Wednesday, March 28, 2018

The Sea Before Us (Sunrise at Normandy, #1) by Sarah Sundin - Reviewed





About the book:

Title: The Sea Before Us (Sunrise at Normandy, #1)
Author: Sarah Sundin
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

In 1944, American naval officer Lt. Wyatt Paxton arrives in London to prepare for the Allied invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a "Wren" in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Dorothy pieces together reconnaissance photographs with thousands of holiday snapshots of France--including those of her own family's summer home--in order to create accurate maps of Normandy. Maps that Wyatt will turn into naval bombardment plans.
As the two spend concentrated time together in the pressure cooker of war, their deepening friendship threatens to turn to love. Dorothy must resist its pull. Her bereaved father depends on her, and her heart already belongs to another man. Wyatt too has much to lose. The closer he gets to Dorothy, the more he fears his efforts to win the war will destroy everything she has ever loved.
The tense days leading up to the monumental D-Day landing blaze to life under Sarah Sundin's practiced pen with this powerful new series.



About Sarah Sundin:
Sarah Sundin enjoys writing about the drama and romance of the World War II era. She is the author of The Sea Before Us (February 6, 2018), the Waves of Freedom series (Through Waters Deep, Anchor in the Storm, When Tides Turn), the Wings of the Nightingale series, and the Wings of Glory series. Her novels Through Waters Deep and When Tides Turn were named to Booklist's "101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years." Through Waters Deep won the 2016 INSPY Award and was a Carol Award finalist.
A mother of three, Sundin lives in northern California. She works on-call as a hospital pharmacist and teaches Sunday school and women's Bible studies. She enjoys speaking to community, church, and writers' groups.



My Thoughts:

Such a wonderful start to a new series, by one of my favorite historical authors. I was invested from the beginning. Dorothy and Wyatt are from different walks of life, and have different belief systems that pull you right into the story. 

All of the events leading up to D-Day are so real you keep reading for fear you'll miss something if you stop. 

This story is rich in detail, and historical fact, that it becomes an experience not just a story. The characters deal with real life events and their struggle pours out onto the page in real time as though they are standing right in front of you.

My Bottom Line:

Sarah Sundin kicks off her new series with a bang. The characters are real, they struggle with feeling not worthy, faith in the midst of war going on all around them, and forgiveness. Forgiveness of themselves, and others. This is military historical fiction at it's finest! While I adore all of Ms. Sundin's military historicals, her Navy series' are my absolute favorite for obvious reasons. I am the daughter of a Navy sailor. 
I highly recommend this book!



2 comments:

Sarah Sundin said...

Thank you for the lovely review, Andi! I'm so glad you enjoyed Wyatt & Dorothy's story!

Andi said...

You are so welcome! I am glad you like it and I thoroughly enjoyed Dorothy and Wyatt’s story!!

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