Loves this book! Well developed characters and story line, kept me in suspense. Even though it’s based on a historical event that happened 30 years ago, very relevant to today when ethnic hatred, war and evil still impact countless lives. While there is a hero and heroine, they are complicated, and make mistakes just like real people. Just like real life, not everyone fares well. “Good had ultimately triumphed. Not as she wanted it to, or been brought up to expect it to, but slowly, just as raindrops splashing one by one into the ocean….” It has some Christian material but not to the point where a secular audience would have a problem (and is refreshing to have that perspective)

Not impressed. To understand & follow all the growing list of characters I had to make a chart. Reading on a Kindle does not allow to check the back pages easily where the character chart is. Also had to refresh my knowledge of the history of this conflict as it was never clearly explained and readers are just expected to remember what happened 30+ years ago in a conflict the US was not really involved in. I got this as an ARC through Book Whisperer.

In this fascinating historical fiction novel, Jeana Kendrick brings the Bosnian war to life in vibrant detail. Focusing on American Katrina Winslow and her family in Mostar where they run an orphanage, 1992 brings chaos, death and destruction to the town as Serbian forces plan the destruction of the city. Against orders but driven by duty, Captain Lucien Brezac helps Katrina avert a catastrophe and protect the children of the orphanage, but their growing relationship is laid against a backdrop of violence, mystery, and sacrifice. In their goal of saving the orphans and the city, Katrina and Lucien must face overwhelming odds and horrible circumstances while keeping their courage and love alive. The characters are the star of the story, and the fascinating yet tragic backdrop of the Bosnian war really allows Katrina, Lucien, and the children to show their best qualities while other characters show their worst traits. The historical setting is rarely chosen for historical fiction, so bringing it to life is a fascinating choice for Kendrick in her latest novel. With incredible characters, an emotional storyline, and a tragic yet powerful historical backdrop, fans of historical fiction and strong female characters will love Kendrick’s new historical fiction novel.

Mostar is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva during the Ottoman era.The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's most visited landmarks, and is considered an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in April 1992, the town was besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), following clashes between the JNA and Croat forces. The Croats were organized into the Croatian Defence Council and were joined by a sizable number of Bosniaks.The JNA artillery periodically shelled neighbourhoods outside of their control from early April.

Throughout late 1992, tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased in Mostar. In early 1993 the Croat–Bosniak War escalated and by mid-April 1993 Mostar had become a divided city with the western part dominated by HVO forces and the eastern part controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH).Fighting broke out in May when both sides of the city came under intense artillery fire.The city was divided along ethnic lines, with a number of offensives taking place, resulting in a series of stalemates.Two wars (Serb forces versus Bosniak and Croatian and Croat-Bosniak war) left Mostar physically devastated and ethno-territorially divided between a Croat-majority west bank and a Bosniak-majority old City and east bank, with the frontline running parallel to the Neretva River.

The Bosnian War was characterised by bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing, and systematic mass rape.Events such as the siege of Sarajevo and the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre later became iconic of the conflict.

This story follows the daughter of an American missionary couple living in Bosnia during the Yugoslavian War. After personal tragedy, Katrina must get the kids in the orphanage she was helping run to safety. I was excited to read about a complicated period of history that I didn't know much about, especially with a setting in Mostar, a place I'd love to visit. Unfortunately, this fell a bit flat for me.

Aside from being unable to relate to the main character--I'm very opposed to missionary work--without much history, the dialogue didn't feel particularly realistic. The bible quotes felt a bit over the top as well. As much as I understand the challenge of relaying a vast amount of historical context in a short, hopefully entertaining way, this felt a bit like reading a textbook in certain parts. I think to give this story it's due, it needed to be longer with more character details and fewer time jumps.

Overall, this book wasn't for me, but if you are into Christian fiction and are interested in history, this might be an entry point to learning about the war that brought about the separation of Yugoslavia.

