In 1933, after Hitler's rise to power, the paramilitary HitlerJugend, or Hitler Youth, became the only permitted youth organization in Germany, then known as The Third Reich.
It’s 1937 now, and a fourteen-year-old German youth, Ernst, is part of a secret mission which will send a group of teen-aged boys to London under the pretense of a bicycle tour to spy for the Nazis. The cyclists’ objective: identify both geographical and human targets for subsequent elimination as Europe approaches a flashpoint that Hitler intends to exploit by waging all-out war. Ernst’s mentor, Officer Müller, considers him the perfect fit for a special assignment—spy on a wealthy British Jewish family considered a threat to the Reich as they shelter Jewish refugees from Nazi oppression.
In a parallel story, a modern-day American teen-aged orphan, Clark, has fallen under the spell of white supremacy ideology after a series of family misfortunes. Having lost his mother as a child to cancer and then his father a couple of years later to war in Iraq, he is in the hands of his unscrupulous guardian who manages to plant him as a child-agent in a Muslim household. Clark’s purpose: prove that the randomly-chosen Muslim family must be terrorists.
Each youth approaches his assignment with a masked heart filled with hate and a deep misunderstanding of who his hosts are, roiling the boys in emotional conflict as events unfold, and forcing each to face what will be the hardest decision of his entire life—help destroy what his handlers fear or find the courage to think for himself and face the consequences.
Excerpt
Foreword
By Ben Parris
In the 1930’s, the world was sinking into an abyss of bigotry and imperialism, each flawed concept nudging the other to the brink of global conflict. Eventually, virtually every country in a world awash in propaganda would be drawn into the coda of the Great War that could come to be known as World War II.
Jugend’s story is wrapped in a little-known, fascinating true story of Hitler Youth trained to spy on England and Scotland in advance of the war the Nazis intended to start, roaming the countryside on bicycles to identify both geographical and human targets for destruction and assassination. In Jugend, a Jewish family becomes the focus of a shameless mission to plant a boy in a household to work an agenda that is far from clear to him.
In an eerily parallel story, Jugend also explores modern-day white supremacists in the United States who plant their own child-agent in a Muslim household. Here there is no multi-country alliance and state machinery to support a full-scale assault on decency, but the victims are targeted and the danger is real nonetheless.
It’s the story of children caught up in an age-old conflict and used as next-generation guided missiles to perpetuate the agenda of hate. It’s about how far we’ve come and where we need to be. It’s about two individual children out of many who are forced to face moral choices to carry out missions of hate or to break their brainwashing through first-hand observation of those they were expected to revile.
As a writer of historical fiction, I am always impressed when the flavor and details of an age are captured in both mood and accuracy; as an educator, I would like to see this particular insightful work in our public schools. With first-class, cinematic workmanship, Jugend provides a magnificent depiction of a course of events in a narrative that never flags or falters.
This work, however, not only provides a tale of literary worth, but also occupies a higher plane of value by tackling the most complex aspects of the enduring human condition with both clarity and dignity.
Here we find the ugliness and beauty of human nature, and the power and variability of culture to harm or heal. Jugend does not try to address all issues of racism and prejudice, and it shouldn’t.
The story is a straightforward one that goes to the core of human understanding where light, tragedy and redemption can be found.
About the Author
AALIA LANIUS, a California native and convert to Islam in 1999, hails from a multi-cultural background, both German and Mediterranean, giving her first-hand knowledge of the topics addressed in her public speaking and creative works. Her debut novel, Tough Love, a biographical fiction novel, has sold in countries around the world. Visit the author online at www.UnsugarcoatedMedia.com. Stay connected on Instagram: @aalia_unsugarcoated
Chloe
knows this better than most. After losing her mom to cancer, she is
left to pick up the pieces. The bills are piling up and with only a
few months left of schooling, Chloe's got some tough decisions to
make.
A
final letter from her departed mother opens up a world of
opportunities but they come at a cost.
Forced
to move to another city with a father she's never known, Chloe digs
her heels in determined to do things at her own pace. Her new
lifestyle is fit for a queen but Chloe prefers a simple life, one
that isn't complicated and doesn't include the Davenport
brothers.
Ryan
sees Chloe as a problem that needs to be dealt with. She pushes his
buttons and drives him crazy with her smart-ass mouth and sexy body.
With his future on the line, she holds the power to ruin it all. With
tensions running high sparks will fly and tempers will flare.
C.
Shell lives in the hot state of Texas with her husband and two
beautiful girls Romance books are her obsession. One that includes a
bad boy or an alpha male who knows what he wants is her own personal
version of heaven. She finds the happy endings and endless
possibilities of books alluring and addictive. When she is not
thinking up her next kick-ass character, she is working in the
community rescuing dogs.
Whom
Shall I Kiss...An Earl, A Marquess, or a Duke?
Tricking
the Scoundrels Book 1
By
Laura A. Barnes
Genre:
Historical Romance
What
started as a research project soon became a scandal...
