Location: United States
Member Since: Oct. 15, 2014

Bethany Marks

Smashwords book reviews by Bethany Marks

  • Temperance's Trial - Part 1 of the Virtues and Valor Series on Oct. 21, 2014
    (no rating)
    Smell the tomb Temperance caches her code book in Hallee Bridgeman begins a Virtues and Valor series based on true heroines of WWII with Temperance’s Trial. Temperance AKA Marie Perrin AKA Marie Gilbert escapes the Nazis, ends up in England for specialized training and returns to France as a spy and uncover seamstress. Biking through the countryside and transmitting on a wireless, you can almost smell the tomb she caches her code book in and feel Marie’s tension in conversation with a SS Officer who seems bent on dating her. Hallee Bridgeman delivers amazing insight into the life of a female spy. I especially enjoyed learning about the French pastors and French village who received recognition for their efforts in the underground. Learn more about The Righteous Among The Nations http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/related_sites.asp Could you or I ever face these kinds of decisions: to value people in a crisis in spite of danger to those we love most? Faced with a child that I heard about or the one standing before me, what would I do? These French towns people must have made individual decisions over and over until it became resolve. Reading Temperance’s Trial makes me want to value other’s lives even more. I can’t wait to read Homeland’s Hope. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
  • Homeland's Hope - Part 2 of the Virtues and Valor Series on April 29, 2015

    I love this series inspired by real heroine/hero spies during WWII against the Nazi Regime. Hope is the Virtues code-name for the brilliantly talented and renowned vocal star, Virginia Benoit, who works uncover with other women named after Virtues all spying as a unit in Europe. Hobnobbing with the upper echelon of the Nazi Party as a star who is highly underestimated in covert affairs, Hope is passing song sheets covered in code with invisible ink at church drop sites. Romance comes in abruptly when she mets another very attractive spy in her hotel room in the dead of night in Paris. I can't wait to see what comes of their budding relationship. Because they are a team, Homeland's Hope includes picking up where Temperance's Trail left off and I will only say, you want to know what happens to both Temperance and Hope. Non-spoiler: bombs are involved. I am so looking forward to Charity's Code. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
  • Charity's Code - Part 3 of the Virtues and Valor Series on April 30, 2015

    I love the different perspectives from each woman in the Virtues and Valor series. Each book adds to the end of the big-picture storyline in the book before it. What a great series! Charity is a solver in life. She won crossword puzzle competitions before the war. Now she not only codes and decodes for the spy network, she also starts putting together pieces she gleans of each woman's life prior to their unit, wanting to discover who the ladies are. What a great life view. Charity works with both Temperance and her husband, who is a POW in Paris, passing vital information thru letters in code. Her coding ability networks Great Britian's rescue operation. Hope is on the ground in Paris as a vital part of the operation. I haven't enjoyed a series more than this one. I can't wait to find out what happens next. Read it! I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
  • Temperance's Trial - Part 1 of the Virtues and Valor Series on April 30, 2015

    Could you or I ever face these kinds of decisions? Hallee Bridgeman begins a Virtues and Valor series based on true heroines of WWII with Temperance’s Trial. Temperance AKA Marie Perrin AKA Marie Gilbert escapes the Nazis, ends up in England for specialized training and returns to France as a spy and uncover seamstress. Biking through the countryside and transmitting on a wireless, you can almost smell the tomb she caches her code book in and feel Marie’s tension in conversation with a SS Officer who seems bent on dating her. Hallee Bridgeman delivers amazing insight into the life of a female spy. I especially enjoyed learning about the French pastors and French village who received recognition for their efforts in the underground. Learn more about The Righteous Among The Nations http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/related_sites.asp Could you or I ever face these kinds of decisions: to value people in a crisis in spite of danger to those we love most? Faced with a child that I heard about or the one standing before me, what would I do? These French towns people must have made individual decisions over and over until it became resolve. Reading Temperance’s Trial makes me want to value other’s lives even more. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
  • A Parcel for Prudence - Part 4 of the Virtues and Valor Series on May 06, 2015

