3 New Books for September Reading

by Susan Roberts

I know that I'll be reading more books that publish in September but I wanted to bring you an early look at three that I really enjoyed.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels 

September 2019; Revell; 978-0800734923
audio, ebook, print (384 pages); women's fiction

"At ten o'clock, I get my first customer of the day, and for the next couple of hours, things are fairly steady.  A dozen or so books are plucked from the shelves and carried off to new homes.  I send each one off with a silent charge:  to live inside this reader in that long, drawn out conversation across the miles and the ages.  This is the impulse that led me to open a book store to begin with - to connect people with friends who will not fail them."  (p92)

I hardly know where to start with this review.  The book is so beautifully written that I can't really convey my feelings about it except to tell you that this is a MUST READ!  I finished reading this book over a week ago and I am still thinking about it - to the point that I haven't been able to start another book.  It's been a long time since I've had that kind of book hangover.

Robin is a teenager at the beginning of this book who is sent to live with her grandmother due to a scandal that happened in her family.  She changes her identity and tries to become a new person so people won't judge her by her parents.  But even though she wants to present a new person to the world, her thoughts and her inner peace are still tied to her old life.  She meets Peter at the cemetery before school starts and he interests her until she finds out that he is the football hero, prom king/ jock in the senior class at the high school.  Their friendship thrives through the books that they begin to share their secrets with each other. Robin also begins to share copies of her favorite books that reflect her thoughts and personal life.

Later in her life, Robin opens a book store.  It's not a thriving business but books have always been her friends and sharing them with other people makes her happy.  But when the novels she once shared with an old crush begin appearing in the mail, it's clear her true identity is about to be revealed, threatening the new life she has tried so hard to build over the years.  This novel is told in dual timelines - Robin as a teenager and Robin in her present day.  This was wonderfully done to give the reader all of the details about Robin's early life and to show how they affected her later in life.

This book is beautiful.  The characters are so real that I still feel like I knew them during my lifetime.  There are chapters that will make your heartache and other chapters that will make you feel hopeful for Robin's future.

I absolutely loved the world that Erin Bartels created in this novel.  There are wonderful book references and her love of books is apparent throughout.  Most of all, I loved the characters and the emotions that this novel and these characters gave me throughout the book.

Buy The Words Between Us at Amazon

Read my review of Erin Bartels first book We Hope for Better Things HERE.

The Girls of Pearl Harbor by Soraya M. Lane

September 2019; Lake Union Publishing;
978-1542041904
audio, ebook, print (351 pages); historical fiction

"She had no idea how they'd been fortunate enough to have all been sent to Hawaii but here they were and she was in heaven...with their gas masks the only hint that things weren't expected to remain peaceful forever." (loc 81)

After Grace, April, and Poppy join the US Army Nurse Corps, they are thrilled to find themselves in beautiful Hawaii. Grace and April are sisters and Poppy is their best friend. They also become friends with Eva, who they met at a party. All four nurses enjoy the beautiful weather and the parties. Most of their nursing involves football injuries and minor accidents and they can't believe how lucky they are to be in paradise. That all changes on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. All of a sudden they are faced with dead bodies, burned and mangled bodies and a great fear that the bombing will continue. As they face the destruction and loss of life, their nursing skills are greatly tested.

The Girls of Pearl Harbor takes you on a vivid journey through a tumultuous time in American history. The problems in their pasts no longer matter as these friends are thrust into difficult situations taking care of badly wounded men and putting their own lives in jeopardy. Will they be able to let go of their pasts and find out how strong they really are?

Thanks to the author for this wonderfully written and well-researched novel about nurses and their importance in WWII.

Buy The Girls of Pearl Harbor at Amazon

The Girls of Pearl Harbor is a fantastic addition to previous historical fiction books by Soraya M Lane:

Voyage of the Heart (2014)
Wives of War (2017)
Hearts of Resistance (2018)
The Spitfire Girls (2019)
The Girls of Pearl Harbor (2019)

Wildflower Hope by Grace Greene

September 2019; Lake Union Publishing
978-1542043885
audio, ebook, print (315 pages); women's fiction

"Dad died in June.  His hopes and secrets perished with him but he left me with a maze of unresolved questions and with Wildflower House.  It was up to me to figure out what to do with them." (loc 98)

Note:  This is book 2 in The Wildflower House series.  To fully enjoy this book first read book 1 Wildflower Heart.  Here is my review of Wildflower Heart.

Kara and her father had big plans for Wildflower House, the large Victorian house that he purchased in Virginia. When he died, she was unsure if she could go on with his plans so she plans to make the house into an artist's retreat. There's a lot of renovation that needs to be done and as the house takes on a new life, so does Kara. She realizes that she has friends all over the small town area and that she has friends in her past who are willing to regain their friendships. I really enjoyed reading about Wildflower House and Kara again and hope that we see them in future books - I'm not ready to say goodbye for good.

"Wildflowers are tough. They root in unlikely, often hostile environments, yet they manage to grow and bloom." This quote not only refers to flowers but also to people's lives. You can find happiness no matter where you are.

Buy Wildflower Hope at Amazon  

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling. She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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