Wait for Me audiobook

Review I am a huge fan of World War II books so I was excited to see a new YA based one coming out.Lorna lives on a farm in Scotland in 1945 with her father and a farm helper Nellie while her two brothers are fighting in the war. She goes to school and helps out with chores. When Paul, a German prisoner of war, is assigned to work at the family farm Lorna finds it hard to accept his presence. As time goes on and she learns more about Paul though she finds it hard to stay away. If she doesn't though she could lose so much.I literally sat down with this book and finished it in a day. I was so engrossed in the story and the characters I couldn't put it down. I loved Lorna so much. She definitely had some spunk to her. Paul was a German soldier so it was hard to be sympathetic to him but I think the author did try and make it so he was more than that and explain some things on his end. Together they were very sweet and I liked their romance.There were a lot of great secondary characters which included her father as well as Nellie and their housekeeper. They were such a great house full of people that were all s supportive of each other. Her best friend Iris was a harder nut to crack. I wasn't sure how I felt about her and their friendship. Somehow though that made me feel it be more real.I do wish there was more explored with the Scotland setting. Also, as much as I loved it, I feel it could have all been explored a bit more f that makes sense. Still, I thought it was a great story to get lost in for a day. I would recommend if you like WWII stories with a strong romantic take.This review was originally posted on Rebel Mommy Book Blog

This book is so winsome and charming. The historical grounding of place and time is so immersive and well-done, and while the tone is delightfully classic, the setting of a Scottish farm also makes it feel fresh. I loved how Leech allowed her characters to explore the full implications of becoming friends--and even falling in love--with someone on the other side of a war. She allows Lorna, Paul, and the people around them to struggle as they pick through the tangled roots of war and enemy, and explore where the line between belonging to one's country and being an individual is drawn. For fans of slow burning romances that steadily gather heat, female friendships that can overcome the flaws of the people in them, and carefully researched historicals that can include all the ugliness of war and still shine bright with rays of hope and dignity.

I absolutely adored this book! I fell so in love with the characters that I wanted to keep reading forever to see what happens to them. The setting is incredibly vivid, and the author's note at the end shows how much time, attention, and love went into the details. Read this book if you want to be swept away.

This book was a delight to read. It was so cool reading from a different perspective during the war, and learning what it was like in a place like Scotland. That combined with a beautiful slow burn romance that will have you earning for more, it makes for a great read.

I was in a frenzy of wanting to read books about World War II, and upon knowing that “Wait For Me” would bring me both a World War II setting and a blossoming romance of two young adults (I'm a big fan of romance novels), I just couldn't pass it by.To be honest, the first 2 or 3 chapters didn't hold much of my attention. But as I read on, the book started to grow on me. I became absolutely invested in both the story and the characters. The idea of falling in love with someone whom not only you but many other people around you consider your enemy is extremely fascinating, and I was glad that the author took this idea very seriously and turned it into something really touching, captivating, and inspiring.I got the chance to witness Lorna's journey of getting over the prejudice she held against Paul Vogel - a German prisoner of war, a Nazi soldier (but he always insisted on NOT calling him Nazi, because he would refuse to fight for a government whose ideology he abhored if he could). She also had to deal with the prejudice of other people around her, especially her oldest brother's, against this German boy to finally embrace their love. I also adored the way the author described the pain, the fear, and the turbulent feelings of people from both sides of the war through the story of Paul and Lorna. War affects both sides in the same way, no matter if you are the one who started it or the one who has to fight back.The ending, of course, was a happy one, and I absolutely loved it. But to me, there were still many things left unanswered, such as the fates of Paul's mother and sister in Dresden. Would Paul want to come back home and search for them, to see if they survived the bomb attack? From the Author's Note, I've known that there were many German prisoners of war who chose to stay in Great Britain after the war was over because they fell in love with British women and decided to build a family there and to not come back to Germany (whose East side later was occupied by the Soviet Union in the Cold War). Dresden is in East Germany, and I totally understand if Paul would like to stay in Scotland and build a family with Lorna. But still we didn't know the fate of his family.And what about Lorna's plan to study nursing? What would happen if Lorna carried out her plan? How would her romantic relationship with Paul be if she decided to pursue higher education? And what about Lorna's two brothers? What would they react when they would soon have a German brother-in-law? There are still many other ideas to explore and more room for creativity in the story of Paul and Lorna, which could turn this book into a trilogy or a duology at least :D I hope the author will take all these things into consideration and make a series about this couple :))) That would be totally awesome.P.S.: Reading this book makes me believe in my appetite for Young Adult romance novels again :D As long as you give me great storyline, great characters and a setting that I love, then I can never feel bored reading YA romance novels :))))

What a lovely book! Set in Scotland during the last months of WWII in Europe, the story of Lorna and her German love was refreshing; at times funny; at times so moving, I wanted to underline every sentence. Moments of fear and despair and anger are woven together with moments of pure delight and the deep feelings of first love. Wonderful.

