The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green

Vibrant and scrappy Maggie McCleod tried not to get fired from her wartime orchestra, but she can't keep from speaking her mind, so an overseas adventure with the USO's camp show seems like the perfect fresh start. Wealthy and elegant Catherine Duquette signs with the USO to leave behind her restrictive life of privilege and to find out what happened to the handsome pilot whose letters mysteriously stopped arriving. The two women are joined by an eclectic group of performers--a scheming blues singer, a veteran tap dancer, and a brooding magician--but the harmony among their troupe is shattered when their tour manager announces he will soon recommend one of them for a new job in the Hollywood spotlight. Each of the five members has a reason to want the contract, and they'll do whatever is necessary to get it. As their troupe travels closer to combat in Tunisia, personal crises and wartime dangers only intensify, until not only their careers but also their lives are on the line. 

I liked the focus of the book; there are a lot of WWII stories out there, but very few take place in the North African campaign and even fewer focus on the entertainment industry's part in promoting morale. I knew celebrities did tours, but I hadn't known about the smaller not famous groups that toured around, often in harsher and more dangerous conditions than their more famous counterparts to reach even the farthest troops.

The focus of this story is on two specific women of the troupe--arguably opposites outside of their love of music. But it's easy to see echoes of the two main characters in each of the other members of the troupe too: each has something to prove--either to themselves or others. Each took a step of faith by joining; each one has a secret holding them back.

For all that my personality is much more similar to Catherine's, I definitely connected more with Maggie, especially her struggle with loving music but not being able to articulate its value outside religious context; I think it's something many believing artists struggle with. 

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

The Seamstress of Acadie by Laura Frantz

As 1754 is drawing to a close, tensions between the French and the British on Canada's Acadian shore are reaching a fever pitch. Seamstress Sylvie Galant and her family--French-speaking Acadians wishing to remain neutral--are caught in the middle, their land positioned between two forts flying rival flags. As British ships appear on the horizon, Sylvie encounters British Army Ranger William Blackburn, who warns her of the coming invasion. Rather than participate in the forced removal of the Acadians from their land, he resigns his commission. But that cannot save Sylvie or her kin. Relocated on a ramshackle ship to Virginia, Sylvie struggles to pick up the pieces of her life. When her path crosses once more with William's, they must work through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the present and forge an enduring future.

I hadn't known much about Acadia before reading this story--only that many Acadians ended up settling in Louisiana, but I didn't know why they moved to such a distant place. This story is very much a before and after one: life in Acadia, and then life deported. 

I'm a bit torn; I really appreciate it when an author is faithful to history, as Laura Frantz is in this novel depicting the deportation of the Acadians. But I really enjoyed the first half in the Acadian setting and would have loved to see the whole novel set there, with witness to the increasing conflict between the British and the French. There are plenty books about colonial Virginia and colonial slavery sentiments (many by Frantz herself), so that half didn't feel as fresh and new as the beginning, especially with the latter half's significant overlap with A Heart Adrift. It's realistic that the two halves are so different, but as a story I also would have appreciated more connection/relevance between the two.

It was still a good story, as I expect from Frantz. I'd love to hear more of Bleu's story!

Thank you Revell and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

Most Anticipated Christian Fiction of 2024!

New titles revealed for 2024! Here are the one's I'm most looking forward to this year: (to be updated as fall titles are released)

  

January: The Seamstress of Acadie by Laura Frantz (Revell)

February: Rocky Road by Becky Wade (Indie) - Sons of Scandal, book 2

February: While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House) - Women of Midtown, book 1

  

February: A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell (Bethany House)

March: A Noble Scheme by Roseanna M. White (Bethany House) - The Imposters, book 2

March: If the Boot Fits by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House) - Texas Ever After, book 2

 

April: Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

June: The Hudson Collection by Jocelyn Green (Bethany House) - On Central Park, book 2

July: Meeting Her Match by Jen Turano (Bethany House) - The Matchmakers, book 3

 

In the Sweet Ever After by Melissa Tagg (Indie) - Maple Valley Romance, book 3

October: Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

Fall: __________ by Kristi Ann Hunter (Indie) - London Dreams, book 1

 

November: An Honorable Deception by Roseanna M White (Bethany House) - The Imposters, book 3

December: Cloaked in Beauty by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House) - Texas Ever After, book 3

December: The Seaside Homecoming by Julie Klassen (Bethany House) - Sisters of Seaview, book 3