DNF. Too much info dumping about the history, and too much about God and how He would provide. The blurb made it sound a totally different book.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Beautiful Written Historical Fiction Book

This is a beautiful written historical fiction book. The book is set-in war-torn Bosnia Katrina Winslow is Accused of spying, and she risks her life to protect the war orphans caught in the crossfire. Croatian Captain Lucien Brezac, driven by a fierce sense of duty, helps Katrina to save the innocent orphaned children The Characters are well developed, and the story is about courage love, loss, and suspense. There are multiple characters in this book, so it takes a while to remember them. The book is about love in the time of war which pulls at your heart strings. It is the gripping tale of courage and sacrifice. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I have started reading a lot of historical fiction and I thought I would try some recent history. This was really interesting but I found it very difficult to read and concentrate on. I had to start and stop a few times to get into the flow of the book.
I really didn't know much about this recent history and the reason why I have bumped this up to 4 star as it has intrigued me and made me want to learn more. For me a sign of a good book is that my interest is engaged and I want to learn more. I will still give this author another try.

This is a difficult book to review because it was a difficult book to read. War just goes on and an. As historical fiction, the book is a look at the Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian war. The break up of Yugoslavia brought about so much killing among the Serbian, Bosnian and Muslims. Religious and cultural wars are always terrible as neighbors turned against neighbors. Families who intermarried broke apart.
Katrina Winslow was a professor who came to Serbia with her parents and brother to help war orphans. As the war progressed terrible things happened but she never gave up. She trusted the wrong people and was manipulated and just persevered. The author definitely brought the war to life. The only book I can compare this time is The Cellist, which also showed the horror of this war. Unfortunately it also made me realize what people are going to through in Ukraine today.
I have been to Croatia and the trauma still exists. Many buildings still show the scars of war even 30 years later.
The problem I had with the book as fiction is there just were too many coincidences. However, I think this is a book people should read to better understand the past.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher and Book Whisperer for the EARC. This is my honest opinion.

An interesting historical fiction set in war-torn Bosnia this book has a lot going on in it and plenty of characters to keep track of. It is an interesting and heart-felt story that at times does get a bit confusing but is worth the read. It brings together war, friendship, love and life in hard times.

I mostly enjoyed this book but had to go back and forth a few times to get characters and goings on straight in my mind. When I did it all fell into place and I enjoyed it. A little bit more editing and this could be a 4-5 star read.

Thank you NetGalley and Book Whisperer for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was confusing and scattered. There were a lot of characters and the chapters interchanged so often between them I couldnt keep up. Interspersed in the storylines was lots of factual information about the war. This needs more editing and clarity. It is a story worth telling.
Thankyou Netgalley for the ARC.

Jeana Kendrick is a new to me author with the book, The Last Bridge Across Mostar. A heart tugging as well as an edge of your seat story, this is a story in 1992 war-torn Bosnia. American Katrina Winslow is not wanted there but gallantly does her best to protect war orphans and the city of Mostar. Captain Lucien Brezac joins her in the endeavor. Their time together brings friendship and more between them as they desperately work together for those who cannot help themselves.

This heartfelt, intelligent story is wonderfully written. A story of love in a time of senseless war, the characters will steal your heart while also inspiring you.

The Last Bridge Across Mostar by Jeana Kendrick is a Historical Fiction story about the war in ex-Yugoslavia, specifically in Mostar, Bosnia. The main focus is saving orphans at the risk of death by the rescuers. The pace is fast and there is murder, (dis)loyalty, spying, romance, religion, and courage.

American Katrina Winslow endures unfathomable tragedy in Bosnia when she returns home to discover her family has been murdered. She is caught in horrendous circumstances but feels compelled to help where she can. She and Croatian Captain Lucien Brezac do everything they can...and then some...but have war to navigate. Their relationship deepens.

As a part time resident in Croatia, I am fascinated and saddened by the 1990s war which caused such heartache for many in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Neighbours fought neighbours, friends fought friends. It is impossible to imagine what existing must have been like, living in constant fear. I like the inclusion of religions which played.an integral part. This story captures the emotional aspect well. However, from my understanding of history, liberty has been taken with facts. It seems a bit Americanized, too.

My sincere thank you to Book Whisperer and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this engrossing novel.

