Book Review: Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss

About the book:

The war has stolen Rosalie’s fiancé, Vic, from her forever. But rather than wallow, Rosalie distracts herself by cramming her days full of activity—mainly by shooting rivets into the B-17 bombers that will destroy the enemy.

When a reporter dubs her “Seattle 's Own Rosie the Riveter,” even more responsibility piles up. Her strong arms bear all this, but when intense feelings surface for Kenny, the handsome, kind-hearted, and spiritually unwavering reporter, the fear of losing another love propels Rosalie to leave.

It’s only when Rosalie realizes that God has brought her to this place—and this person—for a reason, the sparkling grace of God compels her to let go of her own strength and lean on His, as well as open her heart to love.

My thoughts:

Now, more than ever before, I'm discovering that I like historical fiction in all its forms, whether it's history from 700 years ago about the Scots, or maybe about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, or either of the World Wars.  I appreciate now what people endured through those hard times, and what it meant to fight for causes they believed in.  Our culture now doesn't lean toward helping out your fellow man too much, unless there's something in it for you.  That's what makes the history of World War II, as well as all of the other wars, so special.  People banded together for one common cause.  If they had to go without sugar, they did.  If there was more vegetables than meat on the table, so be it.  And so what if you didn't have the newest car produced by Ford?  Big deal.  They understood the greater purpose, and that was to fight for the freedoms we share today.

Another unique thing that happened during World War II was that it wasn't frowned upon for a woman to have a job.  All the boys are doing the fighting; the women wanted to do their part, too.  That's what makes Rosalie's story in this book so special.  She lost her fiancé to the war within a matter of months, and many of her friends had husbands or brothers that were busy fighting, too.  She endured through it all, though, with the help of her job at the Boeing plant working as a riveter.  I could identify with her character because she wanted to do something that mattered, something that helped the greater good.  What she didn't expect along the way was to catch the attention of a certain reporter named Kenny.

Kenny had his own problems in the book.  He held back from entering the service because he made a promise to his dad that he would use his writing skills for the war effort.  Unfortunately, that attempt didn't go as planned.  He's been stuck with more stories than he can count about celebrities and local news stories that had nothing to do with the war.  How will he ever be able to face his father and say that he failed, especially since his dad is fighting in the war?

War stories aren't for everyone, and even though they fire up a great sense of patriotism in me, I find that I have to take them in small doses.  This story was perfect for me in that, there wasn't a lot of "war" in it.  Rather, I knew it was something that everyone was aware of, and all the characters were just trying to make it through another day the best they knew how.  I took with me more than just the romance from this story; I took away pride for my country, and the sacrifices that so many soldiers offered. 

4 Stars

**Many thanks to Litfuse Publicity Group for providing a copy for review.

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