The Girls From The Local by Rosie Archer

The Girls from the Local by Rosie Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 480

Publisher - Quercus

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

Gosport, 1943, and even in the middle of war the local pub provides a warm welcome, thanks to its trio of barmaids. A heartwarming saga for fans of Sheila Newberry and Daisy Styles.

Ruby has been living and working at the Point of No Return pub since her parents were killed by a bomb. She loves the bustle of the pub; it helps take her mind off worrying about her fiance, Joe, away fighting in France.

The only thing Ruby doesn't like about the Point is Sylvie. This singing siren may have a beautiful voice, but she's out for all she can get, including Joe.

Finally, there's Marge, a true party girl. She's a great friend to Ruby and makes sure they have fun, going out to dances and flirting with all and sundry, but she's not as fond of her other role as a mother to two young children.

The three of them face many obstacles to fulfilling their dreams, but the bonds of friendship and camaraderie that hold the Point together will keep them going through the darkest of times.


My Review

Ruby is a sweet girl, devoted to her man Joe soon to be husband who is away fighting in the war. Working in the bar along with her best friend Marge, mum and provider for her family as her husband is less than useless and finally Sylvia. Sylvia is beautiful, ambitious and always had her eye on Joe, she has no scruples and will stop at nothing to get her prize, Joe! Trying to make a living, stay out of the bath of dropping bombs and just get through the day to day we follow the three ladies and their stories.

I like Ruby, she is such a sweet girl and finds herself in the predicament so many did in those times and tries to keep her mind and spirits up. Marge is a poor soul, lively, working to the bone trying to find a snatch of enjoyment whilst her husband has all but abandoned her to look after the kids and her gran. Sylvia I despised, she is a horror, her beauty is skin deep only she is a nasty individual who is so self involved no one and nothing gets between her and what she needs. We get a bit of an insight into what made her so and I felt for her but as an adult she makes choices and her behaviour is deplorable.

It is a story about lives during the war, the struggles, survival, rationing, friendship, love, loss, grief, anger, death, loyalty and then some. Archer covers a host of topics and emotions in her books, creating characters that whether you love or hate you just want to keep reading. Some of the actions of the characters enraged me or irritated me and you just wanted to shake them or shout nooooooooooo, engaging! This isn't my first by this author and it won't be my last 3.5/5 for me this time.

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The Canary Girls by Rosie Archer

The Canary Girls by Rosie Archer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 2 days

Pages - 446

Publisher - Quercus

Source - gift

Blurb from Goodreads

In love and war, who can you trust?

1944, Hampshire.

Her face still bearing the scars from the explosion at the factory, Rita Brown is nonetheless back on her feet. She's caught the eye of local wide boy Blackie Bristow, who's sweeping her around the country in a life of shady glamour.

But there's a war on, and life is not all fun and games. Some of the local men are taking advantage of the topsy-turvy world to break more than just hearts, and standing up to them comes with its own costs.

Rita keeps calm and carries on with a little help from her friends at the factory. But then she discovers someone there has been leaking secrets to the Germans. With D-Day on the horizon, Rita must work out who she can rely on - and fast.


My Review

This is book two in the series, the book focuses mostly on Rita who wasn't a main character in book one but she played her part. Whilst you could technically read this as a standalone as it does refer back to some incidents and parts of the back story of book one, I think it has a much bigger emotional impact if you read book one first. You get a better feel for the characters, what they have already endured, survived and things that brought them together impacting on their relationship roles in this book.

Rita is dating Blackie, a man who can shower her with just about everything she needs or could want, materialistically that is. The war is still going, rationing is still a thing but Rita doesn't feel the pinch quite as much as the others. She knows Blackie deals in the black market, or strongly suspects, however it sis what it is. When an event forces Rita to reassess her life she makes decisions that impacts on many aspects of her life. We also catch up with Pixie, Lizzie, Em and Gladys.

The book is a bit darker than I remember the first being, violence, abuse, consequences of war, rape, abortion, it is really quite dark and horrific in parts. Family and friendship still play a huge part, world war two is still ongoing and many of the originals still find themselves in the factory working for the war effort. If you liked the first I think you will like this one, just be prepared for some horrific scenes. Some of the book took me by surprise, you know when you gasp out loud you are onto a book that will stay with you. 5/5 for me this time, I have the third book in the series and can't wait to see what is in store next for the characters, hopefully some joy!

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