This is the fourth book in a series in a genre I like to call WWII light. Don't get me wrong, people die and the war is gruesome, but we are spared most of the worst details and these characters are incredibly uplifting,, When you read this book, and the entire series, you feel as if you are sitting among friends. Miss Lake/Mrs. Mayhew has risen in the ranks of her magazine to managing most of the content along with the editor and the publisher. She also finally gets assignments to cover stories just as she wanted when she first applied for a job at "Woman's Friend" and hoped to be a war correspondent. The details in this book are well researched, including the stories Emmy is allowed to cover and the role of women during the war. I was also fascinated by how the war department/government controlled the content of women's magazines.

There is still plenty of tension in this story regarding loved ones who are serving in the military and a group with which Emmy becomes involved, but I won't provide details about that so as not to spoil the story. This is a lovely conclusion to this series, and I wish the best for each of these characters who have become so real to me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Scribner Books for an early ecopy. My opinion is my own.

What a lovely book, and series. This book is set in wartime, so there are difficult things, but the best word I can think of to describe it is "gentle." The characterization is excellent, and the writing is great. There is SO much that is bad in our world at the moment that it is wonderful to escape into a book like this. Highly recommend that you read this series if you enjoy historical fiction!

I found it interesting that people expect that British soldiers that were captured would be treated nicely. Like they would be able to play cards and hang out. We all know that soldiers who came back from other wars said they were either physically or mentally tortured. I don't know why the public would have that mentality. Was it more to preserve their own sanity or sheer obliviousness?

Also kudos to the British railway system. Blitz happened, buildings collapsed. London was almost on its knees, but damn trains worked. You could still commute into London as if this was your usual day, going to work.

Back to the main characters and actual storyline... If you doubt this group of people, expect them to quit working, not find a way to push through, please leave. After 3 books, you should know they were going to continue supporting troops and families back home, be there for each other no matter what, and find something to laugh about even under these circumstances. Emmy Lake had one goal and she did it. No one can stop her!

I have read all four of the books in this series and have enjoyed following along as the writers at Women’s Friend found different ways to be a voice for the women during the war. Fortunately, the war is winding down, but sadly that means that the characters that I have grown to love over the series will no longer be entertaining me with their columns and their determination to live full lives despite the war. This one touches on what happens after the war and is a nice wrap up to the series.

Dear Miss Lake is the fourth and final book about Emmaline Lake's life as an advice columnist magazine during WWII. It is now 1945 and the war appears to be ending except that men are being sent to the front, including Emmy's husband. Emmy, as always, carries on and looks for ways to keep the publication she works for, Woman's Friend, relevant. The group relocates to the country for the summer to continue its purpose of providing a resource for women in England. Emmy is offered a chance of lifetime to travel to Belgium as a foreign war correspondent; She visits a hospital and interviews the nurses and interacts with some of the patients. Dear Miss Lake is a look into what life was like as WWII ended. Emmy befriends many of the wives that are in England while their husbands are fighting and there is no word from the soldiers, even after many of them are captured by the Germans. The book is told in the way people spoke in 1945 and I loved the difference in how things were said. Emmy is an example of the resilience, strength, and courage the women possessed during the war, but yet Emmy tried to stay positive even in the face of horrific and challenging events. I have enjoyed all four of the Emmy Lake books very much and will miss Emmy, Bunty and Guy as well as the other characters in the books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of all four of the Emmy Lake books. This is a wonderful series!

I have loved each of the four volumes in this series, and I am really sad this journey is now over.

This book wraps up so many things, while staying true to London at the end of the second world war. I loved how the story was both hopeful and realistic with some of the characters' choices, and the overall hopefulness is what I adored about the whole series.

Emmy herself has grown up throughout these books, and her life, love, and friends are all right there with her through the bad and the good.

If you're a fan of World War II fiction in England, this is a great series for you.

I absolutely adored this book! It was a great ending to the series. This has quickly become my favorite WW2 fiction series to recommend. I love how much heart every single character has. Even though this book had me tearing up multiple times because of the heartbreak of war, it also had me smiling ear to ear by the end. 5 stars!!

This thoughtful final installment in the Emmy Lake series was true to the timeline as the Second World War was drawing to a painfully slow close. All of the characters, including those who departed in previous installments, make an appearance or are referenced keeping the continuity seamless. The heartbreak of not knowing the situational safety of a loved one is front and center as lead characters are called into active service and sent overseas. The dreaded telegrams flutter into hands and yet they keep going, working, trying to impart positive thoughts and actions while hearts are breaking and anxiety is always pulling at their sanity.

