Five Amazing Stars! Jane Healey is a very talented and gifted author. Her writing puts you right into the Clubmobiles and have you riding along with Dottie, Viv, and Fi! You feel the experience and see the amazing things these Red Cross volunteers did for the soldiers. You will live the history and at times find it hard to read through the tears, but read you must!

Fiona, Dotty and Viviana, three best friends from Boston have all volunteered to be Red Cross Clubmobile Girls. It is 1944 and as the allies come closer to winning the war these three, smart and brave women want to do more than send care packages - they want to make a difference in the lives of the men who had no choice but to fight. College educated and bubbling with enthusiasm the girls are shipped to London for training. From there they will take their van to designated areas and army bases to serve the men donuts, coffee and more importantly shower them with hope and a little bit of home. In addition to the task at hand, Fiona is determined to find out more about her fiancé who has been missing in action for the last year. She cannot move on or even fully grieve until she knows what happened to him when his plane went down. These vivacious women become a shining star traveling the British coast, finding new friends and even some romance. It is not until they prove themselves that they dare to cross over to France where they are much closer to the frontlines and face danger, tough decisions and their own futures. This very easy to read novel filled with friendship, loyalty and history was an absolute pleasure. I had never heard of the wonderful Clubmobile Girls! Their story that began with distributing donuts tells us so much more about these very young troops, their patriotism and the unsung heroines who helped them. Highly recommend this latest novel by author Jane Healey, who I must thank for writing a beautiful story and posting incredible old photos of actual events.

I’m a sucker for a well written WWII novel, and The Beantown Girls is certainly that. While it plays on the familiar theme of a lost young woman pining for her soldier love, it quickly grows into much more. It’s a story of sisterhood, of shocking hardship in the face of war, and also of the feeling of needing good times to be had when everything else is dark and tumultuous. I’ve often wondered how people could fall in love so fast or forget about a sweetheart at home so quickly in exchange for another’s arms. This book answers those questions without being scandalous or seedy. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I really enjoyed reading this book, staying up way too late to finish. I had never heard of the Red Cross Clubmobile, and this was a great introduction. I did take a break from the book to go down the internet rabbit hole and I'd definitely recommend you doing the same. This is a fascinating piece of history. I particularly enjoyed Healey's notes at the end explaining some of the historical events and changes she made (and why). Thank you for introducing me to this piece of history.

I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, nor am I a book crier. The Beantown Girls changed that. I asked for an ARC from Netgalley because this just looked like a fun read. Boy, was I wrong!

The Beantown Girls had me at the first page and when the end came around, I just wanted more. I wanted to know what happened after the war. I cried in a couple of places ~ in public no less ~ and thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Red Cross Clubmobile girls. I had never even heard of this program, but I got on board quickly.

I love books where the author's research is evident and it definitely was here. There were all kinds of facts that while blending seamlessly with the story, still managed to teach me some things. These characters and situations spoke to me and made me wish I could go volunteer to be a Clubmobile girl.

Read this book. That is all I will say. Read this book. You will love it and want to tell everyone to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for approving my request for an ARC. My thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

2/5 stars, with 1 star added for the idea and research.

I wanted so badly to love this book. The description was fantastic, all the ideas were there, but the execution was lacking. The writing seemed stilted and forced from the beginning, and although the characters DID grow throughout the war, they all (particularly Fiona) were shallow and repeated themselves endlessly throughout the book. The exceptions to this were Jimmy and Mrs. Tibbetts who had real backstories and motivations. Several of the plot points, too, seemed forced, as though the author had several ideas she wanted to string together before wrapping up the novel almost too neatly. Overall, I loved the idea and I did learn about the "Doughnut Dollies" and the involvement of the American Red Cross in WWII, but the book itself was unsatisfying.

