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The Lieutenant's Nurse

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Member Reviews

Set in Hawaii right before and during the Peal Harbor attack, this novel moves quickly and keeps your interest. The heroine, Eva, is a nurse bound for Hawaii on a cruise ship when she meets a handsome naval officer. Eva has run away from a scandal in her hometown and hopes to start a new life with her boyfriend, who is stationed in the Pacific. The naval officer she meets introduces many complications, both in her relationship with her boyfriend and with her sense of wellbeing. Did the higher ups in the military know about the imminent attack on Pearl Harbor? This novel explores that question.

I really liked this novel and read it very quickly. However, the last third of the book had a few too many things going on with the plot. I could have done without the backstory or the subplot involving the therapy dog. Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and give it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

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I loved this book about WW I l and the setting also.
I loved the main character and felt myself cheering her on. The author had a way of making you feel as though you were immersed in the setting and plot
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

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A month before the United States is drawn into World War II, Eva Cassidy leaves her Michigan home to enlist as an Army Corp nurse where she trades a freezing Michigan winter for the balmy breezes of Hawaii. She finds herself falling for Lt. Clark Spencer, a navy intelligence officer who knows that the United States will be unable to stay out of the war much longer. On December 7, Eva and her nursing comrades are called into action, trying to save as many of the injured as they can. For Eva, life as she knew it is over, as she and everyone she knows must face a future that will demand the highest of sacrifices. Reading this book, I remember how I felt on September 11, and imagine that people must have felt much the same on December 7, 1941. Ackerman brings the anguish, terror and valor of those days

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Thank you to #NetGalley #ackermanbooks #harpercollins for my free review copy of The Lieutenant’s Nurse in an exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Pearl Harbor ... war ... romance ... intrigue ... cover ups ... friendship ... heroic nurses are elements that make this a memorable story.

November, 1941 finds Eva Cassidy, a newly enlisted Army Corps nurse, on board the steamship SS Lurline on her way to her first assignment in Hawaii. Even though she's engaged and her fiance is waiting for her in Hawaii, her voyage holds an interesting distraction: Lt. Clark Spencer, a handsome navy intelligence officer. Complications arise as Eva and Clark are drawn to each other and Eva desperately hides a secret from her past. Later, amidst the chaos of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Eva courageously bands together with her fellow nurses to tend to the American wounded, reconnects with Lt. Spencer, and is faced with questions of whom to trust and a desire to protect the ones she loves.

During the voyage to Hawaii, the story quietly builds as readers become acquainted with portions of Eva's back story and make the acquaintance of Lt. Clark Spencer. Upon arrival at the island, the story picks up the pace as Pearl Harbor is bombed, medical personnel scramble to save lives, and there are rumors of a government cover up. This is the most engaging part of the story. I appreciate a good page turner and this aspect of the story delivers!

Readers cheer for Eva, a determined, adventurous, and independent woman, as she begins a new career as an army nurse, grapples with her past, feels responsibility for her polio stricken sister, bravely asserts herself into the medical crisis at Pearl Harbor, finds courage to state her opinions to authoritarian doctors, defends the man she truly loves, confronts danger, and embraces her intuition that recovering soldiers could benefit from a therapy dog.

The Lieutenant’s Nurse is recommended for fans of Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers, for readers who are interested in the fictionalized account of the attack on Pearl Harbor, for medical professionals who might be interested in the nursing aspect of the story, and for those looking for an engaging histfic read.

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