The horrors of what the citizens of the United Kingdom endured was explained within this endearing story of close friends who work and manage a very special magazine, Woman’s Friend, dedicated to helping the general population. They are friends, confidants, supporters and survivors. They are ultimately betrayed by the smallness of certain government officials yet they persevere, never losing hope and never ignoring their readers and their problems. They are friends stepping in as temporary guardians for children who have lost their parents. They are friends who never give up on each other despite the circumstances. They are the friends we would all like to call our own.

I admit to shedding tears, I admit to gulping down grief and anger as well as relating to the happiness and joy upon hearing the news of surrender. Knowing the ultimate outcome didn’t diminish the intensity of feelings. It is always sad when a strong series plays out and comes to an end I will miss Emmy, Bunty, Charles, Harold, Guy and all the other supporting characters.

Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for a copy of Dear Miss Lake.

In the fourth book in this fun World War II historical fiction series, readers return to the Woman’s Friend magazine office in time for them to decamp to the countryside for the summer to avoid the worst of the bombing. Determined to help the women at home, the team must find new ways to inspire resilience in the civilian population, and Emmy is happy to have her husband Charles posted nearby and her best friend Bunty at her side as she takes on rural life, wedding plans, magazine assignments, and perhaps a posting as a war correspondent. When disaster strikes and threatens all of her carefully made plans, Emmy must rely on her friends, her readers, and her new community for support. Emotional, entertaining, and inspiring, readers will love this novel’s emphasis on hope and friendship even in tough times and its beautiful new rural setting. The characters are still well-written and fun to follow, and the new obstacles offer great opportunities for character development and growth for Emmy and the other characters in the novel. Packed with details and drawing on historical events for inspiration, readers will love the latest instalment in this series and the new challenges ahead of the Women’s Friend staff.

4.5⭐

Hope • Love • Resilience

The fourth and final book in this series delivers everything I hoped for with the found family I’ve grown to love. It’s a mix of the ever-deepening bond between Emmy and Bunty, joy for Bunty after past heartbreak, Emmy’s continued growth in her pursuit of becoming a war correspondent, and the blend of uncertainty and hope that defines life in wartime.

". . . and as I listened to the chatter, sitting in the sun, full of lunch and surrounded by the people I loved, it was almost possible to imagine everything was normal and at peace. I would have given all the money in the world to stay suspended just like this."

"Here, in our little office, when we look back, we feel that above everything else, it is the friendships we have made and the people who have helped us that we shall never forget."

If I had to list my favorite fictional friends, Emmy Lake would be right in the middle of a group that includes Anne of Green Gables, Emma M. Lion, Ella of Frell, and Jo March. She’s that iconic. She has such a distinct voice—one that makes me smile more often than not.

Sadly, Dear Miss Lake is the last of the Emmy Lake books, showing Emmy and her friends’ experiences at the very end of WW2 in England as they strive to publish The Woman’s Friend magazine and help England make the last push needed to finish the war—a push in which Emmy needs her friends more than ever.

I recommend reading the first three books in the series (Dear Mrs. Bird, Yours Cheerfully, and Mrs. Porter Calling) before you enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for sending me an electronic copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I loved this delightful series of endearing characters set during WWII.
With the war continuing and everyone waiting for it to end, the mood has plateaued from the eternal optimism into one of anxious anticipation.
The determination and ingenuity to be productive during a devastating time period is up lifting. A great conclusion to this series!

This is the final book in a quartet set in WWII London and the staff of Woman's Friend magazine, and are all about finding the light in the darkness of war. The characters are marvelous, engaging and beautifully developed. Emmy Lake is married now and an editor of the magazine, and the war has turned in their favor, but still seems never-ending. Bunty is planning her wedding, and Charles is posted closer to home - for now. And one of Emmy's dreams is about to come true; she will finally become a war correspondent.
I love this series. It manages to find the brightness in small victories and the everyday, while never glossing over the hardship and heartbreak of the war. The characters are everything, deeply engaging and likable, and you will follow them through anything, rooting all the way. Absolutely delightful and deeply moving. Highly recommended.

It's a happy day when a new Emmy Lake book drops! If you have already read the first three books in this series, you know this is true. If not, what good reading awaits. Be sure to start with Dear Mrs. Bird, so you will know back story and be able to enjoy the finale to the utmost.

