Love Thine Enemy

Paris, 1939

The clouds of war are gathering in Europe, but some remain hopeful a diplomatic solution can be found, especially eighteen-year-old Helen Latimer, visiting from England.

Paris has always been one of her favourite places, but as she walks down the street on her first day and sees a tall stranger with cornflower blue eyes and hair the colour of wheat, she is hit by what the French call un coup de foudre, and her life is changed forever. 

Maximilian von Engelberg is a German, but despite being proud of Germany, he is against the Nazis, unlike his brother Herman, who is with the SS. He, too, hopes war can be averted, but knows it is a matter of time. He also knows he should stay away from Helen Latimer, but he can’t help himself. 

Christian Meursault is the Count of Clemenceau, and owns a chateau in Normandy. He has his friends for a weekend, including Helen and Max, and as they play in the pool and eat fabulous food, no one can imagine war.

But soon, Hitler invades Poland, and war is inevitable. As Helen’s brother Charles calls her home, Max’s brother Herman insists he return to the Fatherland as well. But when Helen discovers she is pregnant, Max decides they will marry, and escape to Portugal, a country that is neutral. 

But fate has other plans for them, and Max ends up in Germany. Soon they are both married to other people, as war rages around them.

But despite impossible odds, this is not the end of the story for Max, who ends up based in Normandy, and Helen, who starts to work for the French Resistance when her beloved brother Charles is shot down over the English Channel.

With so much death, who knows who will survive, and at what cost?

Rich in history and filled with the joy of life, Love Thine Enemy is a satisfying read brimming with romance and love during a very dark time. 

‘Love conquers all in this moving historical romance’ – Holly Kinsella

Nora Fountain is a professional novelist and translator. Her short stories have been published in many magazines in the UK and abroad. She writes both contemporary and historical romance, and loves to paint.
Nora has served on the committee of the Romantic Novelists Association and is a member of the Society of Authors and the Chartered Institute of Linguists. She lives in Dorset, where she finds Thomas Hardy country and the people who live there, an inspiration.