"Alene Favier was awoken in the middle of the night by her father. She smelled smoke. Their home was on fire. Maman, her younger brother Luc and her father met on the front lawn in Paris, Kentucky, and watched their worldly possessions go up in smoke. Suddenly without warning or reason, her father runs back into the house, in search of who knows what, but he did not return".
It has a steady pace, but nothing about it stands out.

When I decided to request this book, I had something different in mind. I love medical fiction and history novels so it looked like an interesting combination.
What I found was very little medical subject running in the plot but very well developed characters. The story is well written and the subjects are universal. But the way the author goes around them is what makes the difference.
World War I is a subject that's not as frequently used as WWII as a time setting. And it felt good to read about it.
Arlene is a nice character who, a after a serious change in her life, and at a time that was not common, takes the chance and travel to Europe to be an ambulance driver. Once there she will find not just what she was looking for but a series of revelations that will change her future.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mercy Road by Ann Howard Creel started off by capturing my attention and held it throughout the book. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and this story, which takes place mostly in France, of an American ambulance driver for the American Women's Hospital during World War I did not disappoint. I loved Arlene's spunk, she knew that in order to save her family, drastic measures had to be taken and she was up for the challenge. I feel the author did a good job of giving sufficient backstory to all of the characters that needed it and the time period and location seemed well-researched.

I love a good story based on real history. This is one of those. Beautiful and strong. Centered on passionate, realistic female characters and covering important concepts in history.

A pleasantly enjoyable read. Inspired by the true story of the World War I American Women's Hospital, Mercy Road is a novel about love, courage, and a female ambulance driver who risks everything. A little slow to start, but definitely worth the read. Recommended

Arlene Favier is a fictional character and she tells for us the story of the brave women who formed the American Women’s Hospital during World War I. Starting in Kentucky horse country, MERCY ROAD leads us from the privileged but hard working stud farm owners to the soldiers and ambulance drivers across the muddy fields of war-torn Europe.
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Mercy Road by Ann Howard Creel 283 pages

This novel takes place in 1918. America has entered the Great War, but it hasn’t affected the Favier’s of Kentucky. They are kept quite busy with their thoroughbred horse farm. Arlene, the oldest child, is happy caring for the horses and cannot imagine any other lifestyle---no matter what her mother thinks. That is until a fire consumes their home and takes the life of her father. Thankfully, the horses are spared. Arlene is sure that her father left the family in financial security and the stud services will help to pay for what they need.

Unfortunately, Dad didn’t do that. Now the family is virtually destitute and with stud services drying up (no pun intended), Arlene realizes that she will have to find employment to care for her mother and brother.

Looking for work is not easy. Young women of that era do not work outside the home. Widening her scope, Arlene heads to the largest nearby city, Cincinnati. There she finds the American Women’s Hospital, a privately-supported organization that is as desperate for ambulance drivers as much as Arlene needs work. After an extensive interview, Arlene joins the all-female team of doctors and nurses headed for France, where the fighting is the heaviest.

Arlene goes through training that will teach her everything about the ambulances. There she meets Cass and they become friends, watching each other’s backs and helping each other. The scenes of the ambulance convoys driving to the front are the scenes of nightmares. The author, Ann Howard Kreel, does a great job describing the sights, sounds and smells of war. This reader felt as if she was there, but there was little tension that I felt a war scene should have.

I was disappointed that Arlene didn’t meet Ernest Hemingway, who was also an ambulance driver during World War I, but he was stationed in Italy, not France. But Arlene does meet another rake, an officer who takes no as a challenge, Felix Brohammer. He is a smarmy jerk who believes every woman wants him. He sets his hat on Arlene.

Nothing about Felix attracts her. She would rather concentrate on her job and the bonus that she is promised if she stays the entire course. However, she does run into an old heartthrob from back home, Jimmy.

I was confused a bit by the title. I thought “Mercy Road” was the actual name of a road. Instead it’s a euphemism for the road she and the other girls are traveling. Based on the points I covered in the review, “Mercy Road” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

I tried reading this book and I couldn't get involved with the characters who I felt where far too flat for my taste.

Ann Howard Creel is one of my favorite authors; she writes compelling stories that explore human emotion and does so through historical events that are not widely known. Mercy Road was sparked by a photo of the American Women's Hospital, which served in World War I. (Characters are fictional, at least the main ones). We spend so much time focusing on World War II; it was enlightening to read about this time period. That being said, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have others by her. Arlene seemed a bit hard to believe: a pampered (though not feminine) young lady from a well-to-do family finds that she alone can ensure their survival after a tragic accident leads to her father's death. And so she - almost flippantly - takes a position with the AWH. There were opportunities for her to find that she was "stronger than she believed" or grow in deep and personal ways through adversity" - and yet, they all just missed the mark. Being on the front lines in France certainly has horrors that cannot be escaped - and yet, it seems like they weren't really dealt with in the raw, emotional way I expect from Creel.

I'm giving this 2 stars - which is really about 2.6 as I did enjoy it, just not at *quite* the same level I use for a 3 star read.

Thank you Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Ann Howard Creel for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Arlene Favier, the protagonist, suffers from a great tragedy - who loses her father to house fire - and in order to provide for her family, she joins the American Women’s Hospital as an Ambulance Driver. The reader follows her through battles trying to save some and leave others. She saw horrible truth of the war but survived and this experience made her stronger.

