A brilliant sequel to Dear Mrs Bird. Within the first chapter Emmy was firmly reunited into my thoughts and how hard it would have been during ww2. Despite that, following Emmy’s adventures is heartwarming, funny, yet told with great sympathy. Really looking forward to the next book and hoping for a TV series!

A worth follow up to AJ Pearse’s first book. Charming, heartfelt and evocative of women’s lives during the Second World War.

A delightful sequel to Dear Mrs Bird. Yours Cheerfully picks up where Dear Mrs Bird left us, With Emmy growing in confidence at Woman’s Friend magazine. My fear on beginning the first book was that the tone would be too “jolly hockey sticks” for me, but fortunately there is real heart at its centre and real issues about women’s place in the world in wartime. This heart is still very much in evidence in Yours Cheerfully and new challenges (personal and professional), for Emmy to face.

3.5

I loved dear Mrs Bird and I enjoyed this one just as much. I loved how we got back on track with some of the same characters and I enjoyed the era in which the story was set in. Really enjoyable.

I read Dear Mrs Bird and loved it. It is a very easy read, touching historical fiction. This book was a lovely sequel! I loved The plot, it was medium paced and gripped although very easy to follow. I hope that there will be more books to follow about Miss Emmy Lake! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in turn for a truthful review.

I have e joyed Dear Mrs Bird, so I thought I’ll check out the sequel. It was just as good as the previous book. I loved the light and heartwarming atmosphere even though it was set during very difficult time. I will definitely recommend it to everyone.

I absolutely loved this book. I requested it as I really enjoyed Dear Mrs Bird and wanted to read the sequel - it didn’t disappoint. I love books set in this era, love the innocence and simplicity of the relationships often depicted. I hope there is a third!

AJ Pearce’s Dear Mrs Bird was one of my favourite reads of 2019. The tone is wonderfully WW2-era British jolly hockey sticks, it takes a fun look behind the scenes of an agony aunt page at a fictional women’s magazine before shifting delicately into a darker, sadder reality of war. The protagonist is Emmy Lake, a chirpy wannabe war journalist, who lives in London with her best friend Bunty and is desperate to help with the war effort. I read it in a flash while on honeymoon and have been waiting impatiently for the sequel ever since.

So I’m sorry to say that the first half of the book was a bit of a slog for me. The delightful Emmy was back but this time the tone grated on me a bit and, thumbing through page after page about changes at the magazine, I couldn’t help but feel that maybe Dear Mrs Bird should have been left as a standalone novel. The pace picks up a bit when the Ministry of Information gets in touch and requests that the magazine (along with all other UK women’s magazines) assist in the recruiting of women to munitions factories. Emmy leaps at the chance to show her patriotism and persuade others to join in with war work, roping in a munitions worker called Anne who she meets on a train journey. She heads off to the factory where Anne works, interviews some of the other women working there and files her first piece of serious journalism. Though she’s delighted when her writing is a hit, she soon becomes disappointed with the things she’s asked to leave out.

The story becomes very interesting, with a focus specifically on the lack of provisions the factories make for single mothers or those with men away in the army. Despite this, I still wasn’t fully invested until the tension really ramped up with Emmy doing what she does best - going out on a limb and risking everything for a cause she believes in. The final section of the book was exactly what I’d been hoping for the whole time and suddenly I couldn’t put it down!

Yours Cheerfully took on a more serious wartime topic than Dear Mrs Bird, and I think it was because of that that I struggled with it. The storyline was engaging but didn’t consistently work with the lighter tone that I loved so much in the first book. Despite my gripes I would recommend Yours Cheerfully. It follows on with Bunty’s story in a lovely way, catches us up on Emmy’s relationship and explores an important bit of our history.

Where to begin with this one?

Having loved Dear Mrs Bird, I really hoped this would live up to it, and it did. It did so much! Being reunited with the slightly rebellious Emmy was just the dream and I loved every page of this book.

Set against a back drop of London in the second world war, this book is anything but miserable. It's packed full of joy and this is one I'll be going out to by a physical copy to treasure forever.

Book Review✨⠀
Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce 📖⠀
⠀
🌟 This novel was utterly delightful - even more so than the first! ⠀
🌟 The whole cast of characters are fabulously unique (though not all are fabulous) & it felt like being reunited with old pals.⠀
🌟 The attention to detail in the writing is excellent & it completely immersed me in the wartime England.⠀
🌟 Highly recommend to everyone looking for a warm hug of a book with heart & I have no hesitation in giving it all the stars.⠀
🌟 @ajpearce please tell me you are writing number 3?! I missing Emmy & Bunty already.⠀

I read the first book in this series quite a while ago (or should that be 100s of books ago? That's probably a better way of measuring time) - and I remembered that I had enjoyed it, so when the opportunity to review the sequel came through via Netgalley, I jumped at the chance.

