The Light Over London

October 15, 2018
Prolific romance writer Kelly (The Look of Love) weaves an intricate, tender, and convincing tale of war and romance with skill and suspense. In 2017 London, assistant antique dealer Cara Hargraves discovers a WWII diary while preparing a manor house for an estate sale. Intrigued, Cara determines to identify the diarist and uncover her story. The diary’s entries begin in 1940, written, as Cara discovers, by 19-year-old Cornwall shopgirl Louise Keene. As Cara recovers from a devastating divorce, she and her handsome neighbor Liam McGown, who works with Cara, learn much about the diary’s author. Louise falls in love with dashing RAF pilot Paul Bolton, but her mother angrily disapproves, leading Louise to run away to London, join the British army, and become part of the female crew of an antiaircraft gun protecting London during the Blitz. Though Louise has a difficult personal life with Paul, she proves her independence and courage as a “gunner girl” shooting at German bombers. This is a bold story of a young woman’s innocence and heartache, and her satisfying discovery of her worth and inner strength.

November 1, 2018
When antiques dealer Cara Hargraves discovers a biscuit tin holding a locket, a photograph, and a diary dating back to World War II, she becomes determined to discover the identity of the smiling young woman in uniform.Kelly (The Allure of Attraction, 2018, etc.) deftly balances intrigue with mystery and historical detail in her latest novel. As the chapters alternate between the present day and the war era, Cara unpacks mementos conjuring up the life of Louise Keene, a young woman chafing at the confines of Haybourne, her Cornish village. While her mother and Mrs. Moss may be convinced she'll marry Gary Moss someday--just as soon as the war ends and he returns home to run his father's small law firm--Louise herself has other plans. So when her beautiful, outgoing cousin, Kate, invites her to a dance, Louise pushes aside a self-deprecating glance in the mirror and musters up her courage. There, she meets the dashing Flight Lt. Paul Bolton, a man who captures her heart. Their whirlwind romance is thrown a curveball when Paul is suddenly deployed, and Louise sets off on an adventure, following him out of Haybourne. Eager to put herself and her mathematical skills to work, Louise enlists, joining the women's branch of the British army as a gunner girl, a member of an anti-aircraft unit that calculates the locations of enemy planes. Her correspondence with Paul becomes increasingly passionate, and they quickly marry during a rare leave. But a string of unanswered letters is only the first clue that Paul has secrets that will utterly upend Louise's life. Meanwhile, in the present, as recently divorced and romantically gun-shy Cara chases down the clues in the tin, she meets Liam McGown, her new, rather charmingly disheveled neighbor. A reader of medieval history, Liam chivalrously helps Cara on her quest, and love may be around the corner for the sleuths, too.A charming imagining of the historical gunner girls.

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November 15, 2018

Antiques dealer Cara finds a tin of letters and photographs from World War II that pose a mystery she feels compelled to investigate. Through the contents of the box, readers enter 1940s Great Britain and are privy to Louise Keene's life during that era. Louise is tested when she joins the women's army and is chosen as a new "gunner girl." Dangerous antiaircraft action during the Blitz bombings in London ensues and makes exciting reading. Kelly moves from historical romance (The Allure of Attraction; The Taste of Temptation) into mainstream fiction with this dual time-line story. Romance is not entirely forgotten while both heroines struggle with life's difficulties; however, the development of the main characters takes center stage. Cara gradually learns of Louise's life via the letters, detective work in the military files, and finally through a 94-year-old woman. Surprises involving a selfish mother, dashing RAF pilots, and a grandmother with a secret keep the guesses coming. VERDICT For fans of historical works by and about women.--Mary K. Bird-Guilliams, Chicago

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2018
In present-day Gloucestershire, recently divorced Cara Hargraves is working for an antiques dealer when she discovers a mysterious journal that tells the story of a wartime romance. Cara enlists the help of her handsome neighbor, Liam, to uncover the identity of the journal's author, while also grappling with her own failed marriage and secrets from her beloved grandmother's past. Meanwhile, in 1941 Cornwall, the journal's author, Louise Keene, is swept into a whirlwind courtship with charming RAF pilot Paul Bolton. When her parents won't support the match, Louise joins the army's antiaircraft-gun unit, before eventually discovering that her desire for a life of her own choosing might be at odds with the future she envisions with Paul. While there is nothing particularly surprising about a couple of big reveals in the final chapters, Kelly has crafted two convincing, conflicted heroines in Cara and Louise, and the resolution of Louise's romance is satisfyingly empowering. Hand this to fans of Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach (2017) and other tales of the vital roles played by women in wartime.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)