I’ll be honest, this book made me cry, more than once. But it was worth it. This book doesn’t sugar coat the losses and deprivations of WWII, though at times, it does over-simplify things. The book covers love and loss; grief and hope; the past, the present and the future; and the importance of preparation.

The characters are fabulous. I’ll really miss them. While the book focuses primarily on Jessie, he sometimes switches to following her little sister, Kitty. It works.

The book draws you into the world of small town Terrence, Texas. It follows the end of Jessie’s father’s flight school and the creation of the British flight training school. The reader learns about why it was necessary to train young cadets to fly in the United States in order for them to return to England and help fend off Germany’s attacks. Most of the book takes place before the United States joins the war, when some US citizens aren’t happy about bringing British officers and cadets over. As they come to meet and know some of these brave men, we can watch their attitudes change, see how they begin to welcome the young cadets and officers as if they were part of their large family..

There’s a fair amount of romance in this book, but it’s well woven into the meaty part of the story. It helps to lighten the darker moments that the author doesn’t hesitate to include in the story. Beloved characters will meet unhappy fates, so if you’re sensitive to such things, this might not be the book for you.

I loved Royce. The reader mostly meets Jessie’s twin brother Jack through letters. I came to look forward to these short interludes and Jack’s humor and seeing his love for his family and dog.

I enjoyed this book very much. The writing was excellent, the characters delightful, and the setting well-drawn. I learned some things I hadn’t known before reading the book. I’ll be on the lookout for other books by this author.

I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Great WWII story with the setting taking place in the US. Enjoyed hearing about the training of RAF pilots with a live story mixed in.

A lovely, sad, emotional, read of actual events in 1941. I would recommend to anyone who loves historical reads! Kitty, Jessica, and Rhonda. Kitty, the younger sister, loves dancing and spending time with the RAF guys who come to be trained in Texas by Jessica and Rhonda. Jessica a great aviator and teacher. Rhonda is wonderful on the flight simulator. Emotions run high throughout this book. I think that is what makes the book such a compelling read. Thanks to Book Club Girl, Net Galley and Harper Collins for the early ARC!

I love reading historical fiction books set during WWII. The focus of this particular one deals with women working in Texas at a flight school for RAF pilots. The three main characters, Jessie, Rhonda, and Kitty, were nothing short of courageous. The characters are well developed and the author’s intensive research is admirable. I enjoyed learning a new aspect of how women served during WWII. Such a wonderful story of love and loss and the sacrifices made to end the war.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was my introduction to the British Royal Air Force training schools that operated in small US towns before America entered World War II. Women played important roles in such schools—as record keepers, simulator operators, and even flight instructors. And because they worked in close proximity with both cadets and RAF officers, many of them fell in love.
Heath portrays this time of uncertainty, challenges, and death accurately, and with grace. A very absorbing read.

Commitment, friendship, family, service to country, are just some of the themes in Lorraine Heath’s Girls of Flight City set mainly in 1941 in Terrence, Texas where British airmen are being trained to become pilots. I read a lot of WW II historical fiction but I did not know about this piece of history. We are introduced to the main protagonist, Jessie Lovelace who loves to fly, her younger sister Kittie who is a senior in high school, and their mother. The girls’ father passed away suddenly just before our book opens. and Jessie and Kittie’s brother, Jack, is in England and is a fighter pilot. Jack’s presence is through letters home. I found it very interesting to learn how our laws might treat Americans who decided to serve for England.

The book moves slowly through 1941 and spotlights Jessie’s role in training the British pilots. She has to work hard to gain respect for her skills. I felt like I was looking over the shoulders of the characters in this story as they live their lives. I enjoyed the story of Jessie’s love interest, Royce, an injured British pilot who has been sent to help run the school. After Pearl Harbor, the story accelerates for the last twenty percent of the book through the rest of the war. Do not skip the Epilogue! Have tissues ready as we find out what happens in the lives of the characters. I will be thinking about this story for a long time. My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

World War II historical fiction about women who served in various capacities are my favorite, especially books about women pilots so I was excited to read Lorraine Heath's newest book Girls of Flight City which came out on Tuesday!

