With Every Letter

Historical romance specialist Sundin (Wings of Glory series) opens another WWII-era series with a well-researched and absorbing tale of two Army specialists whose pen-pal relationship becomes a lifeline. Lt. Philomela (Mellie) Blake is a nurse who has difficulty fitting in socially. Lt. Tom MacGilliver is an engineer and the son of a killer whose fear of his own parentage has made him a mild-mannered man, not an asset in wartime conditions. The two meet via a morale-building pen-pal arrangement that keeps them anonymous, and confide in one another their secrets and present-day problems. When the two meet after both are transferred to Algeria as the Allied forces press through North Africa, the epistolary relationship and the real one collide. Sundin has a such a gift for compelling scenes and details (jump rope rhymes, nicknames, conversational banter) that she can be forgiven for some significant improbabilities (MacGilliver’s pet dog) that seem to be rooted more in the stereotypes of WWII movies than the logic of the story. WWII-era fans won’t be able to put it down. Agent: Rachel Kent, Books & Such Literary Agency (Sept.)