About the Book
Book: Love at First Flight
Author: Linda Shenton Matchett
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: September 15, 2020
Can two people emerge from the clouds of past hurt to find a silver lining of love?
Evelyn Reid would rather fly than do anything else, so when war engulfs the U.S., she joins the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. One of the program’s top pilots, she is tapped for pursuit plane training…the dream of a lifetime until she discovers the instructor is her ex-fiancé, Jasper MacPherson.
Collecting enough points to rotate stateside, fighter pilot Jasper MacPherson is assigned to teach the WAFS how to fly the army way. Bad enough to be training women, but things take a turn for the worse when his former fiancée shows up as one of his students.
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About the Author
Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include serving as a volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, exploring historic sites, and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.
More from Linda
Dear Readers:
It’s all I can do to parallel park my car…well, actually I can’t. I’m terrible at that sort of thing, which is why I’m so impressed with the Women’s Air Service Pilot who served during World War II. Created in August 1943 by merging the Women’s Flying Training Detachment and the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, the WASP was a civilian organization that came under the authority of the Air Force and freed male pilots for combat or other duties. Their leader was the intrepid Jacqueline Cochran, an award winning pilot who set and broke numerous records during her career.
Qualifications for the program were stringent, and of the more than 25,000 women who applied, only 1,800 were accepted. Of that number, 1,074 completed the program. These women flew over sixty million miles and transported every type of military aircraft from the ninety-nine foot long B-29 Bomber that weighted over 100,000 pounds to the P-51 Mustang that could fly at over 400 miles per hour.
The WASP also towed targets for live anti-aircraft gun practice, simulated strafing missions and transported cargo. Thirty-eight WASP members lost their lives and one disappeared while on a ferry mission, her fate still unknown. Disbanded in December 1944, the WASP did not receive military status or benefits for their service. However, after nearly three decades its members were granted veteran status, and in 2009 they were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
It is my hope that Love at First Flight honors these brave women in some small way.
Blessings,
Linda Shenton Matchett
Love at First Flight By: Linda Shenton Matchett is a Christian Historical Romance. This book is set in 1944 during World War II. I have read several books by this author and I have always enjoyed them. The author has done careful research to ensure the story was as historically accurate as possible. One of my favorite things is that she lists the 38 WASP who lost their lives while on duty. This is a shorter read.
In this book, we see Evelyn Reid. She has big dreams of flying with the WASP. She knows she wants to serve her country. However, her instructor is her ex-fiance Jasper MacPherson. Evelyn is strong and determined to do her best. She knows that this is a real opportunity and despite her ex fiance being her instructor she wants to prove herself -and for all women that they can do what men have already been doing.
There is a bit of a mystery - some of the plans are found to have been sabotaged. Evelyn has a few close incidents where my heart was in my throat while I was reading. When Evelyn had to crash land - I gasped. However, she knows it was not her fault and she knew that someone had tampered with the plane. The author has also done a wonderful job weaving in the faith element. Both Evelyn and Jasper rely on God to keep them safe while they are flying and when they are navigating working together again.
I enjoyed this story. Great characters, well written and researched story line and a great tribute to women who came before us.
I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit Blogging program - all thoughts are my own.
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 24
Texas Book-aholic, March 25
Genesis 5020, March 25
Inklings and notions, March 26
Betti Mace, March 27
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, March 27
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, March 28
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, March 29
Jeanette’s Thoughts, March 29
Hebrews 12 Endurance, March 30
For Him and My Family, March 31
Connect in Fiction, March 31
She Lives To Read, April 1
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 2
deb’s Book Review, April 2
Connie’s History Classroom, April 3
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 4
Blossoms and Blessings, April 4
Locks, Hooks and Books, April 5
CarpeDiem, April 6
A Novel Pursuit, April 6
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Linda is giving away the grand prize package of an autographed paperback edition of Love at First Flight, eco-friendly reusable shopping bag with image of Women’s Air Service Pilots, stuffed WASP bear, Norman Rockwell notecards, VJ Day book mark, and I {heart} Spam socks!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/109d2/love-at-first-flight-celebration-tour-giveaway
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the book.
ReplyDeleteWith the careful historical research that the author has done to provide authenticity, the story will be very informative as well as a pleasure to read.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review, Connie! "Love at First Flight" sounds fascinating. Thank you for hosting.
ReplyDeleteConnie: Thank you so much for being part of my blog tour. I appreciate your kind review and am glad you enjoyed Evelyn's and Jasper's story.
ReplyDelete