Nightingale by Susan May Warren Litfuse Book Tour

Product Description
Esther Lange doesn’t love her fiancé—she’s trapped in an engagement after a mistaken night of passion.
Still, she grieves him when he’s lost in battle, the letters sent to her by the medic at his side giving her a strange comfort, so much that she strikes up a correspondence with Peter Hess, an Iowa farmboy. Or is he? Peter Hess is not who he seems. Indeed, he’s hiding a secret, something that could cost them both their lives, especially when the past comes back to life. A bittersweet love song of the home front war between duty and the heart...a battle where only one will survive.




My take on this book:
World War II is just coming to an end but the war that is going on inside Esther Lange is unending!

She can't forgive herself for the night of passion she shared with Linus Hahn in the backseat of a borrowed car, they were both headed overseas to war, and it just happened. When that night turns into a daughter for them Esther is released from the Red Cross with no place to go. So she writes Linus, and his reply is for her to go to his hometown and stay with his parents, and that's what she has been doing for the last two years, living in their attic, raising her daughter and working at a hospital taking care of the war wounded.

Living with Linus' parents isn't easy, they are very hard, feeling like she trapped their son. When she receives a letter indicating that Linus may have been killed in action, she isn't sure what to believe, but one thing she knows for sure is that she is relieved, she won't have to marry a man she doesn't love,and barely even knows. She really believes that she was no more than a one night stand for Linus as well, and it soon comes to light that Linus had a longstanding girlfriend who works in the same hospital as Esther,and  she threatens to make Esther pay for stealing Linus away from her!

Since there has been no other information about Linus she starts corresponding with Peter Hess the medic who sent her the information about Linus. Soon they develop a friendship, and  it starts to develop into something more, but when Peter's secret is exposed can they overcome it, and will Esther ever forgive herself for the mistake she made?

This was an amazing story, just when you thought things were working out the author throws a monkey wrench into it that take it in the opposite direction. The feelings are so strongly written in this book, that you are easily transported back to war time America. You can also feel the turmoil going on inside Esther, she judges herself so harshly for the mistake she made that night and is unwilling to see that she has already been forgiven by God, she just needs to accept it! Peter's story was one I kept thinking of long after I finished reading it, he was such a kind person, a victim of circumstances really, but he always kept his faith in God.The letters that passed between Peter and Esther were such a treat to read, I enjoyed seeing their friendship blossom.

I found this book a real joy to read, the author does an amazing job of taking a work of fiction and weaving a bit of a history lesson in. While this was my first time reading anything from Susan May Warren, it certainly won't be my last!

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About the author:

Growing up in Minneapolis and attending the U of MN, I learned to love city life, although I'm a woodsy girl at heart. Or maybe I'm an adventurer -- having lived and traveled all over the world, including Siberia Russia as a missionary for eight years. Probably that's why my characters can't sit still, and seem to get into one scrape after another -- they're too much like me! I love God, my family, my country, my church, and feel privileged every day to be able to write stories, that I hope inspire and entertain!





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Even though Litfuse Publicity (Thanks Amy) provided me a copy of this book for review it in no way alters my opinion of this book.