July 2016

We're half way through August & I'm only just getting around to blogging about July!

The weeks & months always go so fast, I feel like a hamster on a wheel!

So July........ remembering the Somme, day out to a 1940's weekend, lots of knitting, cats socks, spending time in beds with the cats, lots of walking, finally getting in my old dress, new PM, Prince Charles visiting Exeter, Andy winning Wimbledon, remembering Teddy & lots of work!!

Phew..... it sounds like a busy month.

It's been a year since I gave up the fundraising job & I'm enjoying being back in the shop. However I've now agreed to do the Ebay shop for all 9 shops..... what a fool!! 

As it's so busy in the shop I'm finding I'm doing more work at home so hence the lack of time. But..... everything we sell will help the animals so it's worth it.

You can find our shop here

Little Valley Animal Shelter 

Be back soon!

May Book Review

When Emma Robinson discovers she is carrying Paul Greenslade’s child, there are harsh consequences after he disappears rather than marry a common shop-girl.

Forced by her tyrannical father to marry Richard Gillows, Emma learns quickly that a jealous husband is a violent one. How can Emma escape the ties that bind her, to build a life for herself and her child?

A customer dropped this trilogy in the shop thinking I might like it, she was so right!!

It was a quick easy read but I couldn't put it down. Another great book set in the 1930's, now started on the next one which is set in WW2.

10/10

February's Book Review

1937 sees new challenges for the trainee nurses

Dora and her old enemy Lucy are paired up on the children’s ward for the final three months of their training. The two nurses couldn’t seem more different, but they may have more in common than they think, as each hides a secret heartache. 
… and new faces at the Nightingale
Jess is the feisty eldest daughter of a notorious East End family and determined to prove herself as a ward maid. 
And new trainee nurse Effie can’t wait to escape her small Irish village, and make her way as a nurse in London. But Effie’s sister Katie soon begins to worry that Effie’s behaviour is out of control. 

Book 4 of 7.

Yet another great book, I think I'll be sad when I've finished them all!

If you like Call the Midwife I really recommend you try these. So good I've started book 5, as we get closer to WW2 they just get better!

10/10 

January's Book Review

t’s the final year of training for three young nurses at The Nightingale Hospital… 

Helen is at a crossroads in her life as she battles with her domineering mother over both her love life and her future career.

Dora can't stop loving Nick, who is married to her best friend, Ruby. But Ruby is hiding a dark secret with the potential to destroy Ruby's marriage. 

Millie is anxious about her fiance, sent to Spain to cover the Civil War, and things only get worse when she encounters a fortune teller who gives her a sinister warning. 

With war looming in Europe, and the East End of London squaring up to the threat of Oswald Mosley's blackshirts, the women of the Nightingale have to face their own challenges, at work and in love.

Following on from my November's book review I've finally finished the 3rd book in the series.

I love these books....... set in an Eastend hospital in the 1930's.

Really well written & lovely characters, I enjoyed it so much I've started on book 4!!

Only 3 more to go.

9/10

November Book Review

To the student nurses at The Nightingale hospital, the ward sisters are heartless and frightening, with impossibly high standards. But the sisters have troubles of their own... 

Violet

The new night sister is not all that she seems. Who is she and what dark secret is she hiding? As the mystery deepens, Sister Wren is determined to find out the truth. 

Dora

The student nurse is struggling with her own secret, and with her heartbreak over Nick, the man who got away. A new arrival on the ward brings the chance to put a smile back on her face. But can she really get over Nick so easily?

Millie

Dora’s fellow student is also torn between the two men in her life. But then an unexpected friendship with an elderly patient makes her question where her heart – and her future – really lies.

As the nation mourns the death of King George V, it seems as if nothing is ever going to be the same again, especially for the women at the Nightingale.

I finally finished a book!!!

Yippee!!!!

I read the first in this series last year & really enjoyed it. I was so happy when someone donated this one plus the following 4 books to my shop!

Yet another easy read but I really warmed to the characters & couldn't wait to find out what had happened to them since the last book.

If you're looking for a light, easy read set in the 1930's then I would throughly recommend this series.

9/10

August & September Book Review

No books finished in September! I must find my reading mojo again.

I did manage to finish one in August

Three sisters are growing up in 1920s Bermondsey - the larder of London - with its bustling docks, its spice mill, tannery and factories. 

