Books

Gunter Schrader was left behind when his brothers went to war in 1914. Two and a half years later, he makes his way to the front, though it means leaving the young woman he loves and lying to his widowed mother.

The need to fight refuses to let him go, even after the guns fall silent in 1918. Reunited with his brother Jochen and hungry to continue the struggle to secure Germany’s borders, it is only the desire for a deeper connection that threatens Gunter’s plans.

Discharged and no longer bound to his oath as a soldier, he is faced with a choice:

Love for a woman, or love for his nation?***

DEAREST GUNTER is the first book in SEPARATE WAYS, a German-perspective Historical Saga that spans the First & Second World Wars. Balancing intense battle scenes with heart-wrenching love stories and an honest treatment of history, this new series promises a next-level experience in the character-driven fiction for which Aubrey Taylor Books publications are known.

A 97-year-old veteran of the Second World War is asked to share his story in this novelette filled with honesty, battlefield intensity, and heartfelt reflection.

Weimar Germany, 1923

A father, a son, and a cousin.

Ernst was born too late to fight alongside his brothers in the Great War. An alcoholic and brawler, he finds his place in Germany’s postwar struggle by throwing in his lot with the burgeoning Nazi Party. Yet the failed Putsch attempt brings him home to stay for the first time in years.

Jakob is a young prodigy and church musician who wants nothing more than to spend time with his childhood sweetheart and live a quiet life of service to God. Yet this is not the world he was born into.

Friedrich is a German-American who remained in Germany after fighting with the Allies in the Great War. After healing from a life-threatening injury sustained in October 1918, he’s become a devoted husband and man of God who is loved and admired by all. Yet can there truly be forgiveness for the sins of a past that continues to haunt him?

Written as a prelude to Sani: The German Medic, this book stands on its own or can be read in sequence, bringing the reader deeper into the history of the fictional Schmidt family as they wrestle through the tumultuous Twentieth Century in Germany.

Every year, the Christmas season comes to remind me just how imperfect this world is.

Christmas has never given me anything to look forward to, but I’m learning to grit my teeth and get through the season without dragging too many people down with me. My reasons for hating Christmas are more than I’d ever admit to anyway.

I’m renting a room from a girl named Emma. This was supposed to be her first Christmas as a married woman. Instead, she finds herself estranged from the man she loves and living with me, his former best friend. In a perfect world, either he would be sitting here, or Emma and I would have fallen madly in love. Once again, the Christmas season has come to remind me how imperfect this world is.

~

Both sweet and gritty, The Christmas We Both Needed touches the very heart of the season. You won’t want to wait until Christmas to open these pages!

CW/TW: While this is a clean book, The Christmas We Both Needed features sensitive themes including homosexuality, prostitution, abuse and alcoholism.

Germany, 1935.

Jakob Schmidt joined the SS for the pride and prestige of the uniform. Now, all of Berlin lies before him, from career prospects to beautiful women who would like nothing more than to spend an evening in his company. Yet beneath the façade he carries moral injuries he wants no one to see.

Emma Vogel-Schmidt recently exchanged wedding vows with the young man she has loved since childhood. Now she finds herself estranged from him and full of regret. Jakob has given himself wholly to a regime she despises, but she wonders: did she allow politics to sever her from the love of her life?

She finds a lifeline in Christian Richter, Jakob’s former hero and mentor. A faithful friend who is hiding his own secrets, Christian devises a plot to reunite the young couple, and in so doing resolves to face his own demons.

While Jakob and Emma enjoy three years of wedded bliss, Christian finds a new identity as an officer in the swelling ranks of the German army. Will their joy withstand the devastation of war, or will they each be pushed past the breaking point?

CW/TW: The Rubicon features sensitive themes including violence, abuse, alcoholism, homosexuality, and prostitution.

Beyond the Bookery invites you to step into a collection of heartwarming, thrilling, and romantic historical fairy tale retellings.

Enjoy stories by Aliana Jane, Liz Chapman, Rebecca Lange, and my story, Schneewittchen: A Retelling of the Snow White Story set in WWII Germany:

Gerda Gatzke is unsure whether life on a Bavarian homestead with six boys and an ailing woman is right for her, but she is determined to get away from her stepmother, and from the war that draws ever closer to her doorstep.

With little more than the clothes on her back and a treasured family heirloom, she arrives at the disheveled smallholding only to discover that she is no safer there than she was at home. The boys who were initially her charges soon become her protectors.

With his mother’s illness growing worse and his family in danger, Thomas Jodl determines to return home for the first time in five years. His heart is warmed by the kind-hearted young woman who has come to care for his mother and six brothers.

Thomas does not hesitate to place himself in danger, but when the threat neutralized, a new question arises: what will become of any of them once the war is lost?

The Brave Authors Collab invites you to enjoy three novellas about the value of life:

A Mother’s Tender Hand by Jennifer Q. Hunt

While others praise her kindness as a social worker, for Alice Vogel it will never be enough. The needs brought on by the Great Depression are as endless as the guilt she can never outrun. Then she meets the Tanner family, who value people—even those the rest of society scorns. With her growing attraction to Seth Tanner and her unexpected admiration for his mother Milly, everything she believes is turned upside down. Will these new friendships that have transformed her life survive the truth of her story?

The Missionary and the Marine by Hannah Hood Lucero

Since her conversion from Islam, Nadia Hamdan has made it her life’s purpose to share the hope she has found in Jesus. As surprising as her new faith is the man she’s fallen in love with–a Marine who spent his career fighting men like her terrorist father. When Nadia vanishes without a trace, Walt nearly loses his own faith. But the aftermath of her captivity will demand a reckoning from them both in what they truly believe about God, life, and unconditional love.

Born for Adversity by Aubrey Reiss Taylor

A child grows in Lani’s womb, a constant reminder of the young man she loves and will never have. The handsome François Durant fancies her, and would give her a safe and comfortable life–if only she’ll have ‘it’ taken care of. Instead, Lani seeks solace with her family in Bavaria. There, she will not only face the decision whether to keep the child or give him up for adoption, she will also be challenged to overcome the desire for a man’s love–a challenge made more difficult by the kind young farmer down the road.

10% of all profits will go to the non-profit organization LoveLine which helps women reclaim motherhood.