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The Pine Lake Girls #1
Alice: The Betrayal
It’s 1918, and Alice, Betty, and Lizzie have been best friends for as long as they can remember. But everything changes when one goes on a campaign to lure away the fiancé of another. How can they remain friends when one betrays another?
Harry Barnes returns from France with half his face damaged and his nights haunted by the friends he lost on the battlefield. How can anyone love the monster he has become?
Alice Armstrong wanted nothing more than to be Harry’s wife. But when he returns from the Front wounded and angry, he repeatedly pushes her away. How can she convince him their love is all that matters?
Harry’s brother Jack has secretly loved Alice since they were children. When Harry is caught spending time with Betty, Jack sees his chance and declares his love. How can he make Alice see that he’s the one who can make her truly happy?
When one brother offers the dreams of the past, while the other promises all the possibilities of the future, how does a girl choose?
Harry Barnes returns from France with half his face damaged and his nights haunted by the friends he lost on the battlefield. How can anyone love the monster he has become?
Alice Armstrong wanted nothing more than to be Harry’s wife. But when he returns from the Front wounded and angry, he repeatedly pushes her away. How can she convince him their love is all that matters?
Harry’s brother Jack has secretly loved Alice since they were children. When Harry is caught spending time with Betty, Jack sees his chance and declares his love. How can he make Alice see that he’s the one who can make her truly happy?
When one brother offers the dreams of the past, while the other promises all the possibilities of the future, how does a girl choose?
286 pages, Paperback
Published April 30, 2021
4 people want to read
About the author
Jane Yunker
14 books4 followersJane is a blogger, poet, and fiction writer living in NW Wisconsin along the beautiful St Croix River. When she's not writing, you can find her walking the beautiful neighboring trails, golfing, or visiting her grandson in sunny south Florida. She also enjoys reading, x-stitch, and making jigsaw puzzles.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 6, 2021
Rating: 4.5/5.0
What can satisfy a reader’s mind more than a fine book with amazing characters and plot?
Read full review in the 2021 September issue of InD'tale Magazine.
What can satisfy a reader’s mind more than a fine book with amazing characters and plot?
Read full review in the 2021 September issue of InD'tale Magazine.
December 23, 2022
Although the cover makes this look like a sweet historical novel, it's anything but. Set at the end of WWI in Europe and home in Wisconsin, Alice - The Betrayal is a frank, often brutal and haunting depiction of the devastating effects of war time on soldiers and those left at home. This is a first in a set of companion novels of three girlfriends, love interests, betrayal as the title says, and soul deep wounds. Hope seems distant. Alice and her friends wait at home in picturesque small town Wisconsin while their boyfriends are at war. The story opens in France when one of the boyfriends is terribly wounded in a skirmish. Life will never be the same for anyone when he returns home with a lot of scars inside and out and choices to make which don't feel like choices at all.
Due to the graphic nature of realistic scenes of war and intimacy, I don't recommend this book for readers under sixteen.
Well-written and designed, the story reads smoothly.
Due to the graphic nature of realistic scenes of war and intimacy, I don't recommend this book for readers under sixteen.
Well-written and designed, the story reads smoothly.
June 16, 2021
The author takes us back in time to the year 1918, to a devastating time in our history as our country was being ravaged by the Spanish flu pandemic. A time that those of us who lived through the Covid-19 epidemic can all relate to.
The tranquil rural community of Pine Lake in Northwest Wisconsin anxiously awaited the safe return of their brave soldiers who were away fighting in World War I. That included Alice Armstrong and her "best friends forever" Lizzie and Betty.
Alice could hardly wait to become Harry's wife. But Harry came home from the front lines severely disfigured both physically and psychologically. Haunted by nightmares of the war, he couldn't believe that Alice would still want to marry him.
The pandemic hit Pine Lake just as a weary Harry returned on horseback. Alice caught the flu but survived. Her parents did not. With everyone quarantined in their own homes, Alice and Harry could not see each other. Instead, she had to rely on Harry's brother, Jack to help her through her grieving process and tend to the farm chores her father would have done - if he had survived. Jack had been her father's right hand man for years.
But Jack was secretly in love with Alice, had been since they were children growing up together. It angered him to see the way his brother now treated the woman they both loved. Harry had begun to drink heavily and was prone to outbursts of anger and violence. Surely Alice deserved better than that. Surely, he, Jack could make her happier than Harry ever could. He finally declared his love for her and did his best to claim her as he wife.
Alice struggled with conflicting emotions. She loved them both. Harry represented the past, their dreams of a future together. But the war had changed him and set him upon a path of self-destruction. Jack offered a lifestyle on the farm they both loved along with his permission to pursue the nursing field she was called to.
Which one will she choose? Or, will the choice be made for her? As she struggles with this decision, one of her "best friends forever" betrays her by making a devious play for Harry. The outcome will change all of their lives.
The author has written an intriguing novel, beautifully written, with well-developed characters. She captures the historical essence of life in those days as well as the resulting family dynamics and conflicts.
The tranquil rural community of Pine Lake in Northwest Wisconsin anxiously awaited the safe return of their brave soldiers who were away fighting in World War I. That included Alice Armstrong and her "best friends forever" Lizzie and Betty.
Alice could hardly wait to become Harry's wife. But Harry came home from the front lines severely disfigured both physically and psychologically. Haunted by nightmares of the war, he couldn't believe that Alice would still want to marry him.
The pandemic hit Pine Lake just as a weary Harry returned on horseback. Alice caught the flu but survived. Her parents did not. With everyone quarantined in their own homes, Alice and Harry could not see each other. Instead, she had to rely on Harry's brother, Jack to help her through her grieving process and tend to the farm chores her father would have done - if he had survived. Jack had been her father's right hand man for years.
But Jack was secretly in love with Alice, had been since they were children growing up together. It angered him to see the way his brother now treated the woman they both loved. Harry had begun to drink heavily and was prone to outbursts of anger and violence. Surely Alice deserved better than that. Surely, he, Jack could make her happier than Harry ever could. He finally declared his love for her and did his best to claim her as he wife.
Alice struggled with conflicting emotions. She loved them both. Harry represented the past, their dreams of a future together. But the war had changed him and set him upon a path of self-destruction. Jack offered a lifestyle on the farm they both loved along with his permission to pursue the nursing field she was called to.
Which one will she choose? Or, will the choice be made for her? As she struggles with this decision, one of her "best friends forever" betrays her by making a devious play for Harry. The outcome will change all of their lives.
The author has written an intriguing novel, beautifully written, with well-developed characters. She captures the historical essence of life in those days as well as the resulting family dynamics and conflicts.
October 25, 2024
I could not put this book down. I can't wait to read the next in the series.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews