Just Once: A Novel

The #1 New York Times bestselling author “known for her deeply heartfelt novels” (Woman’s World) brings a sweeping and unforgettable World War II love story about a young female spy torn between two brothers. In 1941, beautiful Irvel Holland is too focused on her secret to take much notice of the war raging overseas. She’s dating Sam but in love with his younger brother, Hank—her longtime best friend—and Irvel has no idea how to break the news. Then the unthinkable happens—Pearl Harbor is attacked. With their lives turned upside down overnight, Sam is drafted, and Hank wants to enlist. But Sam insists Hank stay home, where he and Irvel take up the battle on the home front. While Sam fights in Europe, an undeniable chemistry builds between Irvel and Hank but neither would dare cross that line. Then two military leaders pay Irvel a visit at the classroom where she teaches. The men have plans for her, plans that will take her into the spy world of World War II. One catch. She can tell no one. Then a telegram comes, and the news is devastating. Hank enlists the next day and just two weeks remain until he and Irvel ship out. Will any of them make it home alive? Or will Irvel lose everything? And can love find a way, even from the ashes of the greatest heartbreak?