Besides the cover (which I love), what drew me to All of You is the dual timeline—it's set both in the present and during World War II. While I vastly prefer contemporary novels, my favorite historicals are set during the World War II era, so I figured that All of You would be a win-win for me.
Maryland, Present Day
Jacquelyn Rogers can rebuild anything…except the shambles of her past. A restorer of vintage planes, she’s worked hard to earn the reputation of being one of the guys. The last thing she needs is a former Navy pilot fighting his own inner demons stepping in to defend her from dangers she thought she’d outrun long ago. Some battles must be fought alone. After a freak accident severs Lieutenant Michael “Finch” Carrington’s dreams, as well as two limbs, he’s left with nothing but a fragile faith and a duty-bound promise to watch out for his friend’s baby sister. A promise she insists is as unnecessary as it is unappreciated. But when she turns the tables and begins to weld together the broken parts of his life, it may be his heart that is in need of protection.
England, 1944
With the world at war yet again, Alice Galloway rejects her father’s traditional expectations and offers her piloting expertise to the Air Transport Auxiliary. She may be a woman in a man’s world, but when she overhears key intelligence, she must find the strength to transcend boundaries and her own fears. Or countless people may die.
Sometimes the past reaches forward to bring hope to the future.
Genre: Dual-timeline/Contemporary Romance
All of You is my first Sarah Monzon novel, but I'm sure it won't be my last! I loved the contemporary story line involving plane restoration expert Jack (Jackie) and Navy Lieutenant Michael. Not only was their romance satisfying and their chemistry off the charts, but they both each had compelling plot lines outside of the romance. Both of their families featured interesting characters, and I didn't feel like I'd missed anything by not reading the first novel in the series first (which features Michael's brother Trent). I did get annoyed by Michael's insistence that he wasn't "good enough" for Jack, but I also could see why he would feel that way. I couldn't fly through the contemporary pages of this novel fast enough—I was completely captivated.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the historical portion of the novel. For whatever reason, I didn't connect with pilot Alice and journalist Henry, and while their story was much more action-packed than the contemporary story, I kept thinking about Jack and Michael while reading about Alice and Henry.
I did enjoy how the historical story connected with the contemporary one; while I had basically figured it out (and I don't think it was supposed to be a mystery), it was still satisfying to see it play out on the page.
Although I didn't love every aspect of the novel, I did enjoy it enough to look for more from Monzon. I really hope she writes Michael's brother Adam's story next, as I loved the little glimpses of his personality that we got in this book. 3-1/2 stars.
Buy the book.
Follow the blog tour:
September 12: A Baker’s Perspective
September 12: Quiet Quilter
September 13: Books, Books, and More Books
September 13: Jeanette’s Thoughts
September 14: Cordially Barbara
September 14: Smiling Book Reviews
September 15: Avid Reader Book Reviews
September 15: Carpe Diem
September 16: Inklings and notions
September 16: Christian Bookaholic
September 17: Christian Chick’s Thoughts
September 17: Artistic Nobody
September 18: Bookworm Mama
September 18: Remembrancy
September 19: Back Porch Reads
September 19: Kat’s Corner Books
September 20: Just Jo’Anne
September 20: Margaret Kazmierczak
September 21: The Power of Words
September 21: Mary Hake
September 22: 100 Pages per Hour
September 22: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations
September 23: Zerina Blossom’s Books
September 23: Simple Harvest Reads (spotlight)
September 24: Blossoms and Blessings
September 24: Moments Dipped in Ink
September 25: Kathleen Denly
September 25: His Grace is Sufficient
To celebrate her tour, Sarah is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!! Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/bd52
Her debut novel, The Isaac Project, skyrocketed to Amazon bestseller status while her sophomore book, Finders Keepers, won the 2017 Selah award for contemporary romance.
Guest Post from Sarah Monzon
I’m so excited to be here today and getting this opportunity to hang out with y’all in this virtual world. If you are anything like me, you devour books faster than my son drinks orange juice (and he really loves orange juice!). Because of that, it is sometimes hard to come across a book with a unique premise or a message that you haven’t seen incorporated a thousand times before. As a writer, I always try to bring something fresh to the table.In the first book of the Carrington Family Series, Finders Keepers, neither of my characters were Christians. What? No Christians in a Christian fiction novel? Most Christian fiction books usually have at least one or both main characters a Christians. Don’t worry, they both found their way to Jesus. With All of You, however, I wanted to take yet an even different approach.
I’ve read lots of books where the main character is angry or upset with God for such-and-such thing that happened in his/her life (I’ve even written a character like that), but I hadn’t really read a story about a character that, no matter what life threw at him/her, he/she was going to trust in God no matter what. As a life-long Christian, this is a message I can identify with. The “If not, He is still good” resonation that is sometimes harder to hold on to in the midst of pain and struggles.
So, as with all my books, I hope the freshness of the story and the realness of my characters will inspire and uplift you as you travel along with them on their journey. God Bless.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free through Celebrate Lit. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Thank you for the review. :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very interesting book!
ReplyDeleteIt is, Emma! Thanks for stopping by :-)
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