Book Review: Soldiers' Daughters by Fiona Fields

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are training to be an officer in the army. It sucks. The training is hard, but of course you are doing this to please your dad. Maybe one day, he’d acknowledge your efforts and give back the love he’d starved you off since you were a child.

But anyway, you’ve gotten yourself into the army. A woman. A woman officer in a station where there are only a handful of women. You wished these men you are lording over would respect you, would not be darting weird glances your way across the room or scowling at you——as one dark, sexy, mysterious guy is always doing.

Besides getting your men to respect you, you are looking out for your friend. Your friend who’s always been trouble since boarding school all through the army. Your friend who’s after a married army officer she’s obsessed with. Your friend who’s after this man’s wife to get her away from him.

Certainly no more drama could unfold in the army? But there’s also the fear of being attacked by terrorists, the fear of being attacked by animals, and the fear of losing your heart to someone who hates you so.

Samantha Lewis’ complicated and dangerous life in the army summarised for your delight.

MY REVIEW

 I liked this book. A lot.

First of all, I think I’d keep admiring all the storylines of Fiona Field in her Army series. Because who really knows that much drama goes on in the army? Especially where the wives (or daughters) are concerned. I mean, you know people shoot, you know about guns and bullets and missing limbs. But they kinda don’t show on TV the stuff you get in this book. Because the author has spent time in the army herself, you find yourself wondering if this is fiction or not. Brilliant storyline.── ★

The main characters! Samantha Lewis and Michelle Flowers. I mean, why wouldn’t Samantha be my favourite because her life is more exciting battling dangerous animals, terrorists in the bushes of Kenya, and the teeny-weenie fact that she’s less annoying. I couldn’t stand Michelle! I mean, pursuing someone else’s husband and being totally delusional? But of course, you cannot deny that Fiona Field makes excellent characterization if she makes you actually hate a character you are supposed to hate. A star.── ★★

Other characters were thrilling to read about. There’s Jenna, whose story I was very much interested in after the cheating stunt she pulled in the first instalment of this series. There’s also Maddy Fanshaw, the Army wife battling with raising two kids under two. There’s also Seb, the sex-starved soldier who cannot keep his cock in his khaki. There’s Blake, the dark, scowling, mysterious soldier under Sam. Oh, there’s my super girly fave Immi, who brings some real female energy into this book. There’s Jack Raven, the hunky BBC reporter. Brilliant characters.── ★★★

If you’ve stayed glued to Fiona Field’s army series, you would know there’s a lot of Army drama in the first half, then the second there’s some non-stopping Army action. 

Great suspense! And the chuckling moments were a lot.── ★★★★★

My only not so nice critique about this book was its beginning. The first thirty-pages (I noted) when the girls were training in Army school. It felt too YA for me. But after that school part was all over, you get to see Fiona Field in her usual delightfully entertaining element.

So my rating is 4.5(/5) stars.

The sequel to Fiona Field’s fabulous Soldiers’ Wives, Soldiers’ Daughters is available on amazon.

I recommend it to anyone who has a relation in the army or not. Anyone who wants something action-and -drama-packed this summer should read this. Anyone who wants a life into what it feels like to be a Soldiers’ Daughter should get this too. And if you just want to put something entertaining on your reading list, well, this a great choice.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: Soldiers' Wives by Fiona Field

Blurb: This page-turning soap opera interweaves the stories of three women trying to get to grips with military life.

Chrissie, orphaned young, finds solace in her career as a medic in the regiment, but will love for a married man prove her undoing?

Maddy, a brilliant Oxford graduate, is bogged down with a fretful baby and a super-ambitious officer husband. Will she be able to stand life as a regimental wife?

And Jenna - glamorous, bad girl Jenna, who doesn't believe in rules and regulations. Will she destroy her husband's career? Or will it destroy her?

MY REVIEW

 

I loved, loved this book. So you know throughout this review I’d be yelling at you to go get it.

It’s amazing when you pick chick-lit titles that focus on a group of women you’ve always been interested to read about. Hollywood Wives, Footballer Wives, Plastic Surgeon Wives, you name it. Then you read that title and you are enamored by these women you read about (except Plastic Surgeon Wives who go behind their husband’s backs because they are afraid to tell their husbands they aren’t the very best nose-job artisans). Soldiers’ Wives was no different. It’s nice reading about the backing forces behind these amazing heroes who constantly or occasionally fight for our lives when we are just waiting for that Friday night to go all crazy. What they are going through, their challenges, their high moments and even the very low moments when they can do nothing but constantly hit the bottle. Brilliant choice of topic.── ★

The execution of this book is worth-raving about, really. The storylines behind these Soldiers’ Wives. A bored mother with an Oxford degree who could have been a career woman but now spends time cleaning poop and attending club meetings listening to all the barracks gossip (Fab!). A medic who is wishing she could be more than friends with one married soldier (superb!). A bad girl turned soldier’s wife dealing with the strenuous rules in the military and trying her best to make it in life even though it means breaking a few barracks rules (spectacular!). These storylines well chosen by Fiona Field focusing on the different lives of very different women in various different positions in the army, bring an insightful and exciting variety to this book that makes it more entertaining than it would be if it had focussed on one Army-wife type. ── ★★

The three main characters were very-well developed. You’d love Chrissie for being so uptight and a fitness freak when you just want her to throw away all rules and dry-hump the married soldier she loves. You’d love Maddy for wanting more of life than being the shadow behind her husband and dealing with her baby’s colic. You’d love Jenna for wanting to be different and make it whatever way with whatever means even if it means destroying her husband’s career and cleaning out his bank account (OK, to be frank, I only loved her because she was hot).── ★★★

Supporting characters also make this worth-reading. Immi, the hilarious barracks clerk whose funny quotes and advice go a long way to help our main, Chrissie. Caro, the finicky gossip wife who’s considered the loose cannon amongst Sergeants’ Wives, helping Maddy with the latest gist and babysitting. Sonia, the mother who doesn’t approve of her son’s wife (Jenna) one bit. Phil, the medic who shares an interest in Chrissie’s taste for monochrome pictures and their soundtracks. Lee, the Zac Efron-lookalike soldier all you women would be dazzled by. All these characters made reading this title a blast.── ★★★★

Suspense on point. Humour on point. Sitting on the edge of your seat never seemed so exciting in war zones filled with cracking bullets and detonating explosives. It’s kind of the one trip to Afghan to notice the horrors of soldiers without actually visiting the place and losing a limb on the ultimate vacation. ── ★★★★★

My rating: Five out of Five stars.

You can get Fiona Field’s amazing Soldiers’ Wives on amazon.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading books concerning wives of certain professions. Anyone who wants to know what goes on in the lives of very different Soldier wives. Anyone who just wants their chick-lit field with real experiences of people sacrificing their lives doing the world’s shittiest jobs just to keep the food chain going.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on goodreads.