Stella Bled Books
On the eve of WWII, a honeymoon turns treacherous. For newly-married Stella Bled Lawrence being wealthy and stylish in 1938 is exactly what it's cracked up to be. She's blissfully unaware of the rising tensions in Europe even as she travels to Vienna on the eve of the Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken GlassHitler’s first large-scale action against the Jews of Germany and Austria. Stella and her husband, Nicky, witness the night's atrocities first hand. Even as they watch the horror, they never imagine it will touch them personally, a pair of wealthy Americans on their honeymoon but touch them it does. In the chaotic aftermath, Stella finds passion and purpose in the form of a package with a Paris address. She promises to deliver it, not knowing what it contains or who wants it. Soon Stella must decide who and what she's willing to sacrifice to keep a secret that has been quietly guarded for five hundred years.
November, 1938 It began in Vienna, after a night of fire and fear. Stella Bled Lawrence made a promise and she kept it. But the job isn’t done. Abel Hershmann’s cousins, unaware of the danger, are heading to Venice in search of him and the family secret he carried. Stella and her husband, Nicky, follow, intent on warning them.But things don’t go to plan. Venice is flooded, Stella aggravates her injuries, and the cousins are no where to be found. Suspicions abound and friends are hard to find. Italy has fallen under Hitler’s spell and nothing is as it was. The Nazis and, in particular, SS Oberführer Peiper still want their prize and believe Stella and Nicky have it. Stella will have to decide how far her loyalty goes and where she belongs: far away safe from the gathering storm or on the front lines with a chance to change the course of the coming war. Her choices will affect her family’s future for generations to come.
From USA Today bestselling author A.W. Hartoin comes a series perfect for the fans of Pam Jenoff's The Lost Girls of Paris:A Novel, Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls, and Kit Sergeant’s The Spark of Resistance: Women Spies in WWII. Berlin 1939 It’s been a year since Stella Bled Lawrence and her husband, Nicky, escaped Italy by the skin of their teeth and a lot has changed. Nicky joined the Royal Air Force and Stella spent the year training as a spy for His Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service. She has the languages and the tradecraft down pat, but she still has a way to go when the Earl of Bickford pulls her from her training early. The earl uses his influence to make her a courier, a job well below her skills, but it’s not as simple as it seems. The new head of the service isn’t convinced of her worth and Stella has to use the opportunity to show him that she and other women can deliver for Britain or she’s out on her ear. That would be enough to make any newly-minted spy nervous, but the earl isn’t done. He has a favor to ask and the request sends Stella to a place that will haunt her forever.
From USA Today bestselling author A.W. Hartoin comes a series perfect for the fans of Pam Jenoff's The Lost Girls of Paris:A Novel, Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls, and Kit Sergeant’s The Spark of Resistance: Women Spies in WWII. Amsterdam 1940 It’s only a matter of time and time is running out. The Third Reich is sweeping across Europe and Stella Bled Lawrence wants nothing more than to get out of the way. After three months undercover, the young spy is ready to return to England for a well-deserved rest, but fate and a friend at the Admiralty have other ideas. Stella receives a second assignment and she wasn’t the first choice or even the third. Hardly, a vote of confidence, but orders are orders. Stella has to cozy up to two Dutch men and find out which side they’re on before inevitable fall of The Netherlands to the Reich. If she does the job fast enough, she can get back to Britain and to Nicky before the air war intensifies. If she can’t, she might not get there at all.
