WWII – The Word Wenches

July What We’re Reading

June 27, 2023July 28, 2022 by Christina Courtenay

Christina here with a round-up of what the Wenches have been reading this month. This is a truly varied selection and I hope there will be something for everyone and that you find something that appeals to you. I’ve already clicked on a few things myself …

My own favourite reads this month were the two new Wench books – The Crystal Key by Patricia Rice and The Rake’s Daughter by Anne Gracie.

The Crystal Key is the third book in the Psychic Solutions Mystery series, and these stories just keep getting better and better. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, which broadened the cast and built on the previous books in a most satisfying way. Ghostbuster Evie Malcolm Carstairs has finally got together with gorgeous lawyer Jax Ives and they are raising their ward, Loretta, together while trying to make ends meet – her by speaking to ghosts and him by setting up a new law practice in the tiny town where they live. When Evie and her hacker team at the Sensible Solutions Agency take on a new case that involves a dead former FBI agent – an old lady who had been poking around in things she shouldn’t have – and a potential murder, things start to heat up. Jax tries to keep Evie out of trouble, but she has her own way of dealing with things and doesn’t think she needs his help. He wants to do things the proper way while Evie and the others don’t always take the legal approach. Add to that the fact that his reclusive sister Ariel starts to help his best friend to uncover a major scamming network run by some seriously unscrupulous people – while slightly coming out of her shell – and he has his work cut out for him making sure everyone is safe and the bad guys get their come-uppance. With a huge cast of crazy but wonderful characters, this is a fabulous story that kept me turning the pages. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see what will happen next!

Dark Destiny!

June 27, 2023September 23, 2021 by Mary Jo Putney

by Mary Jo (aka M. J. Putney)

DARK DESTINY, the third and final book in my Young Adult time travel trilogy, was released yesterday! I'm so happy that this series is now available. I really enjoyed writing about these valiant young people learning to manage their unnerving talents and growing together as they fulfill their vows to aid their country in time of war.

As I've said before, I've always been intrigued by the parallels between the Napoleonic wars and World War II because both times Britain stood alone against a Continental tyrant, protected only by the narrow strip of sea known as the English Channel.

Much of Great Britain's history is informed by its island status. Dark Mirror, first in the Lackland Abbey Chronicles, had a grand action finale involving Dunkirk as hundreds of thousands of troops were evacuated across the Channel to Britain.

What the Wenches are Reading in April!

June 27, 2023April 28, 2020 by Christina Courtenay

Christina here to tell you what the Wenches have been reading this month – an eclectic mix as always! With all of us being in isolation, we’ve had plenty of time to dive into our TBR piles and we hope you have too. Have a look and see if anything appeals to you!

I’ll start off with my own April favourites: First and foremost I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of Wench Nicola’s upcoming release, The Forgotten Sister – published tomorrow! – a Tudor mystery and time slip (dual time) novel. I can safely say that this is one of the best books I have read in a long time! It has everything you want from a time slip story and it was utterly, utterly brilliant!!! Nicola has managed to intertwine the story of Amy Robsart (wife of Robert Dudley in Tudor times) so cleverly with the characters in the present. Robert is part of Queen Elizabeth I’s court and Amy doesn’t seem to figure much in his plans. She needs a way out of their loveless marriage and thinks she’s hit on the perfect solution – but has she? The present day heroine Lizzie has her own problems to contend with and when her life begins to echo the happenings of the past, she has to uncover a centuries old secret in order to move forward. I couldn’t put this down and the characters will stay in my mind for a long time.

Foyled Again!

June 27, 2023January 28, 2018 by Andrea Penrose

Andrea/Cara here, confessing to having felt a little blue-deviled last night as I finished streaming an episode Foyle’s War and realized that I’ve almost come to the end of the show’s eight seasons. Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the series, it’s a BBC period police procedural set in a coastal English village during WWII, and deals with the drama of ordinary people coping in a world of conflict and change

The mysteries deal with wartime issues—profiteering, pacifism, cowardice, among others—and the plots are vey well done. But to me the real appeal of the show is the subtle and layered characterizations and the exploration of human nature. Friendship, loyalty, love—all elemental themes that transcend any specific era. I’ve learned a lot about storytelling from the episodes, and I shall miss seeing my “friends” continue to grow and develop.

Flygirl: An Interview with YA Author Sherri L. Smith

June 29, 2023April 24, 2011 by Mary Jo Putney

by Mary Jo (Starting with a brief personal note: my third Lost Lords book, Nowhere Near Respectable,is being released tomorrow, April 26th. More about the book in a couple of weeks.) But the big news is that today, much honored young adult writer Sherri L. Smith is visiting the Word Wenches. Though I’m a neophyte young adult writer, I’ve been reading YAs for years, and one of the best, the very best, that I’ve read is Sherri’s Flygirl. In Flygirl, young Ida Mae Jones is a gifted pilot, though she hasn’t a license since a white flight instructor won’t pass a colored …