by Sarah Sundin
Wings of the Nightingale series, Book 1
Christian Fiction / Historical / Romance
Available September 2012
Revell
432 pages
About the Book
They know everything about each other--except their real names. Lt. Mellie Blake is looking forward to beginning her training as a flight nurse. She is not looking forward to writing a letter to a man she's never met--even if it is anonymous and part of a morale-building program. Lt. Tom MacGilliver, an officer stationed in North Africa, welcomes the idea of an anonymous correspondence--he's been trying to escape his infamous name for years.
As their letters crisscross the Atlantic, Tom and Mellie develop a unique friendship despite not knowing the other's true identity. When both are transferred to Algeria, the two are poised to meet face-to-face for the first time. Will they overcome their fears and reveal who they are, or will their future be held hostage by their pasts?
Combining a flair for romance with excellent research and attention to detail, Sarah Sundin vividly brings to life the perilous challenges of WWII aviation, nursing--and true love.
My Thoughts
Mellie Blake joined the army to offer her skills as a nurse. Her unit of nurses will be deployed to North Africa as some of the first female flight nurses in the field. While in training, her supervisor has an idea of another way they can encourage the men at war—an anonymous letter-writing campaign. For the first time, Mellie feels like she can open up and truly be herself and puts her heart on the line. Lt. Tom McGilliver has secrets in his past that he would just as soon not remember. Exchanging anonymous letters with Mellie suits him just fine and a friendship develops that is unlike anything either has ever experienced. When they both arrive in Algeria, they must decide if they will risk their anonymous friendship for the opportunity to meet face-to-face. Or if their pasts will continue to determine their present.
Sarah Sundin brings World War II alive in her latest novel With Every Letter. Mellie and Tom are unique characters—each with their own secrets and struggles. The way their relationship develops is so interesting. I wasn't sure what to think at first when I realized that the two wouldn't meet for quite a few pages, but Sundin did a beautiful job of building their friendship and weaving the pieces of their story together. She even threw in a few great surprises!
The other characters were interesting as well, and the author gave a lot of depth to each character. Many of the secondary characters also had struggles and grew during the course of the story as well, which was nice to see.
Sundin did a wonderful job researching the challenges of female flight nurses and the other aspects of WWII that were included. I felt like I was right there in the middle of things. I can't imagine the amount of time that must be devoted to research for a book like this!
Overall, this was such an amazing book! The message of forgiveness and redemption was so poignant and came through without being preachy. I absolutely cannot wait until the next book in this series!! [5 stars]
I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity and Revell Books in exchange for my fair and honest review.
Mellie Blake joined the army to offer her skills as a nurse. Her unit of nurses will be deployed to North Africa as some of the first female flight nurses in the field. While in training, her supervisor has an idea of another way they can encourage the men at war—an anonymous letter-writing campaign. For the first time, Mellie feels like she can open up and truly be herself and puts her heart on the line. Lt. Tom McGilliver has secrets in his past that he would just as soon not remember. Exchanging anonymous letters with Mellie suits him just fine and a friendship develops that is unlike anything either has ever experienced. When they both arrive in Algeria, they must decide if they will risk their anonymous friendship for the opportunity to meet face-to-face. Or if their pasts will continue to determine their present.
Sarah Sundin brings World War II alive in her latest novel With Every Letter. Mellie and Tom are unique characters—each with their own secrets and struggles. The way their relationship develops is so interesting. I wasn't sure what to think at first when I realized that the two wouldn't meet for quite a few pages, but Sundin did a beautiful job of building their friendship and weaving the pieces of their story together. She even threw in a few great surprises!
The other characters were interesting as well, and the author gave a lot of depth to each character. Many of the secondary characters also had struggles and grew during the course of the story as well, which was nice to see.
Sundin did a wonderful job researching the challenges of female flight nurses and the other aspects of WWII that were included. I felt like I was right there in the middle of things. I can't imagine the amount of time that must be devoted to research for a book like this!
Overall, this was such an amazing book! The message of forgiveness and redemption was so poignant and came through without being preachy. I absolutely cannot wait until the next book in this series!! [5 stars]
I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity and Revell Books in exchange for my fair and honest review.
Find out what other readers think here.
About the Author
Sarah Sundin is the author of A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow. In 2011, A Memory Between Us was a finalist in the Inspirational Reader's Choice Awards and Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist's mate (medic) in the Navy and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children.
Sarah Sundin Online
It looks like a great book just by the cover, and the review you gave made me want to read it :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely review! I'm so glad you liked Tom & Mellie's story. And thanks for tagging me on Twitter so I could see it :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Christmas, my three words are Jesus, Family, Presents. Christmas is the time we celebrate Jesus birth. It's time all the family get together and shared moments that turn into wonderful memories. At Christmas, you have to have presents especially for the children or a gift for someone special in your life.
ReplyDelete