Carol Rivers

I finished this one really quickly, it was sweet and even tad suspenseful at the end. Just a tiny but ;) I just wanted to know what would happen to them all, if they would be ok.

Hilda, Flora and Will are best friends as they grew up at the same orphanage. Flora is the responsible one (I liked her), and she works as a nurse. Without the degree. Will wants to join the army as this is 1914. And Flora wants a new position, she wants to become something more than a lowly maid. Will we do not see much of as he is at war and sends letters. Flora is the main character and I wanted the best for her. While Flora, oh she was a silly girl, you know she is gonna get into trouble somehow.

The book takes place during the war, years go by, they grow up, get intro trouble, fall in love and there is happiness at the end. I liked that. Even if I also knew that their children, if they have any, will end up fighting in a war too.

Like I said, the last 200 pages just flew by cos I could not put it down. I needed to know that everyone would ...well survive the war of course! And that someone would at least find some sort of happiness.

Sweet, without any silly drama. A tale of friendship in the shadow of war.… (més)

The book felt light even with the heavy background at hand. I liked that as the pages just turned themselves that way.

East End during the blitz. Horrors daily and fear, but Kay just lives her life even if it's tough. She misses her son who is evacuated. She is married to Alan who, yes who has secrets and I kept wondering through out the book what really was going on with him.

There is a good cast of side characters too, Viv who lives next door and then a bunch of other neighbors who lives on the street. And then there is a bitchy woman who shows up and she, arghh, so deserved a smack over the head. She brings something new into the story, good and bad things.

There is also more than one Christmas in the book. The book starts during the blitz and ends after the war is over.

A good book with interesting characters and the same goes for the scenery. I enjoyed it.… (més)

Connie, who is a typist working for Daltons, isn't ready yet to settle down and have kids. She wants to work her way up the career ladder and avoid poverty. Everything changes one day when she's helping younger brother Billy cover his mess and she hears a noise. She sticks to her instincts and helps and she ends up with a little boy, Lucky, in her care. Engaged and also becoming attached to Lucky, will she have her happy ending of Vic, her fiancé, coming back alive whilst also being able to enjoy watching Lucky grow up?

This was a brilliant book, it was well written as well as being gripping and a page turner.

All of the characters felt real and you are able to make a connection with them. I loved Ada, to me she wasn't mentioned enough, she was fun, lively, humorous and had something about her that the other characters just didn't have. I also thought the young GI, Clint Hershey, was absolutely wonderful. I was hoping something would happen between him and Connie, after all he adored her or so it seemed. I, however, didn't like Lucky's maternal grandfather and didn't from the first time he was mentioned. He's what you'd want in a somewhat villain character - sinister with a hidden agenda.

The scenes were well written and descriptive enough so you can imagine being there without being drained from being overwhelmed. You're definitely left wondering about what is going to happen next.

This book was later republished under the title of 'Cockney orphan.'… (més)