Into the Darkest Day by author Kate Hewitt is a strong story with emotional elements. A good read.
Review copy received from Netgalley

A powerful read, highly emotional and poignant. Great characters and a lovely plot. Highly recommended.

Great dual timeline story set in WW2 and USA in the present. The two eras worked well together with a good mixture of romance, secrets and intrigue. Well written and characters that were believable it was definitely a page turner for me

Not quite deep enough for me I fear. Rather like so many others; with rather two-dimensional characters. More romance than reality! Not really for me.

I don’t often like dual timelines but this one….this one just blew me away. I absolutely fell in love with the story line, the characters, the writing style. Every single bit of this book was phenomenal.

I loved the way the author vividly portrayed the WWII era. It truly came to life for me. I felt every single raw emotion that these beautiful characters felt. The pain, the love, the intensity that feels each page is truly soul capturing.

If you love history, if you love attention to detail, if you love beautifully created characters then look no further than this captivating novel. This author’s work is some I won’t soon forget. I will be recommending this one with 4 stars and two thumbs up!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Author/NetGalley, Bookouture and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

Every once in a while, I just love to immerse myself in a Historical fiction and seeing I find 2nd WW set stories very intruiging, I was really happy to have gotten an e-arc of this book because the promise of this story was really good. And this book definitely didn't dissapoint! The story was engaging from beginning to end thanks to the author's

The story is set in 2 timelines: London/Europe 1944 and the USA present time which I really loved. The story read rather nicely thanks to the author's engaging writing, which had me constantly looking forward to the next chapter.

This is a story that I'd definitely recommend if you like the synopsis of this book, and if you in general really like Historical WW2 fiction combined with a more romantic/drama storyline in which there's a lot of focus on character development.

Like most other readers, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm always down for a good WWII romance, especially when one of the characters is a soldier. Sometimes the switching between time periods makes the story complicated and cut up, but I think it worked really well in this book. I definitely enjoyed reading about Lily and Matthew more, but Simon and Abby held their own as they searched for answers from the past.

“I feel sad, and somehow ashamed by it, too. I’m not sure why. It’s just so hard to believe people are capable of such evil.”

I was excited to read Kate Hewitt’s book, Into the Darkest Day - her first venture into historical fiction - and what an interesting and intriguing story she has given her readers. The book had a title change even though I thought the previous title had suited it perfectly. It has everything I look for in a historical read - dual timeline, mystery to be solved and a heartfelt love story.

‘How strange, he thought, not for the first time, that so much has changed, and all because of people who will never know how they’ve affected me. Helped me. Helped us.’

I found that the switches between timelines to be smooth, however, the historical tale was definitely the stronger of the two. I did not fully appreciate the contemporary tale with the exception of it providing good solid links to the historical one - that was an added bonus. The connection between the two tales surrounding ‘survivors guilt’ was a good one though and Kate drew strong parallels in both timelines.

‘He wanted this man—this paltry, pathetic little tool of the Fuhrer, a tiny cog in the vast machinery of the Nazi party—to know who he was. What he was.’

Into the Darkest Day is an emotional read with rich descriptions of London bombings and concentration camp liberations that are shocking in the telling. To balance this is an uplifting romance that gives a happy ending for some. Kate, a prolific writer, has done a fabulous job with her first foray into historical fiction - a story filled with strength and courage as the past must be laid to rest when the opportunity for new beginnings comes along.

‘She didn’t want any more secrets. She didn’t want to keep them; she didn’t want to stay silent about yet another thing in her life, or someone’s else life. And she didn’t want to throw away the promise of something—someone—good...’






This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Author Kate Hewitt has once again created an enthralling, gracious and heartrending story of love during war in her latest novel.

This story will leave you breathless... characters that embrace you, so real, so vivid, that all you want is for them to have their happy ending...and then you remember this is Kate Hewitt, and well that's not quite the way the story unfolds.

This engrossing story is told from two timelines; 1940's England and present day USA.

It's about British sisters, two young women and the two American GI's they meet.
It's about finding love during the darkest days of World War II, and trying to survive in the chaos of a war torn England.

It's about an apple orchard and a quiet, unworldly girl.
It's also about a mysterious war medal with an 80 year old story to unravel.

It's about strength, resilience and abandon.
4⭐
Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, Ms.Kate Hewitt, for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy of "Into the Darkest Day". The opinions expressed in this review are mine alone.

This story brought me to tears. What an engrossing, beautiful WW2 historical novel by Kate Hewitt. I cannot fathom what the Jews had to endure, and with every WW2 novel I read, it just hits me even more of what they went through. There are two timelines in this story, one in present day Wisconsin on an apple farm and back in London in 1944. There is also romance intertwined within. I adored this novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my, this was good. Rich in historical detail, this story gripped me from the beginning. Told in two timelines, it is a story of love, hardship, and secrets
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

An interesting read of life during the war, love, heartache and all the uncertainties of the time, I really enjoyed reading about the Ritchie Boys, which was new to me, and the role they played in the war.

