I laughed and I cried as I read Mrs. Porter Calling, by AJ Pearce. Emmy Lake iWorks at a ladies’ magazine in London during WWII. She lives with her best friend Bunty while her husband is overseas serving. When a new owner takes over the magazine, lots of unexpected , and hilarious things happen that nearly ruins the magazine.
Personally, they make friends, lose loved ones, and form special bonds with friends and neighbors during this challenging times. It was a delightful book and provided a look into the lives or ordinary people of London during the war. I highly recommend it!

In spite of the silliness of Mrs. Porter and her actions, this third novel in the series about the home front in England during WWII, has a bit more depth to it – and I certainly appreciate that. The character of Mrs. Porter was the perfect contrast to those characters being widowed or orphaned or maimed by the war.

This whole series is a profound (yet light) look at those Britishers who were merely trying to make the best of a horrid situation – how to manage their food shortages, how to manage without gasoline or heating fuel, etc.

I received this advanced copy from NetGalley and the publisher, Scribner, in exchange for an unbiased review. For those who enjoyed the first two novels, I think this third is the best one yet.

What do women want to read during the war? They want to be filled with hope and answers to all their questions. Yours Cheerfully is an engaging column which Emmy is in charge of. The readers love reading her advice and helpful tidbits to get them through the day. Mrs. Porter buys the newspaper which features Emmy’s column and others but she has big changes in mind. Trying to create it into a high end magazine is not what the readership needs or wants. Emmy and her coworkers work tirelessly to come up with a solution. Good characterization throughout keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next. This is a wonderful series and I am looking forward to the next one! #Mrs.PorterCalling #AJPierce #NetGalley

A heartwarming story of overcoming the struggles dealt by WWll in London through the strength of friendships. At times charming and heart-breaking, this story pulls at you and cheers you up.

Emmy Lake’s life centers around her friends and her job at the weekly magazine, Woman’s Friend, as the advice columnist for Yours Cheerfully. The daily struggles of life in a war torn city are exacerbated by the struggle of surviving a new socialite publisher who is completely out of touch with reality.

You will laugh, cry and cheer for the characters in this delightful tale of friendship and survival.
Read it as soon as you can!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Very engaging story of a publishing firm during WWII. Her books are always chock full of warm vibrant characters who bring you into their lives. and doesn't let you forget about them.

Very interesting and loving read.

A lovely third installment of the Emmy Lake series (I do recommend reading Dear Mrs. Bird and Yours Cheerfully first). Emmy and her colleagues at Women's Friend magazine face one challenge after another when a new owner, who shows no understanding of publishing or compassion for their audience, makes sweeping changes. With her new husband away at war, Emmy is no stranger to hardship and faces this, and a much greater one, with pluck, fortitude, and grace. I have enjoyed the character development over the course of this series. The deep, abiding friendships and innate goodness of the people in Emmy's life make this series a pleasure to read.

I enjoyed the first two books in this series, so I was looking forward to this one, and I'm delighted to say it did not disappoint. Mrs. PORTER CALLING is charming and uplifting. I enjoyed following along as Emmy progresses in her career, and of course, Mrs. Porter herself is a fabulously entertaining character. There are heavy moments throughout the narrative which are handled deftly. Overall, there is the glorious sense that life is full of light, that things will work out, and that the human spirit is nothing if not resilient.

This is the 3rd book in the Emmy Lake series and continues the charming and poignant story of women pulling together is terrible times. Set in 1943 London, WWII is raging and its continuing impact is hard on Emmy and her friends. Emmy’s best friend Bunty has come to terms with the death of her fiancé at the beginning of the war but feels guilty when she starts to have feeling for her former fiancé’s university friend who’s recovering from sever injuries obtained while he was on an unexplored bomb team. Emmy and Bunty live in Bunty’s grandmother’s large Victorian house and invite their friend Thelma and her 3 young children to move in with them. Thelma’s husband is in the Navy and hasn’t been home in some time. Emmy dearly misses her husband Charles who she married over 2 years ago but only have 3 days together before he was deployed. She writes to him every day but his letters from North Africa arrive only periodically. Emmy loves her work as the advice columnist at a women’s magazine and is bolstered by the close knit staff including the chief editor who is also Charles’ half brother and thus Emmy’s brother-in-law.
Two big events happen in the book. One is a sad surprise that occurs about halfway into the book - so no spoiler. The other story line is about the death of the owner of the magazine and he’s left it to his self centered and ridiculous niece, Mrs. Porter. While she tries to ruin the magazine with her clueless changes and disrespectful treatment of staff, Guy, Emmy and fiends endure Mrs. Porter’s abominable behavior and try to undermine her efforts.

Mrs. Porter Calling is the third book in the Emmy Lake series. These irresistible stories follow the antics, adventures and heartbreaks of Emmy, Bunty, Charles and their cohorts as they navigate life, work and war during in 1940's London. While Dear Mrs. Bird (book 1) is still my favourite, Mrs. Porter Calling is a close second. It's a charming story with amusing characters, including Small Winston, a pampered, discriminating dog who is featured in a magazine photo shoot sporting a nautical hats. He also takes a chunk out of a chapter we all love to hate. Huzzah! Sure, this book won't win an awards. But, paired with a fuzzy blanket and a warm mug of tea, it will take you away from today's worries and into another world,

Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce is a wonderful and charming WWII era historical fiction that is the third book in the delightful series: The Emmy Lake Chronicles.