Each time I open up one of AJ Pearce's books about Emmy Lake, I feel as I were once again among friends. Dear Miss Lake is the fourth and final volume of The Emmy Lake Chronicles. All of the books take place in Britain during World War II. They do not shy away from the sadness and cost of war and yet they shine a light on the heroism of all involved, both at home and abroad.

In Dear Miss Lake, Emmy is navigating the final stretch of the war as an advice columnist for "Woman's Friend." She also adds "war correspondent" to her profession as she takes on new assignments. New challenges enter into her life for her husband, Charles, as well as for her friends. Charles is an officer in the army who is called back to active duty.

The staff of "Woman's Friend" consists of a "found family," whose bonds are further strengthened when they live together for a time in the country. This serves as a brief reprieve from the air raids and bombs dropping in London. During this time and beyond, friends and colleagues like Bunty, young Hester, Guy and Monica lift Emmy's spirits as she does theirs.

The courageous act of "waiting" is underscored in this book. Waiting for news, for letters, for peace. As readers, we feel the tension of this waiting, but also the quiet hope and faith that keep everyone going.

I highly recommend this book, as well as the entire series, and I am grateful to NetGalley and to Scribner for the advanced digital copy.

This is the last on a four book series and I will miss the characters, particularly Emmy and Bunty. Set in England on the home front during WWII, Emmy writes a column answering the letters of women, outlining the challenges the war presented for everyone. As Emmy’s husband was sent to Europe, she had the additional stress of not knowing how he was or where he was. As she had deeper understanding of what some women were going through, Emmy befriends some of those waiting for their loved ones return. Guy is back, as well as many of our other favorites. I hope the author’s next book will have characters as warm and loving as those in this series. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I was so excited to read the final installment of the Yours Cheerfully, an Emmy Lake advice columnist historical fiction series. I have read and loved the prior books, so I was delighted to learn this book was coming out.

In 1944 & 1945, Emmy works in publishing at the weekly magazine, Women's Friend, and deals with the separation from her military husband. Emmy and her large group of female friends cope with all the trials of war with good humor and a positive outlook.

While hard stuff happens in this book (it is war after all), I found the tone of the book to be akin to a warm hug from a group of friends. The author paints a vibrant picture of both the Women's Friend community and Emmy's greater community of founded family and friends. It is a place I love to visit if not for world war going on. I appreciated the end of the book (and the series) are tied up, though not too perfectly with a bow.

This book totally stands alone and can be read without reading the others first, but reading the others would give you more of a sense of Emmy's and other character's backstory. 5 stars! Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for letting me check out this book! I will post reviews on post this review on Goodreads, Bookbub, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce is a moving and satisfying conclusion to the Emmy Lake Chronicles, set in wartime England as the characters face the end of WWII. Pearce delivers a heartfelt narrative full of historical detail, resilience, and the enduring power of friendship, with Emmy and her friends at the Women’s Friend magazine navigating personal loss and hope on the home front. The book is both harrowing and uplifting, often evoking laughter and tears as it explores the challenges and small joys of community amid adversity. Fans of the series will appreciate the well-earned final farewells to beloved characters, while newcomers are sure to be charmed by Pearce’s warmth and skillful storytelling.

Well, if this book had to be the last book in this amazing series, then I am glad it went the way it did. I am sorry to see Emmy and Co. go, but we leave them in a very good place and we, who have loved her, can wish her and all her friends and family [that we have also grown to love] well.

This one was a bit more heart-wrenching and harrowing than the others [and those who have read these know how harrowing parts of each one of these were at times], and I found myself holding my breath more than once, just as I found myself awash in tears more than once as well.

This has been one of the best series I have read and loved, and while I am very sad it's over [even now, days after I have finished, I am still in book hangover and also so grateful to have experienced this series], I am very excited to see where AJ Pearce takes us all next.

Thank you to NetGalley, AJ Pearce, and Scribner for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Miss Lake is the final book in a very informative series about a woman’s magazine during WWII. It highlights another forgotten aspect of the time. Women looked forward to reading this magazine as it delivered recipes, entertainment and a source of hope during this bleak time. Friendship is predominantly shown throughout the story women struggle through loss and prejudice about proper morals. The author clearly depicts the conflicts at the end of the war as the soldiers attempt to head home. Well written with good historical detail.
#DearMissLake #AJPearce #NetGalley #Simon&Schuster
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eGalley of the book. All opinions expressed are truly my own.