Review: With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin

This is the first book in the Wings of the Nightingale series and it was hard for me to set down. The author did a great job of making me feel like I was back in the 1940’s during wartime.

The characters are so well-written, with deep backgrounds and lots of insecurities. Mellie was extremely self-conscious, timid, and unsure of how to make friends. Tom was falsely cheerful and afraid to let go of his emotions at all, for fear that he would turn out like his father. His timidity did grate on my nerves through the story, but I was glad when he finally was able to figure out how to be the man that God made him to be.

I love how these two met by being anonymous pen pals. It is exactly what they needed in order to open up to each other and fall in love. This is such a sweet story and so well done. I am now working my way through the series and am really enjoying all of these characters. (5 stars)

ABOUT THE BOOK:

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sarah Sundin enjoys writing about the drama and romance of the World War II era. The Wings of the Nightingale series (With Every Letter, 2012, On Distant Shores, August 2013, and In Perfect Time, August 2014) follows three World War II flight nurses as they find love, friendship, and peril in the skies and on the shores of the Mediterranean. The Wings of Glory series (A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow) follows three brothers who are B-17 bomber pilots during World War II.

Sundin lives in northern California with her husband, three children, an antisocial cat, and a yellow lab bent on destroying her writing career. When she isn’t driving kids to tennis and karate, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist and teaches Sunday school and women’s Bible studies. She belongs to American Christian Fiction Writers, Christian Authors Network, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. In 2011 she received the Writer of the Year Award from the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A Memory Between Us was a finalist in the Inspirational Readers Choice Awards and was featured on Booklist’s Top Ten Inspirational Fiction List for 2010.

You can connect with Sarah on her website, blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.