She
wanted to prove a theory. He wanted to play a game. Can their schemes
lead them towards a kiss of love?
Tired
of watching her friends become ruined by the scoundrels of the ton,
Sidney Hartridge devises an experiment to reveal their antics. Her
plan is to lure three gentlemen to kiss her and see how they would
protect her honor. When her research leads her into her own
inappropriate scandal, her father agrees to a wedding offer from one
of her subjects. As her fiancé blackmails her into a marriage she
doesn’t desire, her research becomes exposed. Can Sidney avoid her
own scandal with the one she most desires to kiss?
Noah
Wildeburg started this season as any other by flirting with the sweet
new debutantes. When he rescues a lady off the dance floor, he is
unprepared for the emotions she stirs in his soul. As he pursues her,
he realizes he must compete for her hand. As he charms her with
tokens of affections and stolen kisses, he discovers she plays her
own game. Will Noah win Sidney’s love or is she just another
scandal to add to his list?
Whom Shall I Kiss… An Earl, A
Marquess, or A Duke? is the first book in Laura A. Barnes new
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into the ton.
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Whom Shall I Kiss… An Earl, A Marquess, or A Duke? to read Laura’s
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I
am the author of The Romancing the Spies Series. When I am not
writing, I am spending time with my family. I love reading books on
lazy afternoons, and late into the night. Anytime really. Married 28
years to the love of my life and we have three wonderful children and
two sweet grandbabies. Besides writing, I have always wanted to
travel. In the last few years we have gotten our passport stamped in
England, Scotland, and Ireland. We are hoping to add Italy to the
list soon. My debut novel is Rescued By the Captain.
Starting
a new life isn't easy when the skeletons locked in her closet are the
notorious town drunk for a father and a haunted past. But, Hadley
Morgan isn't one to shy away from second chances or giving them
either.
When a young, single father wrapped up in an octane fueled package takes particular interest in her, she begins to dream. But well-known drag racer Aiden Casey is also her boss, making her hesitate to grab at her chance at happiness.
Will her secrets shatter their chance at love or will his past come back to destroy both of them?
Leslie
spends most days attempting to wrangle the voices in her head and
often wishes she could clone herself so that their stories get told
faster. She loves words, romance, and characters that feel like
family and spends almost all of her free time with her own family;
including a boisterous eleven year old that she homeschools and an
assorted cast of rescue pets. She lives her own happily ever after
with her soul mate and best friend in the northern part of Alabama
and hopes you enjoy reading her stories as much as she enjoys writing
them.
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Mistela
Men
in Love and at War Book 1
by
LJ Collins
Genre:
M/M Paranormal Romantic Suspense
When
the cruise ship Luke Ganes is working on sinks off the coast of South
America, he thinks he has met his watery grave. Regaining
consciousness, he finds himself in a different world that defies the
laws of both nature and gravity. With the help of his saviour,
Girufu, he slowly comes to terms with his new environment and learns
to love his new home, Mistela. When he hears about the evil Taronas
and their quest to slay the Pescamans, he develops a plan to save his
newfound friends from their brutal attacks. As time passes, Girufu
proves to Luke he is the lover Luke has always been looking for. But
when Girufu pushes Luke to the limits of his sexuality, he panics and
begins a desperate journey, seeking a way back to Earth. His
arch-rival Janus convinces him he can help. Only love and a cunning
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What’s
in a dream? Maybe nothing or everything. There’s certainly more to
it when the same dream keeps recurring and can’t be ignored.
Justin’s best friend Lucas suspects it has something to do with
their upcoming holiday to Mykonos. He predicts something strangely
wonderful is going to happen to Justin while they are there. But
nothing could prepare Justin for what was in store for him.
When The 12 Gods fear that humans have learned to think for themselves, diminishing their Godly powers, four Gods are sent to Earth to find out what is really going on. Hesodo is particularly keen to go, but to accomplish a completely different mission—to find Justin and win him back. When Justin has a tragic accident, there is only one option, which results in Justin finding out more than he bargained for about his past love and history, teaching him that dreams should never be ignored.
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Coming
from an underprivileged background in the East End of London,
Berkeley sets himself the challenge to escape poverty and do well for
himself. Armed with a good brain and determination, he succeeds and
wants for nothing, but there’s a bitter price to pay. Now the
challenge is with himself, and he escapes to the quiet of Tenerife
for love, only to lose it promptly. What now? With no career or
prospects in the unfamiliar country, what is Berkeley to do? He
decides to set up business opening an art gallery, yet knows nothing
about art. Comical disasters, veiled threats and visitors of a
spiritual nature, believing that he’s to be served up to the Devil
himself ensue. The whole experience pushes Berkeley to limits he’s
never encountered before, and he learns the hard way that what goes
around really does come around to haunt you. Only love and true
friendships can bring him back to the real world.