I loved this historical debut so much. Main character Lorna is living on her father's Scotland farm in 1945, as WWII is winding down. When a German POW arrives to lend a hand with farm duties, Lorna is at once put-off. Her brothers are fighting for the Allies, and Lorna wants nothing to do with the enemy. But as she gets to know Paul, she discovers he's not at all like the evil Nazis she initially grouped him with; he's kind and smart and sensitive, and she begins to fall for him. But being with a German soldier means that Lorna may have to choose between love and allegiance, Paul and her family. Author Caroline Leech does an amazing job of capturing the essence of her setting and the spirit of her protagonist -- it's obvious she's got a deep well of knowledge when it comes to Scotland and its history -- and she writes a very convincing romance, full of sweetness and steam. Mark this one To-Read now, and look for it in stores at the end of January.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight Wait for Me is such a lovely novel with a lot of good life lessons and messages. Lorna is nearly eighteen, living with her father on a Scotland farm, her brothers off to war in WWII. She's trying to decide what her next steps in life should be, as she prepares to finish school. Of course her life is complicated, with her brothers at war, but when a German prisoner of war, Paul, is sent to work on their farm, things get really complicated. Paul has been severely injured in combat, but of course no one in the town even wants him around, let alone cares about his problems. They see him as, of course, the enemy.But... things aren't what they seem. And people aren't always who you think they are. I know people are concerned about some of the issues in this book. I understand that. I will say, Paul is in no way a Nazi. He abhors them and is against everything they stand for. I think this is an important thing to note when considering this book. I don't want to say much more because it would be spoilery, but trust that he is definitely not.Really, the best part is the character growth, and watching the way different people react throughout the novel. Sometimes, as you can imagine, it is quite powerful and emotional. It's one of those stories for all ages. And yes, there is a romance, and yes, it is lovely and slow burning and often complicated. I also enjoyed how there was a lot of exploration of female roles in the WWII era. A nice bonus, and very pertinent in Lorna's coming of age tale. Also, points for lots of family interactions and relationships! Oh, and my fave, some really awesome female side characters. My only negative is that the book often reads a bit younger than Lorna's nearly eighteen years. The writing is simple- not that it's a bad thing, but when combined with a third person POV (and therefore, fewer of Lorna's thoughts and feelings), it can feel a bit middle-grade, even though Lorna is clearly dealing with young adult issues. Bottom Line: This book is sweet, and carries a whole lot of life lessons that apply to us in our current climate just as much as they did in 1945. Definitely glad to have read this one.*Copy provided for review

Set in 1945 just before the end of World War II, Wait For Me is a novel about Lorna and her attempts to navigate through various relationships while living on a Scottish farm with a German prisoner of war as a farmhand. Wait For Me was quite character focused, with the book mainly about the romance between Lorna and Paul as well as the relationship between Lorna and her best friend Iris.I think the only major negative to the book was the fact that basically all the male characters were portrayed as predators or assholes (or both) apart from Paul and Lorna's father. I didn't feel like this was particularly realistic, although I suppose at the same time, there was also a relatively narrow pool of male characters to begin with.Lorna and Paul's relationship was wonderfully developed. It was just the type of romance novel that I wanted to read at the time, considering I had just finished an incredibly mediocre portal fantasy and was just waiting for a nice historical or contemporary. The book overall was not without its drama, but it was also not so bogged down in the conflict of the plot that the pace was able to move forward at the perfect speed.Wait For Me was a very sweet historical romance that I would definitely recommend to those looking for a lighter read.IncredibleRatingsOverall: 9/10Plot: 4/5Romance: 4/5Writing: 4/5Characters: 3/5Cover: 2/5

