Will keep you turning pages long into the night: My review of "On Distant Shores" by Sarah Sundin

about the book....

Caught between the war raging around them and the battles within, two souls long for peace--and a love that remains true.

Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. A boyfriend back home, a loving family, and a challenging job as a flight nurse. But in July 1943, Georgie's cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. 

Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée. While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they've made?

my review....

Infused with rich historical detail and featuring beautifully developed characters, "On Distant Shores" is a story that will keep you turning the pages long into the night. Sarah Sundin again proves that her pen has the ability to bring the past to life. She has given World War II an interesting twist by the addition of Hutch, a pharmacist who does not get the respect he should for the valuable role his profession plays in the War. I will admit that sometimes Hutch's attitude grated on me a bit, as though I could understand his frustration, I had moments where I wanted to reach through the pages and give him a stern talking to! Nevertheless, there is much to admire in Hutch's character, especially how he builds up and encourages Georgie to be more than she believed possible. Sundin has woven some enjoyable romantic tension into the story, and readers who enjoy a good love story will no doubt delight in this book! As for me, I think the thing I most appreciated about this story is the way that Georgie grew as a character. The insecurities she struggles with are ones we can all identify with at times, and the way that she overcomes her challenges is inspiring indeed! These are the sorts of characters you wish would step off the pages and join us in real life.

Fans of Sundin's first book in the series, "With Ever Letter", are going to love this next installment. I give it a solid recommendation and a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

 about the author....

Sarah Sundin is the author of A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow. In 2011, A Memory Between Us was a finalist in the Inspirational Reader's Choice Awards and Sarah received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist's mate (medic) in the Navy and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children.