sincerely swaim

Promise by Minrose Gwin

Mississippi, 1936: A tornado rips through Tupelo and its destruction impacts two women’s lives in drastically different ways based on their socioeconomic background.

I ended up returning this before I could finish it due to the lack of movement in the plot and general connection to the characters.

Daughters of a Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O’Neil

Russia, 1918: After her father, Tsar Nicholas, and the rest of her family is massacred by communists, Anna narrowly escapes and offers a peasant girl a diamond to take her as far south as possible―not realizing that the girl is a communist herself.

This genre is of high interest to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the reimagining of the Anastasia story.

The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan

Ukraine, 1944: Emil and Adeline Martel are one of many families of German heritage who decide they must run in retreat from their land with the Nazi wolves they despise to escape the Soviets and go in search of freedom.

It is stories like this that make the humanity of our history inescapable. The ending of this family’s story left me in awe of the sacrifice it took to establish their legacy.

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

Ukraine, 1937: After Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia, history student and single mother, Mila Pavlichenko, becomes a sniper and lethal hunter of Nazis during their invasion of Russia.

Kate Quinn is one of my favorite authors, and I placed this book on hold at the library the day it was released. The start is slow and mostly focused on geography and war-strategy, but the depiction of Mila’s character and strength is well-portrayed by the end of the novel.

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

England, 1916: Independent-minded Bess Crawford volunteers with the nursing corps and promises to deliver a message to the family of a gravely, wounded lieutenant and encounters tragedy and mystery along the way.

I learned that this is the first book in a series of nine following this strong-willed heroine. Because this book was easy to follow and intriguing, I’m certain I will read more of these stories.

The Lady’s Mine by Francine Rivers

California, 1875: Kathryn Walsh arrives in a tiny mining town and decides to relaunch her uncle’s newspaper on a main street overflowing with brothels and saloons and then finds herself in the middle of Calvada’s most powerful men.

Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love is a classic and favorite of mine, but this book doesn’t have quite the same grittiness. It features a headstrong female lead and a love connection that you predicted on page 1 but had to wait until page 464 to see it work out.