It's the second time that I'm reading something from Erin McKenzie and what captured my attention here, was mainly the plot and reading about heroes of another time, especially those that are always absent from school history books.
In 1915, the second year of the First World War, 22 year old Ellie lives a privileged life with her parents and younger brother. Elie is not interested in being a wife or a mother and she just needs to be her own person. She's passionate and idealistic and often attends meetings to discuss women's rights. When her twin cousins get killed in the war, she decides to join the VADs where she meets Johanna who is a Scottish nurse stationed in France.
This is a deeply emotional story with two strong leading characters . I really liked how organically Ellie and Johanna’s feelings for each other were growing, as well as their struggles that followed this realization.
The historical part of the story was painfully realistic and very well executed . It's hard to forget the brutality and horror that a war causes.

I'm very impressed with this author and her always unique books. This one is highly recommended.

* An ARC was given to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ah, what a wonderful and moving story!
It is absolutely heartbreaking to know that not only war but also the time frame is against those two. The daily tasks, learning and teaching and trying to hide their love in meantime? It always makes,me think, how some women survived not only that time frame but also the war. Both characters make you think and feel. When they end up together well, you are absolutely happy for them.

I was wary about reading a lesbian romance set around World War I. Both because what was going to happen to the characters (not that a modern book couldn't have those prejudiced too). Also, I wasn't sure if I was ready for the intensity of the war itself. I shouldn't have worried about the former, and while the latter was really well done, a lot of it in fact was very intense.

It's about Joanna and Ellie. Ellie signs up to be a Volunteer Aid person and she winds up under the tutelage of a grumpy and standoffish actual nurse, Joanna. They get closer and closer and a relationship blossoms. But, it's World War I, and so it's not a super smooth journey from point A to point B for the two women.

It was an amazing novel and even though I sometimes had to put it down (darn work), I did not want to. Not by a long shot.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

This is my first time reading a book by Erin McKenzie and I was impressed. This Historical Romance is set during WW1. Johanna Lennox is a nurse serving during WW1. She is standoffish and intimidating. As you read this book you can see why she is all of those things. Ellie Winthrop joins the VADs because she wants to make a difference. Even though she is from a wealthy family, she is not a typical upper class woman. She has empathy, patience, confidence and she is fairly outspoken. When Johanna and Ellie first meet there is a small spark. Johanna doesn't want to like Ellie, but she is drawn to her. Those feelings for sure are mutual.

While My Heart Beats for sure is an intense romance. McKenzie does a fabulous job depicting the horrors of WW1 without being overly graphic. I did appreciate that. I rather enjoyed the dance between Johanna and Ellie. Both characters are likable and you can see how they connect with one another. Reading this you also get a sense of how difficult it would be to be gay in this era. You get a good sense of what both characters feel and worry for them. The angst in this story is well thought out and feasible. You just really understand why one would push the other away. And talk about a really wonderful ending. Dreams do come true!

I just found this historical romance to be well written and enjoyable considering the circumstances. 4.25 stars

What a roller coaster ride of a read. This story reminded me of brutality, hardship, and loss when thinking of war. And, how war impacts family and love ones. Within, there is a love story. Eleanore Winthrop, from a wealthy family and expected to marry and have children. Ellie decides this is not the life for her and signs up of the Volunteer Aid Detachment to assist in the war efforts. Johanna Lennox, from a working-class family and a nurse. Ellie and Johanna meet under challenging conditions and realize there is a connection.

The description of the conditions and the tragic bodily violence to the injured is so horrific and sad. It is difficult not to feel while reading. But the care that the nurses and VAD provide is herculean. Ellie and Johanna comfort each other while working hour upon hours providing care. The personality difference between Ellie upbeat and Johanna prickly is one of the reasons that makes the read so good. Also, the supporting characters.

This was a heartwarming book about two women who find each other during war-torn Great Britain. Ellie feels different than her counterparts, and has no interest in finding a husband. Her work with the Suffragette movement leads her to volunteering with the Red Cross and finding herself working alongside Johanna, a nurse whose cold heart melts when she's around Ellie.

I liked this quite a bit. It was a quick read, and the story was engaging. Parts felt a bit sappy, but it didn't detract from the story, and evened out the gruesome war stories. Very realistic and overall, a very nice short read.

This story is set during World War I where strong willed Ellie Winthrop joins the VAD as a nurse because she feels compelled to do her part. This is where she meets war weary Scottish nurse Johanna Lennox who wants no part in training new nurses. However Johanna sees something in Ellie and soon become friends and then something forbidden.
This was such a wonderful story and I was swept along in the intense love Ellie and Johanna had for one another during the horrors of war.
This is an absolute must read and can not write enough to explain how wonderful this book is.

I received this ARC copy via NetGalley and publisher for an honest review. Many thanks!!

When I first read the blurb for this book, there were two things that captured my attention: the setting and the Volunteer Aid Detachments (VADs). I love reading about different war time heroes that are often side notes in school history books. So I was hoping the blurb was on target with the actual content of the book. After reading the author’s dedication page, I knew it would be.

