Love and War
A country under attack and the story of one woman’s fight to protect England and her heart.
1941. The German war machine has crushed all of Europe-only England holds fast. To force a surrender, the German Luftwaffe bombs cities and villages the length of the country. As the battle rages, Britain is in desperate need to put more pilots in the air.
To free up more men a new unit is formed: The Ack Ack Girls. These special teams of courageous women will now fight in the anti-aircraft stations. Determined to be part of the effort, Ava Armstrong, volunteers for one of the special teams.
Her unit just happens to be located near an RAF airfield teaming with pilots. Sparks fly, and not just from artillery, when Ava crosses paths with Chris Fairfield, a handsome and cocky pilot stationed there. But nothing is easy in time of war, not even love.
my review...
I reviewed this great book at another time and HAD to post it here on my blog:
I grew up with parents who lived and fought through WW II. Every bit of the history of that time has always been of interest to me. But I’d sure never heard of the Ack Ack Girls. Even the title intrigued me. The Ack Ack Girls were a part of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. A part of the organization that helped operate Anti-Aircraft guns for Britain. Not in the form of shooting the gun but in many very important and dangerous ways. Some were called spotters. They used binoculars to find enemy planes. Some were in range-finder teams who calculated the distance a gun shell needed to travel to hit the target, and some were in predictor teams who worked out the length of the fuse necessary to ensure the shell exploded at the right height.
This book is fiction or a better genre definition might be historical fiction. But there is so much history here. I kept “googling” each item or event to read more about it. The time periods are correct, many of the events right on. It’s true there is more interest, a love story, descriptions of fictional characters experiencing war. I was aware of all this. Aware that it was a wonderfully written fiction book but…I still felt myself living in the true story of WWII.
Takes pretty tense, emotional writing to make the reader forget where they are.
Chris Karlsen has many books published all have good reviews.
Check it out here. http://amzn.to/3lx6lCo
“I guess you’re anxious to join your mates again.”
“I’m anxious to get in the air again. I do miss my friends, terribly. We’ve flown together since ’39. We were in the thick of what the politicians and press called the Battle of Britain. Unfortunately, they’re not sending me to my old squadron.”
A sad, resigned expression crept into his eyes, similar to her mother’s when she spoke of what the war did to Ava’s father.
“We didn’t bother to label the attacks,” Chris continued. “To us, they were constant dogfights from hell. I lost friends. Squadrons are a tight circle. We know how each other thinks, how the pilot on your right or left will react. That’s devilishly important when you’ve got Gerries swarming all around you. Folks made heroes of us, which we never gave credence. To us, we did the job we were supposed to do.”
“Let us have our heroes, Chris. We need them, especially now. It may have been just awful dogfights to you but it meant the world to us on the ground.”
The pain of losing his friends left his face. “You’re kind. Thank you.”
“Where are they sending you?”
“I’m reassigned to the twenty-ninth squadron at Hawkinge.”
It wouldn’t hurt to let him know she was from the area. Maybe, if she had more than a day’s leave down the road and went home, he might invite her for tea. It appeared he wasn’t the wanker she thought. “Really? I’m from Canterbury.”
“Canterbury. We’re practically neighbors. I’m from down the road, Ashford. How have we missed each other all these years?” He winked and the dimple in his chin deepened.
About Kris Karlsen...
My parents also love traveling, a passion they passed onto me. I wanted to see the places I read about, see the land and monuments from the time periods that fascinated me. I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and North Africa.
I am a retired police detective. I spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. My desire to write came in my early teens. After I retired, I decided to pursue that dream.
I’m currently working on the Bloodstone Series, which is historical suspense with romantic elements. I’m also writing a world war two romance series, The Love and War series.
My past series include my historical/time travel romance series is called, Knights in Time. My romantic thriller series is Dangerous Waters.
Each series has a different setting and some cross time periods, which I find fun to write.
I currently live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and two wild and crazy rescue dogs.
Website
buy links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
YouTube video
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy Friday! Thank you for posting your wonderful review of this book, The Ack Ack Girl sounds like a great story and I am looking forward to reading it myself
ReplyDelete