Kate Hewitt penned a beautiful time slip that weaves together two worlds. In present day, that of Abby, a country girl living her life on the family Apple farm in Wisconsin.
In 1944 in London, we meet Lily living a sheltered and strict upbringing under her parents with her older sister Sophie.

Abby lives and works on the Apple orchard with her father. Abby is still trying to come to terms with a horrible accident that claimed the life of her mother and brother several years ago. One day Simon arrives at the orchard all the way from England with a Purple Heart medal that belongs to Abby’s grandfather. He claims his grandmother had it and her wish was that it be reunited with his family. Abby is puzzled as to why someone else would have a medal belonging to her grandfather and why she knew nothing about her grandfathers past.

Lily and Sophie are as opposite as they come. When their mother invites two American soldiers, G.I’s, to dinner they are each intrigued. The GI’s take the girls out dancing and Sophie is immediately taken by the outgoing Tom Reese. Lily on the other hand is quiet and shy and is really not sure what to do with herself. Matthew is also very placid but the two seem to strike a similar cord In their own way. . It isn’t until Matthew arrives a few days later with a basket of food for the family and asks to go walking with Lily that the two start a connection. Matthew however is very hard to read and Lily has some doubts about who he is and his intentions.

You will definitely be drawn in by Lily and Matthews story as it tugs at your heart strings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy.

I requested this book on Netgalley months ago. And i’m just now able to finally sit down to read it. I honestly forgot what it was about. So I was going in blind!
Now having read the whole book. I jumped on Goodreads to read the synopsis. I was pretty shocked to see that this book was about Lily and Mathew! Because I felt this book was more about Tom & Sophie
I mean... now that I think abut this book. There should’ve been more Lily and Mathew situations.

And this book also went through a name change. It use to be The Forgotten heart.

This book starts off with the descendants of Second Lieutenant Tom Reese And a women he met while stationed in England Sophie Mather.
She had a sister named Lily Mather.
Abby is Tom’s granddaughter And Simon is the grandson of Sophie. Before Sophie passed away she asked her grandson to return something to the Reese family. That’s how Abby and Simon’s path cross.

Tom met the Mathers through church. Tom and another fellow servicemen Staff Sergeant Matthew Lawson were invited to dinner at Sophie & Lily’s House. They were excited! Two American servicemen going to have dinner at their house! Right away Sophie and Tom hit it off.

Sophie was a wild one. She wanted to live the fast life. Lily on the other hand was opposite. Very quiet, very much like you would expect a lady to act in those times.

The story takes you back In forth between past & present. But it was kinda slow. And like I said... I forgot what this book was about. Right away I thought this book was about Tom and Sophie’s love story! That what it seemed to me. Because Lily and Mathew were kind off with each other. Very cold feelings from Mathew.

Lily and Mathew were interesting. But I didn’t feel anything because both their characters were quite. Mathew was a little mysterious but he didn’t seem to open up at all with Lily. When he finally did talk to her. It was very friend like.

Abby... Tom’s niece was a hard character to like. She was so rude and defensive all the time.
These are some of the words I would use to describe Abby.
Prickly, standoffish, boring.
She was constantly throwing mini tantrums with people whenever they would ask certain questions she didn’t want to answer. She was 32 years old but acted much older.

“Honestly. I’m very dull. I’ve been thinking about that all evening, how very boring I must seem to you. I haven’t gone anywhere, or done anything, except live and work on this orchard, which is actually fine, if a bit dull to the outsider.”

I didn’t like her. And it was hard for me throughout the whole book. Her and her dad gave Simon a hard time with trying to get information about Tom. And the reason why the dad didn’t want to talk about it was big at the time it happened. But years later shouldn’t have been a big deal to tell. Embarrassing yes... but everyone involved had already passed away.

When Simon was asking Abby questions about herself. Her answers seemed off to me. The college Talk was a big huh and why?!

She said she wanted to Major in German, If she had went to college! I mean why?! She didn’t even know why! I thought that was so random and made no sense at all.

“University of Wisconsin Madison.” She spoke dismissively, as if it hadn’t mattered. “I wanted to major in German—how ridiculous is that?”

“I’m not sure what I would have done with a degree in German. I think I chose it just because I liked my high school German teacher. I did study the Second World War, a little, as part of it. Not that it helps with any of this.”

I just thought that was so weird... then add to the fact that I didn’t like her character. It was just too much.

This book was interesting and sad. But, I just wish there was more between Lily and Mathew. Because the whole Story seem to focus on Tom and Sophie. Even the ending between them was so fast and rushed. We just get a little flash of what happened to them.
I mean... I would’ve liked to read about them. Their life together.

Overall... I’m kinda disappointed. This book wasn’t what I was expecting.

This is a beautiful, poignant story narrated in two timelines. In the present timeline, Simon visits Abby with a medal that belonged to her grandfather. The medal was given to him by his grandmother who never mentioned how she came to be in possession of it. This mystery is what sparked Simon and Abby’s quest to find answers from the past. In the second timeline set in 1944, we have 2 sisters who meet 2 American GIs in the midst of the war. A meeting changed the course of their lives.

