I read this book some time ago and I really enjoyed the story. Think it's well worth reading again in the future. I really enjoyed the books by Annie Groves and this one was no exception. Storytelling at it's best. Recommended.fiction historical-fiction world-war-two30 s Suzanne466 5

Things happen to people in war especially relationships between people. Sally has a POW husband who borrowed money from unscrupulous money lenders before he left and now Sally must pay it back. Sally also has two small boys. She must work all the time for money to pay them so she has to leave her children with neighbors. The doctor thinks she may not be a fit mother when the boys get sick and she is not there.

Sam is still a tomboy waiting to become a woman. She has great sympathy for those who are weak and hurting. She has not learned to cut out dead weight for the benefit of the whole team. A painful lesson to learn. Another painful lesson is learning to trust men.

The first part of the book was lots of unfairness and an ugly look at human nature. The second part showed more of the kindness of people.3 s Layla842 17

Read many year ago would re read loved this series. 5 star rating. R.I.P.Annie Groves. world-war-2-fiction3 s Catherine Matsubu614 2

So g ood

I truly enjoyed the adventures in this story! There were times I got a bit confused by the way the author chose to change characters but eventually caught on

2 s ann betts380 2

As time goes by

I d the time frame the story was set in but hated the way it skipped from one character to another in many areas from one sentence to the next.1 Adam Beddoe61

I'm not really keen on war books but as this was a book club choice I thought I ought to make an effort. The book had some real positives that deserve credit. It was so readable I found myself able to pick it up and immediately get right back into the story. It also gave a glimpse into living life during wartime and how values changed. I don't however feel I can recommend it for a couple of reasons. I was dissappointed that the story descended into a Mills & Boon style live story with excruciating love scenes. I also think the characterisation was poor, all characters except the two main protagonists were one dimensional and cliched (Johnny Everton) and the main characters seemed to merge into one. I was often genuinely confused as I realised I'd read entire passages not realising which person I'd read about! book-club-2010 kindle1 Frances Bell77 10

This is writing that I could do. Which means to say - not great. She loses the suspense all the way through by interrupting dialogue to refer to past events... it was very difficult to engage with any of the characters because it was all very "surface" with no depth or insight and quite frankly I couldn't care about any of them. The speeches she had characters making were far too long. This is schoolgirl writing and I fail to see how she's sold so many books. The ending had all hte loose ends tied up a little too neatly1 Dark-Draco2,222 41

I really, really wanted to this. I thought I was in the mood for a novel about female fortitude during the war, about plucky characters with a bit of romance thrown in. Sadly, by about the sixth chapter, I found myself a little bored by it all. I quite d the characters Sam and Sally, and could see how their stories were about to become entwined, but I also think the obviousness of it all depressed me ever so slightly and I got to the point where I didn't want to see how their happy endings came about. A shame, as maybe I would have enjoyed this if a different mood. gave-up-reading1 Deb1,123 21

A WWII book so boring and cliched that I can't bear to finish it.failures1 Pauline1,826 35

Didn't enjoy this one as much as I have others by her. To much chopping and changing from one story to the next so none came out really strong.1 Leigh974

I wish now I hadn't read these back to back, Individually they are pretty good reads except book one, but this series suffers from not being a continuous story it gets repetitive, something very obvious when you read them all at once instead of months or a year apart as intended. There's a love story where the characters start off hating each other and then fall in love, which was missing only from book one where Molly had them all falling at feet. And everyone is either dumb or annoyingly nosy butting into the lives of others they have no business doing. This time, we have one character from book one, Sally, a friend of the awful June. I d Sally mostly, but she was also very dumb too. And Sam, who was stupid and filled me with rage at times. It starts with Sam arriving at her billet. She decides to go explore Liverpool and ignores a sign telling her not to go down a street as there was an unexploded bomb there. the moron she is, she falls into a pit and nearly sets the thing off, killing herself and the bomb squad member Johnny, who was engaged to Molly in book one. She then thinks he's coming on to her, which again proves how utterly moronic she is. Then, he gets mad at him and calls him rude and bossy. I hated Sam, and while she did have a sort of redemption arc, she's not done being stupid. Sam is also what is known as a pick me in modern terms. You know not other girls. She spends more time with boys than girls, collects rocks and fossils, never wears dresses, and has a skinny boyish figure that no man is attracted to. Even though it's probably her terrible personality that drove the men away, not her figure. To really piss me off, she tries pathetically to flirt with Molly's husband. Ugh. Sally works two jobs to help pay off debts her husband left before going to war. He's in a Japanese POW camp, which never ends well. She has a doctor who's arrogant and also annoying, so you know where this is going. Her son gets sick, and she fears he's going to take her boys away. Doris went from okay to an aggravating, busybody pushing her to be with the doctor. Despite this being pushed as a sweet love story, it was more horror story with the doctor replacing his lost family with a new one. I tried, but I couldn't find it romantic, just kind of creepy. Her son Tommy was a pain in the ass more than the precocious toddler they wanted him to be. It's probably better. I never had kids, I guess, but it also made the so-called love story even creepier. Back to Sam, who has a sort of redemption arc with an ATS girl nicknamed Mouse, who is bullied and tortured by a WO, which ends horrifically. She falls for Johnny predictably and then when one of the other ATS girls who also has a thing for him tells her he never loved her and is still in love with Molly and she believes it and doesn't even ask him about it and there went any hope I had of liking Sam. She's just too dumb for her own good and probably won't survive the war being that idiotic. Sally is dumb for not coming clean about her debts, but that is a lot more understandable. So, I finally finished this series. I had mixed feelings about it overall. It really needed to be a series that followed a group of people throughout the entire war, sort of Beach View or Maureen Lee's Lights Out Liverpool books, which did eventually cover the whole war. This series ends mid war and feels unfinished to me. Individually they books were pretty good, but as a series, it felt it was lacking something.2024 fictional-saga friendship ...more Sarah Edwards116

Tired old storyline- what there is of it.

