MY REVIEW:

Sarah Sundin’s captivating novel Blue Skies Tomorrow is a fitting conclusion for her Wings of Glory series. Taking place on American soil, an English Air Force base and in the war torn fields and skies of Germany, this story plumbs the depths of human emotions. It reveals the masks people wear as they endeavor to keep hidden the secrets of their lives.

Helen Carlisle, a young war widow with a small son, has managed to hide the truth about her troubled marriage in order to protect her son. When forced to move in with her in-laws, she soon realizes just how deep the secrets have been buried.

Ray Novak, an Air Force trainer finds himself reassigned to a position in “supply” because the trainer jobs should be for the heroes who have actually flown in combat. Although all he really wants to do is be a pastor, he soon feels that he is less than a man because he is not actively involved in fighting the enemy.

Helen and Ray renew their acquaintance after many years. Although Ray’s memories of Sarah are from when she was little more than a child, he soon realizes that he cares deeply for her. Unfortunately, their past intrudes and the two end up oceans apart.

Blue Skies Tomorrow is a page turner that is filled with action, suspense, and romance. It had characters I loved, characters I despised, and a couple I wanted to shake some sense in. It was fun to renew acquaintances with characters from the first two books of the series. Although dead, Helen’s husband managed to control her life for much of the book. Although there were many crooks and turns, the finale was satisfying. I won’t say more because I fear spoiling the story for other readers.

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially that set during World War II, be sure to pick up Blue Skies Tomorrow and the first two books of the Wings of Glory series. They are all excellent.

This book was provided for review by
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

War Widow Fights The Past, American Pilot Fights For The Future

Award-Winning Author Delivers an Emotion-Packed,

Gripping Tale of War, Intrigue and Love

The country is still at war in Blue Skies Tomorrow (ISBN: 978-0-8007-3423-7, $14.99, 448 pages, August 2011) by award-winning author Sarah Sundin. It is 1944 and America longs for the war to be over so their boys can come home. This war has taken too many lives and made too many widows, orphans, and broken hearts. However, the homeland continues to pull together and buy bonds to support the troops, and Helen Carlisle has become the town’s war widow heroine. Doing her part with her son, she faithfully appears at community events asking people to support the troops. But deep down she is troubled. How much longer can she do this? Is she living a lie? Was her dead husband a hero? How can she live with the past?

Lt. Ray Novak prefers to follow his calling into ministry rather than the cockpit. But his current position offers him the luxury of a personal life since he is stateside training B-17 pilots. His interest in Helen, the young war widow, grows, but he knows she is hiding a painful past under a frenzy of volunteer work. Ray is called to fly a European combat mission at the peak of the air war. Their romance is tense because Helen is afraid, but Ray cannot help because he is in Europe. As Helen tries to make ends meet and confronts the past, Ray encounters a deadly enemy of his own. Will they find the courage to face their challenges? Will the truth come out? Will hope and redemption ring true for Helen?

The great era of World War II in Blue Skies Tomorrow is brought to life by Sundin in this emotion-packed novel.

Sarah Sundin received the 2011 Writer of the Year Award from the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, and her second novel, A Memory Between Us, is a finalist for an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award.  She is the author of A Distant Melody and A Memory Between Us. Her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England during WWII. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children. For more interesting information about Sarah visit: sarahsundin.com