Southwells jam factory is where many of the girls work. And Milly Colman knows she's lucky. At Southwells she can have a laugh with her mates. She's quick and strong and never misses a day's work. She needs to be. Because at homes things are very different. 

The Colman household is ruled by the tyrannical rages of the old man - her father. Often Milly feels she is the only thing protecting her mother and younger sisters from his murderous violence. At least autumn hop-picking in Kent gives all the Colman women a heavenly respite. 

But it is here, on one golden September night, that Milly makes the mistake of her life and finds her courage and strength tested as never before.

This was recommend to me from Amazon & at only 59p on Kindle I couldn't say no.

It was a bit of a slow burner & took a while for me to get it to it. However once it got going I was hooked.

I really enjoyed it, well worth 59p!

9/10

June Book Review

I did very well in June, my first book is actually 3 books in one!!

An omnibus edition of Judith Kerr’s internationally acclaimed trilogy, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, The Other Way Round and A Small Person Far Away, we see the world through Anna’s eyes as she grows up – from her much loved family to Hitler’s holocaust.

Anna was a German child when she had to flee from the Nazis before the War. By the time the bombs began to fall she was a stateless adolescent in London, and after it was all over she became a happily married Englishwoman who thought she had put the past behind her.

This omnibus edition of the three volumes of Judith Kerr’s Hitler trilogy, tells her story beginning with the rise of Hitler in 1933 through to her return to Berlin years after the war.

I found the first 2 parts gripping & couldn't put them down. Such a brave family packing up their lives to move away from the horror that was going to happen to Jews in Germany. I really warmed to Anna & wondered what it would be like at that age to be moved around to different countries when you couldn't speak the language. At that age you don't understand the reasons why & no wonder she felt she had no home.

However the 3rd part was harder going, it follows Anna as an adult after the war & focuses on her mother. I must confess I didn't like her mum...... I can't put my finger on why but I felt she was a selfish, self centred person who didn't think about the impact of her actions on her children. Maybe I was missing something!

I thought this was a great book & would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading books about the holocaust.

9/10

Touching true stories from the heyday of the Butlin’s holiday camps.

‘When I got to the camp I felt as if I’d suddenly walked into Utopia – it was so colourful, so warm, so friendly. There were lights across the roads, there were banners fluttering in the breeze… There seemed to be laughter coming from every building.’

With grey post-WWII skies hanging low over Britain, factories lining the streets and smoke stacks dotting the horizon, there was one way that ordinary families could escape: the ever-cheerful holiday camps of Butlin’s.

When Billy Butlin founded his holiday camps in 1936, they were bastions of community spirit and havens of luxury. Here, for one week, wives and mothers were freed from the toil and drudgery of housework, children ran free through the grounds, fathers and husbands hung up their work clothes. Ever-helpful redcoats were on hand all hours of the day, dinner halls ready with plentiful food for old and young alike, bars stocked to quench any level of thirst, ballrooms waiting to be flooded with shiny shoes, rustling dresses and peals of laughter. And, as the sun went down on another exhausting, happy day, a chorus line was ready to sing holidaymakers back to their beds.

Rich in period detail and highly evocative, Wish You Were Here! tells the story of seven women who worked as redcoats in Butlin’s Golden Age. It’s all here: Knobbly Knees and Glamourous Grannies, the laughter and tears, hardships and heartbreaks, loves and losses of their lives in and out of the holiday camps, and above all the lifelong friendships they formed with each other and those who also worked or holidayed there.

Funny, moving and heartwarming, these are the timeless tales of a community spirit that burned brightly in a much-loved British institution.

I brought this book on Kindle for a bargain price of 99p, I love social history books & I found the cover helped!

Wouldn't we all love a Butlin's holiday in the 1950's??

It didn't disappoint! I read this within a few days & love it!

It's based around peoples memories of working in Butlin's between the 50's to the 80's. 

There are some very amusing stories plus some sad heartbreaking stories towards the end of their lives. It's lovely to hear there's a reunion group that still meet every year.

If Butlin's would like to run traditional holiday's again then count me in!!

10/10

May Book Review

Only 1 book in May 

Struggling to make ends meet, Mary Anne Randall is offered no help by her drunk and abusive husband. A pawnbroking business run from the wash house at the back of her home is the only way she can hope to keep her three kids fed and clothed. 

But, as storm clouds gather over Europe, can Mary Anne break free from her loveless marriage for what might be a last chance at love...?