I had no idea that the British Royal Air Force had 7 British Flying Training Schools across the United States and that American civilians trained the RAF from June 1941 to the end of the war.

Girls of Flight City is a historical fiction but more on the fiction side where the characters are all fake and it seems like this book is based around the Terrell, Texas flight school. I enjoyed the 3 different storylines of Jessie & Rhonda as they trained pilots and Kitty with the fascinating glimpse into the small town Texas life and what they did for the cadets.
Budding romances for all of the characters are a strong plotline this book as well.

If you're looking for a lighter historical fiction that reads like a fiction I recommend this book. I enjoyed learning about the British Flying Training Schools too!

I loved this book! 5 stars for me. This book was so true feeling it made me cry, that's rare!

You have Jessie Lovelace, who flies planes and her sister Kitty Lovelace, a 16 yr old in school working at a soda shop, as your main characters, but many more in there.

The book is set on 1941, before we entered the war, but the RAF are sending their people over for training in a small town in Texas on a piece of property, that also has an airport, that her family owns. She has discovered that her family is selling it, and why. She's not happy! She gets a job there, but not doing what she loves to do, flying! She starts to train the men from the RAF trying to work her way up there last, but not a while lot of luck being a woman going after a man's job.

Kitty, such a sweet innocent young lady, falling for the cute guys as they start coming in to town. She doesn't want to get involved with the airport, but definitely wants to get involved with events for them.
As the book goes on, you get the actual reality of the true events that happened, feeling the ups and downs of the times. I have never had so many different emotions in a book before! When I finished it, I wanted to start over! I want a physical copy of this book!
Thank you to book club girl and william marrow for a copy through netgalley for my honest opinion!

Terrence, Texas - 1941

Jessie Lovelace misses her dad immensely. Not only was she his favorite, but he had taught her everything he knew about flying. Along with her twin brother, Jack, who is serving with the Royal Air Force in England fighting the Germans, there is very little Jessie doesn't know about flying. But with her father's death, the small airport he and his brother owned is being sold, and will be converted into a flight training facility for the British. The United States is not involved in the war in Europe, it is, however, committed to helping its closest ally. Jessie is determined to be involved with this new project.

Despite the reluctance of the new manager, he does hire Jessie and another woman pilot, her friend Rhonda to run the flight simulators for the newly arrived British airmen. Jessie's mother opens her house to the new senior officer, Wing Commander Royce Ballinger. He and Jessie strike up a friendship as they work together to prepare the airport for the influx of young potential pilots from Britain. He backs some of Jessie's suggestions to the manager, and soon, it's clear that he respects Jessie's knowledge, and flight experience.

With the arrival of the students, Jessie and her younger sister, Kitty, work, each in their own way, to make them feel at home. Kitty convinces locals to organize a dance, and she begins interviewing the men for a school project. Jessie and Rhonda begin working with the cadets in the simulators, hoping that they will be prepared enough for the actual cockpit of a plane. With the departure of one of the male instructors, though, and the encouragement of Royce, Jessie is hired in the instructor's place.

Based on true events, GIRLS OF FLIGHT CITY is indicative of how much the United States ended up depending on the skill of women pilots for various duties during World War II. Jessie's vast experience, and confidence in the cockpit aided a multitude of young men to learn the ins and outs of flying and navigating. With the grudging acceptance of the men in charge, she showed her versatility, as well as her ability to make quick judgement calls. Jessie, her sister, and her friend, Rhonda embrace the newly arrived cadets, trying to make their lives away from home a little better. But sometimes emotions can get in the way. And life gets much more complicated as the year 1941 comes to a close.

Great writing, well rounded characters, and excellent research make GIRLS OF FLIGHT CITY a terrific read.

Jani Brooks

Girls of Flight City
By Lorraine Heath

HarperCollins Books - April 2022

Historical Fiction


Hitler was waging war in Europe, but America was staying neutral. It was early 1941, and Jessie Lovelace's life would never be the same. Both she and her brother, her twin, had been taught to be pilots by their father. Her twin had chosen to go to England and enlist and use his skills to fight in the war. Because of his actions, he may never be allowed to return home. If he survived. Her father had recently died, and now, she learned that her family was selling the airfield that was so important to her and her father.

