Monday, May 9, 2016

Book Tour, Review, & Giveaway: "No Neutral Ground" by Terri Wangard


Jennie Lindquist is going to Sweden to work at the legation, but also to help behind the scenes at the Office of Strategic Services. She doesn't expect to play an active part in gaining intelligence on the Germans there. 

Rafe Martell left Germany after they found out about his ancestry, but he is finding it difficult to participate on bombing raids against his former country.

Rafe and Jennie meet on the ocean voyage and enjoy getting to know each other, but there doesn't seem to be the possibility of a deeper relationship. How will God work in their lives to bring them to where He wants them?

"No Neutral Ground" by Terri Wangard is the 2nd book in the Promise for Tomorrow series. Like most series, it would be best to read "Friends & Enemies", the 1st book in the series, first. I didn't realize that I had already met Rafe Martell in the first book until I felt like I was having deja-vu reading "No Neutral Ground". I went back and looked in the 1st book and there he was! It was interesting to have the two books overlapping from different perspectives.

I liked Rafe and Jennie and how they interacted. I love the amount of historical details and research that Terri Wangard put into the story. I learned a lot about WW II history and Sweden's part in it. God was a central figure throughout the book. I am looking forward to reading the 3rd book in the series.

 About the Author
TerriTerri Wangard grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Lombardi Glory Years. Her first Girl Scout badge was the Writer. These days she is writing historical fiction, and won the 2013 Writers on the Storm contest and 2013 First Impressions, as well as being a 2012 Genesis finalist. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in library science, she lives in Wisconsin. Her research included going for a ride in a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. Classic Boating Magazine, a family business since 1984, keeps her busy as an associate editor.
Connect with Terri:
www.terriwangard.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerriWangard
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/terriwangard/

Blog Stops

May 4:  A Greater Yes
May 6: Mary Hake
May 7: Bigreadersite
May 10: Bukwurmzzz
May 16: Artistic Nobody

Guest Post from Terri Wangard

I hadn’t planned on writing No Neutral Ground. Friends and Enemies (book one of the Promise For Tomorrow series) was the WWII story I’d wanted to write, inspired by family history on the German side. Finishing that, I’d started writing a contemporary story set in one of my favorite places, Green Lake, Wisconsin.
At an ACFW conference, I had an appointment to pitch Friends and Enemies with an editor. She said I’d be likelier to get a contract if I had a series. The Green Lake story got shelved.
What could I write to partner with Friends and Enemies? That stumped me. The German side of the story was my big interest, but another one? No. I had no desire to return to Nazi Germany. My ancestry is three quarters German. All of my forbearers arrived in America before 1900, but it’s still a bitter thought that their homeland spawned such evil.
Germany’s out, so that left me with the other side of Friends and Enemies—the B-17s. I’d chosen the Flying Fortress because of my timeline. In mid-1944, the only American military men in Germany were shot-down airmen. I had plenty of material I hadn’t used in Friends and Enemies, but the plot had to be different. Something other writers hadn’t touched on. Maybe…Sweden?
Who’s familiar with Sweden’s role in World War II?
If American planes got in trouble during their missions and couldn’t make it back to their bases in England, they sought sanctuary in neutral countries. Switzerland is usually the first that comes to mind. Tricia Goyer had already written The Swiss Courier which touches on internees.
But Sweden. I had even visited Sweden. In 1993, my dad and I had gone to Sweden to cover a classic boat show for our magazine, Classic Boating. During a free day, we had wandered around Stockholm and taken lots of pictures.
I started the research and discovered, hmm, there’s not much, especially if you don’t know Swedish. One book I acquired held a eureka moment. A B-17 was damaged and the pilot told the crew to bail out. The navigator hurried to the cockpit and implored him to try to make it to Sweden. He was from Germany, a former member of the Hitler Youth, and he did not want to be captured by his former countrymen. There’s my male protagonist! Rafe discovered he had Jewish ancestry and had to flee Germany. Now he’s back at war with the homeland.
I still needed a female protagonist, and Jennie proved hard to pin down. I was pulling her together throughout the writing. I enjoyed reading accounts of Betty McIntosh, who served with the OSS in the China-Burma-India theater. Why not enlist Jennie’s services with the OSS in Sweden? She’s talented but lacks confidence. Pretty soon, Jennie found her voice.
As my research continued, I made a surprising discovery. One of the photos I’d taken in Stockholm turned out to be the former home of the American legation in Sweden. Jennie’s workplace. And I had thought it was just an example of lovely architecture.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading about Rafe and Jennie in No Neutral Ground.

Giveaway

No Neutral Ground grand prize
To celebrate her No Neutral Ground tour, Terri is giving away several prizes.  Click to enter.

"No Neutral Ground" is available in paperback:
  • Series: Promise for Tomorrow
  • Paperback: 424 pages
  • Publisher: HopeSprings Books (May 1, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 193870875X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1938708756
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches

and in Kindle edition:
  • File Size: 8665 KB
  • Print Length: 341 pages
  • Publisher: HopeSprings Books (May 3, 2016)
  • Publication Date: May 3, 2016
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B01DOQCAE0

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.
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