I found this to an enjoyable, well-plotted historical fiction novel. I’m a sucker for a female-centric WW2 novels, and this was a fairly good one, especially focusing on a group of women that aren’t as frequently featured as heroines being, the Red Cross doughnut ladies. I found the quality of writing to be quite good, at times feeling very cinematic. Overall, I feel this a worthy read in the female-centered WW2 genre.

What a unique perspective about WWII that I hadn’t heard of before! Of all of the books I have read on WWII, this was the first time hearing about the Clubmobile. I love the concept of it and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Beantown Girls, especially since I am from, and still live in, the Boston area myself. Their personalities were spot on, as were the references to the area. Those girls were feisty, charismatic and strong-minded and strong-willed! Though it did touch upon the depressing and tragic times, and there were certainly sad and heart-breaking scenes, the overall tone was more upbeat as the author focused on the liveliness of the characters and their role during the war. The soldiers loved these girls and it is easy to see why, they are simply delightful and lovable. This is one of my most favorite books ever, I devoured every page and wish it didn’t end. I would love to read more about these girls and see what happens next in their lives. Love, love, love Beantown Girls!

The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey, which will be available in stores on February 5, 2019, tells the journey of three women from Boston in 1944 who joined the Red Cross Clubmobile girls in order to try to track down one of their fiancés, who has been lost at war for months.

Synopsis
Even though there's a war going on, Fiona Denning thinks she has her life all figured out: A good job at the mayor's office, great friends, and a fiancé with whom she can't wait to settle down and start a family with as soon as he comes back from the front. But when she receives information that her fiancé is MIA and cannot be found, Fiona doesn't want to have to wait for news from the continent: She's going to take matters into her own hands.

Fiona decides she's going to volunteer with the Red Cross and become a Clubmobile girl—and she convinces her best friends Viviana and Dottie to join her. The women will soon realize that there's so much more to the job than serving coffee and doughnuts to exhausted soldiers...

My musings:
I like that the story drops us right at the beginning of the girls' Red Cross journey, on a boat on their way to London. This whole book takes place in the span of a year, but the way Healey has written it makes it feel like both an eternity (which I'm sure is how it felt to anyone having anything to do with the war efforts) and like it's just a snapshot in the rich, full lives of these brave women. We get filled in on the Beantown girls' backstories with snippets of conversations they have with their new friends, and the author chooses to move the action quickly by filling in any gaps with Fiona's letters to home, which is a brilliant plot device in this case.

Much like many accounts from soldiers in the war, this novel demonstrates how confusing emotions can be when you're thrown into a war. There are love stories at every page turn, and they're not necessarily all romantic. It reveals how people you meet for five minutes can change you for the better—and how fast (and hard) you can fall in love...even when you weren't looking for it.

In some ways, this book reminded me of a novelized version of <em>Band of Brothers</em>. It gave me yet another point of view of the war (this time from an American perspective), and yet it felt fresh and informative. If you're going to read only one piece of fiction surrounding WWII this year, this would be my pick.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advanced copy.

This review will be posted on my blog on January 21 at 9 am.

I am always fascinated by stories surrounding WWII. This story sucked me in immediately. Before reading this book, I had never heard of the Red Cross Club Mobile. While the story is fiction it was thoughtfully and thoroughly researched to make the the details more historically accurate. The characters grab your attention immediately and you find yourself feeling each and every one of their emotions. I read the entire book in less than a day. I just couldn’t put it down.