From USA Today bestselling author A.W. Hartoin comes a series perfect for the fans of Pam Jenoff's The Lost Girls of Paris: A Novel, Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls, and Kit Sergeant’s The Spark of Resistance: Women Spies in WWII. Paris 1940 The Reich is moving in and Stella Bled Lawrence can’t get out. Stella has proved adept at the double agent game, too adept as it turns out. The British want her to stay where she is, even though she’s about to be trapped, and worse, the Nazis want to expand her work into a distressing direction. When two Nazi agents go rogue, Stella is at the right place at the wrong time. She ends up on the worst mission possible and her Nazi handler Villemain demands success or else. Stella thinks she can use this new mission to get herself and her poodle, Bijou, out of Paris. It isn’t the best place to be between food shortages, roaming packs of abandoned dogs, and desperate people with the Wehrmacht marching ever closer. One problem leads to another and Stella’s assigned to work on the Reich’s plan for theft on a grand scale with sidelines into documenting Jewish art and apartments. Everyone wants something and Stella thinks she has nothing left to give until she realizes her wretched assignments might be used to help the people she cares about instead of hurting them. It's a huge gamble, but she’s willing to take it. Once she’s on the job, her expertise in art gets noticed and delivers an opportunity that the British never thought they’d have. The ultimate sacrifice is always on the table and Stella will have to make a devastating choice. People won’t survive. The question is…will Stella?
London, 1940. The Battle of Britain rages while Stella Bled sits frustrated on the sidelines. Her husband, Nicky, is unreachable as he risks his life flying in a Spitfire and she has to recover from her mission in France without her beloved Bijou or a single familiar face. Stella isn’t exactly content to rest, but she has no choice until a mysterious set of orders arrives at Castle Caladh. Something isn’t right, but Stella’s eager to return to service and ends up at a meeting in the famous St. Ermin’s Hotel. That meeting will land in the history books, but Stella, clearly, wasn’t supposed to get through it unscathed. Someone wants her out of the SIS and they have the power to pull some very long strings. As the Blitz begins, Stella juggles two roles. One as a secretary at the newly formed Special Operations Executive and the other as an ordinary volunteer at the Women’s Voluntary Service. The Nazi push to invade England is looming closer and the chatter in the SIS networks is getting louder. All Stella wants to do is get back to her chosen profession and fight the only way she can, but the enemy has other ideas. If it isn’t bombs from the sky, it’s betrayal on the ground. Like England, Stella has almost nothing left to give, but more will be required if she and the nation she loves is to survive some of the darkest days in history.
France, 1941 Missing operatives. A girl that doesn’t fit the mold. A city on the brink. On the charming streets of Lyon, multiple British operatives have gone missing. With the SOE sending their first agents into France, it’s imperative to know who is betraying the British cause. When an ally makes a special request, the SIS decides to take a novel approach to the Lyon situation. Stella Bled Lawrence will go in with nothing but a brilliant cover and a partner. For a city in the free zone, Lyon is home to plenty of Nazis. Some wear the uniform. Many don’t. Peace has come at a high price and desperation is commonplace in a city low on food and patience. The new partners must make friends and they do, but when the Gestapo takes an unhealthy interest in Stella, the situation goes from challenging to downright dangerous. Will the new partners find the information they need or will they get dragged down into the darkness like so many operatives before them? Double Duet is the action-packed seventh installment in the on-going Stella Bled series, detailing the bravery and sacrifices needed to fight during the darkest days of WWII.
Nuremberg, 1941 A Hail Mary mission. A city in the heart of the Reich. The mother of all mistakes. The war is heating up, but all Stella Bled Lawrence wants to do is cool down. She expected a rest after multiple missions, but when the SIS needs her skills, she can’t say no. Soon she’s accompanying the wily double agent Cyril Welk to Nuremberg to uncover information that England believes is essential. Surrounded by fervent Nazis of all stripes, Stella has just weeks to fit herself into a new mold at Hitler’s favorite hotel, but the mission goes sideways almost immediately and she’s on her own. When a notorious Nazi shows up, things take a turn for the worse when Stella becomes a target for his attention. Can she get the information the British seek? Will it change the course of the war? Can she get out alive? Operation Knickknack is the action-packed eighth installment in the on-going Stella Bled series, detailing the bravery and sacrifices needed to fight during the darkest days of WWII.