REVIEW: The Force's Sweethearts by Rosie Archer

The Force's Sweethearts (The Bluebird Girls #3) by Rosie Archer

Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, Wartime fiction, WW2

Read: 11th February 2022

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Published: 6th August 2020

★★★ 3 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Gripping, emotional Second World War saga for fans of Annie Groves, Shirley Dickson and Soraya Lane.

1943, and The Bluebird Girls are at the top of their game. They are touring with ENSA, visiting army bases across the world in order to boost the morale of the brave boys fighting in the desert and the jungle. The hours are long and the travelling uncomfortable, but Bea, Rainey and Ivy wouldn't be anywhere else for the world.

Then tragedy strikes the group and their little showbusiness family. Their manager, Blackie, and Rainey's mother Jo find themselves with heavy new responsibilities, and the change in circumstances causes the girls themselves to reconsider their lives.

For years, singing on stage has been their only dream, and they have made so many sacrifices to get where they are. But now other possibilities - relationships, babies - are on the horizon. Could this be the end for The Bluebird Girls?

MY REVIEW:

It's been so long since I read the previous book in this series, "We'll Meet Again", that I had to try and refresh my memory as to what took place. Luckily, the author gives enough background to remind those of us who have read and forgotten what has already taken place. 

As the third book in the Bluebird Girls series, THE FORCE'S SWEETHEARTS begins in April 1942 and sees Rainey, Ivy and Bea performing for the troops with ENSA in the Libyan Desert in North Africa doing what they enjoy most. But life is hard in the desert heat and the girls find themselves missing their families and loved ones back in England. But then tragedy strikes and the girls find themselves returning home with their manager Blackie and Rainey's mother Jo who had accompanied them out there.

The girls are relieved to be home, even if under tragic circumstances, and begin to chart the next chapter of their lives. Rainey has carried a secret from her family and friends but soon after reuniting with Charlie drops a bombshell no one saw coming. Ivy still carries a torch for Bea's brother Eddie and longs to be a mother to his daughter Gracie...but will they want her to be part of their little family? And Bea, distraught over all the changes suddenly taking place, finds herself just a teensy bit jealous of all that others seem to have and decides to make her own way.

For years, singing has been the girls' dream for as long as they can remember but now things are changing...other possibilities and new priorities force their way into the picture as relationships, babies and marriage are on the horizon. Could this spell the end for the Bluebird Girls?

When an opportunity arises for one of the girls to go solo little did she know that there was a codicil that required her to work alongside another performer as part of a double act, utilising both their individual strengths. The only problem was, she couldn't stand the person she was to work with, citing he gave her the creeps. But could she put her personal feelings aside and act in a professional manner to keep Blackie's business afloat?

But things don't always go to plan...especially in wartime. And with life and death at the forefront of their lives, can the Bluebird Girls keep going amidst the bombs that continue to fall over Portsmouth and Gosport?

THE FORCE'S SWEETHEARTS is the third installment to The Bluebird Girls series and is quick and easy read which I ploughed through in a day. There is joy and sorrow to be had as well as good times and bad as we are immersed back into life on the south coast of England. 

For the most part enjoyable, THE FORCE'S SWEETHEARTS will draw you in and you will surely be immersed within the the lives and loves of all the characters therein, tracking their every movement until the very end. It is fairly predictable but that's what makes it an easy read. It's wartime and you kind of know what to expect and so there are tears but there is also some laughter as well.

A nice easy read that can easily suffice as a standalone but is best read as part of the series, THE FORCE'S SWEETHEARTS is a perfect read for anyone who enjoys saga books set in and around WW2.

I would like to thank #RosieArcher, #Netgalley and #QuercusBooks for an ARC of #TheForcesSweethearts in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Rosie Archer was born in Gosport, Hampshire, where she still lives. She has had a variety of jobs including waitress, fruit picker, barmaid, shop assistant and market trader selling second-hand books. Rosie is the author of several Second World War sagas set on the south coast of England, as well as a series of gangster sagas under the name June Hampson.

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