Author: Soraya M. Lane
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Year: 2017
Genre(s):historical romance
Part of a Series: No
Rating:
Why I read it: It was an Amazon first read offer
Summary: World War II rages on in Europe, though hope grows after the Invasion of Normandy. Scarlet, though, is worried when she hasn’t heard from her fiance, Thomas. Despite her family’s objections, she trains to be a nurse and gets shipped overseas to France. Along the way, she meets fellow nurse Ellie and soldier James…who happens to be her fiance’s brother. Scarlet finds herself drawn to James but is determined to stay loyal to Thomas. Ellie, meanwhile, struggles to adjust to life on the warfront and receives help from Spencer, one of the doctors in the unit. In France, both women befriend Lucy, a nurse who has been involved far longer than either of them and who dreams of becoming a doctor rather than a nurse. When she saves the life of an American soldier, she finds herself drawn to him though he has no memories and a picture of a woman in his pocket.
As fighting intensifies, the three friends embark on separate missions. Will they find love and happiness at the end of such a display of hatred and misery? And will they ever see each other again?
Review: I know I said I was a bit tired of World War II novels but most of the ones I had been reading through Once Upon a Bookclub had been centered around the Holocaust. This one was focused on nurses and the front in Normandy, so it was a change of pace.
The novel drew me in right off the bat and kept me riveted as I read on. I don’t think there was ever a real slow part of the novel. The action moved at a good pace, which was understandable given how fast things can happen during war. If anything really suffered for it, I would say it was the romance between Ellie and Spencer was a tad rushed. It felt as if it went from “Ellie has a crush on Spencer and doesn’t know if he likes her back” to “Spencer wants to marry Ellie” in a blink of an eye. Lucy’s romance happens quickly too. Scarlet’s is the only one, in my opinion, that gets really fleshed out—but it was also a love triangle.
It’s understandable, though. Scarlet’s story was really the only one set up to be propelled by romance from the beginning. While Ellie hoped to meet a nice man, it wasn’t her motivation for signing up—helping with the War Effort was. And as noted in the summary, Lucy really wants to be doctor and signed up to be a nurse to get experience. Like with Ellie, romance isn’t really the thrust of her story, not until the back part of the story.
I absolutely loved Lucy. She was confident and truly believed in helping people, no matter what. Lucy paid a steep price for this belief and I felt the author could’ve delved into her trauma more following that but what we got was a good taste of what some nurses dealt with when coming home. Her romance was sweet and Jack was an absolute sweetheart, a man with a heart of gold to match Lucy’s.
Ellie was a sympathetic character, starting out so bubbly and full of life but struggling to deal with the realities of war. She lost some of her personality as she tried to keep up with the injured and dying, surrounded by blood, pain and suffering. It was another good show of the realities of war and how it changes people. I would’ve preferred to learn more about Spencer, but he was an absolutely sweetheart who clearly cared about Ellie.
Scarlet is probably the strongest of the three. She never gives up her quest to find her fiance and adapts just as well to the realities of war as Lucy has. Despite being torn over her feelings for James, she decides to stay true to Thomas. That loyalty though does great some problems for her down the line and she ultimately has to learn to put herself first in order to find happiness. James is cheeky and a flirt at first but as the story goes on, his feelings for Scarlet are revealed to be deep and true. He wants her to be happy and so respects the fact she wants his brother, though he fights for her when it becomes clear her choices haven’t made her happy—even if it means fighting against his own family.
All three women have a strong and amazing friendship that lasts even when their journeys take them down separate roads. They support each other and band together to make sure they can reach their goals as well as serve the war. It’s beautiful and I loved that aspect of the story.
Bottom line: A good read with some good romances and a great friendship at its heart.
Sex: Implied but not depicted.
Moonlight Musing
What is your favorite literary friendship?
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