I could not put this book down! Fist I have to say I’m sick and tired of reading post war books. This isn’t that. The characters are so rich and we’ll developed. I loved each of their stories and I will miss them in the days to come. The very interesting plot of prohibition was very well written and the story captures me immediately. A must read for all!!

I have never read any books by this author and I have now requested her previous ones from my local library after reading this one. Set In Canada, the novel begins during WWI at a battle field hospital. There begins the story of a nurse and a soldier who has been injured in a tunnel accident. I knew nothing about tunnel builders during that war and I found myself researching that piece of history. The story picks up after the war where the author has introduced the Prohibition era and how these characters lives are impacted by this ban. Fascinating read, I will strongly recommend this book.

It is hard to put my feelings about Genevieve's writing into words. While I love historical fiction as much as many, books by this author in particular draw me in immediately in a way many in this genre do not. I love learning about small tidbits of Canadian history through her writing. I also love that the characters are easy to like (except the bad guys lol) and it feels like you are reading about a friend.

All of that aside, the plot of this book was also extremely interesting, with a sweet and tender war romance and a discovery many many years into the future. It is a dual timeline book, but as a reader I felt myself drawn to the historical time period, so it was a relief that much of the book focused on those characters. Adele and her friends and family and Jerry and his brother wormed his way right into my heart and will stay there for years to come. It was wonderful to read about a woman in that time period who felt compelled to maintain a job as a nurse even after the war.

I knew next to nothing about prohibition after the first world war besides the very bare minimum so it was fascinating to read a bit about what that might have actually looked like day in and day out for the people in that business.

I also appreciate that while there is some sadness in this book (as you'd expect from any historical fiction), and I did tear up once or twice, I wasn't a complete emotional wreck while reading it and that is just kind of refreshing when reading this genre too. :)

Long story short, I highly recommend checking this book out when it comes out April 5 :) Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am an historical fiction fan and this story did not disappoint. Set during the first world war and its aftermath of the roaring twenties and prohibition, it dealt with a period of history that I’ve read little about. The adventure starts when a contractor renovating an old house in Windsor discovers a stash of whiskey bottles hidden in a wall. As Cassie, a museum worker, searches through the archives to discover the mystery of the hidden bottles we are taken on a journey to WWI where we meet Adele, one of the nursing sisters, otherwise known as Bluebirds, and two brothers. Jerry and John who work as tunnelers during the war. After the war John and Jerry return to Windsor, where they become involved in the bootleg liquor business, selling whiskey to Windsor and Detroit area speakeasies. Adele moves back to a neighboring town, but eventually reunites with the two brothers. The story unfolds in two time periods, the war and prohibition eras, and the present. Told in three viewpoints, those of Cassie, Adele, and Jerry the author weaves together a story of family, loss, romance, and survival that is not to be missed. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Genevieve Graham is a master at Canadian historical fiction. Bluebird is no exception - full of excitement, gangsters, rumrunning, and gun fights mixed with a love story. The story starts off during WW1 where Adele and Jerry, our main characters, meet. This glimpse into their lives during the war sets the stage for what comes later in the story. The war ends and prohibition is in full swing and Adele and Jerry must begin life again. How does WW1 shape who they are and what they do next? Will their paths cross again? And how does our present day story weave into this? You'll have to read it to find out!
Thank you NetGalley & Simon and Schuster Canada for this advanced copy.

Lots of history and mystery here. This story was told post WWI AND present day, which I am not usually a fan but the author weaved it all in well with a touch of romance included. If you are interested in learning a little.of Canadian history this book will definitely serve that purpose. Well written with great characters. Highly recommended.

What a fantastic Canadian historical fiction book that takes place in the roaring twenties! This book encompasses WWI, the Spanish flu epidemic, women working as nurses, prohibition, and museum curators.

The story mostly focuses in in 1918-1922 during the war when Adele was working as a nurse and meets injured soldier, Jerry. They have a connection and find out they live near each other back home. Fast forward time. We see what they both do upon returning home, whisky running and nursing.

Prohibition was going strong across the river in the United States and Canadians were more than happy to make and delivery whiskey as needed. I really enjoyed reading a book about this topic and time period. Now I need another one that includes Capone!

I loved how this book addressed multiple historical points, I was completely enveloped and interested in the characters lives and overall, it was just such a great read!

It does rotate between current time with the museum curator and the past timeline. I definitely preferred the past, which really takes up most of the book. The author uses the current time to help solve a mystery that happened in the past. So it worked out for me.

I will definitely pick up this authors back list books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the free e-copy of this book.

