My Reading Getaway

Radar Girls,  a story of women in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor publishes next week on July 27th. After Pearl Harbor, the Women's Air Raid Defense program aka Radar Girls, was started. This quick read highlights the Radar Girls, women who were recruited after Pearl Harbor to track planes in the skies around Hawaii. The main character is Daisy Wilder, a young woman who likes animals more than people. She is called to duty after Pearl Harbor, not only learning her job but to become friends with her fellow WARD's. Along with her job, she falls in love with her former boss's son, who is also a pilot. Not everything is as it seams with her suitor and danger awaits in wartime. I found this book to be very enjoyable. It’s a wonderful story of women doing jobs typically done by a man and doing the job well. There is friendship among the woman that is powerful. There is also love in the story with some of the women’s husbands fighting in the war and new romances being developed by other...

When Rachel's Random Resources asked me to a part of the tour for The Life She Wants  I jumped at the chance. A husband and wife with marriage trouble and an outside women who wants the husband. It is a suspense filled psychological thriller set a cruise ship. The best thing is you can read it now! Paula and Tommy are having marriage problems. Paula wants a baby but Tommy is not on board and is not around very much as it is. Tommy tries to distract Paula with a surprise cruise and she is thrilled, partially because she believes Tommy is warming up to having a baby. Traveling on the ship in a cabin down the hall is Anna. Things start to go wrong for Paula while on the ship. She get locked in the sauna and money goes missing. Paula begins to suspect Anna is after her husband and wants her out of the way. I could not get enough of this book. The author keeps you guessing until the end with so many twists. The story is told in the present with the conflicts between the women. The story...

Jenn Reinvented  is the second book in the Sweet Water Circle  series. Jenn is Kaitlyn's sister from the first book in the series,  Project Kaitlyn .  Jenn is very goal driven, especially in her family. So much so she is known by her nickname, the Jenneral. She is determined to have another baby but her husband is not on board and wants a divorce instead. What will the Jenneral do? This series is sprinkled heavily with sexual innuendos and humor. What could be a heartbreaking story about the end of a marriage and an inability to get pregnant is lightened up by humorous writing. Jenn's friends in the Sweet Water Circle try to help her take her mind off of everything by taking a yoga class, but this does not end well. I really enjoyed the parts of the book when Jenn's dates show up at her house to pick her up and her husband (who has refused to leave the house) is there. Talk about awkward! You feel a friendship with the Sweet Waterloo Circle that will keep you wanting...

Kristin Harmel follows up her hit novel, The Book of Lost Names  with a new historical novel about WWII. The Forest of Vanishing Stars  is about a woman, Yona, who was stolen from her parents as a baby. She grew up with the woman living in the forests and learning how to live off the land. Yona has no idea what is happening in the world until she finds a Jewish family trying to escape the Nazis in the forest. Yona wants to share her knowledge of the woods with the refugees. What happens over the next few months will change many lives. I have been a fan of Kristin Harmel since The Winemakers Wife in 2019. Her beautiful historical fiction books are based heavily on real life events that I never would have learned about if not for Kristin’s books. The writing is so vivid that you can picture the forest and the shelters that were built.  Yona is a very strong character. A little naive about human life after living in the forest, she adapts quickly and makes it her mission to...