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suze_1624's review against another edition
4.0
A very emotive short story
Not only are Jack and Roger just discovering their life long friendship has moved to more in a time when men being with each other is not accepted, WW2 then means that their separation is much longer.
Both Jack and Roger have found kindred souls for short periods whilst posted away and the fragility and furtiveness of these trysts do come across.
Most of the story happens once war is over and the men meet again - and still the matchmaking mothers continue! Gah, they annoyed me and I’m not there - different times.
Despite getting together they still feel they have to be apart which is heartbreaking - though once they realise they could be roommates I did find their realisation of the two old men amusing!
Lovely addition in the series.
Not only are Jack and Roger just discovering their life long friendship has moved to more in a time when men being with each other is not accepted, WW2 then means that their separation is much longer.
Both Jack and Roger have found kindred souls for short periods whilst posted away and the fragility and furtiveness of these trysts do come across.
Most of the story happens once war is over and the men meet again - and still the matchmaking mothers continue! Gah, they annoyed me and I’m not there - different times.
Despite getting together they still feel they have to be apart which is heartbreaking - though once they realise they could be roommates I did find their realisation of the two old men amusing!
Lovely addition in the series.
cadiva's review against another edition
4.0
Every time I read a historical romance set in a period of war I want to just wrap my arms around the men who served but couldn't be open about their sexuality.
How many of them lost a loved one they couldn't openly mourn, like both Jack and Roger do here, and how many went to their deaths knowing their loved ones would suffer in silence.
Lori embeds this romance not only with that sense of loss, but also acknowledges those sacrifices with the characters of Floyd and Oskar, off page but important in the journey these men take back to each other.
This ends at the start of the 1950s and there was still a way to go, but the Epilogue felt completely believable to me - a happy Jack and Roger living their best lives under the radar as two war damaged bachelors.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
How many of them lost a loved one they couldn't openly mourn, like both Jack and Roger do here, and how many went to their deaths knowing their loved ones would suffer in silence.
Lori embeds this romance not only with that sense of loss, but also acknowledges those sacrifices with the characters of Floyd and Oskar, off page but important in the journey these men take back to each other.
This ends at the start of the 1950s and there was still a way to go, but the Epilogue felt completely believable to me - a happy Jack and Roger living their best lives under the radar as two war damaged bachelors.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
rebecca_3's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, this was really heavy compared the the previous books. Really angsty and heartbreaking, but still with an HEA. My only complaint is that sometimes I got the characters mixed up.
sio_and_tell's review
2.0
There may have been issues with my copy as two of the chapters contained some head hopping which I found confusing. Enjoyable nonetheless.
cadiva's review
4.0
Every time I read a historical romance set in a period of war I want to just wrap my arms around the men who served but couldn't be open about their sexuality.
How many of them lost a loved one they couldn't openly mourn, like both Jack and Roger do here, and how many went to their deaths knowing their loved ones would suffer in silence.
Lori embeds this romance not only with that sense of loss, but also acknowledges those sacrifices with the characters of Floyd and Oskar, off page but important in the journey these men take back to each other.
This ends at the start of the 1950s and there was still a way to go, but the Epilogue felt completely believable to me - a happy Jack and Roger living their best lives under the radar as two war damaged bachelors.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
How many of them lost a loved one they couldn't openly mourn, like both Jack and Roger do here, and how many went to their deaths knowing their loved ones would suffer in silence.
Lori embeds this romance not only with that sense of loss, but also acknowledges those sacrifices with the characters of Floyd and Oskar, off page but important in the journey these men take back to each other.
This ends at the start of the 1950s and there was still a way to go, but the Epilogue felt completely believable to me - a happy Jack and Roger living their best lives under the radar as two war damaged bachelors.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
anitalouise's review
4.0
Beautiful tale about Roger and Jack who grew up in a small town in 1939. They are on the cusp of manhood when they realize they're more to each other than just friends. Life intervenes, a horrible war and things change. They reconnect in 1945 but what do they do now? How will they be together? "For the first time, the war really was over. In that moment, it became a memory that would someday be a distant one, and I was home." This is the one of the Christmas angel books about an angel ornament that means so much to those who hold it. Lovely writing, as always, from Ms. Witt.
relly's review
4.0
Good addition
4 ⭐️
Good addition to the series. I liked Roger and Jack both trying to return to life after the war. I liked that they both had other experiences outside of each other too.
4 ⭐️
Good addition to the series. I liked Roger and Jack both trying to return to life after the war. I liked that they both had other experiences outside of each other too.
susanscribs's review
3.0
3.25 stars. Makes the challenges of being gay in post-WWII very real but then makes it look easy for the men to be together in the end. I know it's a holiday romance so I wasn't looking for tragedy, but the abrupt change in tone was jarring.
alextweetsbooks's review
5.0
Another historical book in the Christmas Angel series, and the second one I have read, after Eli Easton’s Christmas Angel. First, I must say I actually really love the premise with the angel figurine. It was made in the first book, but it took until this book for me, to see the angel ‘in action’. I loved how it appeared to Roger, and helped him through the war and then to reconnect with Jack.
War stories always fill me with the deep sadness, but it is even worse when it comes to the fact that people have to hide their sexuality, their love, just because it was deemed wrong by some assholes in power who then managed to convince other people to think the same.
Another thing that threatened to break me, right from the beginning, was the talk of ‘being home for Christmas’. I know in this sense it was more about Jack coming home from college, but I kept remembering how the soldiers from the First World War were convinced that they will be home by Christmas.
The fact that Roger and Jack’s ways parted even before the war, and especially when the war started, was well done. It isn’t easy to keep contact with someone now when they move abroad, and with letters it must have been even harder. And war of course, breaks all plans. But I loved how they managed to bridge that gap later.
The epilogue itself also gave me warm fuzzies when they decided they will be bachelors living in the same place, and compared themselves to the couple of bachelors they knew. I found it interesting though, that that worked, considering how intent people were about sexuality and marriage.
I liked the book a lot, it tried to break my heart, but it also had happiness at the end, of course.
And the Angel went missing, obviously. I wonder who she’ll help next 🙂
War stories always fill me with the deep sadness, but it is even worse when it comes to the fact that people have to hide their sexuality, their love, just because it was deemed wrong by some assholes in power who then managed to convince other people to think the same.
Another thing that threatened to break me, right from the beginning, was the talk of ‘being home for Christmas’. I know in this sense it was more about Jack coming home from college, but I kept remembering how the soldiers from the First World War were convinced that they will be home by Christmas.
The fact that Roger and Jack’s ways parted even before the war, and especially when the war started, was well done. It isn’t easy to keep contact with someone now when they move abroad, and with letters it must have been even harder. And war of course, breaks all plans. But I loved how they managed to bridge that gap later.
The epilogue itself also gave me warm fuzzies when they decided they will be bachelors living in the same place, and compared themselves to the couple of bachelors they knew. I found it interesting though, that that worked, considering how intent people were about sexuality and marriage.
I liked the book a lot, it tried to break my heart, but it also had happiness at the end, of course.
And the Angel went missing, obviously. I wonder who she’ll help next 🙂
apostrophen's review
3.0
I liked this. I'm also really, really glad the epilogue happened for this one, because it walked the fine line between balancing historical accuracy without being completely depressing for most of the story—it's one of the reasons I'm so often hesitant to read historical stories about people like me, especially around the holidays when I'm really looking for something upbeat. It took me three days because I kept having to pause to find something a bit more happy to restore what little holiday spirit I've got, though I did want to see how it turned out (and happily, the category of "romance" means I know I was going to get somewhere happy). I may jump ahead to the contemporary episodes in the series, and double back for the historicals later, when there's sunlight and warmth.
Audio performer was great. Loved his voices.
More thorough review to come.
Audio performer was great. Loved his voices.
More thorough review to come.
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