I love complex couple relationships in historical fiction and mysteries, especially Helena Justina and Marcus Didius Falco in Lindsey Davis’ ancient Roman private investigator series and Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey in Dorothy L. Sayers’ Gaudy Night and Busman’s Honeymoon.
Thanks to the inspiration of those incredible characters, I’ve done my best to create my own complex couples – American, Australian, and French – in times and settings that are challenging and fascinating.
Dare Not Tell is the story of Joe Parker, an Australian WWI vet, and his American wife Sophie, a WWI nurse. It begins with Sophie and Joe’s chance meeting in 1916 Paris and chronicles their relationship through thick and thin up to the threshold of WWII. Scroll down to read more about their story of love and loss, secrets and redemption. Dare Not Tell is available on Amazon worldwide.
The Bravest Soldiers, the next chapter in Sophie and Joe’s story, is set in Australia and the South West Pacific Area during World War II. The book features Sophie and Joe, their sons Sam and Jean-Luc, Marianne Ryan, plus visitors from the US, a new romance, and a trio of children whom life has treated very unfairly. There’s a dog too, because I’ll always include a dog in my books. Scroll down to read more about how the women who wait at home must be the bravest soldiers. The Bravest Soldiers is available on Amazon worldwide.
And, if you’re interested in what’s next, it’s this: Having written two novels that explore the lives of Australian, American, and French characters during WWI and WWII, I’m busy dreaming up how get them to past their Australian WWII lives back in time and place to their French WWI roots in Villers-Bretonneux, Bullecourt, and Chamonix to discover the truth about what happened to Joe’s brother Robbie, who was declared ‘Missing, presumed dead’ after the first battle of Bullecourt in April 1917.
Book 3 is tentatively titled North Star, Southern Cross. Sophie and Joe will be there, as well as Marianne and Sam, and most of the rest of the Immense Sky Saga gang. There will be a dog or two as well, because I’ll always have a good dog in my stories.
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About The Bravest Soldiers
A mother’s love. A new love. As the Pacific War looms ever closer to Australia, will waiting and wondering break their hearts?
September 1939. Sophie Parker nursed wounded soldiers in France during the Great War. She knows the physical and mental devastation war can wreak on hearts, minds, and bodies. When WWII breaks out, and Australia is called to join the effort, Sophie knows all too well what her sons will face when they enlist to fly and fight.
Marianne Ryan grew up in a French town battered by the Germans during the Great War. But while she spends WWII in Sydney, far from her home and family in occupied France, the new love she never expected to find could break her heart beyond repair.
With the war looming ever closer to Australia, Sophie and Marianne must watch and wait as the Japanese cut a swath through the Pacific. Can the two women be as courageous as the men they love?
As they are in all wars, the women who wait at home must be the bravest soldiers.
The Bravest Soldiers, Book 2 in The Immense Sky Saga, is the next chapter in the Parker – Ryan family story begun in Dare Not Tell.
Where to find The Bravest Soldiers
On Amazon worldwide.
Praise for The Bravest Soldiers
“A sweeping portrait of life on the Australian home front during the second World War.” – The BookLife Prize by Publisher’s Weekly
“A compelling story told with insight and understanding… Schroller deftly builds a portrait of two proud women who can be as courageous as the men they love.” – The Prairies Book Review
“…an emotionally rich reading experience that beautifully captures the profound impact of war on individuals and relationships.” – Readers Favorite Five Star Review
“… heartfelt and memorable… I could easily enter the mindset of many of the characters and needed to pause several times due to tears that fell.” – Readers Favorite 5-star Review
About Dare Not Tell
Twenty years after he left the World War I battlefields of France, Australian Joe Parker thinks he has tamed all his demons. His American wife Sophie, a wartime nurse, thinks she knows all his secrets.
He hasn’t. She doesn’t.
July 1939. Sophie and Joe are looking forward to a long-delayed honeymoon in France before they sail home to Sydney. But visiting the site of a battle where Joe fought twenty years earlier wreaks havoc with their itinerary and their marriage.
When they arrive at Villers-Bretonneux, the location of Joe’s most brutal battle, his long-buried memories erupt, including the ones he never told Sophie. And an impromptu trip to the French Alps only makes things worse when they discover German war artifacts on pristine alpine trails and the walls of the miles-deep Chamonix valley close in on him like the deepest trench he ever experienced. All the defenses he uses to hold his memories at bay start crumbling as the world teeters on the brink of a second world war.
Bonds of friendship and shared experience helped them survive the Great War, but Sophie begins to doubt how well she really knows her husband when the foundations of their relationship seem to shift out of control. Can their marriage survive? Or will Joe’s need to keep his secrets break both their hearts?
Join Sophie and Joe on their journey of love and loss, secrets and redemption, from Paris and the Somme battlefields, to Australia, and back again via the French Alps.
Where to find Dare Not Tell
On Amazon worldwide.
Praise for Dare Not Tell
“DARE NOT TELL is a poignant portrayal of the long-term impact of trauma and how visceral fears can create isolation and distance even in the best of relationships. Schroller’s writing, command of history, and compassion for how relationships evolve through tragedy are superb.” – Teri Case, award winning author of Tiger Drive and In the Doghouse
“This was a beautifully written story, with a rich sense of place, that had me fully emerged in the WWI era and 1939 France. Joe and Sophie were such engaging characters and I fully enjoyed following along as their story unfolded. I highly recommend this novel!” – Kimberly Sullivan, author of Three Coins
“Fans of historical fiction romance novels will be delighted to read the arch of Sophie and Joe’s love.” – The BookLife Prize by Publishers Weekly
“Dare Not Tell is heart-breaking, touching, mysterious, and thrilling. If you want to feel a lot of emotions all at once, this book is the answer.” – Feathered Quill
“The writing is replete with vivid descriptions and the kind of drama that keeps readers turning the pages. It is skillful, balanced, and emotionally rich.” – Readers Favorite Five Star Review
“Vividly evocative and steeped in history… Readers will be left impressed with Schroller’s control over her historical atmosphere as well as her multilayered, intriguing characterizations. An engaging, poignant tale from an author to watch.” – Prairies Book Review
“With a beguiling beginning and bold storytelling throughout, “Dare Not Tell” will capture your attention from page one.” – Reader Views Five Star Review
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