The Maid's Secret by Shari J. Ryan

One last book tour on my list and it's another good one, plus my favorite genre, historical fiction!  I can't resist a good World War 2 novel, and The Maid's Secret by Shari J. Ryan is a great read.

About The Maid's Secret:

Czechoslovakia, 1940: “We will always have our memories,” he says, as the soldiers pull him away. “You will survive this. You are braver than you know. Remember that, always.” This heartbreaking World War Two page-turner shows that love is more powerful than hatred, bravery can overcome evil, and hope is stronger than darkness.

In the middle of the night, while I am curled in Ben’s arms, there is a harsh knock on the door. My blood turns to ice. The love of my life is Jewish, and I am a Romany gypsy maid; every second that we exist in Hitler’s Europe, we are in danger. Every day, we have been huddling around a crackling radio, listening for news of this evil war. Every night, we have feared we won’t live till dawn.

The banging continues, and we leap out of bed. I can hardly breathe as I open the door, seeing Nazis standing before us. My heart cracks as the soldiers grab Ben. I’m powerless to stop them from shoving him into a wagon, bound for the place of no return.

The love of my life is now imprisoned in wire with thousands of other innocent inmates. For every moment he is trapped behind the gates of hell, he gets closer to death—surviving on scraps of food, and forced to work in gruelling conditions.

The soldiers haven’t arrested me yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I vow to stay alive for Ben, not to give up hope. I’ll stop at nothing to escape the enemy as they hunt me down.

With our fate in the hands of monsters, will we ever see each other again? And will our love for one another save us—or kill us?

My Thoughts:

As the daughter of a gypsy family, Mila is sadly used to prejudice.  It is only by chance that she becomes a maid in the home of a wealthy Jewish family in Czechoslovakia, and eventually falls in love with their son, Ben.  Forbidden love is one thing, but forbidden love with Hitler and the Nazis closing in is another, and soon Ben is arrested and Mila is on the run.

After reading The Lieutenant's Girl by the same author, I knew I wanted to read more of her books and The Maid's Secret jumped out to me the moment I read the description.  It definitely does not disappoint, drawing the reader into Mila and Ben's story immediately while worrying for their future together, knowing the the Nazis are closing in. The novel also draws in another aspect of World War 2 that is often forgotten, the persecution of the Romani as well as the Jews in Europe. While many people know the main goals of Nazi Germany, they are less likely to realize the other groups the Nazis were looking to eliminate.  Ryan does a great job adding to this knowledge with Mila's story.

About the Author:

Shari J. Ryan is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Women’s Fiction, WWII Fiction, and 20th Century Historical Fiction with a focus on the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor.

Shortly after graduation from Johnson & Wales with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, Shari began her career as a graphic artist and freelance writer. She then found her passion for writing books in 2012 after her second son was born. Shari has been slaying words ever since.

With two Rone Awards and over 125k books sold, Shari has hit the USA Today Bestseller List, the Amazon's Top 100, Barnes & Noble's Top Ten, and iBooks at number one. Some of Shari’s bestselling books include Last Words, The Other Blue Sky, Unspoken Words and A Heart of Time.

Shari, a lifelong Boston girl, is happily married to her personal hero and US Marine and they have two wonderful little boys. For more details about her books, visit: www.sharijryan.com

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