Emma's Review: The War Orphan's Courage by Jenna Ness

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Paris, 1944. Stepping under the dim glow of the streetlamp, Jewish orphan Josette tightens her coat and adjusts her leather satchel. The German soldiers who patrol the streets see neat plaits and shined shoes, but she is no schoolgirl. For months she has been slipping unnoticed past the enemy carrying important messages for the Resistance inside hollowed-out textbooks.

Shouts echo down the twisty cobbled streets, but she takes a deep breath and checks her disguise. The man she lovesis waiting for her, desperate for the secret documents she’s carrying – she cannot let him down. Her heart skips as she thinks of Paul. The passion and devotion with which he leads their resistance group. The warmth in his voice when he talks about his beloved little sister Suzanne. The look in his brown eyes when he holds Josette close under starry skies each night and tells her he loves her…

But everything changes when Josette hears the terrible news. Suzanne has been captured by the Nazis, accused of treason. Fear gripping her, Josette knows that if she and Paul can find a way into the prison by morning, they might be able to save her, but it may cost them everything.

Can Josette and Paul rescue Suzanne before it’s too late? Or will they have to sacrifice everything to force their enemies to set her free?

Book Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: The Last War Orphan by Jenna Ness

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Paris, 1940. Lucie is the last child left at St Agnes’ Orphanage when the building is taken over by German soldiers. Forced to cook and clean for the men using her beloved home as their headquarters, she has stifled her instinct to rebel, instead scrubbing floors in the silent halls that were once filled with warmth and laughter. But when she finds a tiny baby bundled up in blankets on the front step, everything changes…

Desperate to protect the child, Lucie finds an unlikely ally in one of the officers living at the orphanage. From the moment he steps in to shield her from a group of soldiers threatening her on the street, she can tell that Klaus is different. There’s an unexpected warmth in his smile, and the quiet kindness he shows her and the baby is a world away from the cold indifference she is used to.

But Klaus has a secret. And when Lucie discovers that he has been helping the Parisian resistance efforts against the Nazis, her heart leaps at his bravery, but aches at the terrible danger he is in. Holding the baby close, they run for their lives in the dead of night, desperate to start a new life together. But before they reach safety, they hear shouts behind them… Will they make it to freedom? Or will their love story be stamped out before it’s even begun?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: The Home for War Orphans by Jenna Ness

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Margot has spent most of her life at St Agnes’ Orphanage with her little sister Lucie. She does her best to care for all the children, cradling them under the stars when Sister Helen can’t get them to sleep. But she knows that when the Nazis reach the gates of Paris, the Jewish orphans will be in terrible danger. She must help them escape…

Holding on tightly to Lucie as they all scramble into a truck bound for the countryside, Margot cannot prevent her hands from shaking. Then one night, by the flickering light of the makeshift fire, Sister Helen tells Margot she has found a rich family to take Lucie in. But there will be no safety for the other children – unless Margot can lead them to the French coast for a ship destined for America.

Looking from her sister’s bright blue eyes to the little patchwork teddy the children share, Margot realises she must trust someone else with the only family she has left. But as soon as the wrought-iron gates of Lucie’s new home slam shut, Margot knows she’s made a mistake. Devastated at being left behind with strangers, Lucie runs away.

Margot knows the only place Lucie will run to is the high stone walls of the orphanage, where she last knew warmth and food and comfort. With fear in her heart, Margot is faced with an impossible choice. Should she race to save her sister from a terrible fate, or make sure the other orphans escape?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback