Almost Paradise (1984) and Shining Through (1988) by Susan Isaacs. The best-selling author's gift for creating strong heroines and crisp dialogue are on display in these engrossing tales of romance. Almost Paradise examines the price a married couple—he's a blue-eyed blue-blooded movie star, she's a brilliant, half-Jewish woman with a less than illustrious pedigree—pay for fame. Set before and during World War II, Shining Through mixes romance with espionage as a poor girl from Queens marries the most handsome lawyer on Wall Street and eventually is sent on a secret mission to wartime Berlin.