BEAN TOWN GIRLS BY JANE HEALEY 5 STARS
JANUARY 18, 2019 | AMY MAYS | EDIT
91lxhcum91lDottie,Viv and Fiona stand together on the deck of the queen Elizabeth with other red cross workers and hundreds of soldiers.they said goodbye to their families in Boston six weeks ago. Fiona had plans to work in city hall and marry her fiance until he is shot down in germany and reported missing.Fiona joins the red cross to volunteer overseas and learn the fate of her fiance. Viv and Dottie quit their jobs to join her.Fiona thinks she spots her fiance second lieutenant Danny Baker on the ship . Danny is in airforce and has been missing more than eight months ago.Fiona wonders if it’s a mistake to take off just as ship is about to leave.Fiona remembers the time before Danny left and how she tryed to push off the feeling of nervousness about him leaving .The girls encounter a bombing not long after going to London for training.The girls enjoy going to red cross clubs both on ship over there and in london.The girls have to sit on roof tops and look out for bombs “buzz bombs”. The training for the red cross is tough.The training includes gas chamber training,driving trucks and doughnut making.There are some mishaps like stalled trucks and exploding doughnut dough.The girls move to country side and still enjoy occasional dance before they start to travel more. I enjoyed all the budding romances. I likes the bean town girls friends Frankie,Martha and Blanche and felt for them when bad news hits the group. I was glad when word of Danny was recieved.Never a dull moment with the bean town girls!

Wow. I don't even know where to start with this review because this book was so amazing. First of all, I had no idea that the Red Cross sent out girls to the war, just to help boost morale. It's something you don't learn about in school and something I've never even heard talked about, yet they seemed to have played such an important role. I don't understand why we always hear about women taking over the jobs during times of war but not about the brave women who actually left their families and went straight into the path of war, just to help the soldiers stay fed and ease their peace of mind, if only for a moment.
It's reasons like this that I love historical fiction because it teaches you the little known details that you would have known about a period of time. But, it also brings that time to life and puts you right there in the character's mind. Healy did such an amazing job with Fiona, Viv, and Dottie. I felt for each of them and cheered on their relationships throughout the story. They were so well rounded that they honestly felt like my own best friends.
I actually took 2 weeks to read this book because I wanted to live in the Cheyenne with them just a little bit longer each day. This book consumed my mind and I found myself thinking about all day, every day. It's even got me looking into my great grandfather's past as WWII soldier!
Thank you so much for letting me read this wonderful book. It's one that I'm sure will stick with me forever and one that I will be telling everyone about!

Before there was "Dunkin Donuts" there were coffee and doughnuts food trucks in WWII. They were run by volunteers who went overseas and were part of a group called the Red Cross Clubmobile Girls. This story focuses on 3 of those girls...Fiona, Viviana and Dottie, 3 friends from Boston. They were not only serving coffee and doughnuts, but bringing comfort to those soldiers who were fighting the battle. While each one of them had a reason for volunteering, they served with both strength and with heart.

The story was told with emotion, pathos and at times, a bit of humor. I have long been a fan of historical fiction, this is one of the best WWII novels I've read in a long time. Reading this book made me feel as if I personally knew these women, as if I too was there. I had to step back every now and then, just to settle my feelings. There are some novels, some authors that know instinctively how to reach out and grab at your heart strings, this is one of those times, one of those authors. Yet I do have one question, I do wonder though, if any of the real Clubmobile Girls could ever eat a doughnut after WWII?

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this wonderful story! 3 best friends who became Red Cross Clubmobile GIrls during WWII. A very unique prospective that seemed to be very well researched. Brave women who were trained (sometimes very humorously) to be able to go to Europe during the war to help the morale of the soldiers by providing donuts, coffee, cigarettes and American women to talk to. Romance, friendship, new relationships-all very captiving, Settings in England, France and Germany that were so well written that I could picture them as I read. I couldn't put the book down! Thank you to the author, Jane Healey, the publisher, Lake Union, and Net Galley for the wonderful opportunity to read an advance copy. I highly recommend!

It amazes me that each time I read a book with the setting of the world wars, it always shows me another aspect of the wars which was unknown to me.

Most times poignant and emotional, it also shows human beings at their best (and worst). The Beantown Girls depicts a group of young women - fresh out of college, no experience of life or the world thrust into the grim reality of war on a scale that would be unimaginable to them from the homes they came from and the country they came from.