Yet there was an opportunity. England needed to train pilots, and their town was hoping that this would be the perfect location. And it was. With Englishmen arriving, Jessie's experience would be invaluable. If only the men could look past her being a woman. But she wasn't the only person who would be helping. These men had been living in a nightmare, and this was the first respite they truly had for years. Some people would welcome them into their homes. Some would listen to their stories. Some would come to love them. But this was a time of war, where there would also be heartbreak and loss.

Girls of Flight City shines a light in a corner of history that many, including myself, were unaware of. This is not a genre I would typically read, but as a fan of Ms Heath since her first book, I was more than willing to follow her writing. I am so thrilled that I did. It is difficult to read knowing as the pages, and time passes, the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into the war approaches. Although this is fiction, the emotions, loss, and love were true. It also addressed Americans fighting for another country when America is not in the fight. The risks not just to their lives, but to their futures if they survived. But freedom to many is worth that risk. This was an exceptional read presenting a fascinating, important piece that contributed to the triumph in WWII. I also want to note at the end of the acknowledgments where it mentions the BFTS Museum and Oakland Memorial Park. That brought home how this may have been a work of fiction, but was fact for so many.

Kathy Andrico - KathysReviewCorner.com

Another historical fiction book that tells a part of three different women and their roll in helping during WWII. The three main characters are women, in Texas, that prepare RAF pilots to fly in the war.

Lorraine Heath obviously did an extensive job researching this story which I felt added to the storylines. It’s amazing all the jobs that women held during the war, beyond Rosie the Riveter and I never tire of finding new stories and jobs that were done by women.

Heath has done a wonderful job capturing just exactly how difficult the job could be along with the heartbreaks that would possibly come from it.

Thank you to #netgalley, and #williammorrow for allowing me the opportunity to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Girls of Flight City by Lorraine Heath is an emotional, and powerful WWII story about a flight training school, in Texas to train RAF pilots. The book tells the story of three brave women who worked at the school and the town that embraced the courageous fliers from the UK.

Jessie Lovelace helped her father build a flight school in a small Texas town and her love of flying was ingrained in her by her late father. When the town decides to buy the school, and allow RAF Pilots to train, she becomes a flight instructor at the school. Jessie is an excellent pilot but is often not recognized because she is a woman.

Rhonda Monroe trains the pilots on the flight simulator and falls in love with an RAF pilot. But, what happens when he must return to his country and the very deadly job of a fighter pilot over the German skies.

Kitty, the younger sister of Jessie, loves dancing with the young pilots and enjoys serving them ice cream at the local drugstore. But, can she resist the temptation of these young men?

I enjoyed this historical WWII novel that highlights the courageous women of the flight school. The author has done a great deal of research to tell us this story that is based on actual events. I loved Jessie the best and her fearless attitude towards flying. She has a zest for life that I just loved. Rhonda and Kitty were also good characters as they each supported the War effort in their own way. I enjoyed the romances and the heartache of these women and especially appreciated the historical details in this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
While Lorraine Heath’s historical romance writing style never fully clicked with me, I was intrigued by her historical fiction debut, Girls of Flight City. The historical basis is fascinating, as while I’ve gleaned a lot about World War II by virtue of reading a number of the many books out there, this is the first I’ve heard of American women who served in the British Royal Air Force.
And Heath clearly did a lot of research into the topic, as she is very knowledgeable, both about the era itself and the specifics she’s focused on. Sometimes, this enthusiasm for the material does come across a bit too strongly, as it impacts the flow. However, I still feel the immersion into the period was one of the pluses of the novel.
I enjoyed seeing these different women from different backgrounds and with divergent personalities each contributing to the effort in different ways. While I can’t say I was grabbed by any of them super strongly, the often-perilous nature of their undertaking, as well as that of the men also serving in the war alongside them, is well conveyed.
Given Heath’s background as a romance writer, I can see this being a topic of contention between her faithful romance-reader fan base and the “ew, romance!” historical fiction readers. The romance is definitely a side plot, although there is a (non-explicit) sexual encounter between characters, which I felt rather mixed about, as I often do with side romances in books in other genres. However, I mostly found it to be a sweet touch to a book largely about risking one’s life for one’s country.
I enjoyed this book overall, even if it didn’t rock my world and become one of my new historical fiction favorites. But the unique approach to a popular time period is enough for me to recommend it to for anyone interested in the World War II subgenre of historical fiction.

