Customer Reviews

Secrets and Sacrifices

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I'm sure Ms. Wylie lived another life during the Civil War Era, and that's the reason she could write such a realistic and captivating story about that era. If you enjoy historicals written by an author who did their homework, then you'll love Secret's and Sacrifices. Join Charlotte as she becomes Charlie, enlists in the army to be close to her husband, and lives through terror that would make other women faint. Kudos to the author!

Charlie Garrett does the unthinkable - she disguises herself as a man and joins the war as a sharpshooter for the Confederates. Her aim is to be with her husband, but a cruel twist of fate makes her face challenges more terrible than she could have imagined.

This civil war novel is an enjoyable read about one woman living in a period of hardship and danger. Diane Wylie has a grasp of the era that compels the reader. She has created a unique heroine, who is strong and intelligent, and a handsome hero in Captain Reid who easily steals the reader's heart.
I recommend this novel to everyone.

Many historical love stories act as if the setting is not important, but Diane Wylie takes the time to match events with the growth of her characters and their love for each other. While some romances gloss over the pain of losing a spouse to "get to the good stuff", I appreciate the sensitivity the author had to allow Charlie to believably grieve her loss before she is blessed with a new opportunity to love her handsome, caring doctor Daniel. I recommend this book highly for its love story, research, action and most of all, for letting us see hope in the middle of chaos. A Sensible Match

What an amazing book: amazing story, amazing characters, amazing research.

"Charlie" disguised herself as a boy so that she could go to war with her husband Joshua. She doesn't just follow him, but because of her skill with a rifle she becomes a sniper, a job she did even though she dreaded killing another living being. She loves her husband dearly and passionately, and her grief when he's killed in battle is overwhelming.

In her guise as a boy, she is spotted by the regimental surgeon, Daniel. He discovers that she's a woman later when he rescues her from rape. Their attraction to each other is not a simple matter. Charlie is still grief stricken by her husband's death, and Daniel knows and respects that. Everything that brings them together in the context of the Civil War makes them closer emotionally and physically.

Ms. Wylie's descriptions of every aspect of war are beautifully written, horrifyingly chilling, and heart wrenching. Charlie's grief is so poignantly real that you can't help but cry with her. Battle scenes are, to this reader, unbelievably terrifying. Ms. Wylie tells of the fear and the courage of the soldier and the agony of the uncertainty of your next meal, the next time you'll be able to sleep, or whether you'll be alive in the next minute to do either.

Daniel's exhaustion from hours and days straight of operating on the wounded is exhausting in itself to read. Her research into medical procedures of this time in history, the geography and tactics of the battlefields, into the clothing of the period, are all spot on. Ms. Wylie knows her subject well.

Daniel and Charlie's awareness of each other and their feelings grow very naturally out of their experiences together. They live for a bit of sweetness and light amongst the horror surrounding them. The tale takes them both - together and separately - through adventures showing their courage and commitment to their own soldiers, as well as the whole of humanity. They never give up and are rewarded with the gift of their love. Charlie never forgets her first love Josh, but discovers another one in Daniel.

Secrets and Sacrifices delivers a brilliant battlefield epic and a wonderful human love story at the same time, both equal in their power and emotion. If you like to lose yourself in your reading, like I do, this is the book for that.

Newlywed Charlotte (Charlie) Garrett cuts her hair, binds her breasts, and follows her husband Josh into the Confederate Army, but becoming a sharp shooter can't protect her or Josh from the horrors of war.

Captain Daniel Reid, handsome surgeon for Virginia's Twenty-Fifth Infantry, struggles to keep his mind from becoming one more casualty in the brutal conflict.

As the war grinds on and the deprivations increase, will Charlie and Daniel find the courage to overcome their grief, join forces, and do more than just survive?

Diane M. Wylie writes a well-researched story intimately portraying love, loss, and redemption in one of our nation's darkest hours.

Diane Wylie opens up her newest Civil War book with an intriguing and inspiring heroine. Charlotte `Charlie' Garrett is determined to be as near to her Confederate husband she loved as humanly possible. Shearing off her hair, she disguised herself to join the army as a sharpshooter, but even that sacrifice would not be enough to keep the man she loved alive. Determined his death would be avenged she threw herself into the fight mournfully mindless of the dangers and the intolerable living conditions. She became a shadow of the once vibrant loving wife she'd once been. It wasn't until the good doctor, Captain Daniel Reid saved her from a vicious assault that she allowed herself the luxury of beginning to feel once more, not only as a human, but more as a woman who had seemingly come alive in Daniel's arms and was ready to love again.