I wasn't aware this was the second book in the series when I started but I would say it wasn't necessary to read the first one. I enjoyed this book, I warmed to the characters straight away. I really felt for Mary Anne & wanted a better life for her. A lot of the books set in this era are a bit rose tinted which I don't think is strictly true, lots of women in this era had a very hard life & Mary Anne is just one of them. I look forward to reading the next book at some point in the future.

You can find it on Amazon here 

8/10

April's Book Review

June 2nd, 1953. The residents of Ruby Street in London's East End are celebrating the new Queen's coronation. It's a day of joy and laughter, a new beginning for a nation still in the grip of rationing, still suffering the aftermath of the Blitz. But for Rose Weaver, the day ends in tragedy when her husband Eddie is arrested on suspicion of theft. It's only the first of several shocks as Rose discovers some unpleasant facts about the man she married eight years before, the man she thought she knew so well. Struggling to provide for herself and her two daughters, Rose realises that she'll need the help of family, friends and the good neighbours of Ruby Street if she's to have any chance of pulling through. And when a handsome salesman knocks at her door, it's hard to resist temptation ..

Only 1 book again this month.

Moving away from WW2 I went for the 1950's instead! 

I did really enjoy this book even though it took a long time to read. Rose, the main character, is a great strong East End women just as you would expect for the time.

9/10

My eyes get so tired when I read & when I went for my eye test last week I found out why..... 

yep I have to wear glasses for reading!

I'm hoping I will find it easier to read now so fingers crossed I'll read more..... don't hold your breath! 

Hopefully they will arrive soon.

February Book Review

I managed 2 books in February which is great for me.

As the worst storm of the century sweeps through the mountains of Snowdonia and across the Mersey, two women, Molly and Ellen, give birth to girls in a Liverpool Maternity Hospital.

Molly and Rhys Roberts farm sheep in Snowdonia and Ellen is married to a docker, Sam O’Mara, but despite their different backgrounds the two young women become firm friends, though Molly has a secret she can share with no one.

But despite promises Ellen’s husband continues to be violent, so she throws him out and years later, when Molly is taken to hospital after an accident, Ellen and her daughter Lana are free to help out.They approach this new life with enthusiasm, unaware that they are being watched, but on the very day of Molly’s release from hospital there is another terrible thunderstorm and the hidden watcher makes his move at last...

I started this before Christmas & completely lost my reading mojo...... again! It took forever to finish it!

I found it slow in places which surprised me as I normally enjoy Katie Flynn books, maybe it was because I kept stopping & starting. As with all WW2 romance books there was no shock ending, just a happy one!

7/10 

We had returned to a different world. We had taken off in peace at nine-thirty and landed in war at noon.' 

Jackie Moggridge was just nineteen when World War Two broke out. Determined to do her bit, she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary. Ferrying aircraft from factory to frontline was dangerous work, but there was also fun, friendship and even love in the air. At last the world was opening up to women... or at least it seemed to be. 

From her first flight at fifteen to smuggling Spitfires into Burma, Jackie describes the trials and tribulations, successes and frustrations of her life in the sky.

I finished the last book while I was working at the shelter so didn't have a new book to hand. I then remembered I brought this on Kindle in July last year for a bargain price of 85p! I saw Jackie's daughters talking about the book on the local news (they live in Somerset) & brought it straight away.

I was so pleased I did, it was a inspiring story. I'm interested to hear about the women who flew the airplanes in WW2 but this takes it one step further. Jackie was part of the crew who delivered Spitfires to the Middle East, for a women at that time that was a big thing.

I would really recommend this book...... it's now £2.99 on Kindle but worth it!

10/10

December Book Review

Only 1 book in December.

I went for something different this time, still WW2 but not a romance.

Sage Singer has a past that makes her want to hide from the world. Sleeping by day and working in a bakery by night, she kneads her emotion into the beautiful bread she bakes.

But when she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Josef Weber, a quiet man old enough to be her grandfather, and respected pillar of the community, she feels that finally, she may have found someone she can open up to.

Until Josef tells her the evil secret he's kept for sixty years.

Caught between Josef's search for redemption and her shattered illusions, Sage turns to her family history and her own life for answers. As she uncovers the truth from the darkest horrors of war, she must follow a twisting trail between betrayal and forgiveness, love and revenge. And ask herself the most difficult question she has ever faced - can murder ever be justice? Or mercy?

