Kindle Unlimited

OR

Kindle Price: $2.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

Deliver to your Kindle Library

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Look inside this book.

Once in Berlin by [Jo Havens]

Follow the Author

Once in Berlin Kindle Edition

by Jo Havens (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

108 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$2.99

—

—

"Please retry"

$21.99

—

Kindle
$0.00 Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 3 million more titles $2.99 to buy
Paperback
$21.99

3 New from $21.99

Could you spy on the woman you loved?

It’s 1938 and Europe teeters on the edge of war.
In Berlin, life for Mila Nessian – genius mathematician, billionaire and womaniser – is one long party. A spot of rocket science by day, the Third Reich’s prettiest daughters by night. She knows what they whisper behind their hands – that Germany’s most dazzling mind has nothing but a calculator where her heart should be, a sliver of ice instead of soul. She smirks through yet another boring cocktail party and hopes they’re wrong.

Cecelia Balfour is dragged to Berlin by her socialite mother – and it’s the last place she wants to be. Cecelia has lost a lover and worries that her heart is too bruised to ever properly love again. To distract her, to maybe get her back in the game, her cousin at MI6 sets up a play: flirt with Mila Nessian, capture her secrets, lure her back to London.

Because what Mila is working on could steer the course of the coming war. The Nazis want her brilliance, British Secret Intelligence wants her silence, and Cecelia – once she has laughed with her, slept with her, sipped champagne on a zeppelin with her and lost her heart to her – Cecelia wants her love.

Can she win Mila’s trust and save her from the powers that control both their lives?

Once in Berlin is a sapphic historical romance.

Print length

663 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

March 19, 2022
File size

3649 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

J.J. Arias
735
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $5.32
Monica McCallan
361
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $5.00
Leigh Landry
160
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $5.32
Jae
683
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $9.99
Jo Havens
322
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $6.49
Martha Miller
18
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.93

From the Publisher

lesbian romance, historical fiction, lesbian historical fiction, historical romance, lesbian fiction

lesbian romance, historical fiction, lesbian historical fiction, historical romance, lesbian fiction

lesbian romance, historical romance, sapphic romance, sapphic historical fiction, lesfic,

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09VF8PKK2
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 19, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3649 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 663 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #160,905 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #816 in Lesbian Fiction
- #970 in Lesbian Romance
- #6,636 in LGBTQ+ Romance (Books)

Customer Reviews:
108 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jo Havens

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Not every romance is sugar-sweet. Sometimes the path to happily-ever-after is narrow, scary and full of doubts and heartbreak. But it is the grit that makes the pearl. Though it takes time, effort and patience, in Jo Havens' books, love is always the softly glowing beauty on the final page.

In her lesbian romance novels, Jo's characters struggle with their shortcomings, deal with the trials of life and, ultimately, listen to their hearts and do what is right. Love always wins.

Jo lives in Australia with her daughter, and a cat named Howl. She loves to hear from readers. Her debut novel, The Blood We Spill, is a sumptuous sapphic romance with an ice queen assassin, the gorgeous girl-next-door and a journey to true love that asks both women to challenge their deepest hopes and fears, risk all and, finally, rest lovingly in each other's arms.

Get a free novella set in the same world by signing up to Jo's newsletter at http://www.johavens.com

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

108 global ratings

5 star		88%
4 star		7%
3 star		5%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

Good read, I loved the historical setting and how the real life characters fit into the plot. Enjoyed it very much.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

This was my first time reading Jo Havens and I am hooked! Her style of writing gave me the same awestruck feeling as her characters experienced while stargazing. She can somehow slow time and make a mere moment in a character’s life feel rich and captivating.
I would likely be enthralled by Havens describing anything but I was invested in Mila and Cecelia’s world.
My emotions have never mirrored a character’s emotions as much as it did in this book - down to the discomfort & embarrassment of attraction at first sight to the unease of being surrounded by nazi paraphernalia, to the longing to be seen and loved.
I braced myself for heartbreak but even though my emotions went on a journey I was left feeling hopeful.
Will definitely read all Jo Havens novels from now on.

Excellent book - romance and history

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

What a wild exciting story, I’m in love with both MC’s. As a nerd for everything science I am truly in awe of how Jo Havens incorporated it ingeniously into her story of intrigue and sapphic romance. A true page turner that I read straight through. A pure joy to read and I marvel at the breathe and depth of the storyline.

Cassandra Yorke

Literary Historical Romance at its Finest

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 26, 2022

Verified Purchase

Does Jo Haven realize her own breathtaking skill as a storyteller? That's hard to say. I'd imagine she knows she's talented, but looking at the unpretentious way she weaves literary narrative into her sweet, genuine love story, I'd say she's as humble as she is talented.

And she is a *very* talented storyteller.

