There are many heroes and heroines that rise when the country is at war. Many will never be known even though their contribution was vital to the outcome of the fighting. Private Mary Wishram would fall in this category. She spent her days delivering supplies to various places in Camp Pendleton. Late 1944 found her in a much more dangerous situation - you’ll have to read the book to find out more.

The Navajo Code Talkers are familiar to most people as very important to the success of the US troops. Willing to help, Corporal John Painted Horse was recruited and trained as a code talker. Would he, like many of his colleagues, survive the dangers of the front lines?

An early copy of this installment of Heroines of WWII was received through Barbour Publishing, CelebrateLit and NetGalley. These thoughts are my own and were in no way solicited.

The first half of the book takes place at a California marine base. The characters get shipped to the South Pacific about midway in the novel. The latter half of the book is mostly set in the war zone. The earlier part gives readers a good idea of how Native Americans were treated, both prior to the war and then by others in the military, such as officers. We also see how women in the service were treated, this being long before women were respected by others for their military service.

We get glimpses of Americans in Japanese internment camps, rags on bony frames. We also see how civilians helped the American soldiers, such as native freedom fighters and missionary nuns. What we do not see is very much about how the Navajo code breakers really did their job. Also, there was no note at the end of the novel giving historical facts. Novels in this series are usually based on actual events and it would have been nice to know what they were.

Lee's writing style is good. There is a good balance of action and character interaction. The issue of why God allows terrible things to happen is explored and there is a good faith message included. It is an entertaining novel but I do wish their had been more historical information.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

I had mixed feelings about this read. The premise is fantastic, and the historical element and story absolutely deserve to be told; as ever with the Heroines of WWII series, this brings to light a little-known element of the war.

The writing style just didn't do it for me, unfortunately. I felt the story was overwritten, with too much telling vs. showing--if it had been cut way back, with more inference and trust in the reader, newly available word count could have fleshed out that historical element. It's so necessary to share and remember, I was just disappointed this didn't quite do it justice.

I did find the characters interesting, and obviously read it in short order--I wanted to find out what happened! I'll be on the lookout for other books on the topic to really understand more.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Mary Wishram, a Yakima tribe member, and John Painted Horse, a Navajo tribe member, meet while serving at Camp Pendleton during WWII. Mary's only remaining family member, her brother, is in a POW camp in the Philippines and she wants to do whatever she can to find out if he's safe and bring him home. As her friendship with John develops, she volunteers for additional training so she can use her language skills as a spy. John has a lot of mixed feelings about his service in the Marines. He loves his country and wants to serve, but he is worried about his mother and young siblings and how they will be provided for if something happens to him. He wrestles with the decision to join the Code Talker program but eventually agrees and is deployed to the South Pacific as the conflict there intensifies.

The extremely short notice and secrecy of their deployments means that Mary and John have no way of staying in touch while they are serving, and their faith and courage are tested as they face danger and each worries for the other's safety. Mary looks for opportunities to gather information about her brother, and risks discovery in order to help the men in a POW camp, but she must not jeapordize her mission or the lives of those she's trying to help. Will she and John escape the peril they find themselves in, and will they be able to find each other once they return home?

This was a great story in terms of exploring the service of native Americans during WWII, especially the roles women were able to take on. Mary and John are both likeable and sympathetic characters, and I was cheering for them to make the right decisions and accomplish their missions safely so they could find their loved ones and each other and continue on to their happily ever after. However, if you're looking for insight into the Code Talkers program, there's not a lot of that, and there's almost nothing about what kind of training Mary receives to be a spy. I actually felt like the story just needed the characters to be in those programs in order to get them to the setting, but was not about the programs or training at all. The story as a whole relies quite heavily on somewhat improbable coincidences, at least in my opinion. That John and Mary are both assigned to the same region in the South Pacific and on short notice is believable, but the "near misses" where they don't quite find each other despite being in very close proximity started to stretch belief, and when they both go missing in separate incidents that involved improbable and daring escapes from peril, I thought it was a bit much. In places I thought the writing was a bit choppy and I wasn't sure whether it was intentional or not.

Overall, a very good story that invites some thought about how the native Americans that served patriotically during this time were treated, and the ambivalence many must have felt at putting their lives on the line for a country that had marginalized them. Enjoy the story for its sweet romance, heroic characters, and real dilemmas, but be prepared to suspend disbelief during some of the action.

