Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: The Widow and The War Correspondent by Linda Shenton Matchett

Book: The Widow & The War Correspondent

Author: Linda Shenton Matchett

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: June 15, 2020

Are a new life and new love possible in a country devastated by war?

Barely married before she’s widowed after Pearl Harbor three years ago, journalist Cora Strealer travels to England where she’s assigned to work with United Press’s top reporter who thinks the last place for a woman is on the front lines. Can she change his opinion before D-Day? Or will she have to choose her job over her heart?

A sought-after journalist, Van Toppel deserves his pick of assignments, which is why he can’t determine the bureau chief’s motive for saddling him with a cub reporter. Unfortunately, the beautiful rookie is no puff piece. Can he get her off his beat without making headlines…or losing his heart?

 

Click here to get your copy!

Linda Shenton Matchett has become one of my favorite authors. I have read many of her books over the last few years. I am not one who normally likes books with Spies and Mystery, but I do love a good romance. The Widow and the War Correspondent is Book 3 in the Sisters in Service series. I read the first 2 Books in this series and I have been anxiously awaiting the next books in this series!

The time period of World War II is an interesting time period and I do enjoy reading books that are set in that time period. Cora Strealer is a journalist. She was briefly married before becoming a Widow after Pearl Harbor attack. She is heading to England to work with a top Journalist over there. She has heard that he isn't too fond of Women Journalists. Van Toppel is a top journalist in England and he would rather he be able to hand pick the journalist that he works worth, but he doesn't get that option. He is not happy that the Bureau he works for has paired him up with a young reporter/journalist. Cora is determined to show him that she is just as capable of being a reporter as he is. Van Toppel is determined to not have to work with her. When he meets her though, his heart is falling in love with her. Will Cora succeed at showing Van Toppel that Women can be top reporters also? Will Van Toppel change his standing on women reporters and fall in love in Cora?

I truly enjoyed this boo, from the very first page. I could not and did not put the book down unitl I was done reading it. I really like that the book is based on Women During War and how they are stepping up and showing they are just as capable of doing "hard core" jobs also. Cora had been through a lot in the past three years but she was not deterred. Van Toppel was very adamant about those he worked with and expected to have male journalists. I LOVE how he had a heart change once he started working with Cora. The Suspense and Twists and Turns in the book were just amazing! Linda Shenton Matchett has another GREAT book and I look forward to reading more in this series.

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

 

More from Linda

Dear Readers:

 

I’ve been intrigued by female war correspondents since I first saw a museum exhibit about Therese Bonney, a WWII photo journalist. Further investigation turned up Martha Gellhorn, Margaret Bourke-White, Dickey Chapelle, Toni Frissell, and Lee Miller.

 

Of the more than 2,000 accredited U.S. correspondents who traveled overseas to cover World War II, only 127 were women. Accreditation acted as a contract: The Army or Navy transported correspondents into war zones, fed and sheltered them, and sent their dispatches home. In return, correspondents followed military law and censorship. Correspondents who defied rules lost credentials. They received a pocket-sized “Basic Field Manual” of accreditation rules. Frighteningly, it included a waiver of liability for injury or death.

Correspondents carried a green accreditation card and wore uniforms without symbols of rank, to indicate they would neither give nor take salutes. War correspondents wore green “WC” armbands, which evolved into “U.S. War Correspondent” patches. They were treated as captains, a rank that allowed them to eat with officers and facilitated POW exchanges if taken prisoner. Women correspondents wore skirts with male uniform blouses.

Nearly every commander in the Allied forces refused to allow women near combat. They feared women breaking under pressure (a fate that befell many men), balking at lack of women’s latrines, or influencing soldiers to take risks to protect them.

Still, accredited women saw combat. Sometimes the front shifted, catching women in the thick of action, as was the case with Ruth Cowan in North Africa. Some asked officers to write letters of introduction to combat zones, as did Bourke-White in Italy. Still others got their by hook or by crook.

Female journalists fought a double war: a war against evil and a war against the system. They fought red tape, ridicule, derision, lewdness, and downright hostility to do the job they were hired to do. The grit and gumption of these women enabled them to provide eyewitness accounts to the harrowing events of WWII. Political-reporter-turned-war correspondent May Craig summed up their achievements in a 1944 speech at the Women’s National Press Club: “The war has given women a chance to show what they can do in the news world, and they have done well.” BBC Correspondent Lyse Doucet agrees, “They did it, not just because they were exceptional women, but because they were great journalists.”

 

I wrote The Widow & The War Correspondent to honor these brave women in some small way, and I hope you enjoy Cora’s story.

 

Blessings,

Linda Shenton Matchett

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Beauty in the Binding, June 8 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 8

Inklings and notions, June 9

Betti Mace, June 10

Adventures of a Travelers Wife, June 11 (Author Interview)

deb’s Book Review, June 12

For Him and My Family, June 13

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, June 14

Splashes of Joy, June 15 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, June 15

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 16

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 17

Connie’s History Classroom, June 18

Artistic Nobody, June 19 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 20

To celebrate her tour, Linda is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Visa Gift Card and signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1e7fd/the-widow-and-the-war-correspondent-celebration-tour-giveaway

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: The Widow and The War Correspondent by Linda Shenton Matchett

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