    I can't imagine myself in Prudence's shoes. Muriel Tolson, a wealthy aristocrat, eager to be a part of a WWII spy unit became a courier codenamed Prudence, delivered messages, money and supported the cause in occupied France. Her husband encouraged her to do this before he left for North African. She learned how to drive a car, cook and run long distance in order to fit the part of a French national. Her cover was a music teacher since she was proficient. I know I would not do well with the torture techniques she was put through in Britain, in order to face Nazi interrogation if she were captured. The friendships, adventure and sheer courage of the women in the Virtues unit is remarkable. Especially since this series is based on real-life women from WWII. Hallee Bridgeman has done a remarkable job researching and writing this novella series. Each one is fast-paced, full of surprises and plunges the reader right into the middle of a spy network. Each novella interweaves the seven women's storylines and progressively continues the big-picture plot. I like seeing the journey from seven different viewpoints. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
  • Grace's Ground War - Part 5 of the Virtues and Valor Series on May 08, 2015

    Ruth and her brothers were Jews, raised by a single dad in France who had a premonition of the anti Semitism coming to Europe. A military man, he raised them in that mindset so Ruth acts and thinks militant. She is perfect for on the ground recognizance with the Virtues spy unit. Codenamed Grace (clearly a Jewish name would never do), she placed and detonated bombs, was extremely decisive--especially decisions involving murder, and was vital in rescuing POWs and Temperance from a Gestapo prison. This is the fifth in the Virtues and Valor series. A series based on real-life heroes of World War II. Grace is based on "the white mouse," a woman who was elusive in escaping and creating havoc for the Gestapo. Grace was extremely prejudiced against Germans and the irony of saving an undercover German's life, codenamed Valor, didn't escape me. Where does justification in judging the Gestapo tactics or German concentration camps, for example, cross the line into prejudice of the nation? Did Valor going "above and beyond" for a friend's sake negate Grace's prejudice and induce saving his life? Point of view is so intriguing in life and absolutely so in this series. I have a personal wish that Hallee Bridgeman would write a Valor series based on the men in this series' point of view. It would be interesting to see from Valor's point of view, for instance. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
  • Mission of Mercy - Part 6 of the Virtues and Valor Series on May 09, 2015

    She is undercover as a Red Cross nurse to keep a low profile so that she can bring vital help to her team of 7 women spies codenamed after virtues and all determined to help end the war. During the day she is working shifts in the French hospital, staying busy to assuage the pain of her beloved finance’s death in England. Working with the resistance Mercy performs surgeries on a bomb builder’s hand and a German SS officer bullet wound, plus brings much needed help to Temperance, 1 of the 7 who was arrested and is inside a Nazi prison. The Red Cross and the virtue of mercy are a natural fit. Mission of Mercy is the 6th novella in the Virtues and Valor series. I love that Hallee Bridgeman wrote this fictional medical character based on the many woman involved in the war efforts and especially to honor the Red Cross. Real heroines who are for the most part faceless are artfully portrayed in Mercy: consistent, unflappable, dedicated expertise poured out to ease the pain and heartache of war. This is a terrific series that I’m certain you will enjoy. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
  • Flight of Faith, Part 7 of the Virtues and Valor Series on May 11, 2015

    Flight of Faith was the perfect way to end the Virtues and Valor series, tying up all the loose ends with seven women from multiple nations sent as a spy network into occupied France with the Allies. Is it typically American to end the series with an American? :) Helen Mulberry, our American codenamed Faith, personifies a go-getter, feisty, risk-taking, adventurous, pioneer-spirit who is filled with passion and is assertive. Faith will not allow male pilots to push her around, especially as she knows she flies better than they do. Eddie, a war hero pilot in WWI and her older brother, taught her to fly when she was "barely tall enough to reach the pedals” and at 19 she is a competent, ace pilot. After numerous "hops over the pond," Faith has to hijack a german junker for the final rescue of her team. With injured women aboard and "rounds penetrating the metal skin of the cabin" from a German “Messerschmitt that tailed her like a hound dog on a scent,” she sees two British planes heading into the fray. It takes ingenuity and all the strength Faith has to get them back to Britain. Spoiler: someone doesn't make it back alive and Faith has to work through feeling that she failed a friend. She has a handsome pilot to help her through that journey. The seven women in the Virtues Unit gave it everything to end the war. Full of surprises and romance, this series showcases love, unity and commitment to a cause. I received a complimentary book from The Book Club Network at bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.