Wives of War

Wives of War by Soraya M. Lane is part of a three-book collection that takes readers back to the World War II era. It is 1944 and Scarlet Alexander has joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (QA nurses). Scarlet is waiting for the train (and a little nervous) and is happy when Ellie O’Sullivan introduces herself. The pair are reporting for duty and final field training. Scarlet comes from a privileged background and is joining against her families wishes. She has not heard from her fiancé, Thomas is thirteen weeks and is worried about him. Scarlet feels nursing will allow her to look for Thomas. She knows he is still alive. Ellie has three brothers off fighting and she wishes to do her bit for the war effort. Ellie meets show more Dr. Spencer Black while training for the front and they are attracted to each other. Scarlet meets a soldier named James who makes her forget about her missing fiancé. Ellie and Scarlet are soon sent to France where are they inundated with injured soldiers. The unflappable Lucy Anderson is assigned to their unit as a surgical nurse. Lucy wants to enroll in medical school after the war. Rough conditions, little food and long hours are in store for these nurses. Their friendship will help them endure these difficult conditions along with hope and love.

I thought Wives of War was easy to read and had a good pace (in most sections). However, Wives of War is a book for readers who enjoy romance novels. Love is in the air for Lucy, Scarlet and Ellie and the war takes a backseat for the majority of the novel. The war in France plays out in the background while these ladies flirt (for the most part). I found the dialogue to be very American. It did not match up with the characters. Scarlet is upper-class British and should speak differently from Irish Ellie. There are a couple of British phrases tossed in here and there but they do not make the novel any more British. I also felt it was lacking in historical accuracy. I am rating Wives of War 3 out of 5 stars. I found Wives of War to be expected (predictable) and a repetition of basic details (how many times were we told Scarlet loved Thomas). I thought the characters were lacking and flat. They were not fleshed out and developed. Friendship blossoms instantly between the ladies (they just met), and then they fall in love just as quickly (Instant connection). I thought it was unrealistic (even for fiction). I wanted a story with more depth (about nurses working in Europe, their patients, etc.) with less focus on women finding husbands in the middle of a battle field. I wish the publisher had written the blurb differently (it is listed as historical fiction). If I had known it was a romance novel, I would have passed. My mother also read this novel and came away with the same impressions (which is rare for the two of us). show less

Three young women from different backgrounds become nurses for England in WWII. During their experiences, they meet the men that they will marry, thus the title. The romance part of this book was less interesting to me than the battlefield experiences that the characters, both men and women, experienced. Most of us today are far removed from the realities of war except for what we read in history books. I appreciated the way the author handled the setting and different situations. The ending seemed a bit rushed as far as the romance part is concerned, but I find that is often the case in books these days.

I am a fan of WWII themed books. What drew me to this book was the summary. You can never read enough stories about the brave women that helped during the war. Lucy, Scarlet, and Ellie were good. I liked they as individuals and together as friends. Yet, I found this story to be on the bland side. Instead of jumping right into the story and getting lost in it; I found myself struggling to read a few chapters at a time. Besides the three women, there really wasn't much happening in regards to action or any of the other characters to drew me to them. Even the romance was on the light side. This book help promise but it did not deliver for me.

what the heck, i wanted to actually like this book.
the nursing details were accurate enough for me to still give this two stars (few liberties taken for plot), but the dang characters... were uh, cliche.
and Scarlet and her story were so a n n o y i n g
Lucy & Jack were kinda *too* perfect tbh (and Lucy, randomly swept off her feet by a random man? Lucy? i doubt it)
Ellie didn't sound like an irish girl (not that i would know, but it was so american)

As a lover of historical fiction, I usually choose one of the monthly selection of my free Kindle First list and Wives of War did not disappoint. The story takes place mainly over a few weeks after D-Day which made for an interesting read as the world was celebrating the 75th anniversary of this horrific event.

The British had been enduring WWII for several years before June 6, 1944, but more nurses were needed and newly trained Scarlet and Ellie meet at a train station of the way to their first assignment. The two nurses quickly bonded and became fast friends. The third nurse, Lucy, an experienced wartime nurse, becomes the third friend in this tale of love and war.

As a disclaimer, I am not a fan of historical romances but this book is well written for that genre. The story is about two naïve English girls who volunteer for nursing duty during World War II, and have to grow up quickly once they are having to provide nursing care for traumatic war wounds and manage their love lives. The plot is pretty predictable if unrealistic, but the main characters are goodness personified so you hope the girl from the country marries a doctor and the rich girl finds her missing fiancé.

This book started with potential. Within the first two chapters, two of the three main characters, Scarlet and Ellie, had been painted so vividly that you cared what happened to them. The development of their friendship was lovely. While the book was overall enjoyable, in the end my challenge with it was that there was very little plot beyond the romances of main characters.