The Family Divided (The Guernsey Novels Book #4) by Anne Allen

Charlotte is a successful publisher and she is trying to work on writing her own novel for the first time. When she is hit by writers block and feels too ashamed to ask for help from the many authors she knows, fearing it makes her look like a failure, she heads from her London base to the island of Guernsey to see friend Louisa and to stay at the beautiful and spiritual natural health centre on the island to relax and recharge to get her in the right frame of mind so she can continue writing.

What started off as a short-break soon changes when she helps out a well known author on the island with some research. Charlotte soon finds out a family injustice has been done and she becomes emotionally involved and keen to solve the mystery of a families secrets. She gets particular close to Andy who believes his family have been cheated out of their rightful inheritance.

Will she find the answers to help heal a family torn apart from years of feuding?

I really enjoyed this story. This is the first book I have read out of the Guernsey novels and I would read more. When you get to the end of the chapters you cannot help but read on due to the clever way author Anne Allen leaves you in suspense and wanting to read on to see what happens next.

Born Survivors by Wendy Holden

A true story about three incredible women, Priska, Rachel and Anka who in life never met but shared an extraordinary and compelling story. Each of these remarkable women were taken from their homes and sent to the ghetto and then on to Auschwitz where in order to fight for not only their own survival, but for their unborn babies, they kept their conditions secret to avoid the gas chamber and a devastating fate of so many Jews at this time.

Sent to work as slave labour, the women had to face the fear of the biggest threat alone and under the most evil of circumstances. The women had to avoid disease, starvation and been overworked before having to take a huge chance, with determination and bravery that would change their lives forever.

This is a story that will stay with me for a long time. The book marks not only the seventieth anniversary of their liberation, but also the seventieth birthdays of the three miracle babies, who survived and it is very much about how life came out of such unimaginable circumstances and a chance for new beginnings, as much as it covers a detailed written account of what it was like to be a Jewish woman held in captivity under an evil dictator and it does not hold back and Wendy Holden gives the reader a true and honest account of what did actually happen although the details are horrendous and most appalling crimes and acts of evil of what these people went through, it is something we all need to know and we must all remember.

A Cottage in the Country by Linn B Halton

Maddie Brooks is delighted when she moves into her dream cottage. The cottage is the perfect place for her to begin her new life. The cottage needs a lot of work doing to it but Maddie can see the potential in the cottage to create a wonderful place for her to live and make the first step to the rest of her life.

Lewis Hart has a strong connection to the cottage. He feels sad he misses out on the chance to buy it for himself. Lewis was very close to the previous owner Aggie and he also had plans for the cottage. He finds himself employed by Maddie to help undertake the renovation work on the house.

Excited to begin her new life, Maddie moves in the cottage despite the mess and disruption while the repairs are been done. Things become even more difficult due to the work taking place over the Christmas holiday season and this and the winter causes more delays and complications to getting the cottage completed. Maddie soon gets use to having Lewis around and they become close, but when boundaries are crossed and confusion and communication cause more damage, will this be more complicated to fix and put back together than restoring the cottage?

A beautiful book by author Linn B. Halton. A wonderful, warm and romantic read. I liked that Maddie is a strong leading lady who knows what she wants out of life and is no longer afraid of doing things for herself and embracing a new life with a positivity and enthusiastic energy, when it could be so easily a sad situation. The location where the story is set too provides the heart of a well told and emotional love story.