The stories of Fiona, Viv and Dottie who volunteered for the Red Cross, joined the Clubmobile group all with the idea of bringing cheer and support to the American troops on the ground are inspiring. Never faced with hardships, never having made to go without they led comfortable lives and now find themselves in an atmosphere of hard work, uncomfortable living conditions and still expected to be bright and cheery.

I loved how the stories panned out, each finding love (it had to be with the shortage of girls on the ground in comparison to the men!) but it also brought out the way each of them met their obligations of their jobs, not shirking from what was expected of them.

The characterizations were spot on, the settings were descriptive and the story was a good one.

If one can rate a book on story alone I would give The Beantown Girls 5 stars without hesitation. The plot is compelling; it is pretty straightforward and the story moves along at a fast pace. Basing her novel on fascinating historical facts about the Red Cross volunteers in WWII who drove so-called Clubmobiles to offer donuts, coffe, candy, good cheer, and a piece of home to the many brave men serving in the US military, Healey rewards her readers with a fascinating story. But alas, novels should be more than their stories. They should help the reader understand their characters and their motivations and their settings should serve as additional character, if you will. And it’s here that The Beantown Girls falls short. The story is narrated by Fiona, but everything she describes, including her own feelings, seems two dimensional. I doubt that there’s another main character in literature who more often expresses her feelings as being queasy or wanting to throw up. Her descriptions of joy, tension, sorrow, grief, even illness seem to come not from her inner self but as if she’s describing someone else. And because we never really penetrate the skins of any other character we’re left with empty shells. Their stories are fascinating but they seem much too removed from normal reaction. Similarly, although the setting changes from the ship taking them to Europe and to various locations in England and the Continent, the descriptions seem to be at arm’s length. Fi, for example, often is cold or In need of a shower, but the cold and dirt don’t penetrate into her being. She’s just cold or dirty and needs to warm up or take a shower, even when covered with someone else’s blood. Her range of emotions is so limited as to be created from cardboard. The Beantown Girls is a wonderful book for readers looking for a good story. Regretfully, it misses an opportunity to offer us so much more.

I love reading about little known parts of history and The Beantown Girls delivers on that. The story centers on Red Cross Clubmobile girls in WWII. Three friends from Boston join up and get sent off to Europe to boost morale of the troops while delivering coffee and donuts. Fiona has an ulterior motive for joining, she hopes to find out what happened to her fiance who is listed as MIA. The characters were all so well written and realistic. I loved their distinctive personalities. Dottie, a talented musician who overcomes her shyness to entertain the servicemen while working hard as a Clubmobile girl. Viviana. a plucky former secretary whose personality and looks have all the guys falling all over themselves to catch her eye, but will she fall for the Brit who's a Cary Grant look alike? You'll have to read to find out the girls adventures. I loved how the tension built as the girls end up close to the the action on the front. There's just a touch of romance to round things out. Thank you to the author for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

This book was wonderful. The author really captured the essence of these women, as well as the servicemen, who served their country during WWII. The story was heartfelt and poignant, leaving me in tears at times, but also making my heart happy in other moments. It was wonderful to watch these women as the evolved, losing their naivety along the way, but gaining strength and courage. The Beantown Girls is compelling and well-paced, a book which will keep readers involved emotionally from the first page until the very end.

Loved loved this book sat down to read a few pages sank into the story and hours later finished and was sad to see it end. tithe Red Cross Mobile Girls their lives loves friendships joy happiness sadness..I will be reading more by this author and recommending to everyone.#netgalley #beantowngirls #lakeunionpublishing,

I need more stars!! Jane Healey does a truly amazing job telling the history of the Red Cross Clubmobiles during World War II. Never knew about these amazing women and the crazy support that they gave to the soldiers everywhere including the frontlines. Wow just wow. Healey's writing takes you through the challenges facing the women in the Germans and Allies who didn't believe that the women belonged there. I really felt the like I was riding along with the women. Tears were shed. This book will haunt me for a long time.......joy and tears.