However, this story line feels flat for me. There was not much development neither in the plot direction, not character. On the one hand, there is a strong-willed young woman, who considers her family needs before her own. She is a modern woman in 1917 who is not afraid to get her hands dirty with her manners in tact. There is a plot line with another woman who is supposed to be her friend but it does not get developed much further. There is a love line that is quite predictable.

Personally, I did not feel excited about Arlene’s adventures and did not feel sad about her misgivings. Neither Arlene nor other characters from the story did not become dear, and I did not care what would happen next.

I truly enjoyed the premise of Mercy Road. World War I is definitely underrepresented in historical fiction, so this was a nice change up, and I didn't know anything about the female ambulance drivers in the war or the American Women's Hospital. I loved that it was based on the true hospital too! Arlene is so easy to relate to, so likable, and definitely captures your heart. But it was hard to consider all her losses at first--her home, her father, her dreams of the future. However, she is such a strong, resilient character and the author makes her shine as she grows. Even as she grows, she deals with challenges (bad men) and tough moral choices common to women at the time. Overall, I loved the strength and the hope that radiated out of Arlene and was cheering her on the whole way! My only complaint was that the ending was a little abrupt.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Today's book is Mercy Road and was written by Ann Howard Creel. This book a historical fiction novel. I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy from Union Publishing through NetGalley. Arlene Favier is a young western women, who has just lost everything during a house fire. This leaves her and her family homeless without any means to support themselves after the death of her father. In order to support her family Arlene joins an all women ambulance team to go and help out in war torn France. She comes across a charismatic army captain who has secrets of his own. Arlene comes at a cross road of her moral compass which before the war was easy to follow.

I found the female ambulance team interesting because it was a fact about the war that I didn't know anything about. I was impressed by Arlene's dedication to her family even it it meant leaving them behind. I was surprised by how easy the army captain's word was take over someone who had a moral compass . I wounder why the author didn't include more connections between Jimmy's past and present situations and build on the budding romance arc.

The overall plot development was good because it gave a detail descriptive for the change of scenery but also the social issues of the time, so 8 points. Overall character development was excellent and included a good amount of growth, past and present emotions, so 8 points. The overall layout was done great with the right amount in the past and present, so 8 points. The overall grade of 80%. Yes, I would recommend this book. Those who enjoy female protagonist, female power, World War I, and non-romance main plot lines. Those who do not enjoy abuse of power, male abusing power, socially awkward situations, may need to look elsewhere.

Moving historical tale.
This story tells the live of the a women's ambulance service in the First World War.
Volunteers to serve the people of France that were affected, this story is incredibly historical researched.
As well as giving you the stories of the live of the main characters, it gives you the setting of what it was like in France at this time.
A story of loss, love and hope.
Recommended read and compulsively readable.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read in return for review.

This story drew me in right from the first page! I loved these characters! A wonderful and enriched story of hardships due to war!

My thanks to NetGallery, the publisher and author for a copy of Mercy Road to read and review.

The story is based on the American Women's Hospital, a self-funded volunteer group of women who provided medical care to both civilians and military during WWI. I had not heard of this group prior to reading the book, and was interested to learn about them. The central character, Arlene, is an ambulance driver for AWH, and her experiences are well told, with sufficient detail to feel the horror of the war without being overly graphic.

I had no preconceptions about this book. While I learned a bit about the period and this particular aspect of the war, but I think the story would have been stronger with fewer romantic elements.

I would recommend this to someone looking for light historical fiction.

A book about a girl from a horse farm in Kentucky that learns to drive an ambulance in war torn France.
This book kinda grabbed my attention from the first page! It was a quick book, I liked the characters and enjoyed the story! Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union publishers for the early copy (less)

I was intrigued by this book as our family is a long line of members of the military and healthcare profession. This is an exquisite read about the brave women doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and others who were not traditional roles in the military to serve during World War I. It is a realistic description of the tragedies and horrific experiences of war.


The characters had incredible depth and were feminists before their time! These women were so strong and faced many adversities such as having their villages bombed and destroyed.

If you want to learn more about experiences of WWI, check this one out!

This book is one of the only WWI books about the female ambulance drivers from America that I have found. For that the story is interesting, however I did find the book a bit slow for my tastes. For those interested in the social history of WWI it is worth a read though.

Thank you to the author Ann Howard Creel, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my candid review. Oh, yeah, due to some weird circumstances---I also bought a copy of the book, lol!

This is an excellent read about the brave women doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and others who were NOT WANTED to serve during World War I.....but who raised their own funding to get themselves there anyway. It is a realistic description of the horrors of war, without getting too detailed in it.

I loved the women characters who were were suffragettes way before their time. And these women couldn't even vote yet!

The characters had substance and the back story was interesting. The descriptions of the hardships of war and the perseverance of the civilians was intriguing. Can you imagine your village being bombed---having to leave your home, then coming back to a destroyed home---and living there so that you could harvest the crops?

I have read a lot about WWII, but this was a welcome insight into WWI. I would love to read more from this author.

This is a great read!

Thank you to Lake Union Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel for my honest opinion.

I adore historical fiction and was very excited to read this historical fiction novel based on the real life women of the American Women's Hospital during WWI. I did enjoy the historical aspect of the novel and learning about these women that I had not heard of before. I did not enjoy some of the character development in the story. Some of the characters were just a little over the top for me such as Brohammer who was just too much really.

Overall I liked the story though and the ending was satisfying.