As always with these types of stories, I was more drawn to the 1944 timeline. It is a difficult period to read about, filled with air raids, deaths, devastation and the worst of mankind. I can’t fully imagine what life was like back then. The air raids especially had my heart racing. Can you imagine living at the mercy of a siren to warn you about a possible bombing? Late alerts, failure to reach shelter, all spell doom. The author vividly portrayed the fears, anger, worries, hopelessness that all comes with war.

Everything from the characters to the story-line worked perfectly in this story. I have read numerous books about the world war but I still get shocked by it. Although not graphic, this is a story that is bound to tug at your heartstrings and also anger you when you read about the atrocities and mayhem. I like that it introduced me to a new angle of interrogators of prisoners of war and I also got learn about D-Day/Normandy Landing. I don’t think these are elements that I have encountered before.

Beautiful writing, great, emotional read, this is a book that I recommend to everyone especially fans of historical fiction.

I've had this one for a bit but knowing there was some heavy subject matter I found it hard to be in the mood to read it. Now that I finally have, I am surprised by how much hope runs through the book. Two parallel stories - one during WWII, the other in modern-day Wisconsin, we see people who have been frozen by inaction, or paths not taken, or guilt, and through the course of the book they thaw and open back up to embracing themselves and making different choices that lead them to more authenticity and happiness by the end.

The research into the world of London during the war and the Ritchie Boys is detailed and evocative. The characters all carry secrets and most are pretty self-contained and yet the author gives us windows into them in a deft way. Beautifully written and at times wonderfully moving., this book is definitely worth your time if you enjoy a good story well told.

For the fist time in a long time, a book made me cry.
I shed tears reading this story.
Story of love, secrets, story of present and past.
The writing was clear and well plotted.
I don't know if I would read this book again for the simple fact that it was so melancholic and touching, but I would definitely recommend it!

This book was interesting to a point. I liked the time slip element and I was intrigued by Matthew’s story but I found most of the characters to be a bit flat and didn’t really relate to them all that much

This was an interesting read. The war, in Paris. Bombings, soldiering, and heartbreak.

This was truly a gripping and thrilling novel about WW2, and I was absolutely drawn into the story, in so many different ways.

The scenes and the mystery surrounding the GI were breathtaking, and the scenes with the sisters were heartrending.

And then you have the modern story woven into the historical one -- the one about the farmer and the historian looking for answers.

And those scenes are just as touching, just as poignant.

Normally, in a book like this, one part is better, more interesting, more intriguing than the others. But this one . . . both parts left me longing, equally, for the others. And I enjoyed it so much!

As a caution, there were a few words. There was some mention of inappropriate behaviour. There was kissing. Hence the three star rating.

I would recommend this for the historical aspect.

I am thankful to the publisher for a copy of this book to read!

Into The Darkest Day is a heartbreaking story with a dual time line and it works well. Its a story about WW II, courage, duty, friendship, hope and the heavy weight people carried for years due to guilt and secrets. I'm giving this novel 4 stars and wish to thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. However, I will no longer be reading WWII novels since I've had my fill of them.

Kate Hewitt never ceases to amaze me. I have been a huge fan for quite some time now and every new book release has all been five star reads for me. Into the Darkest Day is another example of Hewitt’s uber talented writing and if you haven’t guessed it, another five star read. As if I ever had any doubts it would be anything less!

I absolutely love history, especially stories centered around World War II. I listen to stories from my grandmother about the past and her time growing up during the war and her work at the military base. Hewitt really captures the essence of the time period during World War II and I could see all of the research that went into this story, heck even I learned a few things while reading.

Abby Reese lives on an apple farm in Wisconsin with her father. She suffers from a terrible loss fifteen years earlier and since then, her relationship with her father has been strained. When Simon Elliot emails and asks to meet Abby, Abby’s curiosity gets the best of her, especially since Sam claims to have a WWII medal that belonged to her grandfather. What is the story behind the medal and why would Sam’s grandmother be in possession of something so valuable?

Told in dual timelines from the past to the present, Hewitt weaves an emotionally charged story right from the first chapter. I was enthralled as soon as I began reading and my attention never wavered. I knew once I started I would not be able to put this book down, so once again, I was up till 4AM reading fighting for my eyes to stay open. I do have to admit though, that this always seems to be the case when it comes to a new book by Hewitt. This is such a classic kind of story. I don’t know what it is, but Hewitt really captures a time period and her words made me feel as if I was actually there seeing everything play out before my eyes. I had so many different emotions while reading and may have even become a little teary eyed (Yes! Another trait reading a book by Hewitt and it never seems to fail.)

I remember reading the blurb to this story and in the blurb it likened this story to one of my all time favorite movies/books, The Notebook. I have to say, Into the Darkest Day really lived up to my expectations and gave me all the feels just like The Notebook did when I first watched it in the theaters. I am not one to reread books, but this story definitely made a lasting impression and is one I would definitely love to reread sometime soon.

Into the Darkest Day is gripping and captivating! It is a heartfelt and honest story that is sure to be a favorite for fans of kate Hewitt and fans of WWII stories. I cannot say enough good things about this book. A definite keeper for my keeper shelf!