China Blue is the third of a series of books based around the fictive Dudley family during WWII and the interwar period immediately following. China Blue follows the wartime efforts of Claire Dudley, a gifted linguist who joins the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and accepts a posting with special operations to work in France helping the resistance.

The research and sense of period are very well done. It felt as though the author had definitely expended the effort to do the background research necessary to capture the time period. There was not a lot of dramatic tension building, the plot moves along at a somewhat sedate pace. As such, it was a relaxing and enjoyable read for me. There were some patches of slightly stilted dialogue which yanked me out of the story, but overall it was a fine read. The language is very clean and there's nothing to remotely offend most readers.

This book does manage to capture the dichotomy of the war, stress and deprivation side by side with dancing and flirting now because the future is in no way guaranteed.

I read China Blue as a standalone novel and had no trouble keeping track of the characters.

Stats:
Released 7th May, 2015 by Madalyn Morgan, it's 262 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.

I was happy to receive a copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the third book in the Dudley Sisters Saga. The series is set during the second world war (which is a time period of great interest to me) and focuses on the experiences of the Dudley sisters throughout the war. I had not read any books in the series prior to reading this one but that didn't pose a problem as it appeared to be complete enough in and of itself to tell the story.

This particular book tells the story of Claire Dudley who originally signed up to join the WAAF but ultimately ended up being recruited by S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) and because of her language skills ends up working in France as a member of the resistance.

I have read several factual books about women who served in the S.O.E. and this one suffered somewhat in comparison for me. I think this isn't totally unexpected as it is a novel rather than a factual account. I didn't fall in love with the different characters in this novel. Some of Claire's friends seemed extremely immature and while Claire was less so, she had a tendency to cry which grew stale rather quickly.

Claire falls in love with Captain Alain Mitchell, a French Canadian officer who is one of the people involved in her training and who ultimately goes overseas with her. I am not a big fan of graphic sexual scenes in the novels I read. The sex may be an important part of the story but there are ways to imply it has taken place without going overboard. The author here included one sex scene and while not particularly graphic it felt very forced and stilted and did not add to the flow of the story.

Overall the story was a good read and I would read more in the series (and am in the process of doing so as I write) but it needs a little more work to be a great novel.

China Blue is the third book in the Dudley Sisters Saga, and it tells the story of Claire at the height of WWII. Claire excels in languages, and works her way up to Special Operations, where she is sent to France to transmit information back re: Germany. During her these operations, she meets Captain Mitchell, where sparks fly and romance unfolds. However, Captain Mitchell becomes captured by the Germans, and Claire is left behind - a story of danger, duty, and love unfolds in the midst of the WWII era.

I really enjoyed China Blue - it was a quick, light, easy ready and it was definitely an upbeat novel compared to many of the WWII books I've read. Although this was my first experience with the Dudley Sisters Saga, I enjoyed meeting Claire and reading her story. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Chasing Ghosts, and would definitely recommend this to other readers who enjoy WWII literature.