The Ack Ack Girl by Chris Karlsen | Book Review

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The Ack Ack Girl

by Chris Karlsen

I received this book free; however, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no cost to you.

The Ack Ack Girl
by Chris Karlsen
Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 221 Pages
February 14, 2021

Love and War

A country under attack and the story of one woman’s fight to protect England and her heart.

1941. The German war machine has crushed all of Europe-only England holds fast. To force a surrender, the German Luftwaffe bombs cities and villages 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. These special teams of courageous women will now fight in the anti-aircraft stations. Determined to be part of the effort, Ava Armstrong, volunteers 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 Chris Fairfield, a handsome and cocky pilot stationed there. But nothing is easy in time of war, not even love.

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My review of The Ack Ack Girl

If you enjoy historical fiction set during WWII, you’ll want to give The Ack Ack Girl a read! Since I was a bit surprised by this, I’ll mention it in the beginning, so you know what to expect in the romance department. The book isn’t a clean romance. Though there isn’t sex throughout the book, there is a sexual encounter that I would say is fairly graphic. Though the actual act isn’t described, foreplay is depicted in great detail. If that doesn’t bother you, then you will enjoy the story.

I had never heard of Ack Ack Girls until I read this book. Of course, I knew women were involved in the war effort in many ways, this unit of women was new to me. I love watching the show Foyle’s War on Acorn TV. It takes place during WWII, and they do show many ways in which women participated. Many were trained as mechanics, and there were the Land Girls who worked the farms. These were hard, dirty jobs. Women worked in radar stations, and some worked for war offices. And, of course, some women were spies. But, The Ack Ack Girls had a unique and dangerous job in the anti-aircraft stations. You can find out what they did in detail in this book. It’s fascinating stuff!

The main characters in The Ack Ack Girl are portrayed in a way that will make you care deeply about them. They faced so much danger, and you can feel the fear and frustration that they felt. In the many WWII books I’ve read, I’ve learned how frustrated Great Britain was at the United States for holding their help off for so long. Would the war have been shortened had the US gotten involved earlier? We’ll never know. The US was sheltered from what was happening. It didn’t face the blitz or any bombings until Pearl Harbor. That’s something I think about often as I read books like this. We can’t imagine the devastation these people faced. Entire towns were flattened and thousands and thousands of people were killed in their own homes. The Ack Ack Girls doesn’t shy away from sharing this devastation with us readers.

I extremely enjoyed reading this book not only for the history, but also for the connection I felt to the characters, especially Ava’s mom. Since I don’t want to give anything away, I’ll leave it at that. I appreciated the fact that the author didn’t make the war seem less than it was. She doesn’t hide the fact that friends, husbands, wives, fiances, died while fighting for freedom. It makes me furious that the younger generation is so removed from true history. They don’t understand the sacrifices people made and the fear they faced. We need to encourage this younger generation read books like The Ack Ack Girl. Books that don’t hold back sharing what people endured so that we didn’t have to live under a dictatorship.

Thank you, Chris Karlsen, for writing this wonderful book that’s filled with strong women, and for showing us a part of history that is unknown to so many of us.

About the Author

I was raised in Chicago. My father was a history professor, and my mother, a voracious reader who passed on a love of history and books to me along with a love of travel.

I am a retired police detective. After twenty-five years in law enforcement, I decided to pursue my dream of writing. I write a historical-time travel romance series called Knights in Time and a historical suspense called The Bloodstone Series.

I also have a historical romance series called Love & War. A free copy of the first book in this series is available through my newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/Moonlight_Serenade.

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