Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story that deserves to be told and shared! This book shares the story of three women who lead the charge of women pilots in WW2. I was able to attach myself to each of the characters - they were magnetic, making it hard to put the book down. In fact, I wish that I could continue reading about the lives of these women. I really enjoyed the book.

Focusing on three women- British ATA flyers First Officer Ruby Sanders and Commander May Jones and WASP American pilot Elizabeth (Lizzie) Dunlop, this is a WWII historical that focuses on the contribution of women pilots on both sides of the Atlantic during World War II. These women faced much criticism from their families and countrymen for stepping outside the projected gender roles and yet as revealed in the novel, had much better survival rates than the much lauded RAF. Not to mention that they also dealt with inequality in pay and came face to face with sexism on a daily basis. 

I felt all the characters were relateable, although it took a while for brash American Lizzie to grow on me. I must confess that May was a personal favorite of mine as she had the added challenge of being in a high ranking position and yet found herself often being ignored by her male counterparts and the political figures of the time. 

An absolute addition to any WWII era library!

I enjoyed watching the relationships grow between these women (and the men who were there for them). As always, it amazes me to see the courage and determination so many people had during the war. And if women hadn't seen a need and fought for the right to do the work - in this case ferrying planes to the men who would fly them into combat - how differently could things have turned out? These women played a huge part.

The book made me laugh, made me cry, broke my heart wide open, and in the end left me feeling that, despite it all, it was a full and complete and satisfying story. I will remember May and Ruby and Lizzie for a long time.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley, and Soraya M. Lane for the ARC. I loved it!

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Spitfire Girls” by Soraya M Lane, February 2019

Soraya M Lane, Author of “The Spitfire Girls” has written a captivating, enthralling, intriguing and entertaining novel. The Genres for this book are Fiction, Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction. The time-line for this novel is World War Two. The author describes her colorful cast of characters as complex, competitive and complicated.

Lizzie has been a pilot in the United States, and writes to Mrs. Roosevelt to ask if women can be pilots and fly during the war. She is informed that there is a program in England. Lizzie meets May and Ruby, two of the best pilots in England. At first there is competition and adversity between the American and English women pilots. There is the threat of German Airstrikes. The women are flying the planes blindly.

I appreciate that the author discusses the importance of friendship, sisterhood, family , love and hope. These are brave and devoted women who serve their countries, at less pay than the men that do the same thing. These women are fighting for their rights and lives. I would highly recommend this amazing story for those readers who enjoy  World War Two fiction and history. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

I have to admit that it took me a while to decide to read this book...I've read a lot of WWII books lately and I didn't think this book would be all that different from the others. I was wrong! This book got my attention right from the beginning. The fact that not only did women VOLUNTEER to make difficult flights to deliver planes for use in the war, but they FOUGHT for the right to do so is just amazing to me. These women had so much courage and determination. I thought the author did a a great job with the main characters - May, Ruby, and Lizzie. Each of these women had their own strengths and weaknesses and as the story progresses, the reader gets to see how each of them deals with their own personal challenges. I highly recommend this book! 

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

The book had a kick butt premise, I mean people tend to forget about the Women pilots of WWII. Lane gave us some very stereotypical characters and it was fluffy and cute and heartwarming with dashes of loss thrown in. Overall it was a read I think most people would enjoy more than I did but I couldn't like it as much as I wanted to. I felt like Lane dangled this carrot before me and then took it away, the characters had no depth and this is the sort of book where she had every opportunity to make them as deep as the ocean if she wanted, and because they were so shallow the plot just didn't seem as genuine as it should have. Not to mention I did not like Ruby, and I also felt that there was no need to alter Lizzie just because she was an ambitious woman.

I would definitely recommend this to others who love heartwarming stories and historical fiction, it was just too fluffy for me.

I received this as a free digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion, this book will be published on February 26, 2019.

Soraya Lane's most recent book tells the story of three women pilots in World War II. Ferrying spitfires and other types of aircraft, May, Ruby, Lizzie, and all the other female flyers allowed for more men to fight. But they were met with resistance along the way, as they fought to prove themselves and to gain respect (and equal pay).

I liked that Lane brought this side of WWII history to life, but her book wasn't particularly well written. The characters didn't have much depth: you had the feisty and cocky American, the quiet, confident leader trying to overcome a tremendous loss, and the dutiful bombshell. The secondary characters lacked even more depth. In a nutshell, the story was a bit superficial and forgettable. More gifted and nimble writers, like Jennifer Robson or Aimie K. Runyan, would have added more nuance and meaning to this story.

