Angel with Steel Wings

Following one’s dreams pulls at the heartstrings in this moving historical romance from Greene (Recipe for a Husband), set on an Air Force base in North Carolina during WWII. Courageous Mandy McCabe is a pilot with the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), a program at risk of being shut down. Maj. Harvey Applegate has the influence to keep it running—but since the death of his wife, who was also a pilot, he’s become firmly convinced that a woman’s place is anywhere other than the cockpit of a plane. What begins as Mandy coaxing Harvey to keep the WASP program going turns into a deeply felt romance. Greene’s character-driven narrative, peppered with colloquial dialogue (“Bejiggers to him”), rings with authenticity. The complications that war imposes on love and marriage elevate the plot from predictability, while the slow-burning attraction between Mandy and Harvey makes for a sweet romance. Greene’s wonderful cast of secondary characters, including Harvey’s adorable six-year-old son, Teddy, and Mandy’s lovelorn mechanic, Nate, give the story both substance and heart. The fine balance between historical and emotional authenticity is sure to satisfy. (BookLife)