Carol Moncado

[Okay – I hoped to have this blog up earlier this week but, well, real life interfered with me hanging out with fictional peeps :D. My kids are back at school and I’m done filling forms out in quadruplicate – at least for another year ;). So last night, I was finally able to pick up Sarah’s new book and made a good dent in it. Then tonight, this happened… and I was able to finish :). Review? Here we go!]

[I can’t get the picture of the book itself to load and link so – here’s the Amazon link…]

Bold, sophisticated, and flirtatious, Army Air Force flight nurse Lt. Kay Jobson collects hearts wherever she flies, leaving men pining in airfields all across Europe. So how can ruggedly handsome C-47 pilot Lt. Roger Cooper be all but immune to her considerable charms? In fact, he seems to do everything he can to avoid her.

Still, as they cross the skies between Italy and southern France, evacuating the wounded and delivering paratroopers and supplies, every beat of their hearts draws them closer to where they don’t want to go. Can they confront the fears and misunderstandings in their pasts?

Sarah Sundin seamlessly weaves together emotion, action, and sweet romance into a tale that transcends time and calls us to believe in the power of love.

I had such high hopes when, on page two, Sarah invoked the great Stan “the man” Musial and the St. Louis Cardinals. /big heavy sigh/It was all downhill from there. No more of my beloved Cards! 😀 But the rest of it made up for the lack of “birds on a bat.”

I read and enjoyed the first two books in this series and couldn’t wait to get this third one. Would Georgie and Hutch finally get to be together? Will he get his commission? What about Mellie and Tom? Would her father survive the war as a prisoner in the Philippines? And now… Kay and Roger.

Beautiful, flirtatious Kay. Always multiple boyfriends. Never serious with any of them.

Handsome, aloof Roger. Believes there’s two reasons for dating – having fun or getting married – and he’s interested in neither.

But God has other ideas.

Kay believes what she’d been told about God in her childhood. Roger is the one who helps her find the truth. Mellie and Georgie help, too, but it’s primarily Roger’s influence.

And the knowledge that he, too, wasn’t good enough.

Roger has a past he’s not proud of. And when Kay – and the reader – learns his tale, she realizes that if God can save Roger, surely He can redeem her as well. But Kay still struggles with her past. Not just what she’d been taught, but her lack of roots. She wants, more than anything, to be a chief nurse. To get a job at a hospital after the war and buy a house to live out her days in.

Roger has longed to be a drummer since high school – and his new boss could be the key to make it happen. His boss’s brother? Conductor of a big band out of Chicago. But deeper down, another longing begins to make itself known. Which will he choose when he has the chance after the war? Which one will lead him to Kay? Being a drummer means a life on the road and he can’t ask that of someone who never lived in one place very long. But is he really capable of following this other dream? And being a success?

When crisis strikes, can the two work together with the rest of those involved to keep everyone safe? Can the man who refuses to date and the woman who wants a family, roots overcome their personal drama to get through the tough times?

By the end of the book, there’s plenty of closure for all three couples. There was a bit more I wanted to know about Kay’s future, but overall, not nearly enough to irritate me. I would have liked a bit more of a glimpse into Roger’s head at the end, especially a few days later, but it’s still all good.

And with the end of the series*, there’s still a few loose ends – for me. What happens to a couple of the other unattached men and women? Can they ever find God – and happiness with a spouse?

But ultimately, what it comes down to in this book… is me. Struggling to hold back tears while sitting poolside.  An ache in my chest for Kay, Roger, and Kay and Roger as a potential couple. But then, Sarah gives a happy ending and it’s all worth it :).

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 stars

*I presume it’s the end of the series for a couple of reasons – I’ve not heard otherwise; most series are three books these days; the time period in which the book ends.

Thanks to the publisher for this book in exchange for my honest review.