I've read lots of books about the holocaust & I had heard this was pretty bad but I still wanted to give it a go. At times I found it hard to continue but I wanted to know what happened at the end. 

I really enjoyed it, if you can say that about such a book!

10/10

I only managed 20 books in 2014 my target was 40..... pretty rubbish I'd say!

I have 2 boxes of books to read at work which at this rate will last me 2 years!!

I need to pull my finger out this year.

November Book Review

Just the one book in November...... like everything my reading seems to be slacking!

I feel like I'm busy all the time but I don't seem to get anything done.... why is that?

Attractive, clever and wilful, Lily Knowles is desperate to leave home. So at twenty-one she escapes to London to train as a nurse, where she gathers many admirers - none more dashing than RAF officer Sandy Redfern, with whom she falls in love.

But the coming of war, with the chaos of the Blitz, brings upheavals and unforeseen entanglements. On hearing of Sandy's reckless affair with a married woman, a heartbroken Lily throws herself into her work. Then further changes in circumstances bring her to a busy RAF hospital in Hampshire, where a faithful childhood sweetheart persuades her to become engaged to him. 

And then fate brings Sandy Redfern back into her life, physically scarred by burns and inwardly embittered. What of their once passionate love and her present commitment? Can the past ever be recaptured?

After reading a Maggie Holt book in October I thought I would give this a go, the writing is really small so I did struggle reading before bed. I wasn't that keen on Lily at the start but felt myself warming to her as the book goes on. It was slow progress but I did enjoy it...... and yes it is another WW2 romance!! 

8/10

October Book Review

Finally I'm back to share my October book..... yes that's right it's just one book!

Once again I seem to have lost my reading mojo, not sure where it's hiding but I'm hoping it will come back soon before I drown in all the books I've got from my shop!

Following a disastrous marriage to a miner, Karen has devoted herself to a nursing career. Rising to the challenge of caring for the wounded soldiers returning home from the Great War, she has resigned herself to putting her vocation before any hope of a romantic life.

However, she finds herself drawn to handsome, troubled Patrick Murphy. But Patrick is also a Catholic priest. Dare Karen risk scandal and her position by falling for the one man she cannot have...?

So without further a do....

In this book I travelled back to WW1. It was the first Maggie Hope book I've read & I did really enjoy it. It was quite dark at times which just added to the story, there were also some twist & turns that I didn't see coming. As with most of these books there was a happy ending which is always good.

Another book that won't change the world but a pleasant read all the same.

8/10

Life has been a bit hectic over the last few weeks. My boiler broke & I had water pouring through the ceiling due to tiles slipping on my roof :(

It never rains but it pours doesn't it?

I've been spending most of my time up & down from the loft emptying buckets & being messed around by trades man.

I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel...... a roofer came around today with a quote, £2.6k..... crikey!!!! But it needs to be done.

I've also got heat!!! The girls are very happy :)

I just need to find a plumber now!

Talking about Crikey...... it's 8 days away!!

I decided to only do one fair this year in the hope I would then have lots of stock to sell.

Well it didn't go to plan & once again I'm in a panic!!!

Do I never learn???

Back soon

September Book Review

Two more WW2 stories read in September.

A family divided by war but united by love. Marianne seems to have everything. She is married to a handsome naval officer, Neil Sheridan, commander of a corvette. They have a daughter, Libby, and a beautiful home near Prince's Park in Liverpool. When war comes, Marianne takes war work and moves into Crocus Street with her mother, Mrs Wainwright, and younger sister. Neil disapproves because the Wainwrights live so near the docks, which are bound to be a bombing target, but Marianne is firm. Meanwhile, Libby is evacuated to the country to stay with Miss Williams, who lives in an ancient house, Tregarth, at the head of a valley in North Wales and Libby, the wheelchair-bound Matthew and Miss Williams assume they can settle down to see out the war in comparative safety. But, Libby is forced to return to the city when her mother suffers an accident and her gran finds herself unable to cope ...

I love Katie Flynn books & this one didn't disappoint. I read this one pretty quick for me, I did see the twist in the story before it came but I still really enjoyed it.

9/10

The much-loved author of ACROSS THE MERSEY tells of Liverpool under bombardment as never before – but the Campion family refuses to give in.

The Campions have always stuck together through danger and sorrow, but even they begin to wonder if it’s time to take their youngest, the twins, to safety away from the bombing raids. The twins have other worries on their minds; having been inseparable, they now realise that they each have different ambitions - and Lou isn’t sure she’ll find what she wants close to home.

