As Dawn Breaks
-
-
4.4 • 18 Ratings
-
-
- $10.99
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
Her daring bid for freedom could be her greatest undoing.
Amid the Great War in 1918 England, munitions worker Rosalind Graham is desperate to escape the arranged marriage being forced on her by her ruthless guardian and instead follow her own course. When the Chilwell factory explodes, killing hundreds of unidentified workers, Rose realizes the world believes she perished in the disaster. Seizing the chance to escape, she risks all and assumes a new identity, taking a supervisory position in Gretna, Scotland, as Miss Tilly Lockhart.
RAF Captain Alex Baird is returning home to Gretna on a secret mission to uncover the saboteur suspected in the Chilwell explosion, as Gretna's factory is likely next. Fearing for his family's safety, he's also haunted by guilt after failing to protect his brother. Alex is surprised to discover a young woman, Miss Lockhart, renting his boyhood room, but the two eventually bond over their mutual affection for his family--until Alex receives orders to surveil her.
Rose squirms beneath Alex's scrutiny while she struggles to gain her workers' respect. But when her deception turns to danger, she and Alex must find a way to put their painful pasts behind them and together try to safeguard the future.
"With her trademark attention to historical detail, Kate Breslin sweeps readers to a Great War home front full of intrigue, suspense, danger, and courage."--JOCELYN GREEN, Christy Award-winning author of Shadows of the White City
"Readers will be captivated by this exquisite blend of historical intrigue and heartfelt romance from one of the finest voices in inspirational fiction."--AMANDA BARRATT, author of My Dearest Dietrich and The White Rose Resists
"Breslin uses an exhilarating plotline and tender romance amid the tension of espionage to craft a gripping tale rife with double agents, corrupt foreign arms dealers, and secret missions. Ultimately, this is a story of forgiveness and family, and readers will revel once again in Breslin's superb chronicling of women's vital contributions to the war effort."--Booklist
"Breslin keeps the tension up. . . . The stakes could not be higher--in both love and war--in this espionage tale drenched in intrigue."--Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Breslin's latest suspenseful historical (after High as the Heavens), she reintroduces RAF Capt. Alex Baird. Returning home to Gretna, Scotland, in 1918 during WWI, under the guise of a medical discharge, Alex is on a secret mission to gather intelligence on the terrorist who is blowing up munitions factories in England and Scotland. After her parents' deaths, Rosalind Graham and her younger brothers went to live with a cruel uncle. Now of marriageable age, Rose has become a pawn in a high-stakes financial arrangement between her uncle and Julien Dexter, the son of a cash-poor earl. When the Chilwell munitions factory explodes, Rose discovers the world believes she died and her best friend Tilly Lockhart survived, when, in fact, the reverse is true. In an effort to rescue her brothers, Rose assumes Tilly's identity and becomes a supervisor at the Gretna munitions factory. Alex and Rose's first encounter is anything but romantic; in a "wrong hotel room" scenario, he's greeting by a startled Rose swinging a golf club. Unbeknownst to Rose, Tilly harbored dangerous secrets—when Alex links "Tilly" to the saboteur, he fears his affection for her will cloud his professional judgment. Breslin keeps the tension up without too many twists. The stakes could not be higher—in both love and war—in this espionage tale drenched in intrigue.
Customer Reviews
Exceptional Historical Romantic Suspense!
Rose Graham desperately needs to escape the life she has been thrown into so when she gets the chance, she takes it. With brothers to protect and a future to work out, she flees to Gretna, Scotland where she begins work as a munitions supervisor for a pack of “canary girls” that test her strength and character. Providence dictates that she meet the Baird family and falls in love with their sweet family after renting their vacant room.
Alex Baird has been asked by his best friend to sniff out the possible saboteur that has been bombing munitions plants. In fact, the next suspected target is where his sister works and near his family home so he can not fail to protect them especially since he has failed his family in the past.
Written with a sprinkling of Scots dialect, including words like “dinna”, “ken” and “braw”, Breslin brings the reader into the WW1 era and sits you down into the intrigue of misplaced power, secrets, disguise, and veiled identities. She weaves an intricate plot of cat and mouse that will keep you wondering who can be trusted and how Rose could possibly fulfill her dream of breaking out of the life she was forced into. All the while, Breslin gives you a background filled with a sense of true family, community and what is still right with the world.
This book is appropriate for teens and older. There are no overly descriptive intimate scenes and no bad language.
I received this book from the author/publisher free of charge with no expectation of a positive review.
Another Great Book by Kate Breslin
If you were given the chance to change the outcome of your life by assuming someone else’s identity, would you take that chance?
That is the choice Rose Graham must make when her best friend, Tilly Lockhart, dies in an explosion at the Chilwell munitions factory. By taking her friend’s identity she would be leaving behind a merciless uncle and an arranged marriage to a cruel man. However, life is not always what it seems when you step into someone else’s shoes, a web of lies, espionage and munition dealers. This story takes place during the Great War in 1918 England and Scotland. The author expertly weaves history and fiction. It was a time when women accepted the government’s cry for help by joining the war effort at home, many times at the cost of their own health, safety, and lives.