Cat's Books: Romance

I have five friends visit Germany this year. Several them are German so it makes sense. 

The Germans aren't often seen as sexy  in popular culture but I disagree...

The German American Experience is a diverse one.  People of German hertiage make up the largest ancestry group in the US.  Read all about the history of German immigration here. Some great ideas of Romance Novels! 

Here are some wonderful Romances with Germans and German Americians at the lead. 

My lists are never in any particular order. Enyoy!

1.  The Baby Bequest by Lyn Cote

Schoolteacher Ellen Thurston never expected to find love in Pepin, Wisconsin. But the moment she discovers a baby boy outside her door, it's love at first sight. While the townsfolk don't approve of Ellen as a single mother, what worries her most are her feelings for the handsome farmer who defends her decision to keep the child. 

Ellen is far above the reach of a German immigrant like Kurt Lang. Especially one weighted with responsibility. Kurt knows how hard it is to raise a child alone, but he will do whatever it takes to help make Ellen's dream of a family come true.

2. Sea Air by Jule Meeringa

Between raising her seven-year-old daughter and maintaining her job, single mom Nele needs a break. When friends offer to take her daughter, Paula, on vacation with them, it’s the perfect opportunity for Nele to have an adventure of her own.

Nele’s track record with men is bleak, so when she goes on a North Sea getaway, the last thing she expects is romance. But that’s what she finds in the beguiling Mathis, a man twenty-five years her senior. Like Nele, Mathis longs to break free from the ordinary. But are their circumstances too complicated to allow a future together? Nele has her doubts—especially after she returns home to find that her ex, a handsome doctor, is back and ready to settle down.

Now Nele faces a choice, between two different men and two very different lives. Which is the path to her future—and her truest self?

3. In the Arms of the Enemy by Lisbeth Eng

sabella Ricci has pledged her life for the cause – to free Italy from Nazi oppression. Her mission for the Resistance, to seduce a German officer into revealing military secrets, could be deadly. Can she complete her assignment before losing her heart…or her life? 

Massimo Baricelli, commander in the Resistance, and Isabella’s ambitious lover, charges her to uncover intelligence that the Allies need to vanquish the Nazis. But can he hold onto his woman while sending her into the arms of another man?

Günter Schumann is handsome, chivalrous, romantic…and a captain in the Army of the Third Reich. When he meets Isabella, he falls for her instantly, never imagining that she is a spy and he her unwitting target. What will he do when forced to choose between love and duty?

How much must be sacrificed for the cause of freedom? Will love survive the cruelest betrayal?

4. River's Edge by Marie Bostwick

After the death of her mother, Elise Braun is sent to live with a new family in the United States and to start a new life. Her father only wants to save his daughter from the impending war in her native Germany--and the horrors of the new Nazi regime. But Elise can only feel a sense of abandonment and resentment toward the one man who is supposed to protect her. An accomplished pianist, music has become her only solace from the loneliness and loss that makes it so difficult for her to love or trust anyone. . .  

Devastated by his wife's death, Herman Braun knows that he's incapable of caring for the daughter he loves so deeply. He also knows that Germany is becoming a treacherous country in the hands of a tyrant, one he must defy at any price--even the price of sending his daughter away to a strange new land. It's a choice that may cost him his family--and his life.  

Now, with the war over, Elise has grown into the beautiful and brave young woman her father always hoped she would be. But underneath the polished façade, she remains torn between her love for her adoptive home and the heartbreak caused by her homeland. As she struggles to find her place in a harrowing new world, she must also learn to acknowledge her love for her father, the man who traded his happiness for her own. . .

5. Sun & Moon by Lee Strauss

he has a past. He has a secret. 

Katja Stoltz is a risk-taking singer-songwriter, hoping to make it in the indie music scene in Dresden, Germany. Micah Sturm's a brooding uptown banker on a quest. 

Driven to the streets, Katja is picked up by Micah - but he doesn't want what she thinks he does. 

There's an undeniable attraction between them, a gravitational pull they both struggle to resist. Katja knows she mustn't fall in love with this handsome enigma. There's something dark lurking beneath the surface. He could be dangerous. 

And even if her life isn't on the line, her heart most definitely is. 

6. Plum Creek Bride by Lynna Banning

Erika Scharf Had Always Followed Her Heart

Now it had led her to America, and a tortured man with a motherless infant. But would the widowed Dr. Jonathan Callender ever recover from his grief?

Whatever drove him had died with his young wife—or so it seemed to Jonathan Callender. He knew only that nothing mattered anymore—until the day a German whirlwind disguised as the very determined Erika Scharf charged into his life—and made his heart live again.

7. Gift from the Sea by Anna Schmidt

A steadfast faith kept nurse Maggie Hunter going through the darkest days of the Great War. But her fiancé's death overseas shattered her trust in God and her heart. Now an injured man has washed up on the shores of her Nantucket home, and to save him, Maggie must put more than her skill and dedication on the line….

Wartime tragedy cost Stefan Witte everything—and converted him to the cause of peace. But to deliver vital information to American authorities, he must fight Maggie's stubborn refusal to believe or forgive. Soon he will risk his life to win her trust—and their heaven-sent future together.

8. Take Me Home by Dorothy Garlock

Olivia Marsten never imagined she'd be a war bride. But when her childhood best friend surprises her with a marriage proposal, she reluctantly accepts. She can't bear to send him off to serve in the Navy with a broken heart . . . even though her heart belongs to someone else.

Sparks fly the moment mysterious stranger Peter Becker lays eyes on Olivia. He never hesitated to pull her out of harm's way-risking his own life to save hers. Yet as kind as he is handsome, Peter harbors a dark secret. The son of an American soldier, he was forced to join the Reich's army to protect his German mother. Now an escaped POW, he's determined to spend every moment he can with beautiful Olivia before he must turn himself in.

But a dangerous enemy Peter knows all too well is on the loose, threatening the fragile future he and Olivia are building together. What happens when the truth of Peter's identity comes to light? And can their love withstand it?

9. Hearts in Hiding by Patty Smith Hall

Engineer Edie Michaels loves her life—she has a good job, close friends, even a chance at romance with former soldier Beau Daniels. But she could lose everything if her secret comes out…that she's the German daughter of a devoted Nazi.

And when her father sends spies to force her loyalty, everything Edie values is at risk.

Time in a Nazi POW camp changed army medic Beau Daniels. When he discovers a letter of Edie's written in German, he can't help his suspicions. Is she truly the woman he's started to love? Or has she been the enemy all along? With Nazis on Edie's trail, the pair must fight for truth, for survival—and for love.

10. Home Fires by Susan Kay Law

Amanda's marriage was the envy of New York high society. But in truth, her life was unbearable. Gathering her courage, Amanda escaped and sought refuge far away, in a small and beautiful Minnesota town. There, at the crossroads of two peaceful rivers, she found hope—and Jakob Hall.

Did I miss one? Let me know! Vote on my Goodreads list:  Küss mich: Germans and German Americans in Romance Novels.