3.75 starsYou know me, I'm a history nerd and I like learning about things in history I don't know too much about. I have recently been watching the BBC series Land Girls and it made me want to read about that time period in farms, which is why I picked up Wait for Me (I first wanted to read it because it was set in Scotland!). Reading about World War II in Scotland was quite interesting in my opinion, because it was quite far from the front, but you could see how the conflict changed everyone's everyday lives. Caroline Leech included so many accurate historical details – and she talked about those she changed in her note at the end, so I felt like I knew everything! – in this novel, whether it was the Women's Army, the fates of prisoners of war, or even events that actually happen in Aberlady Bay at that time. Seeing how people adapted to these realities was quite interesting and I loved every minute of it.This novel is about Lorna, a local farmer's daughter whose brothers are at the front, and Paul, a German prisoner of war, as well as their romance, as the title, the cover and the summary suggest. I adored the romance, I thought it was really well-written. As a matter of fact, I was reading next to my best friend and breathed really loudly because of one scene in particular and she noticed. Oops. My favourite type of romances are the enemies-to-lovers ones and it really fitted, considering both characters were on different sides of the war. It's true that the romance was the center of this novel and it was beautifully done, because it allowed the author to pass on such important messages, such as: when you're at war, your enemy can suffer as much as you and is still human, that you don't always believe in your government and that a government and a country aren't the same thing, that even if you think you're on the good side, your side still hurts others, that our scars make us human and beautiful. I was really rooting for Lorna and Paul during the entire book, they made me feel so much and every time a well-known romance trope was used, it made me so happy because it was well done. Moreover, the author's note mentioned real-life people, local girls and prisoners of war falling in love and having families, which made me cry even more once I was done with this novel.Our main character, Lorna, was quite interesting to follow, I could definitely relate to her and I understood her feelings perfectly. She went through such good character development in this novel and became so hopeful for her future, when she thought it was already all set. Reading about her developing feelings for Paul and how she dealt with them considering he was on the opposite side of the war was so well-done. However, she did read a bit younger than she was supposed to be at times, which was a bit weird considering she was supposed to have grown faster with the war.On another hand, Wait for Me truly establishes that Paul is in no way a Nazi, he actually is against everything they stand for. I loved how this book showed how prejudiced we could be, how we could make assumptions about someone, yet they could be completely different from what you first thought. I adored Paul's character, he was such a nice guy who had no choice, but to fight for a government he didn't believe in, then became prisoner and had to suffer so much hate. Yet, he stayed kind through all of this and he definitely deserved the world.However, I couldn't give it a full four stars, even though I really loved it, because of some remarks from the main character. There were some slut-shaming remarks, I know I shouldn't address it that much considering this novel was set in another time period and every sentence of that topic might have been pronounced by people of that time (and some of ours, unfortunately), but it did bother me a bit, especially considering what happened to one of the girls who was slut-shamed. I also didn't like that the main character would criticise her best friend for being all gooey-eyed on the first boy she fell in love with and thinking she would spend the rest of her life with him, when she did the exact same thing (view spoiler)[the grandchildren thoughts bothered me, as they had only known each other for a few months! (hide spoiler)]. There also are some loose ends I would have liked to see resolved, the ending was a bit abrupt, I kinda wish there was a sequel to this one, or even a companion novel, so I could be satisfied.Overall, I am so happy that I picked up this one and I cannot wait to read Caroline Leech's next novel, which will be released at the end of this month. It was a really sweet romance that talked about so many important topics that aroused during World War II and handled them in a good way. I actually wish I could see Lorna and Paul again, because I shall miss them greatly.

what a touching and very sweet story. usually the WWII books i pick are heartbreakingly sad, so it was quite a surpise to find one that wasnt as tragic (which is hard to do considering the time period). i also have never read one set in the UK, so that was a first.i felt like this story focused on the hope of things to come after the war, rather than the war itself - which i found to be refreshing and such an encouraging message. if i could have changed anything, it would have been the focus on certain relationships. i didnt really see the point of taking so much time to explore lornas friendship with iris (and in turn william) when nothing ended up being resolved with them. i would have much rather read more about iris’ relationship with her brothers, seeing them return from the war, and even learn more about paul. i mean, some character depth/background was touched upon, but i definitely wanted more. overall, really great read and i will more than likely pick up caroline leechs other books!↠ 4 stars