My Review for We Fly Beneath the Stars by Suzanne Kelman

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I read a lot of historical fiction, particularly based on facts surrounding World War II, but never before have I read anything that focused on Russian women who became pilots to fight for their country. I didn’t realise this was a thing and now I have to know whether there were any other women who flew and fought for their country during that time.

Suzanne Kelman has done an amazing job with this book and decided to continue writing it and publish it at a time when Russia incited another war. However, the world needs to read about these amazing women and what they achieved and what is going on right now shouldn’t take our admiration away from that. 

Nadia and Tasha are incredibly brave sisters who cope with so much discrimination as they attempt to infiltrate the world which has, until now, been dominated by men. We Fly Beneath the Stars is laced with expectation, love, and happiness, but a great deal of sadness and pain. I don’t want to give you any spoilers, but look out for the shocking revelation towards the end of the book as the war ends and remember that this is based on fact. 

I urge you to check out Suzanne Kelman’s latest novel; We Fly Beneath the Stars if you enjoy historical fiction and love learning about something you may not have known. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of We Fly Beneath the Stars by Suzanne Kelman.

Book Description

1942, Europe: Based on the true story of a female-only bomber battalion, this is a totally heartbreaking and unforgettable story about sacrifice, sisterhood and a love that transcends war.

When the love of Tasha’s life, Luca, joins the air force to fight against the evil Nazi invaders, she knows she has to follow her heart—and him—into battle. Headstrong, impulsive and a daredevil, she’s the perfect recruit.

Tasha’s sensible older sister Nadia plans only to stop Tasha’s madness and bring her home. But a chance encounter puts her in a plane, soaring above the clouds, and she also finds her calling.

Underestimated by their superiors, Nadia and her sister find themselves in airplanes barely fit to fly, being sent on perilous missions with little hope of return. But before long their battalion is being nicknamed ‘the Night Witches’ by the Nazis, their ownership of the skies second to none.

But danger is up in the storm clouds with them, and when both sisters are shot down behind Nazi enemy lines, and taken to a brutal prison camp, they expect to never see their beloved homeland again.

Until Tasha’s eyes meet across the wire fence with someone she never expected to see again: the love of her life, Luca.

But with love comes peril… Will one sister have to sacrifice everything to save the other?

Absolutely unputdownable historical fiction, perfect for fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Ragged Edge of Night, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Author Bio

Suzanne Kelman is a 2015 Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Finalist, Multi-Award-Winning Screenwriter and a Film Producer. As well as working in film she is also an International Amazon Bestselling Fiction Author of the Southlea Bay Series – The Rejected Writers’ Book Club, Rejected Writers Take the Stage and The Rejected Writers’ Christmas Wedding. Born in the United Kingdom, she now resides in Washington State.

 

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My Review for Time and Chance in Market Linborough by Elaine Taylor

⭐⭐⭐⭐ I loved this, and I was so utterly thrilled that the author, Elaine Taylor, reached out to me and asked me to review her first book, Time and Chance in Market Linborough.

A fictional village in the Leicestershire countryside, Market Linborough is home to a variety of residents, young and old, families, and single parents, with the local pub, The White Rose, the centre of village life. Ella and Adam are our protagonists and each has their own gremlins in the closest when it comes to previous relationships. However, I guarantee that when Adam becomes Ella’s knight in shining armour in the middle of a snowstorm, you will just want to keep on reading to find out what happens to our complicated couple.

I have just moved from Leicestershire, and throughout the book, I wondered where the author had based Market Linborough on, and whether it was somewhere, I had visited. I wanted to wander through the snow with the dogs at my side, just as Ella did and perhaps visit the secret pool in the moonlight - you’ll need to read the book to find out what happened there!

If you need an easy-reading, contemporary romance novel (with a little bit of sexual content),  to sweep you off your feet, then give Time and Chance in Market Linborough a whirl. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I believe that there is a second book in the series, on the way and I can’t wait to find out what happens to the Market Linborough residents next.

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My Review for The Wife's Promise by Kate Hewitt

⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Wife’s Promise is the first in the Goswell Quartet, (Tales from Goswell), by Kate Hewitt, and although I’ve only read the first one, I am looking forward to reading the others. Written across two timelines and with two protagonists, Alice in the 1930s and Jane in the present day. A shopping list and the vicarage are the only two things they have in common as they both leave their home cities and move into the vicarage in Goswell, Cumbria. Both are finding it difficult to fit into village life and settle down. I really enjoyed The Wife’s Promise, and was rooting for them both as the book progressed. I wanted them to get out and about, immerse themselves in village life, make friends and make the vicarage their home.