Meanwhile, cousin Bella is managing a creche and discovers that life isn’t all about pleasure. She’s the last person her family would expect to help anyone; but when a figure from the past turns up on the doorstep, Bella’s unexpected reserves of compassion are revealed.

From hardship and heartbreak, surviving the toughest of times, the Campions know they can make it through if they have one another.

This is part of a series of book which I hadn't read. I was tempted to give up once I discovered that but I'm glad I stuck with it. You can't beat a happy ending :) 

9/10

I decided not to read anymore WW2 but after 2 days of reading a modern book I gave up & went back to my favourites.

My reading mojo is slipping away again & the book I'm reading is taking forever to finish :(

I must stick with it!

September 2014

I've been away too long & the weeks are marching on :(

So September came & went in a haze!

I finally received my anniversary present from OH...... we've been waiting since Christmas!.... top left corner, it's the new The Men They Couldn't Hang album that OH pledged, look closely & you'll see my name!!!

We remember our lovely Charlie who pass away 6 years ago, I had my 6th anniversary in blogland, started my Christmas jumper, tried to make loads for the November Crikey It's Vintage fair, finding goodies in my shop, a 1940's day out & of course spending time with my beautiful girls.

September was a lovely months & the sun shone lots. I'm getting used to living on my own but not looking forward to February when OH's lease is up on his new place...... I really don't want to move all my junk!!!

Hope I can find time to blog soon.

August Book Review

1940: as war closes in and the bombs fall, on the Homefront, two sisters must find their place in a new world of ‘men’s’ work, in which a telegraph can break your heart and nothing in the future is certain. Growing up in Birmingham, Sylvia and Audrey Whitehouse were always like chalk and cheese. As young women, while Sylvia dreams of her forthcoming life married to fiancé Ian. Audrey can’t bear the thought of being tied down by marriage and children. Instead she jumps at the career opportunities the WAAF throws her way. Joining the ranks at RAF Cardington, she finds these new freedoms come with confusion and irresistible temptations. When she goes too far in one careless moment, the consequences will ripple through the whole Whitehouse family. Meanwhile, Sylvia has come round to the idea of war work and, doing her bit, becomes a railway porter, much to Ian’s dismay. Fetching and carrying are just not feminine, not like Sylvia’s new friend Kitty, who is as sweet and pretty as can be. But Kitty’s innocent, girlish nature hides a far darker secret that no one could guess… As the pressures of rationing, bombing raids and sleepless nights grow, the two sisters must decide what they really want from life and if they’re brave enough to fight for it. A heartbreaking yet inspiring novel, perfect for fans of Margaret Dickinson and Katie Flynn.

Only one book read in August. 

This was brought to the shop by a lovely lady who keeps me supplied with WW2 romance.

It was a great book, with lots twist & turns.

10/10 

July Book Review

Liverpool 1936

Miranda and her mother, Arabella, live comfortably in a nice area. But when her mother tells her she can no longer afford their present lifestyle, they have a blazing row, and Miranda goes to bed angry and upset. When she wakes the next morning, however, her mother has disappeared.

She raises the alarm but everyone is baffled, and when searches fail to discover Arabella's whereabouts, Miranda is forced to live with her Aunt Vi and cousin Beth, who resent her presence and treat her badly.

Miranda is miserable, but when she meets a neighbour, Steve, things begin to look up and Steve promises to help his new friend in her search, and does so until war intervenes.

I loved this book! It had me hooked from the beginning. I really enjoy Katie Flynn books, a good light read with the back drop of WW2

10/10

Laura Collins, a widow, is struggling to make a good life for her daughters, Tess and Tina.They are living with Laura's sister Millie and her seven children so when Laura is offered a good job, with accommodation, she is delighted.

Life is very different for the Brewsters, living on Manor Farm in Herefordshire.Danny and his girlfriend, Sophie, intend to marry one day so that they can run Manor Farm together but his cousin and best friend, Phil Ryland, feels differently.He longs to get away from farming and intends to escape as soon as he can.

Then war comes and changes everything.Tina is evacuated and Tess joins the Land Army.She means to be true to her boyfriend, Mike, but he is far away.Danny and Phil join the RAF, Danny to pilot bombers and Phil as navigator.They end up on the same airfield and fall in love with the same girl...But Phil has a secret which could end his chance of happiness, and Danny is the only person who knows what that secret is ...

