in a railway station locker, she doesn't know what to expect.The first is disappointing but as she opens the second, she discovers rare and beautiful dresses for the 1940s, lovingly folded, and a notebook of designs to go with them... -
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Into the Darkest Day by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsShe had to step outside and hold the paper up to the moonlight to read it, but when she was able to make out the words, her heart felt as if it would drop right out of her chest. Because the message was in German.1944, London:When Lily meets enigmatic GI Matthew in war-torn London, she doesn’t expect to fall in love... -
The Girl from Bologna by Siobhan Daiko
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 11 ratings1944Bologna, Italy , and the streets are crawling with German soldiers. Nineteen-year-old Leila Venturi is shocked into joining the Resistance after her beloved best friend Rebecca, the daughter of a prominent Jewish businessman, is ruthlessly deported to a concentration camp.1981Exchange student Rhiannon Hughes arrives in Bologna and meets Leila, her landlady... -
The Code Breaker's Secret by Catherine Law
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsLove and duty, codes and spies... Kent, 1939Soon to marry her childhood sweetheart, Eliza thinks her life is set. But when war breaks out, everything changes and, while helping the soldiers returning from Dunkirk, she bumps into Lewis, an unforgettable stranger from her past... -
Shelter from the Storm by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.66 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNineteen-year-old April Wilton has just enlisted in the WRENs in Portsmouth, where she works servicing engines on ships. She finds herself immersed in dockyard life and surrounded by soldiers - from England and America. The atmosphere is one of spontaneity and impulsiveness, brought on by the unpredictability of war... -
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsOnce An Eagle is the story of one special man, a soldier named Sam Damon, and his adversary over a lifetime, fellow officer Courtney Massengale. Damon is a professional who puts duty, honor, and the men he commands above self interest. Massengale, however, brilliantly advances by making the right connections behind the lines and in Washington's corridors of power... -
The French Photographer by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsInspired by the incredible true story of Lee Miller, Vogue model turned one of the first female war photojournalists, the new novel by the bestselling author of The Paris SeamstressManhattan, Paris, 1942: When Jessica May's successful modelling career is abruptly cut short, she is assigned to the war in Europe as a photojournalist for Vogue... -
Dragonfly by Leila Meacham
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Roses comes a gripping new novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country... -
The Last Hours in Paris: A Novel by Ruth Druart
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsFrom the author of While Paris Slept comes a story of great love, betrayal, and redemption, set in WWII and 1960s France and England."Words are power. They can bring you down, lift you up, make your heart soar, make you fall in love. Or make you hate." Paris 1944 . Elise Chevalier knows what it is to love . . . and to hate... -
The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA world at war.One woman will risk everything.Another will uncover her story.1940: When the island of Guernsey is invaded by the Nazis, two sisters are determined to rebel in any way they can. But when forced to take in a German soldier, they are shocked to find a familiar face on their doorstep – a childhood friend who has now become their enemy... -
Island in the East by Jenny Ashcroft
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsSet in 1890s and 1940s Singapore, the stunning Island in the East is a story of love, sisterly rivalry and the true cost of betrayal. Vivid, authentic and utterly beautiful, it's the perfect read for fans of Victoria Hislop, Fiona McIntosh and Kate Morton. 1897: twenty-year-old identical twins, Harriet and Mae, born from a scandalous affair, have spent their lives slighted by gossips... -
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Marriage and Mayhem for the Tobacco Girls by Lizzie Lane
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsDiscover the brand new instalment in Lizzie Lane's bestselling Tobacco Girls series! War is fleeting, but true love last forever...May 1944Hope and excitement is in the air when news breaks of the allied forces landing in Normandy. D Day has arrived. However, the day-to-day struggles for the Tobacco Girls continue.Carole Thomas wants her old life back... -
A Wartime Summer by Rosie Meddon
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHope and opportunity can come from even the bleakest of moments…Left homeless after the Exeter Blitz, May must find a job if she’s to put a roof over her head and help support her two younger sisters. Taking a job as housekeeper to farmer George, May soon ends up getting stuck into more than just cleaning and cooking... -
A Daughter's Choice by Cathy Sharp
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHeartache and hardship in London’s East End, from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny StreetKathy Cole, is a determined young woman. She refuses to stay at home with her bitter, drunken father and is instead determined to do her bit for the men in the Great War by training to be a nurse... -
Hard Times for the East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs the war reaches London, they’ll band together… War strikes close to home for chief librarian Cordelia when her flat is bombed, and her beloved Robert is called up and sent abroad. Fortunately, her colleagues Mavis and Jane can help see her through hard times.The three friends find purpose in making the Silvertown library a friendly sanctuary for their deprived and devastated community... -
Operation Tulip by Deborah Swift
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHolland, 1944: Undercover British agent Nancy Callaghan has been given her toughest case yet. A key member of the Dutch resistance has been captured, and Nancy must play the role of a wealthy Nazi to win over a notorious SS officer, Detlef Keller, and gain crucial information... -
Daughters of Paris by Elisabeth Hobbes
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsParis 1930s A promise that binds them together. A war that pulls them apart. Childhood companions Fleur and Colette make a vow, under the trailing ivy of their secret garden, that they will be secret sisters forever. But as they grow up, the promises of childhood are put to the ultimate test... -
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret weaves a lush and engrossing novel of World War II inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections... -
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret weaves a lush and engrossing novel of World War II inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections... -
Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsA woman unlocks the mystery of her father’s wartime past in a moving novel about secrets, sacrifice, and the power of love by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky.Beth Cohen wants to make the most of the months she has left with her elderly father, Max... -
When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFrom three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale about a trio of World War II nurses stationed in the South Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival. The Philippines, 1941 . When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S... -
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When the World Fell Silent by Donna Jones Alward
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA story of loss, hope and redemption against the most impossible odds. 1917. Halifax, Nova Scotia.Nora Crowell wants more than her sister’s life as a wife and mother. As WWI rages across the Atlantic, she becomes a lieutenant in the Canadian Army Nursing Corp. But trouble is looming and it won’t be long before the truth comes to light... -
The Country Girl by Sally Tarpey
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn absolutely heartbreaking and uplifting First World War story of hardship and hope.1912. Fifteen-year-old Kate Truscott waves goodbye to her family and leaves her small Hampshire village to become a nursemaid to five children she’s never met. Her heart full of hope, she’s looking forward to a new adventure... -
The Constant Soldier by William Ryan
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe accaimed historical thriller of the end of World War II that has been called “A masterpiece of empathetic imagination and storytelling flair” (BBC History Magazine, “Historical Novel of the Year”) 1944... -
The War Pianist by Mandy Robotham
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsPianist: NOUN. Informal. A person who operates or controls a radio transmitter – often in code.July, 1940Blitz-ridden London: Marnie Fern’s life is torn apart when her grandfather is killed in an air raid... -
Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsAn unforgettably romantic novel that spans four Christmases (1914-1918), Last Christmas in Paris explores the ruins of war, the strength of love, and the enduring hope of the Christmas season.New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.August 1914. England is at war... -
Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe dazzling Lytton twins, Adele and Venetia, are born into the great Lytton publishing empire. In 1928, on their eighteenth birthday, they are rich and admired, with a confidence verging on arrogance. But the spectre of Nazi Germany is growing... Gradually their privileged world darkens in unimaginable ways - but it is not just the twins whose lives have been irrevocably changed...
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