Wives of War

Book 44 of my 2017 Reading Challenge
read from July 15 - 26

***I received an electronic version of this book from NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it***

Wives of War by Soraya Lane

Summary (via Goodreads)
London, 1944. Two young nurses meet at a train station with a common purpose: to join the war effort. Scarlet longs for the chance to find her missing fiance, Thomas, and to prove to her family - and to herself - that she's stronger than everybody thinks. Nursing is in Ellie's blood, but her humble background is vastly different from Scarlet's privileged upbringing. Though Ellie puts on a brave face, she's just as nervous as Scarlet about what awaits them in France. 
In Normandy, the two friends soon encounter the seemingly unflappable Lucy. Scarlet and Ellie are in awe of her courage and competence, but the experienced nurse is well aware of the dangers of the job they've chosen - and even she is terrified they won't make it home alive. 
Pushed to their limits by the brutality of a world at war, Scarlet, Ellie, and Lucy will need to rely on each other - and the power of their friendship - to survive. 

My Opinion
The title of the book is not entirely accurate but in a good way.  It's more about the women as nurses instead of wives (none of the main three women are actually wives at the time they meet - no spoilers on if that changes by the end).  There is love in the book but aside from a few melodramatic moments, everything is woven pretty naturally into the story.  It's refreshing to read about true friendship between women.  They support each other, there was no backstabbing or jealousy or drama even under the most stressful of circumstances.

The pages turned quickly and I really enjoyed the book.  Once they were on the move for the last time I really wanted to know what was going to happen and stayed up very late finishing the rest of the book because I couldn't put it down. 

A Few Quotes from the Book (these may be different in the final published version)
"No more moping or feeling guilty for being happy. [Scarlet] needed to enjoy that fact that she was alive and surrounded by other young people. 'It had better be something decent, because it's about time they did something fun for us.'
  By the end of the week they could be gone, all of them, and they deserved something to smile about, even if it was just for one night."

"Around them, smashed amphibious vehicles littered the beach, with concrete remains that were impossible to decipher and broken tin hats and rifles. She had the daunting feeling that they'd just arrived in the depths of hell and they weren't escaping from it any time soon."