Set in the east end of London during World war 2.
The characters are mostly likeable. The stories are a slow burn but very good. This is a great book.

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

A brilliant read with a great read and lovely characters. I always enjoy a good wartime read and this one didn't disappoint. Looking forward to more from the author.

Book 2in the Home Front Girls series and this was another excellent read. Set on London during world war 2 the descriptions in the book would make you feel you were actually there.

This gives a really good feel of the communities during WW2 in London.
A wonderful story line with diverse characters kept me engrossed.
I really did not want this to finish.

This book tells the story of the Lavender girls who worked at the Yardley factory during World War 2. You will go through every emotion going as you are transported back to a very hard time during the war years in Stratford. Kate writes in a way that draws you in and you can picture everything that’s going on in the book as though you are there with them. It was also nice to read about the actual people who lived through this time and the photos they kindly shared to help even more with what it was like for these people. I highly recommend this book.

Enjoy this genre of book and having previously read by this author knew I would love this book. Can’t wait for more by this author. Many thanks to net galley of the author for allowing me to read this book thank you.

Enjoyable read, set to the background of WWII, I liked the characters and enjoyed the story around them. Would recommend

I picked this book, because I have read one previously, written by the same author and I really enjoyed it. This one did not disappoint again, great story, easy to get into. Can’t wait to read more.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Having been given this review copy to read, I decided to buy the first book in the Homefront Girls series (Secrets of the Homefront Girls) to get acquainted with the characters and I loved it. However, I loved the follow up book in the series even more! This book has had me in tears of happiness, sadness, and every emotion in between. The stories told in this book were amazing. I really really hope there will be a third book in the series to look forward to :)

Set in 1943 this is the second book in the series. I really enjoyed the first one and this one was equally as good. The book as been researched really well and is set in wartime.
There is a lot about the american forces here in England and how they coped. I also enjoyed an insight into the windmill theatre,
I felt i learned a lot from this book as well as enjoying the story about the girls and their lives.
Some great characters and a lovely heartwarming story.
Thank you Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was a very satisfying novel, one which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well researched and well written, it was my pleasure to read it from cover-to-cover. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Homeffront Girls #2

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Set in the East End of London during WWII. The Lavender Girls worked at Yardley where they are hard worked but still manage to have fun. The Blitz is over and children are returning home from the countryside where they had been evacuated to. The American forces have arrived in London bringing gifts for the women who took their fancy. Ester, Neil and Lou have formed a special bond during horrendous times. But each girl is hiding a secret that could prove life changing if it was ever revealed.

I haven't read the first book in this series but the storyline was easy to pick up. You do get little references to what had happened in the previous book. For some of the women, going to work was their social life. The characters areal likeable except for Queenie. The au5hor has done her research into the era. 5his book will make you laugh and cry . This is a good war time story.

After end of the book the author tells us the true stories of women she interviewed whilst researching this story.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author Kate Thompson for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for this copy in return for a full and frank review.

I really enjoyed this book. I had read the previous book in the series so knew the characters and had been looking forward to reading where their lives had taken them. However it is possible to read this book as a standalone tale and still follow the plot and enjoy the story.

It is set in the Yardley Factory in the East End of London, one character joins the company at The Windmill Theatre in the West End.
The book tackles problems that were around in the Second World War, poverty, the relentless bombings and different types of German warfare, it tackled the devastating effects that a backstreet abortion could have and the shame associated for all the family. Discrimination, both racial and regarding homosexuality, is shown as it was at the time whilst intermingled with the work lives of the characters and real life events that happened in the East End including the bombing of a school in WW1 and the ramifications of that for those involved many many years later.

The author has also added notes at the end explaining the real life history and how she wove that into her book and where, as she admits, she used 'literary licence'

It really is worth reading - thank you to all concerned

This book was fascinating as it takes you back in time to the East End during World War Two, showing you the day to day struggles and hardships they faced in this time period. I hadn't read the first book in the series, but was still able to pick up the story and thoroughly enjoyed the read. The range of issues dealt with is impressive, showing all the multi-faceted aspects of life at that time. I love Kate Thompson's books in general, and this was no different - a great historical novel that I highly recommend!

One little community in the East End has had to endure years of war, but that won't stop them living their best lives.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I've read in this series, and it was really easy to jump into this story. That being said, I am keen to read Secrets of the Homefront Girls.