This is a well researched book, telling the story of woman pilots that trained and flew planes for the WASPS  in the US and the AOC in Britain during WWII. Facing discrimination and disbelief that women could handle the big bombers, that even some of their male counterparts found challenging to fly, these woman took to the challenge and were soon ferrying these planes to airbases, freeing up the men for combat. Unsurprising, these women had to fight for pay equality as well.
The author, Soraya M Lane tells their story of challenges, danger and loss, while serving their countries with pride. It didn’t hurt to throw some romance into the story, just to point out that the need for companionship and support is needed, Wartime or not.
A very enjoyable novel and I thank the author, Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for my ARC.

I was intrigued by the description  of a World War II story from the point of view of women pilots in the Air Transport Auxilliary. The story is fascinating in the descriptions of the flights without the benefit of radar or radio and of the general work to fly planes around the country. The girls (and men to a a degree) are rather stereotypical though - May, the young Commander, British, quiet, reserved, suffering quietly to herself about the loss of her beloved fighter pilot brother whilst trying to pull together a disparate group of women, Ruby tormented by her dreadful mother in law to be who clearly sees a 'gal's' duty to be with her family and sorting out wedding arrangements rather than taking men's work in the skies, and a fiance who initially agrees with Mama.  Lizzie the archetypal in your face brash Yank who knows it all and does not want to be with the boring Brits. Ben, the quiet mechanic, who ensures that the planes are fit to fly and supports May to the hilt. And so on and on. We move through their trials and tribulations from ferrying planes  from base to base to replace those lost; to May demanding equal pay when meeting up with Churchill and their excitement at being able to fly some of the big 4 engine bombers for the first time as well as the attitudes of many of the RAF personnel. It is clear that the author has researched her subject well - thanks for giving some references at the end, I shall follow up on some of these.. For me, it's too much of a Mills and Boonsie style but it does get the story of the ATA across in an accessible way I suppose. Thanks to NetGalley and Union Lake publishing for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Women are strength.  The characters in The Spitfire Girls demonstrate that throughout the entire book.  I really love the story and lessons told in this book.  The characters are all amazing and real.  I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about 3.5/5 stars.

I was so excited to read this book because I have heard nothing but good things about Ms. Lane and I love novels about women in WWII. The story is objectively fantastic, really shining a light on the ATA in Britain and their essential role in the war effort. All of the characters have substance and the love stories are believable and not forced. Ruby was my particular favorite, with her patriotism, skill, and humble attitude. The book also doesn't spend too much time on aviation details, focusing only on the name and the type rather than on the nitty gritty of how to fly that particular plane (a welcome change as my Air Force pilot husband loves to talk about those details). The only downside to this book was the writing style. Conversations were awkward and stilted at the beginning of the novel and it was difficult to get into at first. It may be because this is an advanced copy, but there were also numerous typos and once instance where Ruby was called Rosie (there is no character named Rosie elsewhere in the book). These didn’t affect the overall storyline but they were definitely distracting. Once these are fixed, it would be a 4 star read for sure.

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review 
What a fantastic and fascinating  insight into these amazing women and what they done for there country
Lizzie (very annoying) Ruby(star of the book) Polly(sweet girl)
May(The leader)
What a team these women made I feel as if I was flying planes with them
This really was a 
RIP-ROARING EXTRAVAGANZA  OF A BOOK.
can't praise this book enough and will be telling family and friends  to read this amazing  journey.

The Spitfire Girls is to be published next month, and I was fortunate enough to receive a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel’s summary and general premise is intriguing, both as a feminist and as someone who finds World War II stories to be both interesting and important. That being said, I was expecting to enjoy this work.

Unfortunately, I didn’t.

As just discussed, the premise is wonderful – women pilots helping to ferry planes to allied forces during the war. The execution, however, fell flat. The story begins with a young woman named Lizzie who is reading a letter she wrote, addressed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, arguing for the inclusion of women in the war effort – specifically in the capacity of aircraft ferrier. What could be more timely? In this seemingly new age of renewed feminism, it is easy to see how this story should resonate with readers. But, in my humble opinion, it doesn’t. Why might that be?

Let’s explore.

