This is the third book in the series. It is a heartbreaking story. There was some repetition from the previous books. This book concludes a good triology

Just began this book and 4 percent in and I am shocked, Horrified. I can feel the hatred from Sven and the disdain he has for the Jews. This is a story about Charlie, who was not meant to be a killer and he refuses to hate. Charlie's mon said he will change the world, speaking of the country's new chancellor. Charlie is not so sure of that. The story begins in Germany during WWII and Charlie watches as Sven kills a Jew that was just pulled from her house. Her daughter watches as her mother is murdered. Charlie saw the daughter and feels terrible to be part of the Nazi's. Charlie watches as Amelia (he learns that this is her name) is led to the train to be transported to camp. Charlie ends up at the same camp and decides he will keep a eye out for Amelia. This begins the story of past of present and the love story between them. I read the third book in this series first and this book was just as entertaining as that one. I will know have to read the first book last. I love the writing by Shari J Ryan.

The Soldier’s Letters is the third and final installment in Shari Ryan’s Last Words Trilogy. A love story that spans more than seven decades, this is Charlie Cranes story, a beautiful story about the power of love and the power of redemption. While I knew how the ending would play out, it was heartbreaking to see things from Charlie’s perspective. Yet another emotional read that will stay with me for a time, this was my favorite in the series and I couldn’t have wished for a more satisfying ending to this lovely series.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this poignant story. This is my review and all opinions are my own.

A story that has been told in Shari's other books but told from an alternative point of view. It's a story that we don't often get from the point of view of a german soldier. It was based on a true story and was very poignant.

Since reading The Girl in the Diary, I have have been hooked on Charlie and Amelia’s story.

It’s been a privilege to read the three books for three peoples perspectives. I shall remember them forever.

I’m a big fan of Shari Ryan’s books! This is the final book in her trilogy, originally entitled Last Words. Spanning over 60 years, with World War II as a backdrop, this beautiful story is full of love & lost, tragedy & happiness, young & old, Germans & Jews, anger & redemption.

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This is book 3 in Shari J. Ryan’s historical fiction series. This particular story is set in Prague 1941. Another dual timeline and another absolute must read.

Shari J. Ryan has a talent for writing stories that make you sit up and it gets your attention.


Thank you to #netgalley and #bookouture for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

This is the third and last book in the Last Words series by Shari J. Ryan and I feel she hit it right on with Charlie's story told from Charlie's POV. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for Shari to put herself in Charlie's shoes and write from his POV. I mean how would one even begin? To imagine a Nazi's feelings, thoughts, behaviors, how he was affected by his upbringing, what he was taught, what formed him and shaped him into the man he became? An impossible task but Miss Ryan has done an outstanding job of doing just this.
This is a very emotional story, for me this last book moved me more than the first two. There was something about Charlie's story that struck a chord deep within my heart. Though it is a horrible story of inhumane atrocities inflicted upon millions of innocent people, it is also a story of love and hope. It is a story that enforces our faith in humanity, for seeing that despite all the brainwashing, schooling in hate, indoctrinating the hatred of a whole race of people into the impressionable young minds of the German youths, some retained their own individual thoughts and beliefs and they held on to these beliefs as if holding on to the only life line, the only salvation they would find. This is a story of hope.
I have enjoyed each and every book in this series but I think Charlie's story is the one we all can learn the most from. I highly recommend it, I recommend the entire series. I know some will say, well it is just a repeat of the first two books, how can it be anything but? It is a story of Charlie and Amelia, yes, the same events take place in each book, but it is the POVs that make each book stand out in their own right, making each one a unique, interesting read.
I would like to thank Bookouture and Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

So this became a member of my DNF shelf within a few chapters. I feel like the subject really wasn’t in my wheelhouse to handle as a reader, but I’m sure there’s definitely a base historical fiction fans who might be interested in completing their reading.

Utilizing first person POV places us in the character’s shoes right in the midst of 1930s-40s Nazi Germany. As the plot begins when he is a child, we’re given an interesting view of the rise of the Third Reich, but beyond that I truly could not get into the novel, nor enjoy the plot.

I have read a lot of books very similar to this one. Over all I liked this one. But due to the fact that it was similar to other books I have read I didn't like it that much. It was a very deep and moving story and I think this is worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read every single book in this series by Shari J Ryan and questioned what more this book could provide me with. However, hearing Charlie’s side of the story in the aftermath of the war proved to be the perfect book to follow on with. Ryan didn’t shy away from showing the impact of the end of the war on German soldiers all over the world. This is something which not many authors of World War Two fiction provide. Ryan gave the reader an in-depth understanding of how there are good and bad people to every war, regardless of which side.

The love story always prevails the strongest through these books. Needless to say, the jump from past to present gave the reader a beautiful glimpse into the love story which was dangerous during the Second World War. Despite all odds, the two never stopped their search for each other.

The only reason I had to deduct one star was the fact that a lot of the story seemed repetitive. I’d either read scenes in the first or second books, or else I felt I had already read it in previous scenes within the book itself.

Overall, this was a beautiful final book in the Last Words series by Shari J Ryan. I cannot wait to read more novels by Ryan in the future.

I have read all three books in this series now and all are terrific. I was able to see things as they were described and feel the emotions of the characters.

Prague, 1941: Charlie is a member of the SS and is ordered to murder the Jewish people in captivity, but he refuses over and over again. He isn’t a murderer and vows to save as many people as possible, no matter what it costs him. While in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, he is drawn to beautiful Amelia, he immediately falls in love with her. He does everything he can to keep her safe, sneaking food to her and checking on her as often as he can. He knows that it is impossible for their love to survive. Will they ever make it out alive? Charlie pours out his heart in the love letters that he writes to Amelia. I was so taken back by this story. This heartbreaking story was full of raw emotion and it completely broke me. It was amazing to me the honesty, the inspiration and the hope portrayed through this story. The endurance, and courage of the people to survive the worst of times was overwhelming. This series is a must for anyone that enjoys a phenomenal love story. Love, love, loved it.