This follows the lives of many people in the Shoot, but has three main narrators.
Esther was a jewish refugee, taken in by Nell four years ago, and now considers herself a true East Ender. The book opens with her wedding day, as he marries an incredibly sweet chap Walter.
Despite being together for some time, married life is a shock to the system, especially with an interfering mother-in-law.

Patsy is a newcomer to the Shoot, returning to the East End as one of the older evacuees. She starts work at the Yardley beauty factory, but has dreams of performing on stage. After becoming a substitute-mother to her little brother, there's tension being back with their real mum. It doesn't help that there mother seems determined to ruin the lives of all their new neighbours.

Lou has always acted the clown, to try and mask that she's different from the other girls.
When her mum's illness gets worse, Lou takes on more responsibility with her sisters, while they all try and survive their simply horrid father.

The girls really did have a dreadful parental-figure ruining their lives. I couldn't work out which was worst. I think the mother-in-law from hell probably just pipped it, as I couldn't imagine anyone taking away my choices, like she did with Esther.

The story spans the last year of the war, as the girls face it with grim determination and positivity that was frankly inspiring.
The stories are slow-building. There's the intrigue of the secrets that are being uncovered, but the focus is mostly on the wonderfully-simple human life; highlighting the importance of friends, neighbours, and the family you choose, as well as the one you are born with.

The setting is very detailed and of its time. For the most part, it's natural and very well done.
There were a few bits of narrative, where it became somewhat detached from the narrator's life and slipped into an educational tone.

I found the overall pace a little slow for my liking, but despite this, I was emotionally invested, and intrigued to see how it would all play out for our girls.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of the author's work.

This WW2 Saga was wonderfully written, compelling and unpredictable. The story revolves around three central characters; Esther, Patsy and Lou. Each one is guarding a secret that could prove life changing if ever revealed.
The supporting characters of Queenie, Nell, Snowball and Blue added depth to the main stories.
One thing that is immediately obvious is the camaraderie, friendship and closeness of the people who spent their wartime years in London’s East End. I was totally absorbed in this book and could feel the desperation of life under rationing.
Whilst I smiled at the humour of the factory banter, I also cried at some of the descriptions of the massive losses endured by all.
The Yardley factory was a terrific setting for the workforce, I could almost hear the production line clanging as the story unfolded.
Naturally, romance plays a huge part in the Lavender Girls’ story but, as you would expect from a saga of this type, the path of true love doesn’t always run smoothly or even down a previously navigated route. Don’t expect a standard love story because those secrets have to come out eventually.
I am relatively new to this genre and I’m delighted that there is a wide range of authors to choose from as I will be reading more. I have to say though, Kate Thompson seems to be a master of her craft and the reason that she’s a bestselling author is immediately obvious.
I hope you’ll read this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

Second book in the Homefront series and again Kate has pulled it out of the bag. If you love family saga based in the war you will love all of Kates books. I really love that the books always follow on so you don't lose sight of what is happening

The second in the Homefront Girls series, it picks up the story in 1943 in Stratford in the East End of London with Esther’s wedding to Walter, two characters from the first book, Secrets of the Homefront Girls.

This is such a wonderful tale, a pleasure to read. I was totally immersed in the lives of these brave women who were known as the Lavender Girls as they worked in the Yardley factory. Some of the characters I’d met before in the previous book and others were new to me, all of them colourful and vibrant. The author really brought them to life for me. The descriptions of the sights and sounds of this particular part of the East End are very vivid and easy to visualise. I was easily transported into the Lavender Girls’ world. It’s well researched and beautifully written, an immensely enjoyable insight into a bygone era. I found the author’s notes at the back of the book so very interesting and moving, they are well worth the read. Put your best face forward! 💄

A delightfully entertaining and heartwarming social drama which I can unequivocally recommend.

As I started reading this book, I was a bit disappointed to realise that this was the second book in the Homefront Girls series, so I had missed the introduction to the main characters. There is enough information given from the past that it can be read as a stand-alone book, but I personally would’ve preferred to have read the first book beforehand.

However, I still found it a very enjoyable book, with loveable characters (apart from Queenie) and I really felt that I had been transported back to the East End in WW2, as there had obviously been a lot of research undertaken and therefore the story was totally believable. It’s a tale of loyalty, friendship, strength and fun and I will definitely read the first book in the series so I can get to know the girls even better, and look forward to the third instalment. 4.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.