"The Italian Ballerina" by Kristy Cambron

Rome, 1943. With the fall of Italy’s Fascist government and the Nazi regime occupying the streets of Rome, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and forced to take refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. But when she learns of a deadly sickness that is sweeping through the quarantine wards—a fake disease known only as Syndrome K—she is drawn into one of the greatest cons in history. Alongside hospital staff, friars of the adjoining church, and two Allied medics, Julia risks everything to rescue Italian Jews from the deadly clutches of the Holocaust.

Present Day. With the recent loss of her grandfather—a beloved small-town doctor and WWII veteran—Delaney Coleman returns home to help her parents, even as she struggles to pick up the pieces of her own life. When a mysterious Italian woman claims she owns one of the family’s precious heirlooms, Delaney is compelled to uncover what’s true of her grandfather’s hidden past. Soon, everything Delaney thought she knew about her grandfather comes into question as she wrestles with the possibility that the man she’d revered all her life had unknown ties to Rome and may have taken noble secrets to his grave.

Sometimes book descriptions don't paint an accurate description of the story. This one isn't wrong per se, but I feel like the description neglected the main character: Court Coleman, Delaney's grandfather. Both Julia and Delaney feel like secondary characters next to Court--I'd say about half the novel is from his viewpoint, and only a quarter each for Julia and Delaney. And I'm not positive the title refers to Julia--I'm more inclined to think it's about Calla, the little girl Court rescues, and who has a role in the present-day story.

I did really enjoy the novel. Kristy Cambron knows how to write a captivating story, and she incorporated a piece of history that offered a fresh perspective on WWII. But that said, I think the story would have been stronger if it had only followed Court. The contemporary timeline was fine, but it didn't add much, and I really wanted to delve more into the fascinating history of the Italian hospital and their Syndrome K. I had never heard about it before, and I'd have loved a deeper focus on it, especially through Court's eyes. 

The timelines jump around a bit (Court's present, Court's past, Julia's timeline, and Delaney in the modern day). I didn't find it too difficult to follow, once I caught onto the rhythm, but it's a bit different from the norm. There was a significant plot twist I didn't see coming.

Thank you Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

"Long Way Home" by Lynn Austin

Peggy Serrano couldn't wait for her best friend to come home from the war. But the Jimmy Barnett who returns is much different from the Jimmy who left, changed so drastically by his experience as a medic in Europe that he can barely function. When he attempts the unthinkable, his parents check him into the VA hospital. Peggy determines to help the Barnetts unravel what might have happened to send their son over the edge. She starts by contacting Jimmy's war buddies, trying to identify the mysterious woman in the photo they find in Jimmy's belongings. Seven years earlier, sensing the rising tide against her people, Gisela Wolff and her family flee Germany aboard the passenger ship St. Louis, bound for Havana, Cuba. Gisela meets Sam Shapiro on board and the two fall quickly in love. But the ship is denied safe harbor and sent back to Europe. Thus begins Gisela's perilous journey of exile and survival, made possible only by the kindness and courage of a series of strangers she meets along the way, including one man who will change the course of her life.

This book has two excellent stories in it. I especially enjoyed Peggy's story as she's trying to reconstruct what happened to Jim in the war and bringing Jim's veteran friends to come help him, all the while--without realizing it--she's helping each one of them, too. She's sweet and relatable. Gisela's story tells a bit of history I had never heard before--about a luxury liner full of Jews that legally left Germany for Cuba, only to be turned away at Havana, rejected by America and Canada, and sent back to Europe, where the Jews were largely spread back across countries that Germany would soon conquer. Gisela is a strong heroine, whose friends and family and comforts keep being whittled away.

I love how the title fits both storylines: Gisela and her people, after being chased from Germany, are just looking for a home, be it in Cuba, Ecuador, Belgium, the US, or--ultimately--Palestine. And it's a long time coming. In Peggy's storyline, the GI's have returned home physically, but so many of them lost their faith and hope overseas. With PTSD, it's a long, long road home for many of them.

The one thing that bothered me (and this is a common complaint of dual timeline books) is that it could have been published as two separate books--one about Gisela, one about Peggy--and you could read one without reading the other and still have a complete story without losing much impact. They intersect, of course, near the end, but Gisela's story didn't really have an impact on Peggy's, and vice versa. Only because they both know Jimmy do the heroines ever cross paths. I prefer a dual timeline where the two stories are so intertwined that to separate one ruins the other, and that definitely wasn't the case with this book.

Thank you Tyndale House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

"In Honor's Defense" by Karen Witemeyer - Hanger's Horsemen, book 3

Luke Davenport has been fighting all his life--for respect, for country, and most recently, for those unable to fight for themselves. But now that his Horsemen brothers are domesticated, he's left alone to battle the wildness within. When an opportunity arises to take a job on his own, he jumps at the chance. Damaris Baxter has mastered the art of invisibility. Plain and quiet, she hides in books and needlework, content to be overlooked. Until her brother dies suddenly, leaving her custody of her nephew. She moves to Texas to care for Nate, determined to create the family for herself that she never thought she'd have. When Nate stumbles into the path of the rustlers Luke is tracking, Luke acts to protect him and winds up gravely injured. Feeling indebted, Damaris nurses Luke back to health. But suspicions grow regarding the death of her brother. And the more questions they ask, the more danger appears, threatening the family Luke may be unable to live without.

This was an excellent book. Not as funny as some of the others by Witemeyer, but I really enjoyed the depth to the characters and the journeys they go through. Damaris is one of the most relatable heroines I've seen; not terribly pretty, not outstanding in any field, out of her depth in violence and danger--mostly just normal. But she's also tenacious and smart, and she doesn't give in to evil. Luke is a bit of a paradox, but in a very realistic way (a lot like some people I've known); he can quote bible verses from sunup to sundown, and he has no trouble relying on the Lord, but he still struggles with feelings of unworthiness. Finally--and most impressively--Nate is a believable kid; he's not cute and precocious, he's not easy to fix. He's just an angry young teen who's rebelling out of grief and anger. Having known kids with similar attitude problems, I can sympathize with Damaris's helplessness in his situation. It's hard to wield authority when the person you're trying to guide won't allow you to have any. 

It was fun to see the Horsemen back together in the end. I enjoyed the series, but this book especially!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

Hanger's Horsemen
1. At Love's Command
2. The Heart's Charge
3. In Honor's Defense