Jo's characters are as alive as any I've seen, bringing the colors and smells of the 1930s to life in a way rarely found in the pages of a romance novel. She takes you to Berlin, inviting you to soak in the life of this most sophisticated of cities, even as you feel the menace and growing evil of the Third Reich on the eve of the Second World War. Events of global importance, milestones of the coming apocalypse, are glimpsed numbly from inside the Nessian's champagne-soaked world of denial. You watch with growing tension, knowing full well what draws closer, as powerless to shake Mila and Jack awake as Cecelia is. Havens will take you to Paris, too, glittering and bright, and she paints a scene that feels obscene and wrong - the story's geniuses fiddling as the fires of global war are lit. She creates a paper-thin veneer of luxury, and you can see the vultures circling outside.

At its core, "Berlin" is a story of true love, through and through. It has everything I love - love at first sight, a hint of possessive ownership, the willingness to sacrifice everything for that person you love more than life itself. And found family, wrapped around your shoulders with a warm blanket.

And at the end of the day, it's a spy thriller, too - and it goes eyebrow-deep in scientific technicalities. Physics, astronomy, math that makes your head spin. Aviation, engineering, espionage - all researched with impenetrable depth. When you add Jo's upmarket literary flair, delivered with effortlessness and modesty, you realize that you have been privileged enough to enjoy a truly exceptional book.

This is an historical romance, a spy thriller, a work of literary fiction thick enough to sink your teeth into and have a hard time pulling them back out.

Unparalleled detail. Skillful buildup of tension. A sweet, heartfelt romantic arc. Prose that's beautiful and singular and avoids obtuseness and self-worship.

The literary world needs more authors like Jo Havens, and more work like Once in Berlin.

One person found this helpful

Deserves more than Five 🌠🌠s!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

Honestly, this book is so compellingly good, with incredibly deep characters, a plot that rings true, and events that are chillingly real! I don’t often get so involved in a book that the characters’ traumas evince a visceral reaction, but this book ….! When I finished reading it, I actually missed the characters and the outstanding writing! Well-researched, incredibly detailed, and just fantastic! I’ve got to read more from Jo Havens!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

Even knowing the timeline was compressed this is a fantastic, could not stop reading it book. If Ms Havens hasn’t studied, or worked in a laboratory environment in Chemistry, Physics, or Astronomy she does a great job of faking it. In my opinion she has to be highly intelligent to bring this all together to make this spy thriller/historical/romance novel together.
Even though I was very sure of the HEA I couldn’t stop reading until I was sure things worked out. Given the historical time it was marvelously descriptive and had me looking at the past political climate we had and are attempting to recreate.

Historical fanatic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

It felt like you were there for the build up. So much visual imagery. Thank you for the historical ride.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

I started this book on KU but after just a few chapters I knew I had to have it in my permanent collection, so I bought it. It is beautifully written. If there can be such a thing as poetic prose then the writing in this book exemplifies it. Add in an interesting plot set in a time in history filled with the extremes of blind fanaticism and blind patriotism. The characters are all well developed, charming and fascinating yet flawed. This is one of those books that will be re-read, numerous times.

Top reviews from other countries

C. A. Smith

Fact based, exciting & utterly captivating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

Some may find 660+ pages of an historical novel daunting. I found it captivating, with a fascinating mix of fact & fiction perfectly bound together to form a gripping read. I adored Mila (a wonderful nod to the marvellous Marlene Dietrich) & Cissie, the main characters, who could`ve been as real as some of the real people who Mila worked alongside. Make sure you read the notes at the end. Every scene was so thoroughly described that I could picture myself, a proverbial fly on the wall (or bird in a tree) watching every detail unfold. If ever a novel deserves to become a movie, this is it.

C. Dempsey

Best book I've read in a long while!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

I only have good things to say about this book! The characters were so well written that I grew to love each and every one of them...well not the Nazis...but the rest of them =D
I felt excitement, fear, sadness, anxiety, happiness and every other human emotion along this journey and I ate it up. Now that it's over I'm feeling a bit exhausted, but in the best way, it's been an adventure. It's one of those stories that you can't quite leave behind when it's over, it will remain a favourite for me, and I'll be reading this book again in the future for certain! I can't wait to read more of Jo Havens' work!

Ali Hickman-Jameson

Brilliant Book - a must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

What a brilliant written book. Set just prior to WW2 in Germany. Covers so many of the Nazi atrocities. The story is fantastic and the characters engaging. I can't wait for another book from this fantastic author. Read both her books and the additional novella.

Patricia Santi

loved it so much

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 12, 2022

Verified Purchase

Absolutely amazing

I don’t usually write reviews,but this book took my breath away. Milla is perfection
Any chance for a sequel?

kizza

Brilliant

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on March 28, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book is exciting and gripping throughout with wonderful characters you just grow to love. Mila a woman so stylish and complex it's no wonder Cissie fall for her so badly.
On the brink of Ww2 it's a great insight to the thinking of the upper classes who finally realise what is before them, the story twists and turns keeping you engaged until the last page. The science was fascinating and I admit not completely understandable to us laymen obviously well researched, thank you once again for a book with the well worn phrase that I simply couldn't put it down.
I look forward to more work from this writer.

One person found this helpful

See all reviews

Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?

Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?

Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?

Get to Know Us

Make Money with Us

Amazon Payment Products

Let Us Help You

English United States

© 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates