With Love, Wherever You Are by Dandi Daley Mackall

About the book: (from the publisher) Everyone knows that war romances never last . . .

After a whirlwind romance and wedding, Helen Eberhart Daley, an army nurse, and Lieutenant Frank Daley, M.D. are sent to the front lines of Europe with only letters to connect them for months at a time.

Surrounded by danger and desperately wounded patients, they soon find that only the war seems real―and their marriage more and more like a distant dream. If they make it through the war, will their marriage survive?

Based on the incredible true love story, With Love, Wherever You Are is an adult novel from beloved children’s author Dandi Daley Mackall.

Read the first chapter here. Watch the trailer below.

About the author: A professional writer for over 20 years, Dandi Daley Mackall has written dozens of articles for popular magazines and published around 500 books for children and adults alike, with sales of over 4 million.

A frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, she lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, horses, dogs, & cats. Awards include the Edgar Award for Best YA Mystery, the Helen Keating Ott Award for Contributions to Children’s Literature; Distinguished Alumni Award from Mizzou; ALA Best Book; Christian Children’s Book of the Year, Amelia Bloom, Mom’s Choice Awards. Her YA novel, My Boyfriends’ Dogs, is now a Hallmark movie.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Genre: Fiction/Historical/World War II

[bctt tweet=”Uplifting #histfic based on real-life wartime romance @DandiMackall @TyndaleHouse @Crazy4Fiction” username=”KatherineSJones”]

My take: I admit, I cheated: After reading the first chapter, I flipped to the back to the book to see if the author had included a “Story Behind the Story” for what I was reading. I was in luck; she had. So I read that {& bonus! she included some family pix too}, and then I went back and continued reading her novel, my enjoyment further enhanced by the pieces I now knew to be true.

Unlike many war novels, this one is played with a lighter hand, though it still certainly acknowledges the brutal realities of war. While based on the true story of her parents’ love, romance, marriage, and separation {by that, I mean separation by the war!} during WWII, the author — an accomplished, multi-multi-published storyteller — has been careful to create layers of conflict and motivation in order to craft her parents’ experience into a novel. The result is a sweet love story peopled by flawed but endearing characters at odds with circumstances far bigger than themselves. I liked seeing how Frank and Helen grew into better, truer versions of themselves as the war wore on. At 460 pages, their story runs a wee bit long, but it’s nicely paced with letters interspersed between Frank and Helen’s POV narratives.

With Mother’s Day just around the bend, I’ll offer that With Love would make a thoughtful gift for many a mom — particularly those who might remember this war or who had parents and family involved. I’d also recommend it for histfic fans with a particular penchant for uplifting WWII stories, and anyone who loves a good, wholesome romance.

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing me this book free of charge. All opinions are mine.

After words: Have you read any of Dandi Daley Mackall’s other books?