John and Jerry Bailey go off to fight in the Great War (1914) and are assigned to digging tunnels in Belgium. Jerry is injured during an explosion and sent to a clearance station hospital where he is tended to by Adele (whom he nicknames Bluebird because of her uniform). The two become fond of each other and discover their hometowns aren’t far apart. Jerry is sent back out to the Front once healed; the two won’t see each other again until 3 years after the war has ended.

John and Jerry return home to the news that their parents succumbed to the Spanish flu just prior to their homecoming. The brothers decide to delve into bootlegging and resume their fathers still.

Adele returns back to her parents’ home. She is restless and accepts a job at a local doctor’s office where she finds purpose once again.

After the war ends, many find a way to make money when Prohibition is enacted. The laws in Canada are not as strict as those in the US, offering opportunity to prosper in bootlegging whiskey across the Detroit River into the US.

Despite the advantage the Canadians have, bootlegging was dangerous, gangs prevailed, and each fought for a monopoly on the trade. And one man seems to have the upper hand - Ernie Willoughby! A childhood rivalry between Willoughby and the Bailey brothers extends to post war life.

I won’t spoil the ending. Bluebird is a well written novel about war, courage, love and loyalty. If you enjoy reading historical fiction, you’ll find yourself transported back in time as your read the book, giving your much insight to the people and times of the era.

Bluebird is a beautiful story told through 3 POVs and 2 different time eras, WWI/Prohibition and present day. It is centered around the experiences and love story of Adele Savard and Jerry Bailey during WWI and prohibition in Canada. Adele is a Canadian nursing Sister (nicknamed Blubirds) stationed in Belgium and Jerry serves as a tunneler. They meet after he’s badly wounded and his brother John brings him to the clearing station hospital she works in. Jerry becomes Adele’s patient and they both find an unexpected connection. But due to the war and their duty, nothing is able to come to fruition for their suspected feelings for one another. Their paths will cross once more back home in Windor Canada giving them another chance.

The history and love story of Adele and Jerry comes to the surface again during present day when Cassie is presented with a momento from the past, a bottle of whiskey labeled as Bailey’s Brothers Best. Cassie, who has a personal interest in the whiskey and the home it was found in, finds herself in search of answers to questions she didn’t even know she needed answered.

I loved this historical fiction novel. This is my first time reading a book by Ms. Graham. And I found my self enraptured with this story and the authors descriptive writing. I felt connected to the characters and their experiences. I was able to envision what Adele and Terry went through during the war and back at home in Canada. It’s been a while since I connected with characters this much, if at all. My only con was Cassie’s POV. While I appreciate her view and story, I found her chapters to be more of an interruption to Adele’s and Jerry’s POV. But with the way the author chose to frame the story, her POV proves to be important in solving some of the mysteries surrounding the Bailey brothers and Adele. This book is chock full of action, mystery, romance and adventure. I loved learning about the Bluebirds and tunnelers, while enjoying a beautiful love story. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres (esp WWI/WWII), but at times, they can be repetitive on the topics and storylines. I appreciate reading and learning something I knew nothing about; I’m intrigued with the Bluebirds and Prohibition in Canada and plan on doing my own research with the sources she’s sited.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

It has been a very long time since I have read a novel that I could not put down and ended up finishing it in one day. Bluebird by Genevieve Graham is that kind of book, an "I can't put it down" novel where the characters are so richly written that they come alive and it's "just one more chapter, just one more chapter," until the story comes to an end. Adele Savard is a young Canadian woman during the time period of WWI who volunteers as a nurse in Belgium to do her part in the war effort. Jerry Bailey is a Canadian soldier who is injured and ends up in Adele's care. A dual timeline book, the present-day timeline is that of Adele and Jerry's granddaughter, Cassie. No spoilers - but this novel was an easy read and I do recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

To the author: These are very likable characters. Please write a sequel!

I have read quite a few historical fiction, dual-timeline novels over the past few years and Bluebird, by Genevieve Graham is, by far, one of the best! I devoured the story of Adele and the Canadian nurses known as Bluebirds during WWI, and of Jerry and his brother John, Canadian tunnelers in the war. The reader will quickly recognize how Jerry and Adele’s love story is cleverly used to share Canadian history during and after WWI.

Through this beautifully written novel I learned about Canada's involvement in WWI and prohibition. From previous readings I knew that Canadian women worked as Land Girls and in factories making bombs. I had never heard of the Nursing Sisters of Canada known as Bluebirds, because of their blue dress and white veils. The determination shown by Adele and her roommates to save every life they could, listen to their patients with patience and concern, hold the hands of those who would pass, reflected the compassion and dedication of these incredible women working under the harsh and dangerous conditions of war.

