In 1944, American naval officer Lt. Wyatt Paxton arrives in London to prepare for the Allied invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a "Wren" in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Dorothy pieces together reconnaissance photographs with thousands of holiday snapshots of France--including those of her own family's summer home--in order to create accurate maps of Normandy. Maps that Wyatt will turn into naval bombardment plans.
As the two spend concentrated time together in the pressure cooker of war, their deepening friendship threatens to turn to love. Dorothy must resist its pull. Her bereaved father depends on her, and her heart already belongs to another man. Wyatt too has much to lose. The closer he gets to Dorothy, the more he fears his efforts to win the war will destroy everything she has ever loved.
The tense days leading up to the monumental D-Day landing blaze to life under Sarah Sundin's practiced pen with this powerful new series.
As the two spend concentrated time together in the pressure cooker of war, their deepening friendship threatens to turn to love. Dorothy must resist its pull. Her bereaved father depends on her, and her heart already belongs to another man. Wyatt too has much to lose. The closer he gets to Dorothy, the more he fears his efforts to win the war will destroy everything she has ever loved.
The tense days leading up to the monumental D-Day landing blaze to life under Sarah Sundin's practiced pen with this powerful new series.
My Thoughts
Sarah Sundin is one of my favorite authors. I have loved every single one of her books, so you could say I was excited for her latest release, The Sea Before Us. It did not disappoint. It reiterates Sundin as one of the masters of World War II historical fiction.
With every book of hers, I'm astounded by the amount of research that must go into each one! The attention to detail, the historical facts... wow! I definitely feel completely immersed in the time period while reading her books. And I learn so much interesting and compelling bits of history too. It was so fascinating learning some of what went into preparing for D-Day. It took so much planning and there were so many opportunities for something to go wrong, something that could've changed the outcome.
The way Sundin weaves a brilliant message of faith in with all the history and romance is so amazing and one of my favorite aspects of her books. And what great messages they are in this novel! There are quite a few but the one that stuck out to me the most was the reminder to just be yourself. Don't change yourself to impress someone else or to make them like you. God made you uniquely you, so embrace that.
I highly, highly recommend this book and can't wait for the next one to find out more about the Paxton brothers!
I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.
Five Stars
About the Author
Her novels When Tides Turn and Through Waters Deep were both named to Booklist’s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years.” Through Waters Deep was a 2016 Carol Award Finalist and won the 2016 INSPY Award, and her novella “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in Where Treetops Glisten was a finalist for the 2015 Carol Award. In 2014, On Distant Shores was a double finalist for the Golden Scroll Awards from both AWSA and the Christian Authors Network. In 2011, Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.
A mother of three, Sarah lives in northern California, works on-call as a hospital pharmacist, and teaches Sunday school and women’s Bible studies. She enjoys speaking to community, church, and writers’ groups, and has been well received.
She belongs to American Christian Fiction Writers, Christian Authors Network, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association.
Thank you for the lovely review, Ashley! I'm so glad you enjoyed Wyatt & Dorothy's story!
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome, Sarah! It was such a wonderful story! Thanks for stopping by! :)
Delete