I enjoy historical fiction and through this book I learned another aspect of our history that I wasn't aware of. I didn't realize that the British pilots trained in the US or that US citizens were not allowed to help fight for the British before we entered the war!

Also great to have a strong female character set the tone for the story as she dealt with the discrimination of the day (and probably today as well).

However I felt the total book was a little romancy for my taste - or maybe just unexpected. It was worth the read for the new knowledge I gained.

Thank you Net Galley, William Morrow and Book Club Girl for the chance to read!

Special thanks to William Morrow Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I love how the characters throughout the book were very relatable and that the authors description of events made the reader feel as if they were right there on the air field. While the book does come with some sad news, it also comes with extremely happy news and will have you instantly rooting for the couples throughout the book. If you like to read Historical Fiction, this is the book for you!

Heath has written a terrific story about Women who trained British pilots during WWII in Texas. These women soared while having to stay behind while the men went off to war, with all the training and knowledge their female instructors instilled in them. Each of the main characters: Kitty, Rhonda, and Jessie had compelling stories. The scenes at the depot tugged at my heart strings.
Sorrow is intermingled with joy and readers won’t be disappointed as they fly through this book.

I so wanted to love this book but I got a fourth of the way through and the book just didn’t hold my interest. I had a hard time connecting with the main characters.

Very enjoyable story based on true events. I enjoyed reading about the aviation school in Texas and RAF cadets from the two sister's viewpoints. Jessie and Kitty were so different but both supported the effort. Jessie's strong character and love of flying was impressive. It's an interesting fact that flying in the RAF before the US declared war. The way Terrell Texas came together the care and support these young men is commendable. Very realistic and heartfelt story. Highly recommended!

I received and ARC of The Girls of Flight in exchange for an honest review. Although this novel deals with a very challenging subject (WWII), I enjoyed the novel and felt a part of the Terrance community, celebrating the good times and feeling the pain of their losses and tragedies.

Although there are lots of novels out there that focus on WWII, I found this novel provided me with a unique insight into a small Texas town prior to the start of WWII.

We are introduced to the Lovelace family, who own and operate the Lovelace School of Aviation. Jim Lovelace, partial owner to the aviation school recently passed away and his brother Joe, another owner of the school wants to sell. Jessie, Jim’s daughter, who is more comfortable in the skies than on the ground, does not want to sell. However, her family can’t afford to buy out her uncle and continue to run the school, especially with the declining profits the school is experiencing.

The town of Terrance wants to buy the school with the intention of allowing the British to use the school to train pilots for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The RAF already has a connection to the Lovelace family because Jessie’s brother, Jack, joined the RAF prior to the US entering WWII because he felt a strong duty to help. As a result, Jack is banned from returning to the US.

Once the RAF takes over the school, the cadets, flight instructors and others weave their way into the hearts of the Terrance community – where various American traditions are shared with the British and everyone stumbles over their quirky differences in their respective language. We also watch Jessie exert her power and skills to become a flight instructor in a male dominated field becoming well respected and considered one of the best instructors. As time goes on, everyone in the Terrance community plays a role is the success of the school and those airmen who join their community with the intention of serving and protecting even if it means sacrificing their own lives

Although WWII takes longer to directly impact Terrance, the reader will experience the love, loss, heartache and sacrifices of the town as the WWII continues to unfold.

Lorraine Heath is an absolute queen and I will read anything she writes! I really hope anyone who loves her HR will still pick this up and I hope anyone who is a fan of historical fiction will pick this up and fall in love with Heath's writing. I learned, laughed, and felt the love. A smash success!