That first chapter begins with a gusto. We begin smack dab in the middle of Lizzie’s letter-writing campaign. I was struck by how childish she seemed to be – it wasn’t until she spoke of her piloting experience that I actually realized that she is supposed to be a grown woman. Then, without much ado, she is invited to meet with the President, the First Lady, and a military General. At this meeting, she learns that the only reason they agreed to the meeting in the first place was because of Lizzie’s father’s own decorated military history and fame. Lizzie finds this surprising, and her surprise, quite frankly, bothers me. This is a woman who wants to train a squadron for non-active military service and is petitioning for the inclusion of women in a traditionally all-male realm, yet she is unbelievably naive. Add to that is the author’s need to emphasize how utterly feminine Lizzie is in a very stereotypical, traditional sense, aside from her love of flying and her feminist bent. Now, I do not mean to imply that one cannot be a feminist while being traditionally feminine. But the author’s over-the-top insistence reads as a sort of apology, a softening of feminism so it doesn’t offend. Who is she trying to placate? People in general? Her readers? Men? Herself? Further, Lizzie’s impulsiveness and her diarrhea of the mouth in the presence of President Franklin D. Roosevelt serve to uphold the gender stereotypes that woman are too impulsive (read: either driven by emotions or intellectually deficient) and silly, which is completely anathema to the book’s purpose.

The second chapter involves Ruby, a young woman who is trying to plan her wedding while her fiance is on active duty, and her soon-to-be mother-in-law, as they discuss wedding dresses, cake, and other such details. Halfway through the scene, Ruby’s mother suddenly begins to speak, ostensibly there the entire time, but unmentioned. Now, she was obviously an afterthought and this will likely be fixed in the corrected proof, but even so. As it stands, her mother serves no particular purpose to the scene. In the following chapter, Ruby has signed up for service and is having her medical exam, which involves complete nudity (just as it does for men). While I have no issue with Ruby’s general discomfort about the necessity of being naked in front of the medic, the author offers that Ruby felt as though the doctor required her nudity simply for his own enjoyment but offers nothing beyond that. No awkwardness, no inappropriate comments, staring, or touching, nothing. This sparks of melodrama and trying to play on contemporary public sentiment regarding men in positions of authority taking advantage of women. If the authors wants to add this facet to her novel, fine. But it should be done with more than a simple, baseless accusation – we need at least something more than a general impression without a single example.

In the third chapter, Lizzie is crossing the Atlantic ocean in order to train with the British women’s squadron. The chapter commences with Lizzie’s description of the plentiful and delicious food, wine, and cocktails. Now, while it is true that service members were allotted more food during the war, rationing was still a thing! It seems very unlikely that there would be such bounty, particularly on a ship bound for England. At the time, Germany was exerting significant effort into destroying ships bound for the UK because the Brits needed to import well over HALF of their food supply. It seems irresponsible (and thus unbelievable) that such bounty would be risked on a ship delivering people – enough to feed everyone adequately, sure! But enough for what was described? Absolutely not. At best, this is lazy writing and indicates that the author preferred to make erroneous assumptions rather than spend valuable time researching. Secondly, when they finally make land, Lizzie decides to joke loudly with the servicewomen who come to meet her, ignoring the pamphlet she read an hour ago. Her reaction their apparent lack of humour was off-putting – these Englishwomen, along with the rest of their countrymen, have already been at war for 3 years. Years of rationing, death, destruction. And Lizzie is upset that they’re having trouble taking a joke. She behaves in such a way as to confirm the international stereotype of American behaviour, yet the author feels that we should sympathize with her instead of the others? When they meet up for dinner later, Lizzie continues to be disrespectful, flippant, and irritating. Being confident of your abilities is one thing, but being a braggart is another, and Lizzie can’t seem to stop touting herself left and right. And then she proceeds to insult the subordinate officer because she figures she looks too small and delicate to be a pilot. This, coming from a woman who complains about sexism. Ha!

I had stopped being offended after this for quite some time, that is, until the beginning of chapter 13. Ruby is the first woman to fly a bomber (amazing!), but the effect is completely ruined when the author has her touching up her make-up in the sky. This is, frankly, obscene. People have died making this trip, and Ruby is sacrificing a lot to be the first woman to do it in a bomber – possibly her romantic future, possibly her flying career, possibly her own life, and we’re supposed to believe that she would risk all of that to powder her nose and touch up her lipstick?! My God! After 12 hours straight in economy class without the looming risk of being shot out of the sky, even I am not that vain and I’m a daily makeup user. It’s a bit much.