Yep another Katie Flynn book! This time I've moved on to land girls.

Another great book. If you haven't read any of her books I would recommend them...... great for holiday reading.

10/10

More WW2 romance coming in August

June 2014

June has been & gone....

Celebrating OH's birthday, remembering D-Day, remembering my beautiful Zoe, knitting animals for the RSPCA week, bargain hunting with the family, spending time with my girls, a sunny day at a 1940's event, another sunny day selling at a vintage fair & Make, Do and Mend making a come back to raise money for the RSPCA week..... phew.... I seemed to have packed a lot in!!!

Looking forward to seeing what July has to offer

May Book Review

Nearly 1/2 way through June & I'm just doing May's review.... tut tut!

Only 2 books in May, this seems to be my limit at the moment

stockings, lisle . . . shoes, black clumpy . . . The list went on and on. And to think that she'd chosen the WAAF because the blue uniform looked so smart! When war broke out, seventeen-year-old Christie could have stayed down on the family farm in Norfolk, where she was wanted and needed. So why had she joined up? Come to that, why had Meg from Cheshire, and Sue, very much the big city girl from Liverpool, and Shanna, the life-toughened product of a broken home in Glasgow? Mixed reasons. Very mixed backgrounds. But no time to think now. Not with the sergeant shouting and the station air-raid siren beginning to wail . . .

Another lovely WW2 romance. I really enjoyed this book, the characters seem very real & the bond of friendship in that time were very strong.

8/10 

Portsmouth, January 1941. When the Luftwaffe unleashes its full fury on the city in the first of three major blitzes, the Taylor family are bombed out. Judy finds her job relocated from the gutted Guildhall to a hotel in Southsea, and home is now a small terraced house in April Grove, with one fewer bedroom and no bathroom or inside lavatory. And then there is the news she has been dreading: her sailor fiancé has been killed. 
Judy and her young, recently widowed aunt Polly decide to turn their grief to good account, and join the WVS - running canteens, accompanying evacuee children, and helping the families of servicemen, often in the face of danger from air raids, flying bombs and V2 rockets. 
Gradually, Judy and Polly find their own grief healing as they take part not only in their war work but in the life of April Grove, and although both are at first convinced they will never know love again, they both find it in the least likely manner

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I loved it. Lilian Harrys writing is great, the way she describes the country side makes you feel you were there. It really highlights the tough time people had on the home front during WW2.

9/10

So that's it for May. I'm trying to stop reading WW2 romances as I feel I've read enough. However I'm really struggling with my June books so I think I might go back to these!

All of my books are purchased from my charity shop, at only £1 each they're a bargain!

Check out your local charity shop or if you live in Exeter & would like me to look out for a book just give me a shout.

Happy reading!

April Book Review

Only 2 books read it April...... I need to try harder!

In 1939, a strangely assorted group of young women - barmaids mixing with secretaries and debutantes - bump along the road to RAF Colston in the back of a three-ton lorry. This story tells how, as the war progressed, these first WAAFs supported their pilots with courage, loyalty, and often love.

 I heard about this book years ago & it's been on my Amazon wish list. It's a hard book to get hold of as it keeps going out of stock & it's not cheap, so imagine my delight when one came into the shop! 

I must say I wasn't disappointed. It took forever to read as the writing is really small & it's over 700 pages but I finally finished it.

It tells the story of the beginning of the WAAF, the characters are lovely so you warm to them & can't wait to find out what happens next. It's sad in parts but a great read.

If you're a fan of WW2 romantic novels this is the book for you.

9/10

When her home is destroyed in a bombing raid over London, Miranda Beddoes is forced to take refuge with her grandparents down on the Dorset coast. With both her parents doing their duty for king and country, Miranda longs to do the same. She joins the WAAF and is soon working hard to help win the war.

Despite her determination to dedicate herself to her work, Miranda falls for charismatic fighter pilot Gil Maddern - a man known for his recklessness and passion for flying. As the battle rages in the skies above them and she learns that Gil's plane has been hit, it is only the friendship of her fellow girls in blue that keeps Miranda going as she waits for news.

Another WW2 romance I hear you say!

And yes it's another WWAF book. I really like Lily Baxter books & this one is no exception. It's a light read so prefect for holidays or travelling. Lily's characters are realistic & warm so it's easy to get drawn into the book. And you can't beat a book with a lovely happy ending.

8/10