Welcome to the book blast for The Ack Ack Girl by Chris Karlsen! I love WWII stories and am happy to bring you an excerpt to enjoy today before you download your own copy. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for even more excerpts, including at my site Candrel's Crafts, Cooks, and Characters. Let the author know your thoughts along the way. Best of luck entering the giveaway!
It’s 1941 and the German war machine has defeated all of Europe except England. In an effort to force a surrender, the German Luftwaffe is bombing villages and cities the length of the country. As the battle rages, Britain is in desperate need to put more pilots in the air.
To free up more men a new unit is formed: The Ack Ack Girls. Teams of courageous young women will now fight in anti-aircraft stations. Excited to be part of the effort, Ava Armstrong has volunteered for one of the special teams. Her unit just happens to be located near an RAF airfield teaming with pilots. Sparks fly, and not just from artillery, when Ava crosses paths with the highly decorated and handsome Royal Airforce pilot, Chris Fairfield.
Read an excerpt:
“I have a couple of favorites. I like Night and Day and Blue Moon. Ava sang a couple of lines from each and added a shoulder and body sway. “They’re good to dance to.”
“Nice moves.”
“Do you dance?”
“When necessary.”
She wondered what that meant, exactly. She heard her mother in her head advising her not to pry. But what if he had a fiancé and she liked to dance and that was the necessity? Sorry Mum, I have to ask. “Pleasant as this evening has been, flirtations and all, just curious but do you have someone special waiting for you somewhere?”
“No. If I had, I wouldn’t have invited you out.”
“I had to ask.”
“Understandable. What about you?”
“No one special is waiting for me either.”
“Good. Back to the songs. Sing Night and Day again.”
She sang the first line and as she did, Chris put his arms around her and danced with her. The warm touch of his hands felt through her uniform. “You’ve nice moves, yourself.” He pulled her closer. “Oh.”
“My mother insisted my sister and I take ballroom dancing when we were in our teens. She said it was uncivilized not to know how to dance.” Without missing a beat, he added, “We’d make a cracking good recruitment poster. Join the RAF or ATS—”
“And share the starry sky?”
“And share the starry sky, I like it.” He gave her one more whirl and stopped. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”
Falling off a cliff, she had no better words to describe the sudden sense of loss. They hardly knew each other. He’d warned her he’d be going within days, but none of that made the loss less acute.
“Well, who knows what the future holds. Maybe I’ll get leave down the road and if I go home, we can meet for drinks or something.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“I don’t want to lose this.” He gestured wide a broad stroke of his arm to the sky. “More starry nights, I hoped you’d agree to write me.”
That jolted the life back into her. “Of course. I don’t want to lose this either.”
He kissed her, thoroughly, deeply, and like no other had.
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I am a retired police detective. After twenty-five years in law enforcement I decided to pursue my dream of writing. I’ve completed a historical-time travel romance series called Knights in Time. I currently write a historical suspense called The Bloodstone Series.
I am also working on a world war two series of novella romances.
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Chris Karlsen will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this book and author details, it sounds like an interesting read
ReplyDeleteI had fun writing the story. I listened to big band music the whole time and actual BBC broadcasts. There are even some surviving interviews with Ack Ack (girls).
DeleteChris
I want to thank Andi's Reviews for the opportunity to feature my WW2 romance. I love a good war movie. My fave is Casablanca. I'd love to hear some of your followers favorites.
ReplyDeleteChris
A fascinating time period. Happy to read about the Ack Ack girls.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very interesting book.
ReplyDelete