Bøger af Ursula Hartlein

Darya and Oliivia's year abroad is indefinitely extended when the Nazis invade and occupy France. Their loved ones enlist as soon as possible, but winning the war isn't an easy proposition, and there's no guarantee they'll find Darya and Oliivia, particularly after word reaches them that they were taken away in November 1942

Jakob DeJonghe can think of nothing but revenge when the Nazis coerce his father into suicide and his little sister mysteriously disappears the day before Yom Kippur 1940. As conditions in Amsterdam worsen, Jakob is determined to fight back and be the master of his own destiny, just as his heroes the Maccabees did in ancient times.In November 1942, he feels his chance has finally come. Knowing it's now or never, Jakob seizes an opportunity to jump from a death train, severely breaking his foot as he lands. As he limps for his life towards a forest, he's found by four young resistance fighters and taken to a safe house. Though Jakob has been left with a permanent limp, he's still determined to defend his country and track down the men who killed his father. His dream comes true when he joins his new friends' resistance group after his seventeenth birthday, but after a chance meeting with a spirited young woman on one of his missions, he's jolted by emotions he thought he'd buried. As much as he tries to deny it, he can't stop thinking about her, even during the dark days of the brutal Hongerwinter. After he's recruited into the Princess Irene Brigade and made a real soldier, Jakob realizes his battle is only half-won. If he ever wants to survive a world that will never be ordinary again, love and not hate will have to carry him through. And if he finds his dream girl again, this painful readjustment just might be easier.

In the early morning hours of 17 July 1918, thirteen-year-old Aleksey, the sickly young heir to the Russian throne, is miraculously rescued from the firing squad that just killed his parents. Very quickly, the Russian Civil War turns in favor of the Whites, and the monarchy is restored. Haunted by the memory of his family's captivity, and with a heart full of compassion for others' suffering after his lifelong experience with illness, Aleksey is determined to become a modern, enlightened Tsar who helps the common people. There's no guarantee he'll have a long life, but as long as he's alive, he'll do everything in his power to leave behind a legacy as Russia's most beloved ruler.But since real life isn't a fairytale, there are a number of obstacles standing in his way.Aleksey's uncle, Grand Duke Mikhail, his regent and guardian, is determined to show everyone who's in charge, and prevent another uprising. Mikhail, who was once very mild-mannered and hoped for a constitutional monarchy, radically transforms into a revenge-minded autocrat. Not only does he severely punish everyone involved in the October Revolution, but he also unleashes deadly pogroms against the Jewish community, and throws a rival branch of the family into the Shlisselburg dungeon.As much as Aleksey wants to take power in his own right when he's a legal adult, and start making everything right, he's held back by his youth and inexperience. If he rushes into power as soon as he's of age, that might set the groundwork for yet another disaster. In order to gain real-world experience outside of palace walls, he heads off to the Sorbonne for four years. When he returns home with his degree, he begins a co-rulership with his uncle.Shortly before his twenty-fifth birthday, Aleksey is finally compelled onto the throne in his own right. Determined to endear himself to the people and demonstrate how modern and compassionate he is, he begins granting sweeping reforms. However, before he can be formally coronated, he's ordered to find an Empress. As much as he's always wanted a family like everyone else, he's terrified of leaving a young widow and orphans, or passing down hemophilia to another generation.Arkadiya Gagarina is the least-likely Empress anyone could imagine. Not only is she a morganatic princess, but she's also seven years older than Aleksey, walks with a limp, and carries several large, hidden burn scars. Regardless, Aleksey wants her and no one else. Though the initial plan is to have a celibate marriage for the sake of appearances, and adopt a boy to be legally installed as heir, the feelings Aleksey and Arkadiya have for one another grow stronger and stronger as their wedding day approaches.Aleksey's choice of a bride endears him even further to the people, and the reigning couple's popularity increases even more with the birth of their first child. But just when it seems as if the dynasty is stronger than ever, and Aleksey's sweeping reforms have finally brought Russia into the twentieth century, the biggest challenge yet comes when another war breaks out.

Jakob thinks coming to America and reuniting with his beautiful Rachel is a dream come true, but he soon realizes America's streets aren't lined with gold and that people who don't quite fit in aren't always treated very nicely. As he struggles to adjust to life in America, Rachel struggles with insecurities over how her husband is little more than a stranger.Just when it seems her heart is no longer in turmoil, a new struggle arises-finding a midwife in a country where hospital birth has become the norm. Her search for a midwife isn't helped by the conformist young wives' social club she's been roped into joining, full of women who already look down on her for keeping her surname, wanting to go to college, and enjoying sex.