Thank you Shari J. Ryan for such an emotional and inspirational story of always looking for the sunshine on the other side of the most horrible experiences. I absolutely loved it and I highly recommend this book.

Most Jewish people, and many, many people in general might not want to read a story about a "good" SS Officer. In fact, my grandfather was Jewish, so I share many of the sensitivities of Shari J. Ryan when she makes this comment in the Preface - "As a Jewish woman, I grew up in the fear of hatred, antisemitism, and the simple case of being a minority with religion." In fact Ms. Ryan refers to this book as a taboo story. A good Nazi? Well, when you read Charlie Crane's story, that is what you will get, with full hope and confidence that there were good men amongst those ranks.

Charlie's story basically starts when his mother tells him he will be changing schools. He fits the mold desired by Hitler to fill his army - fair, blond hair and with blue eyes. He is still of tender years, but his training on conditioning and hatred has begun. However, when he is ordered to murder a Jewish woman, he balks, but the woman is killed by another soldier anyway. When he spots the woman's daughter at the Theresienstadt concentration camp he finds himself utterly compelled. Ultimately he draws closer and closer to her and the two fall in love, despite the fact that they are born enemies due to the ideology pressed into him.

Charlie saves her life. She is Amelia, who readers met in the first book in this Lost Words series, The Girl With the Diary. The pair end up seperated for decades, but the condition of their hearts has kept them together. When a chance to reunite with Amelia presents itself to Charlie, he does not hesitate. What a tremendous demonstration of the power of love this book The Soldier's Letters brings to its readers.

This might be the most important book of the series. Hitler's youth were the way they were for specific reasons. However, in this case one heart was not swayed by hatred. In fact, Charlie's heart proves different from many, if not most, of those soldier's. The story as it is in the present is utterly heartwarming. I highly recommend reading this series in its entirety, starting with the first book. While the series will break your heart at times, it will also fill it with a deep sense of warmth.

Please also enjoy my YouTube video of the entire series, including The Girl With the Diary and The Prison Child. - https://youtu.be/IuTTqiXMFGo

At the end of the war, Charlie was released from prison after only twelve months, when his sentence had been ten years. Charlie Crane was a Nazi, raised through the Hitler’s Youth school from twelve years of age. But Charlie’s heart wasn’t hard, it wasn’t aimed at killing. And Charlie had vowed to do all he could to save others when war hadn’t long begun. Rescuing Amelia had put him in prison, and when he was released, he declared to anyone who would listen that he’d find Amelia, if it was the last thing he did.

In New York with his best and childhood friend, Claude and Claude's wife Juliette, all three of them worked their way forward and when Claude and Juliette moved to Connecticut, Charlie went through some dark times. But finding a gallery with Amelia’s paintings inside, brought him back, and working in the gallery felt like home. Many years later, when he received a phone call from Emma, Amelia’s granddaughter, Charlie had hope once again. But was he to learn he was too late? The letters he’d written to Amelia over the years – would they remain unread?

The Soldier’s Letters is the 3rd in the Last Words trilogy by Shari J. Ryan and once again it was a poignant, heartbreaking story. There was quite a bit of repetition from the previous books, but hearing Charlie’s side of the story was good. The Soldier’s Letters concludes an excellent trilogy which I thorough enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending. My advice is to read them in order though.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

After discovering Shari J. Ryan and her well written WWII historical fiction in 2 previous books, I welcomed the opportunity to read this, the 3rd book. Charlie, a young German soldier, refuses to kill a Jewish woman . He finds himself as a guard in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp. Seeing the Jewish woman's daughter imprisoned in this brutal camp, he tries to protect her by finding her an easy job in the camp. Falling in love, the couple must come to terms with where they are and what kind of future they may have. Sensitive and poignant writing, recommended reading.

Just when I didn't think Charlie & Amelia's story couldn't break my heart anymore, it does. A love story that spans 74 years is almost unimaginable, but what a gift that true love is when we truly find our person. Their story may not have started how it should have in one sense, but everything happens for a reason (I'll still never understand why Hitler was such an evil person and killed so many innocent people) and just how it is meant to happen. It's hard to accept God's timeline most of the time, but He works things out just as they should be. Charlie Crane, Amelia, Clara, Annie, Fisher, Emma, Jackson, & sweet babies Sky & Belle will most certainly stick with me for a very long time.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I knew this book would be emotional, how could it not but wow. This author has written a stunning book. This beautiful.

Heartbreaking. In this dual-timeline we look back at Charlie’s life beginning when he was preparing to train in the Nazi Youth School.
Charlie didn’t believe in the ideology of the party and was more likely to help the Jews he was expected to kill. After refusing to murder one Jewish woman another soldier shot her, Charlie felt a responsibility as her daughter was taken away crying for her mother she was put in the concentration camp. When Charlie had memorised her tattooed number which led to him being able to identify her later.
The story continues describing life outside the camp and how Charlie dealt with his conflicting beliefs.
How can someone learn to love when all around them is death and dying?
I feel there is a follow on book!

wow, what a finale in the Last Words trilogy. The Soldier's Letters takes us through Charlie's journey. Charlie is a German soldier during WWII although it is reluctantly. Whilst serving as a guard in the concentration camp, he falls in love with an inmate, Amelia. Circumstances mean they can't be together but he promises to look for her as soon as he can. Highly recommend