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After
the distress of dealing with a failed relationship and business, life
starts to look up for Berkeley when he finds new work and discovers
the joys of gay chat sites. When he meets a captain from the US Army,
based in Iraq, his hopes of love and a bright future rise. After
several months, the captain asks Berkeley to do him a special favour,
so he can retire from the army and spend the rest of his days with
him. Berkeley reluctantly agrees, but when the favour results in him
having to part with his hard-earned cash, he is left with no other
choice, but to go to the police. Captain Frances comes to his rescue
and what starts out as a professional relationship quickly turns into
a lot more as they uncover a major internet scam and strive for
justice to be served.
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Wherever
Berkeley goes, or whatever he does, drama follows. Having recovered
from the ordeal of being the victim of an internet scam, his life
returns to normal working at a five-star hotel selling VIP vacation
club memberships to wealthy clients, and being with the love of his
life, Captain Rick. That is until he finds Rick cheating on him with
a woman. Feeling sad and lonely, Berkeley is enticed by the prospects
of high earnings and a jet setter lifestyle when he’s approached by
one of his clients to be a high-class escort.
Whilst he revels in being treated like a prince, he has to accommodate some strange and unusual sexual requests, and before long he’s caught up in a web of espionage between a transport conglomerate and a client who is developing a futuristic technology that will change the future of transport forever. Only Berkeley knows how he’s going to weave his way out of his new-found problem.
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Berkeley
is set for life after providing his Royal Services and decides to
travel to London to visit his friends and family to cheer him up.
There he has a raunchy chance encounter with a stranger on a train
who he meets again in unsuspected circumstances. In between all the
wild sexual antics, Leonard takes Berkeley back in time to a
spiritual world of religious communes, demons, exorcisms, and Ouija
boards that proves to be enlightening, unnerving, but most
worryingly, life threatening.
When Berkeley returns to Tenerife to discover his gardener has had an accident, he enlists the help of a local beggar, a Moroccan man called Mohammed, to service his garden and him. The sadness and mystery of Mohammed’s past gradually unfolds, and when Berkeley tries to do the right thing to help him, he is confronted with the reality of Mohammed’s dark and chilling past.
Two
different men spell double trouble for Berkeley, but he has never
shied away from a challenge—or a gorgeous man—and he’s not
about to now.
Two
things are still plaguing Berkeley—the unexplained and strange
disappearance of Leonard, and the possible outcome of Mohammed’s
retrial for a manslaughter charge. They say bad things always come in
threes, and in Berkeley’s case that belief is no exception. When
Berkeley gets a call from one of his best friends from London, Paul,
his dose of bad karma is completed when he discovers Paul’s younger
brother, Kenny, has been killed in a tragic car accident. Berkeley
does his best to pacify Paul and stop him from going through with his
ludicrous plan. In exchange, Berkeley has to agree to go back to
London for the Trade reunion party. Berkeley and Paul have the time
of their lives, but when dawn breaks and the party’s over, all hell
breaks loose.
Berkeley
and Paul are excited about attending their first gay rodeo in Denver,
Colorado. Even after a tiring fourteen-hour trip from London, the
bright lights and prospect of meeting some horny cowboys
instinctively draws them to Lower Downtown, where things aren’t
exactly what Berkeley had expected. Whilst Paul revels in throwing
himself at every available man in any bar or at any rodeo event,
Berkeley has different expectations. Beyond his wildest hopes and
dreams, Berkeley meets Nantan, a Native American, who sweeps Berkeley
off his feet. But Berkeley discovers there is a lot more to Nantan
than meets the eye.
While
Berkeley is waiting at Gatwick airport for his transfer flight from
Denver International airport to Tenerife, he convinces himself the
dream he’d had on the plane was more than just a dream. Battling
against rational thoughts and raw emotions, Berkeley follows his gut
instincts in search of the Native American, Nantan. Curious and keen
to understand more about Nantan’s life as a wolf, Berkeley gets a
lot closer than he expected to finding out what it’s really like.
Love conquers all as Berkeley escapes a close encounter with death
that cements his future with Nantan.
Berkeley’s
high spirits are dampened when he opens his world up to three
relative strangers and is confronted with a series of macabre
happenings. When things get out of hand, Berkeley turns to his
ex-partner, Captain Rick, to help unravel the mystery of what’s
happening and why. Berkeley’s gardener, Rene, a Santeria Priest, is
the obvious suspect. But is he too obvious and being set-up? Jacob,
an author, has the creative mind to develop and execute such a
cunning and sophisticated plan. Nantan has inside knowledge and the
opportunity. With another few suspects thrown into the pot, Berkeley
and Rick have their work cut out before time runs out and death
strikes again.
Born
and raised in London, Lee worked as a successful senior management
consultant before moving to Tenerife to pursue a more fulfilling life
and to focus on his writing.
For Lee, the writing process is all about when the mind and the fingers connect. He plans stories in his head, but when the fingers take over, something else comes out...but invariably, he is happy that he let his fingers do the talking.
He works with an amazing team at eXtasy/Divine books who inspire and encourage his writing. He calls Jay Austin, the Chief Editor in Charge, Laura McNellis, his editor and Carmen Waters, his artist, THE DREAM TEAM. No further explanation required...