I was frustrated with Jane. In particular, she was needy and selfish and I wanted to shake her up a bit, and get her to see what she had right on her doorstep! Alice’s story was a little sadder, and as the war approached, things became even harder for her.

If you enjoy a dual timeline book and village life, I would recommend The Wife’s Promise and lose yourself in Cumbrian life for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Wife’s Promise by Kate Hewitt and for including me on the book tour.

Book Description

The Wife's Promise - Book 1

Alice looked at the young girl standing alone on the platform, sensing the same vulnerability she’d once felt entering the village she now called home. Then, as the child gripped her hand, the pain and sorrow Alice had held in her heart for so long softened… And in that moment, she vowed she’d always protect her – whatever the cost…

England, 1939: When Alice marries twinkly-eyed, kind-hearted vicar David, it means leaving everything from her old life behind and moving into the draughty vicarage in the beautiful but remote village of Goswell, Cumbria. Though homesick, Alice is determined to make a new life there for herself and her husband.

But soon tragedy strikes, and she is devastated when war breaks out and David chooses to sign up to fight. But everything changes when Alice is asked to take in a child evacuee, and she makes a promise to protect this girl, no matter what it costs her…

Now: When Jane and her family move to the small coastal village of Goswell where her husband grew up, she’s afraid she might have made a huge mistake. Their new home – in what had once been the vicarage – feels a million miles from their previous fast-paced life in New York City, and Jane struggles with her empty days that seem lonely and purposeless.

But then she finds a small note, forgotten behind a shelf in the pantry. A note written in the Second World War. By a woman named Alice, whose incredible story has the power to change everything…

Two wives’ stories – told over 70 years apart – about courage, finding a home, and how the unexpected arrival of someone else’s story in your life can change your own. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Barbara O’Neal.

This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Previously published as The Vicar’s Wife by Katharine Swartz.

Author Bio

Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.

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My Review for American Stonehenge (The Adventures of Jimmy and Andrew #1) by Mike Goldstein

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is a pretty awesome book and the first in the Jimmy and Andrew adventure series. Jimmy is a young lad who has always wanted a dog, and so, for his ninth birthday, his Dad takes him to the rescue centre and Jimmy chooses Andrew - or rather Andrew, chooses Jimmy!

Written as a children’s book, this will easily entertain and educate adults, too. I certainly didn’t know about some things Goldstein writes about, in particular, the Egyptian history he explains in great detail, through Andrew (yes, the dog)! As we travel on Jimmy’s adventures, if there are words or situations that he doesn’t understand, these are explained to him and consequently, any kids reading the book will learn lots of new stuff too.

I googled American Stonehenge, and it really exists, although in New Hampshire, not Washington State. Something else that I wasn’t aware of but loved reading about.

Think Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, meets Harry Potter with some aliens thrown in and you’ll have a good idea of what you’ll be getting with American Stonehenge. Immerse yourself in Jimmy and Andrew’s world and enjoy the journey. I’m looking forward to the next adventure for them both.

Thank you to Mike Goldstein for a gifted copy, in exchange for an honest review.

 

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My Review for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I can’t believe that I have had this sitting on my shelf for about a year, and I’m only just getting around to reading it. It was so, so good, I think it will become one of my most favourite reads.

Essentially, our protagonist, Nora, is on the brink of death but gets the opportunity to see what her life would have been like if she had made alternative choices about many things. However, no life is perfect, as Nora comes to realise.

The Midnight Library was one of those books that left me with a book hangover. I can’t stop thinking about it and I wake in the middle of the night, just wondering what my life would be like if I had made different decisions along my journey. What if I had said yes to that cinema date with a boy I had a crush on when I was 14? What if I had gone to college? What if I hadn’t said yes to that first date with my husband?! I am beyond happy with my life as it has turned out, but you just never know what might have been.

If you feel yourself in a bit of a rut, then I would recommend you check out this book. If you like a little bit of fantasy in your book world, then give this a go. I can guarantee that it’ll stay with you for a while when you’ve finally turned that last page.

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