Since her stunning award winning debut novel MY ENEMY, MY LOVE, this author has impressed me with her richly detailed emotional storytelling talent. She has taken the Civil War, thoroughly researched her facts of battles, conditions and written powerfully complex characters interacting in a powerful tableau to engage the readers emotions. With Charlie you are introduced to a marvelous unforgettable heroine, where the author has the reader feeling her abject grief as she holds the lifeless body of her beloved husband, then details her struggle back to living and finding love once more with the wonderfully honorable and stalwart Dr. Reid and the sacrifices they would make to be together. Woven throughout Wylie describes it all including the blood, the gore, and the shameful inhuman treatment that was faced by all in one of the costliest wars of human suffering and death of one of the most horrific times in the history of America. This is a stunning and powerful read that I most highly recommend from an author who displays a rare talent and leaves you wanting more.

Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization

Charlotte "Charlie" Garret is a woman torn, not only by the Civil War, which already tears North from South, but also by her husband's involvement. Determined to stand by his side, she does the unthinkable and joins the Confederate Army disguised as a young man. Simply being close to her husband, Joshua, even in the rough circumstances the soldiers engage in, gives her heart some peace. When her talents as a sharpshooter are honed, she earns herself a true place in the Twenty-Fifth Virginia infantry. Soon, despite having made friends amongst her fellow soldiers, Charlie finds herself more alone than she could possibly have imagined. When a new opportunity comes along to help those of the South in need, she finds a new purpose in her life, a true calling.

Captain Daniel Reid is a dedicated surgeon for the Confederacy, while born and raised in the North. Firmly believing in his duty to save lives, the war nonetheless takes its toll. No matter how hard or long he toils, there will always be more soldiers that need help. When the worst possible thing happens for a man in his position, he will take on a desperate mission for the South that soldiers often do not return from. And when he meets little Charlie Garret, he discovers a secret that carries his spirit on through the tormenting next few years.

Secrets and Sacrifices brings not only the horrors of the most infamous U.S. war to light in a passionate and moving way, it brings forth a basic human ideal as well--that in time, we will survive and live to love again one day. Thanks to meeting one another amidst terrible strife, Charlie and Daniel give each other the hope that roots this ideal. Charlie is a woman that endures through action and compassion. Not one to sit idle, she takes on a dangerous mission not once, but twice throughout the war, bringing freedom to many. Daniel is the consummate soldier, dedicated to his beliefs and they serve him well as he takes it upon himself to gain much needed supplies for his men. Ultimately, Charlie and Daniel's goals are to reunite, and it's a rare, passionate love that they experience at intervals throughout the book. Author Wylie does a superb job of drawing on the emotions and engaging the reader through action and a well-drawn plot through history. Well done!

Diane Wylie does a great job all around. I let my sister borrow this book, she read it in 2 days, and then did more research than she's ever done about the American Civil War. Can't wait for her next book to come out. Read the book, you won't regret it!

SECRETS AND SACRIFICES IS A DYNAMITE STORY BY DIANE WYLIE WHO TAKES HIISTORIAL RESEARCH TO THE NEXT LEVEL BY SHOWING US A CHAPTER IN AMERICA'S LIFE THROUGH THE CIVIL WAR AND WHAT ONE WOMAN WOULD DO TO BE WITH HER HUSBAND! A PROFOUND AND ENTERAINING BOOK THAT HAS SO MUCH HISTORY IN IT THAT READERS WILL KNOW THAT MS. WYLIE DID HER RESEARCH!

"A reader must first point out their immediate interests... opening the first page of Secrets and Sacrifices, I was open-minded, but not sure if this was going to be a satisfying piece for me. Boy was I wrong. The historical Civil War accuracies! The stubborn, yet heroic for love, Charlotte "Charlie" Garret! The fascinating story, tugging on the reader's emotional strings like a puppet-master, that rips love from Charlie's soul and then brings it back via an unexpected Confederate surgeon, named Captain Daniel Reid.

Secrets and Sacrifices unfolds with Charlie disguising herself as a man to fight in the Civil War. She wants to be near her husband, Joshua. When he dies, she takes up a reckless abandon and uncaring attitude, seeking revenge as a sharpshooter in the 25th Virginia. A terribly unfortunate rape attempt turns into something more. It leads Charlie to a new love, growing a fond relationship with the surgeon. They share some comforting moments amidst the horror-filled results of Civil War battle.

This is a dazzling romance novel, with incredible characters and detail. It teaches that no matter how heart-breaking a turn in life is, with bitter sweet memories, there can always be hope and better days ahead!"

----Reagan Rothe, Author of Misanthropy: Book I: The Tower, Creator of Black Rose Writing