Hello to all of my beautiful nerds traveling the vast universe! I am back with a new book review!

The Stolen Marriage by. Diane Chamberlain!

Disclaimer: This book is based on thoughts and opinions of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and opinions on this book.

What Is It About? In this book, we meet Tessa, someone who is a young woman during World War II who has everything going for her life. She’s studying to become a nurse and engaged to an up-and-comingdoctor and childhood friend. On a visit to Washington D. C. while the fiance is away, she ends up meeting Henry Kraft visiting from Hickory, North Carolina and she and her best friend, Jenna go out for a night with drinks and all-of-a-sudden she ends up in bed with Henry. Her fears come out when she is pregnant with Henry’’s child and leaves her family behind to marry him. During the marriage, she gets treated as a stranger in the small town and seen as the little tramp only marrying into the Kraft family for money but it was mostly a business transaction.

While being married to Henry,, Tessa starts finding out about some secrets like why Henry lost his fingers and how he was rescued to how a wad of money ended up in the bottom of a wardrobe, and so on. Will she find out some secrets while living under the scrutinizing eyes of her mother-in-law?

Thoughts: This book was a really good read. I got to see some things beyond World War II that I wouldn’t have seen since the town of Hickory was an actual place that went through the Polio Epidemic as the war ended. As we all know is FDR did suffer from Polio himself while being president during the second World War and was wheelchair bound which if you seen Pearl Harbor they weren’t messing around and the actor did a good job at it. Back to the book of course, I did like how the story started itself off as happy couple living in Baltimore and then when Vincent goes off that is when time draws out. The war effort is a long wait for a lot of people especially in the medical field since at the time Polio was starting to show and it was a big theme throughout the book because of how it shown up later.

When Tessa and Henry met it felt like different sides since it felt like they were going to end up together but in a different way. Yes, it starts off as a one-night-stand and then the pregnancy takes place and Tess leaves and when she catches up with Henry things change, like he was different all of a sudden, as in he went from sweet Southener boy to complete stranger which that can be shocking when your One Night comes to find you at work. I did like how Tessa described her downward spiral of losing her own self because while living at the In-law’s home she was being watched and not only that being gossiped about which is big in smal town in time like that. I do like her interactions in trying to make nice with Lucy, Henry’s sister, even though she tries very hard but Tessa knows that she would gossip to her friends about her, like with the part about driving a car.I think the best interactions wold be with Henry’s mother, Ruth the most because she was expecting a different girl to marry her son and now has to put up with Tessa. I would have to say this was a major test for Tessa because she has to grit her teeth and bare withing under the same roof with Lucy and Ruth until things take place around them.This story shows how strong a female character can be when facing adversity from the family and a community in a small town and all she could hope for is finally getting out of there and being a nurse. I can relate with her since I just moved from a big city to a smaller town to be a teacher right now and see how much better it became due to the change of scenery. In the end, this was a really fun read.

Rating: Five Star Paw Prints Out of Five! With all of the World War II novels I have read throughout my Net Galley membership this one has been the best. I have seen books where the lead woman character has risen above like Kasha in Lilac Girls getting over her days at a work camp and having a bad leg injury after a hideous test, alongside caroline getting through her relationship with Jacques and finding out that his wife was alive, even Mary in Everyone Brave Is Forgiven where she has to survive the bombings of London and almost drowned as of the result of it. Alse, the women in Karolina’s Twins shows even more bravery and survival. Here we see it with a Polio Epidemic starting to show and Tessa surviving through it along with a small town with a family who has different religious beliefs from her own and trying to live with a husband that has secrets that lead to it failing. Strenght and bravery through the second World War in women has shown in many ways and I have seen it through here because Tessa had put a smile on her face through adversity. I hope to read more books like this because it shows that even if a war is so bleak but people still come through and survive in the end whether it is through a bombing raid or helping people get through a really bad disease that shows up in a small town. I want to read about the Polio Epidemic in Hickory since Diane Chamberlain The SSstolen Marriage by/ Diane Chamberlainhmentioned some of her sources and it would be interesting to see how the actual story happened with the people who lived there. What I found it more interesting about it was the street name changes after the war to confuse enemies. I didn’t know about that until read the dedication. I suggest this book to anyone who wants to read more Historical Fiction set in World War II.

Well that is it guys! Don/t worry, I have not forgotten about the Holiday Matsuri coverage. I am still going to get the videos up as soon as I can. I definitely have a haul post and a Bests & Worsts coming up, also my Faves of November and December coming up. So stay tuned everyone! Until next time stay beautiful while traveling the universe!