I usually love HF & have always been a fan only Annie’s work, but this was simply disappointing. In short, two unrelated stories run parallel, each featuring an angry woman who feels wronged by those who surround her & takes out that anger on a man she comes across. Each makes wild assumptions about what said male’s interest could be in them, which being very rude to them. Then, shock horror, both ladies fall for said men who have also inexplicably fallen for the females despite how badly they’ve behaved, and eventually the really tenuous & meaningless link between them all is played out when the women pointlessly meet for a few moments. Throw in a few peripheral pointless characters & that just about sums the book up.

The first half of the book is SO repetitive, droning on & on & on & on about how shameful it was to be in debt. We get it, move on…but no.

I initially gave this book two stars, but having written this review I decided this was being too generous & removed one. Such a shame as I’ve loved so many of Annie’s books in the past.kindle-unlimited Katherine Coble1,257 264

2.5 stars. [Trigger warning: Suicide, Animal Endangerment, Child Death]

I set this aside several times before I decided to bite the bullet and finish it.

I love WWII War At Home stories when they’re well-told. Some of my favourites include the Lavender Road series by Helen Carey and the Guernsey Literary etc. novel.

This is not poorly written from a technical aspect. It is, however, not the type of War At Home book I enjoy. It is much more soap-opera-ish than I care for and focuses more on “does he love me” than on the types of things I look for in these books—women finding a way to muddle through in the midst of deprivation and hardship. There is also a lot of melodrama. A LOT of melodrama. Multiple mustache-twirly villains, which is really overkill in a book about the Nazis.

I don’t expect I’ll be reading anything else from this author. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Janet496 4

Love Story

This is the third of this series that I have read. And I think the third book by this author. I couldn't find/buy the first book of the series so I actually started with the second one. I really d that one and was anxious to read the other two. But I wasn't as impressed with them. It's a good book, don't get me wrong, but not a Maeve Binchy or Catherine Ryan Hyde. The first third of the book seemed to go on and on and there were a lot of characters. The second third was , the meat of the story and was fairly good. The last third, to me, felt rushed. Sam and Sally were the two main female characters and you would be reading about one and in the middle of the chapter you would start reading about the other one. I'm glad the series was about the people and not so much the grisly parts of war. I will recommend to family and friends.
Barbara Doodson36

Great Read

I just loved this book - part of a series of war books, all of them brilliant.

The writer certainly grabbed my attention with the Characters that emerged as I read on.

Sam, the first main Character, was brilliantly woven into the book by her nervousness at getting things wrong in The ATS - after a prank she was transferred and given a clerical job, not the adventurous job of driving that she craved.

The second main Character Sally, is a wonderfully caring mum, who is under such pressure with by all hours. I won't tell you why, as it will spoil the book.

All I can say is - it is a BRILLIANT read. The series are not linked and I am sure once you have read As Time Goes by you will be off to read another.

Annie has written other books (fabulous) some I have not read yet! Off to buy another J Renee149 2

Interesting characters and setting

This book has fully developed characters who are very interesting. The story is set in Liverpool, England during World War II. Sam is a former tomboy who is coming into her own as a desirable woman. Sam is a private in the ATS, an army-type corps for women. Sally is a young mother whose husband is a Japanese prisoner of war. Even though these young women don't meet until the end of the book, their circumstances weave around each other due largely from living in Liverpool. I am disappointed this isn't part of a series. I would to know what happened to Sam and Sally going forward. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!! Anne Fox13

This book was different from others that I have read because of the different class of English persons. This book was set in Liverpool, England which had been extensively bombed before this book started. A lot of the book is about UBX finding and defusing unexploded bombs. This was not an easy book to read because of the distress in the lives of the people involved. I did enjoy it and would recommend it. Debbie Trammell691 5

Very touching book

So much emotion! Makes you feel you are there with these folks. Very evident is that during the war you had to keep in keeping on. I will recommend this book. Elisha Chan45

Kind of d it. Love story in the war time. how the writer took time with descriptions. A time when time was slower Rose Lambert217

Sweet

Happiness blossomed even during a war. Wonderful, light reading, and an interesting read about times and jobs individuals had during the war. Marlene Shofner-Daves252 3

wonderful story.. I really

I really enjoyed this story, characters, plots, talking about the war & the hardships it caused. The rationing on food. Judy Palmore162

Love at last

Enjoyed reading of the love s and lives of the characters in this story. I love historical romance stories especially during g world war two Sharon StineAuthor 5 books16

An engaging read Ruth Gladden2

Formulaic

This was a nice story. Did not that Sam went from a hellion to a simpering schoolgirl when she fell in love patty brantley13

I d the story except it skipped around so much at times I didn’t know who I was ready about. Margaret W Meagher81 1 follower

No bearing

Was not thrilled how the author left you to figure out who was who when going back and forth with the characters lives. Should have been breaks some how!! Tracey Terrington60

A lovely story set in WW2. Well worth a read Annette HartAuthor 5 books54

Another good read from Annie Groves. I enjoyed the fact that it involved many of the same characters as another of her books but from a different characters perspective.historical romance Samantha173 28

Brilliant Series .. I Love all Annie Groves Books :) Georgia15

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