TITLE: A WEDDING FOR THE SPITFIRE GIRL
PUB: ARIA
PUB DATE: 10/10/2019
GENRE: Historical Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
1942 – The war rages on and Ellie must do her bit!
Ellie Simpson isn't your usual Spitfire pilot, but then with the world at war nothing is quite as it used to be! The ATA is calling upon its most expert and trusted pilots to deliver the precious bombers wherever they're needed, and Ellie, who can fly a Spitfire as well as the boys on the frontline, is their newest recruit.
Giving her all to a job she loves leaves Ellie precious little time for Squadron Leader Jack Reynolds. And while Ellie is brave enough to take the controls of a Spitfire, it takes a different kind of courage to open her heart to love once again. With her friends and family in constant danger she realises that their love is strong enough to stand the test of all the hardship the war can throw at them.
An emotional historical fiction that tells the story of friendship, camaraderie and triumph over adversity.
THOUGHTS:
This is a very well written book that will keep you engrossed right from the first page to the very last. I enjoyed this book thoroughly for the amazing characters - like Ellie Simpson, who is every bit as capable and skilled as any of other pilots, as a woman I am in awe. I enjoyed that the setting is in the early 40's, and finding love during the most chaotic time in the middle of war is very compelling to me.
The characters were written with so much care in their complexities and in dealing with grief, the war and their family life. I love how the characters were introduced and highlighting the role women played at that time was pretty amazing and everyone should really know the bravery of this women during the war.
Book Extract:
Frankie was the best-looking guy in the ATA – he seemed oblivious to his charms and Jack had rarely seen him in the company of any of the hopeful young ladies who swarmed around him.
It was only twenty miles or so to Oxford and the worst of the snow had been cleared by the soldiers who had very little to do at the moment. As soon as Reg had mentioned it being hush-hush, he’d guessed what this was about.
Joe Cross, his uncle, had given him Glebe Farm Aero Club just before the war started, and had been involved in dodgy dealing. Joe had died two years ago in jail and Jack was no longer in contact with his aunt. He had never known exactly what his uncle had been incarcerated for – but he was damned sure it was something to do with blackmail and Mosley’s lot. All the fascists had been rounded up now as far as he knew.
Ellie’s mother had buggered off to live with her own father, Sir Reginald Humphrey, and she and Fred had been divorced. He was now happily married to Mabel and since Ellie’s eldest brother Neil’s funeral none of the Simpson family had had any contact with the fascist bastardHumphrey.
At one point everyone at Glebe Farm had expected to be arrested but fortunately this hadn’t happened. The more he thought about it the more convinced he was that this unexpected summons to Oxford was something to do with what had happened back then.
He frowned. There was another brother, George, who had sided with his grandfather and mother – he hoped for Ellie’s sake her estranged family weren’t going to drag her into something unsavoury. He didn’t give a damn about his reputation, but if the woman he loved was damaged by something his uncle had set in motion he would be appalled. Perhaps it would be better for both of them to stop seeing each other until whatever was going on was sorted.
There were very few private cars on the road nowadays – petrol rationing had seen to that. Therefore, apart from military vehicles of various sorts he didn’t see much traffic and the vehicle entered Oxford sooner than he’d expected.
He looked around with interest, never having been to this university town before. Students on bicycles, their black gowns flapping behind them, showed that life went on more or less as usual here. The car pulled up in front of an impressive archway.
The driver jumped out and opened the door for him as if he was someone important. If the guy only knew the real reason for his being here, he wouldn’t be so polite. The car roared off leaving Jack standing in front of the college, not sure where he should be.
A young man in mufti rushed up to him. ‘Squadron Leader Reynolds? Excellent, please come with me. I apologise for not being here to greet you but you’re earlier than we expected.’
Jack followed and was led across the quad and into the hallowed hall itself. Strangely there were students and professors wandering about the place as well. If this was the home of some secret service or other it seemed odd that they were sharing the accommodation with regular guys.
‘It’s the third door on the left, sir.’ His guide vanished, leaving him to make his own way, and he was still none the wiser as to why he was there.
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Fenella Jane Miller was born in the Isle of Man. Her father was a Yorkshire man and her mother the daughter of a Rajah. She has worked as a nanny, cleaner, field worker,hotelier,chef, secondary and primary teacher and is now a full time writer.
She has over twenty five Regency romantic adventures published plus one Jane Austen re-telling and one YA romantic fantasy.
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