The Last Bridge Across Mostar by Jeana Kendrik is a historical novel of the Bosnian War in 1992 to 1995.After the breakup of Yugoslavia there was a war between Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.This book tells the fictional story of a missionary teacher in Mostar named Katrina Winslow and her family.They are missionaries who take care of an orphanage and are caught in the war.The book has romance and betrayal and lots of war action.There are a lot of recollections of past events of the characters which I felt were written in a confusing way.Not really knowing the history of this war and the way the countries were geographically located made it very confusing trying to figure out who was who! I used the map in the front of the book for reference but it was not very helpful.Maybe a few pages in the beginning to set the stage would have helped instead of putting it all between the action.I wanted to enjoy this story but could not follow it.Thank you NetGalley and Northridge Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

American Katrina Winslow lives in Bosnia working to protect orphans caught between the warring factions. There, she meets Captain Lucien Brezac, a man of mystery. When Katrina’s family is murdered, she takes the orphans into the caves, where she must find a way to save the orphans and return to America.

I had a bit of trouble with this book. The beginning jumped from pov to pov, making the story slow yet confusing. The book needed some editing, or some way to maintain a cohesive story. Parts of the book seemed unrealistic - i.e. how easy it was to sneak across borders. Due to these criticisms, 3 out of 5 stars.

war-experiences, wartime, orphans, orphanage, Balkan States, war-wounds, war, war-atrocities, Christian, Muslim, starvation, culture-of-fear, survival, threats, victimization, riveting****

Katrina Winslow is representative of an American Christian missionary and her family charged with the safety of orphans in Bosnia including living in a cave with them. The story is somewhat hard to read because of the detailed (and sometimes less than accurate) history of the war between Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia after the breakup of Yugoslavia and the inhumane realities (not exaggerated) of adults and children in that time of devastating war.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Book Whisperer via NetGalley.

Check for yourself: "The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression."

Very interesting, and largely untold story of the war between Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Mostar is an old and lovely town where for centuries lived in peace. Katrina Winslow is a teacher in Mostar and the Serbs are trying to set up the Bosnians and Croats to eliminate each other. When her parents and many of the orphaned children they care for. are killed by the Serbs, Katrina must flee and get them all to safety. With the help of Captain Lucien Brezac, they flee. But Katrina doesn't know who she can trust, and with things falling apart around her, she must make very difficult decisions to keep them all safe. It's a poignant, often devastating story, and at the same time a story of hope, courage, friendship and love.

I love historical fiction and wanted to read about a different era and place in world history, a period I knew little about. This book was just that.

The book's content, which includes military jargon and references mixed with survival and a hint of romance, often made it difficult for me to follow. Although a good read, it is not an easy one. It took me weeks to finish because keeping the characters, battles, and sides straight was challenging.

Although the author did a fabulous job of pulling the reader into her research, the book read more like a history book than historical fiction. It got too bogged down to be fun to read.

The characters were well-developed once you got them straight in your head, but the settings were hard to imagine if you had never been in that part of the world. This is a stay glued-to-the-pages type of war thriller with an exciting spy element.

The book is well-researched, which is apparent in the narrative. This is an influential book if you want a slow read composed of history in a different place and time you know little about. Understanding this period and place in history may require some time if you aren't as familiar with this war and its inherent horrors. But the author did a great job bringing this piece of history to light.

Give it a chance if you have the time and want something new and different in historical spy fiction. It is a well-written novel.

I want to thank Net Galley for the opportunity to read this story as an advance copy. This review is voluntary and is mine alone.

The Last Bridge Across Mostar by Jeana Kendrick was a difficult read for me. One reason was due to the technical terminology. Another reason was due to the warring factions in Bosnia and keeping that information straight. And a final reason was because of the newness of this war. Every page was filled with constant battles and survival of military and civilians. This is definitely a 'stay on the edge of your seat' read.

Releases Sept. 30th. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was my first historical fiction novel with the Bosnian-Serbia-Croatian War as the setting. Kendrick aptly portrays the human side of war, including children caught in the crosshairs. With 3 regions fighting, and characters from all 3 regions, I found the list of characters at the back of the book immensely helpful. I appreciated, and found it refreshing, that the author did not shy away from the importance religion played in her characters. Highly recommend.