The Staffymum's Book Nook: REVIEW: Wedding Bells at Goodwill House by Fenella J Miller

Friday 2 June 2023

REVIEW: Wedding Bells at Goodwill House by Fenella J Miller

Wedding Bells at Goodwill House (Goodwill House #6) by Fenella J Miller

Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2

Read: 26th May 2023

Goodreads

Amazon

PublishedL 1st June 2023

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

January 1941

As the residents of Goodwill House feel the hard bite of winter, land girl Charlie Somiton is still glad of the warm friendships she has made there. Not just her fellow land girls, Daphne and Sal, but also dashing local G.P. Dr James Willoughby who looked after Charlie when she was injured at work.

Charlie likes Dr Willoughby, but she fears that there can never be more between them than just friendship. Because despite her upper-class background, Charlie carries with her a terrible secret that she can never share with James.

Dr Willoughby knows Charlie is dealing with something painful and he wishes she’d confide in him more. The war is getting ever closer and James knows all too well that life is short and happiness should be grabbed with both hands.

But is Charlie brave enough to risk her secret and her heart or will her past ruin her chances for a happy future.

MY THOUGHTS:

As war clouds gather, love will prevail...

It doesn't seem all that long ago I was with the women of Goodwill House and yet here we are again. While the first in this series opened with Sarah Harcourt, her romance with Squadron Leader Angus Trent and her desire to be a doctor followed by the next two which where about WAAFs Millie and Di stationed at nearby Manston airfield, book four "The Land Girls of Goodwill House" centred on new land girl Sal while book 5 "A Wartime Reunion at Goodwill House" was Daphne's story. The focus this time is on Charlie though their work as land girls feature very little, as opposed to the previous two books where we got chapter and verse on their work at Pickering Farm.

I thoroughly enjoyed being back with the Goodwill House family as the women ensconced within its walls have become so. After her daughter Sarah left to study medicine in London, Lady Joanna Harcourt decided to take in lodgers billeted to her whilst working in the home forces nearby. Firstly, it was the WAAFs as they awaited their digs at Manston to be built after which she took in Land Girls who worked at nearby farms. Then her mother in law Elizabeth arrived uninvited from France and installed herself at Goodwill House. Slowly but surely everyone became like one big family. Which was just as well as Joanna was now widowed, her only daughter was away in London and this opportunity afforded her responsibility and respect from the village. She also came to meet twins Liza and Joe early in the series and while they worked for her at first, she took them under her wing and loved them as her own, educated them and adopted them. Now both have the name Harcourt to open doors for them later in life.

In the previous two books, we met Charlie and were given the impression that she was a posh girl whose confidence had taken a bit of a battering. There were times she came across as a bit hoity-toity in taking the lead where she was just a land girl like the others. But this time we get to see the real Charlie and she's a good humoured yet independent young woman. Previously, she had been injured first with a concussion and then having been inadvertently shot by a German plane, both times having called for the services of the village doctor, Dr James Willoughby. It became apparent to those in the house that Charlie and the good doctor had formed an attraction but neither were inclined to do much about it.

Charlie had developed feelings for Dr Willoughby, of that she was sure, but because of an incident in her past she is unsure whether she could ever be intimate with a man and therefore pursuing a relationship with the doctor would be unfair. James, on the other hand, is intuitive for a male and had sensed that something untoward must have happened in her past to make her so apprehensive now. He is so thoughtful and attentive that he is prepared to wait as long as it takes for her to make whatever peace she needs to to move forward. What ensues is a delightful and easy courtship before heading down the aisle. Of course, there is the token spanner thrown in on the even of the nuptials, but I did expect something more to come of it and waited with baited breath as I read the happenings on the day of the wedding.

This wedding sees changes coming to Goodwill House and that of the Harcourt family which will all be revealed to those who make the journey alongside them. I can't wait to see what's in store next for them all and the changes that will inevitably change everything about Goodwill House. As it's only 1941 there is still a lot more to happen as yet with regards to the war, yet that is merely a backdrop. In fact it barely features at all in this book except for the odd air raid. I like that there is something more to focus on. Joanna has already put in motion the changes she is overseeing. Makes me wonder whose story is left to tell? Joanna's maybe? There was an opening at the end which could take that direction.

I did note a reference towards the end with regards to "the two WAAFs" who had lived at Goodwill the previous year. The reference made mention of the fact that they had married RAF pilots and were now both widows. I was saddened to read that Millie and Di (the two WAAFs) whose stories were the centrepiece for books 2 and 3 and their courtships to RAF pilots Ted and Freddie respectively who'd gone on to marry and Millie I believe was pregnant last we heard, to have their husbands who played such a major role in the early stories killed and them left as widows. Such is the way of war, I guess. But in respect of the series it kind of made their stories pointless and as we had grown attached to Millie and Di at the time, I was saddened.

Aside from that, WEDDING BELLS AT GOODWILL HOUSE is my favourite of the series so far. I love Charlie's humour and her candor and the camaraderie she shares with her new husband James. I do hope we continue to see a lot more of them and their rabbit-and-pheasant-hunting cat Lucky.

I would like to thank #FenellaJMiller, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #WeddingBellsAtGoodwillHouse in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Fenella Jane Miller was born in the Isle of Man and is the bestselling writer of eighteen historical sagas. She also has a passion for Regency romantic adventures and has published over fifty to great acclaim. Her father was a Yorkshireman and her mother the daughter of a Rajah. She has worked as a nanny, cleaner, field worker,hotelier,chef, secondary and primary teacher and is now a full time writer.