In this book we Follow 3 different women, and their life and contribution during war. We Follow all the women and get to them, but this book is mainly concentrated on iris. I have to be honest she drove me crazy, with her snobbish ways. She was so focused on one thing, and that was wealth. I liked the romance in this book, but nothing New. I liked that it was set on a remote place, the orkney Islands. So the atmosphere was spot on. It was an entertaining read. Thank you to netgalley for this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

Well there’s plenty of excitement in this book, thank to the beautiful descriptions of the weather, rough seas, cliffs and barren landscape.

The Wrens who are thrown together, unwilling from the outset are Iris from the posh, well-off background who has joined up to escape a disastrous relationship which she manoeuvred mostly by herself. Mary who joined the Wrens to be close to the memory of her fiancée and Sally who is so superstitious but usually acts as the peacekeeper when there is tension between the other two.

While the girls are nervous the being with as signallers they soon become proficient which could prove useful during a storm, which is often in Orkney where they get posted to. Iris falls in with Rob, quite literally. Iris is in denial as Rob wouldn’t meet her mother’s standards as he is a mechanic. Iris then becomes close to local doctor Stewart but she realises that it’s Rob who keeps coming into her thoughts.

So happy to see that there’s to be another as it didn’t end the way I was expecting.

Three very different girls sign up to become Wrens for three very different reasons. Iris is from a very well-to-do background with a mother who has the prime aim to marry daughter off to someone "suitable" - rich in other words. An appalling woman. Iris herself is totally spoilt and eventually joined because of the nice colour of the uniform and the expected opportunity to meet nice young (rich) officers. Sally is a highly superstitious romantic from Yorkshire whilst Mary is from a fishing Welsh family and has lost her fiancé in the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. They train together and are later sent to the Orkneys as their first posting in Signals. Their characters develop well, especially that of Iris the main character in this story. She finds romance or two, there's possible German spies on Mainland, there's more family interaction and she learns to both like and respect the local Orcadians. The descriptions of their billet and lives and the weather are all too familiar. There's no wind and rain like wind and rain on Orkney. The ending is, of course, happy for Iris, there's some non endings and I suspect that these will lead to further books with, perhaps, Sally and Mary as the main characters. I look forward to reading them. Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one! Beeby has done it again, writing brilliant characters and a plot that had me interested the whole way through. Despite being an avid Historical Fiction reader, I always find myself learning something new every time I pick a book up. I knew nothing about the signalling on the coast of Britain during the Second World War, but this book explained everything and still kept it interesting. A must read for fans of Historical Fiction, Beeby is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors of this genre.

I love a good World War Two story. They’re so full of strength, resilience, community spirit and ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude. A New Start for the Wrens had the same kind of vibe, and made for another great WW2 book to add to this amazing genre.

The main character, Iris, I did not immediately warm to I have to admit! It took a fair few chapters to feel any sort of liking to her character as she’s portrayed as self-important, righteous and a bit pompous! With an over arching mother wanting her to ‘marry well’ and not mix with those below her station, I can certainly understand why Iris turned out the way she did.

However as the book advances, you get more little snippets and insights into her personality and I gradually started to like her a bit more. Watching her grow throughout her volunteer work and watch her overcome hurdles and her struggles made for an interesting read, and I did want to see how thing would unfurl and develop for her.

I rapidly started to root for her and along with the other Wrens, Sally and Mary, I really started to warm to this little group. The character development of Iris was amazing to see and I finished the book definitely more than liking her character in the end. In fact, I loved her! And respected her so much towards the end. Talk about character growth!

The book starts with her signing up and subsequent posting to HMS Mercury for her training. I loved reading that and following her progress to becoming a fully fledged wren. Meeting her bunk mates Sally, a hopeless romantic from Yorkshire, and Mary, a hard to win over widow from Wales, they begrudgingly graduated their training and were posted to their first station in the cold depths of the Orkney Islands.

This book entertained and warmed the cockles of your heart. Being on duty with the Wrens and contributing to the war effort was a great way to spend the afternoon reading and I seriously loved it!

Another fantastic read from Vicki Beeby.
This book is full of great characters chameraderie and a sense of being the 3 main characters are quite different in there own ways but work well together. Looking forward to reading more about the girls.

Another number one for Vicki Beeby. Hoping there will be follow ups to this book so we can again see what the wrens are up to. Loved this ww2 story
Highly recommended read

A New Start for the Wrens by Vicki Beeby is a great WWII-era historical fiction saga that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I really enjoyed the author’s previous series: The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, so I was looking forward to reading this new book.

I liked the trio of friends: Iris, Sally, and Mary. Each different, but have come together in solitary goals of helping out their country and also in loyalty and friendship. I always really like reading about strong and positive female friendships.

This book has a bit of mystery, suspense, and intrigue along with the historical and romance narrative.

Iris is featured mainly within the story, so hopefully there could be more books which each will then focus on Mary and Sally.

Thank you NG and Canello Publishing for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/17/22.

Firstly thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. This book is absolutely brilliant. I felt like I was one of the girls and was joining them in their adventure.
I really cant wait to read more in this series. Wartime family saga at the best