On the border between France and Germany in the aftermath of World War II, two army captains—American Jake Burnes and Frenchman Pierre Servais—stumble upon stolen Nazi treasure. While becoming embroiled in a continent-wide conspiracy, the captains are also challenged to assist diplomat Sally Anders in helping impoverished German children in Rhineland Inheritance, a novel by author T. Davis Bunn.

Another one of the many novels where I didn't even glance at a book blurb before I just bought a copy and dove right in. I simply knew I wanted to read something older from one of my longtime favorite authors, and here we are: the beginning of a historical ChristFic series first published back in the 90s.

While I'm not new to WWII novels, the post-war landscape isn't something I think about as much. So it was all the more interesting to get a look at this story's post-war military dynamics and to also consider child soldiers who'd been sent to war by Germany as well as the many refugees left with nothing after the years of deadly conflict.

I've come to expect no less than excellent storytelling from this author, and that's what I got here. Danger, intrigue, a depth of emotion, and characters I came to like rather quickly. Especially sharp and intelligent Sally, who has quick, dry humor and a commanding presence balanced with softness and compassion. She's tough without being "one of the fellas."

I'm generally not a fan of love triangles, and this story has some of that, but it's not a melodramatic or drawn-out aspect of the plot, and the romance here isn't sappy. There's a noticeable share of another something I'm a minor non-fan of, questions in dialogue that don't end with question marks, but it didn't bother me too much.

I was moved by this novel and absolutely plan on continuing the Rendezvous with Destiny series. ( )

The war-weary American captain faces a nation in ruins and a daunting assignment on the border between Germany and France. A fighter from the French Underground is appointed to help him and becomes a friend. When they stumble upon stolen Nazi treasure, they uncover a conspiracy at the highest levels on both sides of the conflict-and mortal danger to themselves.

The lovely diplomat also assigned to the same border has lived through her own personal battle during the war years. She now guardedly lets down some inner barriers to reach out to the bands of impoverished German children left orphaned and abandoned by the war. Her compassion, seen in very practical ways, has far-reaching impact, and the two soldiers gradually are drawn into her humanitarian efforts. And then the two friends discover their common interest in her … ( )