Later, Lizzie is finally called to task and humbled after showing off – and subsequently losing as a result – during a flying competition to see who, between her and Ruby, would earn the honour of being the first woman bomber pilot. She makes an extraordinary public spectacle of herself with her ego overtaking whatever limited sense she has. After being suitably humbled, she suddenly becomes a much softer person. Oh boy. Can people change? Absolutely! That quickly? Nope. It’s too much, too fast. It’s just not believable. Additionally, if a man behaved thus, even in wartime, he would have been discharged dishonourably because loose cannons like Lizzie can’t be relied upon.

Lane’s characters are underdeveloped and lack nuance or are simply there to be there. Lizzie, Ruby, and Montgomery are described such that they come across as caricatures of their archetypes. The supporting characters are bland and largely useless – Ben helps and loves May, but he seems to have to real personality. Polly is everyone’s friend but isn’t really part of the story and (spoiler alert!) her sole purpose seems to be to serve as someone that the characters can lose as a consequence of war. We as readers feel for those who lost her, but we feel nothing when we hear of her death because the author never makes us care for her.

This book wasn’t terrible. But it also wasn’t good. The true, inspiring story portrayed in this fictionalized account was overshadowed by the superficiality of the writing. The bones are good – the general story is there, the historical and contemporary importance are there, but this novel reads more like a “this happened then this happened then this happened” list of details rather than a heartrending, rousing piece on why women deserve equal standing with men and why these women (or their true historical counterparts) deserve to be remembered.

I loved this book from the first few pages. Strong female characters. Amazing story line. 

Historical fiction is a newer genre for me and I tend to lean towards female MC who have made their mark on historical times in history. Spitfire did not disappoint.

These are the stories I wish our history books taught us. 

Spitfire Girls tells the story of the first female pilots during World War II. Lizzie is the daughter of a legendary American pilot with dreams of leading the United States’ first group of women pilots. She writes a letter to and eventually meets with the First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt. Lizzie is set to Britain to join and learn about a group a women pilots ferrying planes.

May is the commanding officer of this group, with Ruby as her first officer. Lizzie is brash and bold and often offends her British counterparts. When she and Ruby, the two best pilots, are pitted against each other in a competition to be the first woman to fly a Halifax, a bomber, tensions rise and Lizzie learns a valuable lesson about herself.

Spitfire Girls is an engaging, historical read. I felt myself rooting for Ruby and crying with May, while getting fired up right alongside Lizzie. Their stories and lives an inspiration to all women.

Mixed with the perfect amount of romance and predictability, Spitfire Girls was an engaging and educational read.

I revived an advanced eBook from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! While I knew of the WASPs in the US, it was fascinating to read about the British side of the it and the British Air Transport Auxiliary! While this is historical fiction, I enjoyed knowing that the characters were loosely based on real women. These women were real trail blazers and showed that they were just as valuable as the fighter pilots, 

I didn't want to put this book down!

I have really loved this book as it shows how fabulous strong women helped the war effort,May,Ruby,Polly are some of the first women to ferry planes during the war.They had to show that they could do this job in an era when  women stayed home and kept house and raised children.These girls form a bond of friendship and work well together that is until they get a new recruit from america.Lizzie is loud,big headed and doesn't like to be told what to do, all of which puts the girls off getting too close to her.I can highly recommend The Spitfire Girls and worthy of 5* if not more.EXCELLENT BOOK.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of Spitfire Girls in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book and it was very interesting to learn about the first female pilots in WWII. However, the book is extremely predictable and I found myself skimming sections. Overall, it was cute and quick historical fiction.

War genre fiction is a favorite of mine and I certainly enjoy a book that educates me on a new aspect as to how women served during the war. A very good historical fiction.

I loved this book. I'm a sucker for most historical fiction but when you combine strong women fighting against gender stereotypes, I'm definitely in. This novel follows 3 women, who fight for the right to fly warplanes during WWII. They have to overcome gender bias, lower pay, and even the fact that they fly without instruments or radios! They demonstrate how important they are to the war effort and the fact that women can do anything men can do. I found it refreshing that the story didn't solely focus on romance. While there are definite sparks flying,  (pun intended) the story is more about friendship, resilience, and the pursuit of your dreams. 

It was well written and I honestly could not put this down. Fans of historical fiction will love this one. Thanks to NetGalley for providing and ARC for review.