This was another great installment to the Heroines of WW2 series Barbour puts out. I've read a fair number of them and have enjoyed the historical details in each one. This one covers Navajo code talkers, Native Americans who were trained to convey coded messages on the front lines. A fascinating piece of history I'd love to know more about! Debby Lee brings that time to life in Beneath a Peaceful Moon.

Unfortunately it fell a bit short for me; the book didn't go into a lot of detail about code talkers. It skimmed the surface of what these brave men faced each day & how they preformed their jobs. I don't want every gory detail, of course, but a bit more depth would have made this more enjoyable. I don't read a lot of WW2 novels, but I still find the history to be intriguing and oftentimes learn things I didn't know before. The other thing, I felt this was more focused on the romance between John and Mary instead of the history of this time period.

All in all, it was a great story to get lost in. I liked it for the romance brewing between John & Mary, the camaraderie between officers, what it might have felt like in war time for both soldiers & civilians alike and for a good faith thread. John Painted Horse reminded Mary that no matter where they were shipped off to, God is always there just as the moon shines above the earth—steady & reliable. A great reminder for us all!

* I received a complimentary copy from the author and was not obligated to leave a favorable review. All opinions are my own. *

This is a beautifully written story that is full of emotions. I loved reading John and Mary's story. It hooked me on the first page, and I couldn't put it down, I just had to know what happened next. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
I received a complimentary copy from Barbour Publishing via NetGalley and was not required to write a review.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I had hoped this book would have a bit more historical information about the Code Talkers. I know the book series focuses on the contributions of women to the war effort, but it almost seemed like a side theme rather than integral to the story. I just wonder how Mary could become a spy with so little training. It sort of stretches belief that she goes into such a dangerous situation with so little preparation. For a wartime romance it seemed to hit all the right notes. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a gripping story about WWII and the code talkers. There was definitely lots of peril in this story and suspense. It moved a little bit slow for me. The characters of John and Mary were endearing.



Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

I hadn't heard of the Navajo Code Talkers before and would like to learn more about them and what they did as this story didn't go into much detail about it. This book is a cute love story but I found it hard to get into it. Part of this may have been timing. I had just finished a very intense WWII book that was also focused on this part of the world. The experiences of the characters in this book felt like they were described at a higher level, like we were experiencing it from a distance is maybe a better way to say it.

There were times when it felt like the author was reaching for a word count by adding scenes that didn't really add to the story. The last event really didn't seem necessary but the emotion of the main character around that scene could have been used elsewhere, in places it seemed to be lacking. The characters feelings toward certain events just felt off at times.

I received an advance e-copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This seemed like a fluffy historical fiction story. I can see John becoming a code talker. I can’t see Mary becoming a spy after only a few weeks of training.
It’s a light clean romance set against the backdrop of war.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

California & Philippines 1944

Each novel in this series focuses on a heroine from WWII. In Beneath a Peaceful Moon, there's a spotlight on a female that used her knowledge of Japanese to help gain information for the Allies. Fascinating!

A couple of things that resonated for me...the sense of distrust in government by Native Americans asked to serve as Code Talkers. I hadn't previously thought about this group having a lack of trust, but can definitely understand why. Second, the way messages were taken into and out of POW camps was risky and so meaningful for the POW and their families.

The romance happened very quickly. I had a difficult time understanding how Mary could trust John so quickly following the poor behavior of Morton.

I really wanted to love this book, based on the blurb. I Will say you Will love the Main characters, their spirit and faith. You Will get invested in their journey. And you Will laugh and cry with them. But for me too much was happening in this book, and it did not blend well together. But I would still recommend this book.
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

I have read several books in this series that is offered by numerous authors from Barbour Publishing. I received an advanced reader's copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion of the book. This book in the excellent series about women in World War II is probably my least favorite. I liked this story. I wanted to love it because I find the Codetalkers to be a rare, fascinating story. To be honest, I wish there was more about that amazing group of brave men and what they did.
The main character, Mary Wishram is dedicated to her only relative, her brother, who is serving in the war. She is devastated when she learns that he has been taken captive by the Japanese and held as a POW. She pushes to serve in a more intense capacity to be a spy to help her country.
John Painted Pony is being pursued to serve not only as a Marine but in the secret group, the Codetalkers. He is a magnetic character.
Both characters are strong and easy to catch my interest. I love them.
My problem is that there just may be too much going on and it doesn't all blend well. But, that is my opinion. I liked learning about the terrible way these two brave people were treated because of their heritage and also because Mary is female which would reflect on the time period for sure. The faith message is excellent. There are snippets about life in the trenches, codetalkers, an immoral officer, POW camp torture, and a minimal impact of of spy training for me.
I am sure that a tremendous amount of work went into this book. I'm sorry I can only give it a 3.75 rating.