Jerry and John’s jobs as tunnelers was fascinating. I vaguely remember reading about tunnelers but not to extent their jobs are described in Bluebird. A tunneler’s job was dangerous and just reading about their lives underground made me flinch. Of course, I knew about Prohibition in America but hadn’t a clue about the Canadian - US connection. What a story!

Throughout the book Graham seamlessly goes from the past to the present, spending more time in the past, which I appreciated, as the thrust of the story was in the past. You will learn more about how the war affected those returning to Canada minus a limb, with PTSD, etc. Train travel after the war was a popular. But, do you know why the porters were called "George"? It is well placed nugget of information that moves the story forward.

The story of Cassie and Matthew meshes well with what came before their time. I enjoyed reading about Cassie’s job as an Assistant Museum Curator and found the information about rehabilitating old houses interesting. The connection between Cassie and Matthew is subtle and in no way distracts from how the past merges with the present.

I highly recommend Bluebird. I read it in two days and enjoyed every word and every page of this wonderful historical novel. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advanced copy of Bluebird in exchange for my honest review.

Just because I read this book it doesn't mean that I agree with everything that was a part of the story. There are many things I liked and some things that I didn't care for. I felt that the author's research was excellent on the Blue Bird Canadian Nurses that served overseas in tent hospitals during the Great War and in the years following the war when the soldiers and nurses returned to their homes. Since I was born in Canada I was drawn to this book and I'm familiar with the Detroit/ Windsor area and some of the places mentioned in the story. Because I was born 75 years ago I can remember hearing my teachers at school talking about election results and being glad that the majority of voters had cast their ballots for a dry town preventing the hotel there from the sale of liquor. I didn't live in Windsor but visited family who lived near there. So this story sparked my interest and I learned a lot of Canadian history about that time period. I didn't approve of the swearing and taking the Lord's name in vain that made its way to some of the pages in this book. I understand that the author included bad language in order to make the story seem more real but I feel that the book would have been fine without it. I'm a fan of war time fiction and enjoyed reading about some of Canada's contribution to WWI and the the kind of things that took place in Windsor in the after war years. The illegal practices of making liquor in stills, bootlegging and the illegal selling of it to Windsor and Detroit during the dry years.

This story is fiction but based on actual history . The author has blended a beautiful heart felt romance into this novel that began during the Great war over seas and continued on after the two leading characters returned home to the Windsor area. The story is a time split from the 1918 war years to the present years. More time was spent in the earlier years than the present years but both time frames where drawn together by one person in the present years as she strived to learn the history of her family and to learn more about her great grandparents. The story ends with a note of sadness from the past but the present time has a beautiful ending. All in all I'm glad I decided to read this unique and different book. Though I no longer live in Canada I feel that it has connected me to the history of my Canadian roots.

I recommend this book to readers of Historical Romance and War Romances. This book can be read as a stand alone. This book is scheduled to be released on April the fifth of 2022.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here in this review are my own.

#BlueBird#NetGalley

I’ve always been interested in the prohibition era so this book was very appealing to me. The author did a wonderful job combining present with past in an easy to follow dual timeline.

Adele is a beautiful, young nurse working in a Belgium hospital caring for wounded soldiers when Jerry is brought in with terrible injuries to his face, which occurred while he was digging a tunnel. While Adele nurses him back to health, she finds herself becoming more and more enamored with him. They must say goodbye when Jerry sufficiently heals and is ordered back to his troop.

Presently, Cassie is a museum curator and finds herself enmeshed in the story of a bootlegger, trying to solve the mystery of old whiskey bottles found in the wall of an old familiar house. Her connection to this house and the past owners comes to light to wrap this story up beautifully.

This story packs plenty of action, a little mystery, a love story and intrigue with every page. I give it 4.5 stars and will be recommending to my friends and family. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an advanced copy of Bluebird. This is my honest review.

Oh man, I have been waiting for a book like this for a while. I have been in such a reading slump, and Bluebird brought me right out of it.
5/5 read.
Again, my reviews don’t contain the plot because I feel like everyone can find the synopsis online. This story… it’s amazing. One of my favorite things about reading historical fiction is when I discover a part of history I did not know about. I had no idea about the Bluebirds of Canada. I cannot even imagine the courage it would have taken these women to do what they did. I mean, I knew about nurses during the war but this story just made it so much more personal.
I also didn’t know how involved Canada was with the prohibition. So that was very interesting to me as well.
This book gave me romantic vibes. The era, the story, and the history. I couldn’t put this one down. I don’t know who finds books for movies, but I hope that this one finds it way to the theatre. I’ll be first in line!