I'm not sure if my tastes in books have changes, if it had been too many books ago that I read the first, or what, but I just didn't enjoy the way this was written. The whimsy, the haplessness, the good-intentions-just-think-it-through-next-time nature of it.

I guessed most of the plot devices and 'twists', and while it's a sweet story, with a good message, it feels very heavy handed - so a generous 3 stars.

Following on from Dear Mrs Bird, Emmy Lake continues her work at Women’s Friend.  However, with WW2, the publications are tasked by the Ministry to promote the recruitment of women to assist with the war effort.
 
Taking a very proactive role, it isn’t as easy as the Ministry makes it sound with childcare and other women’s rights.  Emmy joins a march as she tries to manage her wedding to Charles on the same day.
 
It’s all very sweet and jolly hockey sticks but I didn’t enjoy this book as I did Dear Mrs Bird and rate it 3 stars 🌟🌟🌟

I loved Dear Mrs Bird so I had high hopes for the next book and it definitely didnt disappoint.
All the usual character; Emmy. Bunty, Charles plus a few new characters.
Its just a really lovley read which you just can't help but smile throughout. Which is no mean feat given that the story is set during the war.
I'm already looking forward to reading the next installment

Having adored Dear Mrs Bird I was excited to get an advanced copy of the sequel to read.

It was lovely to be transported back into Emmy's life and the eclectic mix of wartime characters. The writing is engaging, we see Emmy cheerful nature and natural optimism falter a little when she is charged with covering the women's war efforts and sees first hand the difficulties they encounter. Full of 'Blitz Spirit' and 'Carry on Regardless' and the difficulties of romance during wartime!

Although I felt it was a little slow in places, this book, like Dear Mrs Bird, was still a charming trip back in time and one that has left me hoping that there more to come from Emmy and her friends.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and leave an honest review of this lovely, lovely book!

I loved the first novel from this author but unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this book and having read 20% of the plot have decided not to continue. A real shame as the first book exploring these characters was a lovely read.

If you’ve read Pearce’s first book ‘Dear Mrs Bird’, then you will be glad to know that all your favourite characters are back in this sequel. I love these characters; they care about each other. They embody the true meaning of war time spirit. Pearce does a great job of writing quirky, stoic, lovable and unlikable characters; ensuring there is a happy mix of eclectic-ness!

The book centres around Emmy’s crusade to help other women. She’s not in the same situation as these women, but she shows enough empathy to understand their plight and want to help. This includes barging in on meeting, organising parades and hiding in the back of a van!

“There are women who stick up for each other, and women who don’t. It was as simple as that.”

Yes, this is historical fiction, but it’s not about the war, it’s about people. There are serious topics covered here, including war widow’s low pension and women’s rights, but Pearce balances all of this out with wit and wisdom to create the most wonderful joyful tale. It really is like a warm cup of hot cocoa!

I enjoyed the story, but it did move more slowly than the last book. It is a short, quick to read and chock-full of goings on! What stuck out most to me was how much this story related to relationships and kindness. Something we all need more of right now.

Once again a very gently written story about our young journalist in world war two finding out that being patriotic needs practical help. She tackles the very real problems that women encountered whilst tying to do their bit to help the war effort and battles against the bigotry that wants to push these valid challenges aside as just women's complaints. Warm characters, written in the manner of the time

Emmy Lake has much to be thankful for, her friend Bunty is slowly recovering from her injuries received during the Blitz, her relationship with Charles is blooming and she is being trusted to write the 'Dear Mrs Bird' column for Women's Friend magazine. However when Emmy meets Alice, a war widow who is working in a munitions factory, she realises that the positive spin that the Government wants the magazine to put on war work is not as glossy in reality. Having to juggle career, political awakening and an impending marriage, Emmy is all at sea.
Dear Mrs Bird was a lovely escape and this is even better. Set during 1941, it puts a female perspective on the home front by focusing on the woman left behind who also want to support the war effort. Subtly political but always written with a real brio, this is a cracking fun read.

As I mentioned in my most recent reviews I’ve really gotten into historical fiction and this was another great historical read and this one was set in London so that was an added bonus.
Premise
London, September, 1941.

Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, is still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, but bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty, and standing by her friends.
I loved Emmys story as I love boos set in the magazine world. Especially set in historical times that was a very interesting concept as well. It was a very unique perspective to read about life, love, and career all the things we are dealing with in the modern world but set in historical times. I also loved Emmys dedication to her friends as well. My father was born in the 1940s so that was special to me to read about life in that era.

As full of the Keep Calm and Carry On spirit as the first Mrs Bird book, Yours Cheerfully finds Emmy taking on her own wartime advice column on a more official basis this time. Charming and ever-resourceful, Emmy and her colleagues meet a female munitions worker with a powerful message about the role that women played in the war effort.