Sunday, January 29, 2017

Wait For Me by Caroline Leech

Title: Wait For Me
Author: Caroline Leech
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads



The perfect blend of sweet romance and historical flavor, Wait for Me, from debut author Caroline Leech, brings a fresh new voice to a much-loved genre.

It’s 1945, and Lorna Anderson’s life on her father’s farm in Scotland consists of endless chores and rationing, knitting Red Cross scarves, and praying for an Allied victory. So when Paul Vogel, a German prisoner of war, is assigned as the new farmhand, Lorna is appalled. How can she possibly work alongside the enemy when her own brothers are risking their lives for their country?

But as Lorna reluctantly spends time with Paul, she feels herself changing. The more she learns about him—from his time in the war to his life back home in Germany—the more she sees the boy behind the soldier. Soon Lorna is battling her own warring heart. Loving Paul could mean losing her family and the life she’s always known. With tensions rising all around them, Lorna must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice before the end of the war determines their fate.
Review by Nara

Set in 1945 just before the end of World War II, Wait For Me is a novel about Lorna and her attempts to navigate through various relationships while living on a Scottish farm with a German prisoner of war as a farmhand. Wait For Me was quite character focused, with the book mainly about the romance between Lorna and Paul as well as the relationship between Lorna and her best friend Iris.

I think the only major negative to the book was the fact that basically all the male characters were portrayed as predators or assholes (or both) apart from Paul and Lorna's father. I didn't feel like this was particularly realistic, although I suppose at the same time, there was also a relatively narrow pool of male characters to begin with.

Lorna and Paul's relationship was wonderfully developed. It was just the type of romance novel that I wanted to read at the time, considering I had just finished an incredibly mediocre portal fantasy and was just waiting for a nice historical or contemporary. The book overall was not without its drama, but it was also not so bogged down in the conflict of the plot that the pace was able to move forward at the perfect speed.

Wait For Me was a very sweet historical romance that I would definitely recommend to those looking for a lighter read.
Incredible
Ratings
Overall: 9/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 2/5