This fantastic book is about one of the mostly unknown groups of Canadian women who served as nurses in WWI. The book also talks about men known as tunnelers as well as the injuries and care many of the soldiers received in makeshift hospitals. It was enlightening to read about these people and learn something in the process. There is also history of rumrunners as well as a bit of romance. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in historical fiction.

What a refreshing look into a piece of history I was totally unaware of. Being an American, there wasn't any Canadian history in my background or education. While I love learning about history, I'm choosy about books relating to wars, they can be very emotionally traumatic to read. Bluebird was a good balance of historical, romance, and an era that included the First World War, the Spanish Flu, rumrunning, the age of Prohibition and the tunnellers. I'm so glad I read it!
The chapters alternate between Adele and Jerry, with some about Cassie interspersed. The time period is from 1918 - 1921 and present day. The settings are the border between Belgium and France and Windsor, along the Detroit River. Nurse Adele Savard is determined to assist in the war efforts and enlists with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She is a Lieutenant at the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station during the war years as one of Canada’s nursing Sisters, who are nicknamed Bluebirds. She is a strong woman, ahead of the times, women couldn't even vote yet. She is tender, compassionate, humble and brave. With the tight living quarters, the horrors they see daily and the years they spend together, Adele becomes as close as her own sister to Hazel, Minnie and Lillian, fellow Canadian nurses. Adele knows she shouldn't become too attached to any of her seriously wounded patients, however; there's one she cares deeply for and doesn't forget even after she returns home.
Corporal Jeremiah Bailey, (Jerry) and his brother, John, both go to war and are part of the Canadian Tunnelling Companies. This was another enlightening piece of history I knew little about. Jerry is wounded and Adele is his nurse. He never forgets her stitching him up, shaving him or her kindness. He also cannot quit thinking of her and vows to locate her when he returns home.
Cassie Simmons is the assistant museum curator at Maison François Baby House. She's woven into the story by some recently discovered hidden bootleg whiskey, "Bailey Brothers’ Best". This was distilled by Jerry and John during their booze smuggling days after their return from war.
This was such a unique perspective on the era of prohibition, the rumrunning, the criminal aspects,  the risks, the wealth and even the temperance ladies group. I learned a lot and devoured the well researched historical facts the author put so much effort into.
The story certainly describes war and all the grief, regret, guilt and aftermath, but it was also about love and hope. Yes, there's death, lifelong wounds both mental and physical, along with people's resilience. It is not a long story, it was an easy read. The author manages to pack many relevant and interesting details along with the death, tears and sadness of war, there was happiness and a future.
This is an author I haven't read before, but would certainly read again. A book I won't forget and will recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Genevieve Graham and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read the advance digital copy of "Bluebird". These are my own personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.

This book has two timelines - present day, and time before/after WW1, however the story line primarily focuses on the past timeline. In 1918 Canadian brothers Jerry & John are serving in WW1 as tunnelers - a very dangerous job in the role. Jerry is injured and, while getting treated at the field hospital, feels a connection with Adele who is one of the nurses, or "Bluebirds." Adele is also from Canada, and grew up not far from Jerry's town.
At the end of the war, our characters return home to process the feelings from their war experiences, but also to face new experiences related to Prohibition. The strained relationships and dangerous encounters related to rumrunning bring a new sense of anxiety to our characters as they settle in to their new roles - mere hours away from each other.
I enjoyed reading about this time of history in Canada.

Cassie Simmons is a museum curator in Windsor Canada who loves solving historical mysteries. When fifty bottles of bootleg whiskey, labeled Bailey Brother's Best, are found in a home renovation Cassie hopes to find out about her families' legendary bootleggers.

It's 1918 and Jeremiah and John Bailey are tunneling under the Germans on the French front. When the Germans break through their tunnel, Jeremiah is seriously injured. John digs him out and accompanies him to the Canadian hospital where Adele is a nurse. As Jerry recovers, an attraction develops between the two, and they hope to meet after the war.

In Bluebird, Genevieve Graham captures the horrors of war, the excitement and danger of running bootleg whiskey from Canada to Detroit during prohibition, and a love story for the ages.

I honestly tried to like this book. It's not badly written at all and I love history, however... it's too much history and not enough story. The author did a tremendous amount of research and unfortunately was unable to resist putting all that information in the book. It was hard to get to know the characters when the real historical details kept interrupting, intruding on the flow of the story. I felt more in the author's head than Adele's, Jerry's or Cassie's.

The story of Jerry and Adele is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. This is a story that will bring tears of sadness and tears of joy. Loved seeing the evolution of their relationship, which began during World War I, as well as a budding relationship in the present time. This was a great read!