With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin

It is WW II and Lt. Mellie Blake is being trained as a flight nurse. Her commanding officer suggests Mellie and the others in training take part in a morale building program, writing to soldiers in northern Africa. The letters are to be anonymous, handled through the commanding officers. Mellie is not excited about the opportunity. She is a loner and she doesn't think she is very beautiful. But she finally does her part and writes the letter.

By a quirk, Mellie's letter ends up in the hands of Lt. Tom MacGillver. Tom's father murdered (although somewhat accidentally) a famous person and Tom has been trying to escape his infamous name ever since. He figures perhaps writing anonymously would work. She would not know his name, not know his legacy.

Their letters crisscross the Atlantic and the two develop a deep friendship, never knowing who the other is. Then it begins to be love.

Both are transferred to Algeria and their paths cross. Will they be able to meet face to face and overcome their fears?

Sundin has written another great novel of the WW II era. She has done her research and readers will learn a great deal about the campaign in northern Africa, the role of engineers, and the role of that new breed of women nurses aboard airplanes taking the injured away from the front.

What a great idea for a romance novel! Two people falling in love through anonymous letters. And the interaction between the two when their duty assignments allow them to be in the same place at the same time, yet each one not knowing the other is the anonymous letter writer (at least at first).

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. If you like historical novels that are well researched and have a realistic romance included, you will like this one. There are discussion questions at the end of the novel so it would make a good choice for a reading group.

Mellie is a feisty gal and stands up to those who would put down this new breed of nurses who want to help the injured right near the battlefield. And Tom, well Tom has lots he needs to work out. If only he could be as honest in person as he is in his anonymous letters.

Sarah Sundin is the author of several novels and a finalist in the 2011 Reader's Choice Award. She received the Writer of the Year Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writer's Conference. She is a graduate of the UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy and works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. She lives in California with her husband and three children.  Find out more at www.sarahsundin.com. 

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Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 425 pages.

Please visit your local Christian bookstore to purchase this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.