The story began in 1915; the war in Europe had already started the previous year. In England, 22 year old Ellie was living a life of luxury with her parents and younger brother, Theo. Elie was not interested in just being a wife and mother and ignored the steady stream of gentleman callers her mother arranged for her. She wanted to be her own person and frequently attended meetings to discuss women’s rights.
After her twin cousins were killed in the war, Ellie wanted to do her part to help the war effort and subsequently joined the VADs. Johanna, 24, was a Scottish nurse who was stationed in France and was tasked with overseeing and the newly arrived VADs. Johanna and Ellie worked well together and formed a close friendship which eventually led to deeper feelings. These feelings both terrified and exhilarated them, and each tried to navigate these feelings in their own way, sometimes putting themselves in harm’s way.

Ellie and Johanna were strong characters but relied on each other for emotional support as their relationship developed. I liked how the author slowly allowed Ellie and Johanna’s feelings for each other to surface, as well as their struggles and conflicts over this awakening. With war as a backdrop, they tried to make the most of the downtime they had together, but it never seemed to be enough. The cruelty of war was always present.

The historical aspect of the story was very intense and compelling because it was realistically written with heartbreaking scenes.One example of this was when Johanna had to treat soldiers exposed to mustard gas. You could feel Johanna’s emotions intensify as she treated these men -with shaking hands- and an overwhelming anger at the brutality of this war.

While My Heart Beats was a love story, a war story, and most importantly, a story about heroes. Those three combined made this a great story.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

Great book! First World War nurse/VAD romance. I couldn't put it down. Finished in one sitting and will probably re-read it again today. The pacing is excellent; the drama is rivetting; and I couldn't help but fervently root for the characters.

Ellie is high society English, but when her cousins are killed in the war, she volunteers with the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment as a nursing aid. Johanna is a Scottish nurse from a lower-class background. Both women find themselves deployed to a field hospital in France. Surrounded by the devastating effects of war, the two women grow closer. Against the vagaries of war and the disparate realities of their lives back home, the women struggle to find a place for their love and a future together.

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Set in the early 1910s, the story told of the tribulations of a love not only ridden with impossibilities being a forbidden affair back in the era but also one that was besieged by the sorrows and pains of World War 1. Joanna and Erin, the main protagonists in the tale gave a glimpse of the uncertainty and fragility of lives in those times working together in a hospital where Joanna was a nurse and Ellie a Voluntary Aid Detachment volunteer.

It is also very much a poor/rich girl pairing that expounds on the very possibility of the demise of the relationship when Joanna, the poor orphan is torn between embracing and rejecting the love of a lifetime due to her insecurities and later on even suffered injuries during an air strike.

Ellie, the stronger willed of the two and every bit the true feminist, fully embodied the character in the strength and courage displayed in her pursuit of a love she refused to walk away from.

The following is an excerpt from Joanna’s letter to Ellie and the rest, I guess you have to read it for yourself.

Dearest Ellie,
“... What we had was the most beautiful dream, my darling, but now that you’re gone, the dream is over. You are where you belong and must live the life you were born to live. I cannot share such a life with you—I am only the daughter of a fisherman. God knows when I will ever make it home, but if I do, my work will barely earn a living wage. I could never provide for you all that you deserve, and your parents would surely not accept me. Please know that I do this because I love you. Your happiness is all I hope for, and I can rest easy believing that someday, someone better than me will take care of you. Do not be sad, sweet Ellie—this is for the best. Please, let me go.” Johanna.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Ellie wants to do more with her life then what her family wants her to do. Ellie is passionate about women right to vote as she and her peers tries to get the government to listen. She is also not content on sitting by and not doing nothing to help the soldiers so she volunteers at Voluntary Aid Detachment where she hopes she can give comfort to the injured soldiers.

Johanna has seen a lot of horrible things while working as a nurse and it made her wary but when Ellie comes into her life she doesn’t understand why she drawn to her but when tragedy strikes Ellie is there for Joanna when friendship turns to more will they have a chance to take it in the mix of dangers the war is brining.


This was a good read and I applaud the women who got the right to vote and paved the way for everyone women right to vote.

While My Heart Beats opens with the cultured and upper class Ellie Winthorp attending a suffragette meeting, hoping she and her peers might somehow convince the government that women deserve the right to vote. It’s 1915 and World War One is raging across the English Channel in France. Ellie’s family have traditional expectations for her to marry some young man of wealth but she is not content to do what is expected of her. Instead she volunteers for the VAD or Volunteer Aid Detachment, hoping to do her part to comfort the brave young soldiers injured in battle. She and several other VADs are assigned to Johanna Lennox, a Scottish nurse who is tired of dealing with entitled ladies hoping for a bit of fun and a chance to interact with the young lads in need of care.

I enjoyed this historically accurate story of forbidden love. Ellie is all enthusiasm and smiles, comforting the soldiers she cares for with a touch or a kind word. The world weary and prickly Joanna is drawn to this woman in ways she doesn’t understand. Their relationship builds slowly, hobbled by their situation and guaranteed dismissal if discovered. I liked how Ellie’s sunny disposition warms Johanna’s heart helping her to deal with the horrors she sees every shift. The class system and the dangers of war make the chance of these women finding any kind of happy ever after unthinkable and remote.

This was a nice tribute to the women who eventually won the right to vote, proving through their selfless and courageous efforts that women are capable of anything when given the chance to prove their worth.

3.5 stars

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.