This novel takes place throughout the pacific front during world wars two. Starting off state side the author does an excellent job highlighting how awful indigenous members of the army were treated even though they were fighting along side the rest of the members they weren’t seen as equals. Mary and John take up different roles with different motives. Unfortunately I had a hard time getting into the book and that continued through to the end. The ending was frustrating as I found the final twist with the car accident to be unnecessary.

Thank you to Netgalley and Barbour Publishing for the eARC

5 stars, Language of Love

BENEATH A PEACEFUL MOON
HEROINES OF WWII #10
By Debby Lee

The story of Mary Wishram, a Yakima Indian, and John White Horse, a Navajo Indian, are both proud of their Indian heritage but are both in the armed forces, supporting the country they both love, even though there are prejudices against them.

John is trained as a code talker, Mary is trained in another language, and they both simply want to make it home from World War 2 safely and together. This is their love story.

It's a great story, several of the Heroines of WWII series have been quite interesting to me, like #TheEscapeGame. Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of #BeneathAPeacefulMoon from #BarbourFiction and #NetGalley I was under no obligation to post a review.
#HeroinesOfWWIISeries #FavoriteBooks #HistoricalFiction #Inspirational #InspyFiction #ChristianHistoricalFiction #YakimaTribe #NavajoTribe #WWII

John Painted Horse is being recruited as a Navaho Code Talker for the Pacific Theater during WW2. Mary is a member of the Yakima Tribe that is being recruited as a spy. This story is about how the two find each other and a deeper relationship with God.

I really wanted to like this book. I was originally drawn to it given that it takes place on the Pacific Theater of WW2, which I have not read a lot about and included the Navajo Code Talkers, which I find amazing. Unfortunately, the historical piece felt like an after thought with very little about the Code Talker program. The dialog in the book felt robotic at times and sometimes overtook the book leaving out major descriptions of what I would imagine is a beautiful country devastated by war. I was not invested in the characters and had a hard time believing Mary was qualified to be a spy with some juvenile attitudes and actions inconsistent with her role and the danger of the situation.

Despite all that, I was engaged throughout the whole book, read it pretty quickly, and it was a nice Christian based romance novel. It just wasn’t what I expected from a WW2 Historical Fiction Novel. And I love the cover.

Based on the code talkers during WWII, Debby Lee has written a novel worthy of reading. Tackling tough issues such as the treatment of Native Americans (even while serving in the military) and the camps in the U.S. for Japanese Americans, Lee has approached these issues with sensitivity. The use of the Native Americans for sending top secret messages in their native language was a key to success in WWII. The discussion of POW treatment was also treated gently. Showing the romance brewing between Mary and John, both Native American and serving as spies developed a flow in the storyline.

A copy of this book was provided but all opinions are my own.

Beneath a Peaceful Moon is Debby Lee’s contribution to the multi author Heroines of WWII series. Even though it is part of a series, each book can be read as a stand alone. I thought this one was a great addition to the series. I loved getting to know the brave main character, Mary. I found this story to be beautiful and inspiring to read. It was easy to read in a very short time.

I am giving Beneath a Peaceful Moon five plus stars. I highly recommend it for readers who enjoy reading historical fiction, particularly those set during the second world war. I am looking forward to reading the next addition to the Heroines of WWII series, Rachel Scott McDaniel’s The Starlet Spy.

I received a copy of Beneath a Peaceful Moon from the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review. This review is one hundred percent my own honest opinion.

This author was new to me, but what a lovely book! The romance at the beginning of the novel was so sweet. The racial tensions between native Americans and Japanese during WW2 was a very unique aspect of this novel and it was well executed. Then the twists and turns of the story carrying us to the Philippines was a refreshing take on WW 2 novels.

Beneath a Peaceful Moon is a good addition to the Heroines of WWII series. Very well written, good plot and character dynamics. I definitely recommend this book to fans of historical fiction. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.