Kristine Jensen - Wednesday Club: A Novel

Kristine Jensen - Wednesday Club: A Novel

Ivy Hanson is pretty sure her life is over. At sixteen, she’s been hastily dumped at her grandparents’ South Dakota farm while her mother chases Hollywood dreams. Stuck with a critical grandfather and a rural life she doesn’t understand, Ivy is isolated, friendless, and desperate to escape. Then, her grandmother ropes her into the Wednesday Club, a group of six women who gather once a month to swap gossip, tackle community projects, and make sense of the turbulent world of 1963. Each of these women carries her own struggles, including Tillie, the aspiring artist stretched thin by motherhood; quirky Etola, desperate to find a husband; and Hattie, whose past holds painful secrets. Over the months, Ivy navigates harsh realities—romantic disappointment, small-town life, and a terrifying experience with a horse—and through it all, the Wednesday Club women offer her something unexpected: a sense of home she’s never known. But when Ivy stumbles upon a shocking family secret, it threatens everything. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

John Winn Miller - Miriam in the Shadows

"A taut and compelling example of World War II fiction and a fine historical thriller."-ALAN FURST, New York Times Bestselling Author of Night Soldiers On the eve of D-Day, the fate of the world hangs not on the beaches of Normandy, but deep within a secret Nazi facility in occupied France. Here, in a claustrophobic, slave-driven mine codenamed Noball 109, German scientists are racing to perfect a terror weapon that would render the Allied invasion obsolete: radioactive warheads on V-2 rockets aimed at the heart of London. Enter Miriam Maduro, a ghost haunted by her past. A brilliant and courageous Dutch-Jewish Special Operations Executive agent, she has already been captured, tortured, and escaped the Nazis once. Now, the British pull her from the shadows for an offer she can't refuse: undertake a suicide mission to infiltrate and destroy the rocket facility, and they will guarantee safe passage for her young son and sister to England. For Miriam, it's not about patriotism; it's a mission fueled by a mother's fierce love and a survivor's desperate need for redemption. Running parallel is a story of love and betrayal. Captain Jake Rogers, the American merchant marine who previously rescued Miriam and is the father of her child, is recruited by a charming Ian Fleming for a seemingly simple naval diversion. But treachery turns the mission into a disaster. Rogers is captured by the Germans.   The two storylines collide in one heart-stopping moment. Deep undercover, Miriam unfolds a German newspaper and sees Jake's face staring back at her from the front page. She is now faced with an impossible choice: complete her world-saving mission and let the man she loves perish, or risk everything-the war, D-Day, the lives of millions- orchestrate a daring rescue? ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Karen Odden - An Artful Dodge

Victorian London comes to vivid life in this riveting heist novel about an all-female thieving gang and one young woman’s heroic plan to escape a life of crime, from the USA Today bestselling author of Down a Dark River. She’s stolen gems, purses, and hearts—but can she steal her life back from the ring of thieves that’s claimed it? London, 1879: Twenty-year-old Kit Jimeson has fingers so nimble she can nick a necklace off a lady in a crowded theater without raising alarm. Kit and her dodge partner, Mary, are the highest earners in the notorious all-women thieving ring in South London’s Elephant and Castle district. Kit, whose mother had been a thief before her, dreams of a different life, one where she’s not constantly on the lookout for constables and plainclothes detectives, and where a mistake or pure bad luck won’t land her in the hangman’s noose. She has been saving her earnings so her younger sister, a maid for a wealthy Mayfair family, might have a shot at respectability. Kit is very close to leaving the life entirely when the legendary former thief Maggie O’Connell brings her plans to a halt. Beautiful, charismatic Maggie has returned to reclaim leadership of the ring after twenty years in a brutal Australian penal colony. But Maggie desires more than mere wealth or power: She longs for revenge against those who sent her away. Kit, with her quick mind and dangerously clever hands, is Maggie’s best weapon. If Kit wants to walk away with her life, she must carry out a heist that will demand every skill she possesses. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Alan Parks - Gunner

Inspired by the true story of a secret mission taken during World War II, Gunner is the atmospheric, exciting start of a suspenseful new thriller series. March 1941. Joseph Gunner is back on the streets of Glasgow after being wounded on the front lines in France. Keeping the pain in his leg at bay with the help of morphine, Gunner, a former detective, is hoping to lie low as the Luftwaffe begins bombing Glasgow. But when he runs into his old boss Drummond, he is persuaded to help examine a body found in the wreckage. When it turns out to be that of a German, mutilated to disguise his identity, Gunner reluctantly agrees to investigate. As he begins to hunt for the truth Gunner runs into old flames and bitter enemies, before finding himself embroiled in a high-level conspiracy that reaches far beyond his hometown of Glasgow. Inspired by the true story of Rudolf Hess's secret mission to broker appeasement with Britain during World War II, Gunner is a critically acclaimed new thriller from one of Britain's most admired authors. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ben Leman - Between the Tines

Set on Cowal Peninsula in southwest Scotland in the 17th century, Between the Tines follows the family of Clan Lamont as they are drawn into a brutal confrontation with Clan Campbell, whose relentless ambition leaves a trail of fear and devastation in its wake. As Arran Lamont fights alongside his brothers and lifelong friends, Lain and Sean, in the war-torn regions around them, he is tested by betrayal, loss, and the steady destruction of everything his clan has built. Even in the darkest moments, the heart of the Lamont family beats strongly through the women who hold the community together—Allie, Ariel, Lady Mary, and Isabel—offering charity, stability, and spiritual strength when hope is hardest to find. Their resilience becomes a cornerstone of the clan’s will to survive. From Highland games to clandestine raids, from feasts to fog-shrouded battlefields, Arran’s transformational journey is one of loyalty, courage, and a love that quietly grows stronger through the turmoil. But as the Campbells tighten their grip and the land burns around them, Arran and Lain are forced to rethink their fight. What begins as open warfare shifts into rescue missions, covert strategies, and the fragile beginnings of a daring plan for their people’s future. Haunted by the horrors he’s witnessed and bound by duty to those who remain, Arran faces an impossible choice: continue a war that may consume them all…or lead his people toward a new beginning across the ocean, where survival may come at the cost of everything he knows. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.