By Terri Wangard
About the Book:
Carol becomes a Red Cross doughnut girl, serving GIs and boosting their morale. Convinced wartime romances are doomed to disappointment, she attempts to avoid entanglements. She didn’t plan on Chet, the navigator who tempts her to throw caution to the wind.
Chet’s father and brothers always belittled him. As a squadron lead navigator, he longs to prove them wrong. He’s already been offered a terrific job with PanAm after the war. First he must survive his combat tour. Will he even have a future?
This author definitely has a very special talent in writing historical novels, one that is unique in her ability to write them so descriptively that you enter the time period alongside the characters , experiencing the trials and fears of war. I have to admit that historical novels are just not my "cup of tea", however, having said this, I loved this book!! I may just have to readjust my opinions!!! Although this is the third book in Terri's series, "Promise for Tomorrow", it can easily be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. I have read the first two books, thus easily met up with familiar characters, feeling as if I was once again visiting their special time in history.
The setting was so well described that I could actually feel and hear the bombs dropping as I read this intense tale. Terri has done her research well ,as evident in her descriptions of the countrysides, events, and even the thoughts of her characters.
The characters came alive in my mind as I travelled the path of war alongside them. They had to survive in a very difficult time period full of fear for their's and their friend's lives. I felt their every tense moment. I could hear the bombs dropping around them as they tried to provide necessary services to their homeland.
The plot moves steadily with surprising twists and turns at every turn of the page. As in a war, you just never know what is hiding around the corner, and this feeling was portrayed in a detailed, intense manner. There is an underlying message of faith and forgiveness that shines through the most frightening times. God is with us always, even when we are in the depths of despair.
This book is definitely one that all historical fiction lovers must read!! And you others who are similar to me, thinking that it is not for you, just try it!! You may find that this author captures your attention and won't let it go!! It is a GREAT book!!
This book was received as a gift from CelebrateLit. The opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.
Terri Wangard grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Lombardi Glory Years. Her first Girl Scout badge was the Writer. These days she is writing historical fiction, and won the 2013 Writers on the Storm contest and 2013 First Impressions, as well as being a 2012 Genesis finalist. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in library science, she lives in Wisconsin. Her research included going for a ride in a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. Classic Boating Magazine, a family business since 1984, keeps her busy as an associate editor.Guest Post from Terri Wangard
For the third book of my World War II series, I needed something to involve my main character with. At first I considered the train canteens, where volunteers laden with food met troop trains crisscrossing the country. That wouldn’t work though, because my navigator was heading overseas and I didn’t want a correspondence relationship. Besides, someone else had already written a novel about the canteens. Then I discovered the Red Cross clubmobiles.
The American Red Cross operated canteens on the home front and clubs and clubmobiles overseas during World War II to provide soldiers and sailors with a cup of coffee, a doughnut, and a bit of friendly conversation that gave the men a familiar connection with home.
Around the world, the Red Cross staffed permanent service clubs, traveling clubmobiles, and other recreational facilities. Service clubs provided refreshments, accommodations, and comfort and recreational activities wherever American troops were located overseas. In major cities, they offered meals, recreational activities, overnight accommodations, and barbershops and laundries. Some also provided sightseeing opportunities, touring museums, castles and cathedrals, and attending local theaters and movie houses.
Around the world, the Red Cross staffed permanent service clubs, traveling clubmobiles, and other recreational facilities. Service clubs provided refreshments, accommodations, and comfort and recreational activities wherever American troops were located overseas. In major cities, they offered meals, recreational activities, overnight accommodations, and barbershops and laundries. Some also provided sightseeing opportunities, touring museums, castles and cathedrals, and attending local theaters and movie houses.
Smaller clubs provided food in outlying areas near American military camps. The Red Cross also operated rest homes, often in stately manor houses in rural, tranquil locations overseas, for service personnel needing respite from the pressures of war.
To serve military sites in isolated areas, the Red Cross used clubmobiles in Great Britain in 1942 and later, the continent. Staffed by three American Red Cross women and a local driver in England, they visited several sites in a day, bringing refreshments, entertainment, and a touch of home to the troops in a foreign land. They used converted half-ton trucks and single-deck London buses, which featured kitchen equipment for making and serving doughnuts and coffee. Some carried phonographs and loudspeakers to provide music for the troops, and the women often danced with the servicemen. On the continent, the women had to drive and service their trucks.
Many American servicemen had never traveled far from home. At Red Cross clubs and clubmobiles in far-flung places around the globe, they received a connection to home and
civilian life through friendly American women and familiar food. The Red Cross served a basic purpose of raising morale.
Carol Doucet of Soar Like Eagles was proud to be a Red Cross Doughnut Girl.
civilian life through friendly American women and familiar food. The Red Cross served a basic purpose of raising morale.
Carol Doucet of Soar Like Eagles was proud to be a Red Cross Doughnut Girl.
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Thanks for sharing this book on your blog. It looks like a good book I'm following the book tour around.
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