Another Great Author -- Blue Skies Tomorrow

Blue Skies Tomorrow was my first introduction to another great author -- Sarah Sundin.  This is book three in her Wings of Glory WWII romance series.  There was no problem in picking up this late in the series, but I was left wanting to go back to the first two books just to enjoy more of the story.

Helen Carlisle has been recently widowed when her hero husband became a casualty of war.  She is staying busy with her "heart's work" of volunteer efforts on the home front and caring for her young son Jay-Jay.  Lt. Ray Novak is trying to find his place of service in the war, although his heart is in the pulpit.  When Ray returns home to Antioch, California, he and Helen renew an old friendship -- and maybe more.  But there are deep issues they both have to deal with, issues that drive them apart for a while -- and maybe forever.

One of the things that really touched me in the story was the growth of Helen's faith.  This paragraph stood out and spoke to my heart:

     "For the first time, she yielded to his comfort. 
      Jesus didn't take away her tears, he received them.
      He didn't take away the memories, he shared them. 
      He didn't take away the hurts, he felt them.
      Somehow, with the Lord, she could bear it."

Sarah develops characters with such depth that you feel you really know them and share in their joys and struggles.  I was drawn into the story as her characters faced very real and ugly horrors of society in sometimes painful ways.  And although the story and most of the people are fictional, it is obvious that Sarah has done a tremendous amount of research to make the setting and many details true to life.

Available August 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

This book was provided free for my honest review from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.