I just absolutely love this sweet, funny, heartwarming, and entertaining series. Emmy Lake is an excellent main character and her dialogue and that of the surrounding characters, really make this book.

The one-liners, snazzy banter, and occasional sassiness is perfectly balanced with the heartwarming subject threads, the positive and uplifting narratives, and the serious and difficult adversities that the characters experience in life and specifically that of WWII.

I really loved this third book and hope there are more.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Scribner for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/8/23.

The third installment of Emmy Lake’s story did not disappoint. The friendships between the characters and their tenacity living in London during WWII continue to be the strengths of the series and what keeps me engaged and excited to read. The historical details about life in that time and place show the thoughtful research that went into writing and give the reader a chance to further imagine what it was like for those who lived through WWII.

While the situations in the book have a depth and seriousness appropriate to the events of the time, Pearce manages to keep a hopeful tone to the story through the first-person narration. It makes the book an enjoyable read while continuing to be an interesting story full of wonderful characters that you root for the whole time. I’m already looking forward to reading more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I have read the previous Emmy Lake books so it was with joy and anticipation to read this third book and it certainly did not disappoint. The story takes place in Britain during World War II which is my favorite genre, the continuation of Emmy and Bunty’s friendship with each other and their fellow neighbors and friends was heartwarming and very special. I enjoyed reading about Emmy’s rising status at the magazine and the working relationships at the magazine overall, the feeling of teamwork and commitment was very uplifting. The addition of Harold, Thel, and the children added extra story lines that did enhance the story. I thought that this third book was a bit better than the second book which seemed a bit flat in my opinion, it was still a good story but I enjoyed this installment more. I hope that there will be a fourth book to hopefully complete the story and tie up some loose ends. I would highly recommend this book, which could be read as a stand alone or in book sequence.

One of my favorite books of 2019 was Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce, which I read just before the lockdown and the horrible pandemic thing ensued. I love that book so much that my family finally did an intervention and asked me to STOP talking about Emmy and her friends. Since then, I’ve recommended Dear Mrs. Bird to all my book friends. Even though it is set during WWII when London was being bombed left and right, it is so uplifting and lovely.

Over the pandemic, I was lucky to log on to a few virtual book discussions with A. J. Pearce, who it must be said is just as Uplifting and Lovely as her now three books (IYKYK). Virtual activities such as those made the pandemic so much more bearable.

Book two in the series is Yours Cheerfully, where Emmy and Bunty continue their adventures and contribution to the war effort, which was among my favorite reads for 2021.

So of course I was thrilled to see book three being talked about in social media. When I saw it listed in NetGalley’s new books, I rushed to request it, and I was Thrilled to Death to get approved. Long story short, this is my review of what I’m sure will be my favorite book of 2023.

Mrs. Porter Calling continues the story of Emmy and her friends during war-time London, touching on food shortages, food shopping with ration coupons, bombed-out office buildings, and sadly, the lives of those returning from the front with severe injuries and those who don’t return at all. Through it all, Emmy and Bunty keep a stiff upper lip and carry on, in the most British of ways. This story centers on Emmy’s work life, the magazine Woman’s Friend and her work family as they go to battle with a new owner, Mrs. Porter, her obnoxious office manager, and her ridiculously spoiled dog, Small Winston. The devices that A. J. Pearce has applied so effectively in the first two books continue on, always with a light touch, including the capitalization of non-proper nouns. One of the funniest parts of this story is Mrs. Pye, the fashion and beauty columnist, who loves all things French and as Emmy says, uses her “schoolgirl French” to try to be Parisian herself, élégant indeed.

While there are so many funny episodes in this book including Small Winston and other pets, the war and the Germans are never far from the page. There is heartbreaking tragedy for Emmy and her friends, the stress of losing not only friends and loved ones, compounded by the threat of losing her job and her work family. Yet, somehow, A. J. Pearce wraps it all up in a soft, warm blanket of inspiration and positivity. Maybe it is her British temperament, but it is so endearing to me.

The world is a terrible place right now for so many people, it doesn’t seem like leisure reading to take on a book series that focuses on London during WWII, but Pearce’s deft pen weaves such good into that time period, that is a lovely escape.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book, and thank you A. J. Pearce, for such a wonderful addition to the Emmy Lake series.

I was delighted to read an ARC of this latest installment in the Dear Mrs. Bird series. If you enjoyed the first two, this one does not disappoint. In fact, I felt the second had lost a little charm from the first and this third one just brings it back around to warm , cozy, feel-good storytelling. Of course there’s conflict, it’s set during WWII. However, the overachieving vibe is wholesome friendship and community. Pearce delivers on a smooth narrative, well developed characters, and tugs in the heart strings.

I found Mrs Porter Calling to be an engaging, charming book. Although it did go a bit heavier than I expected, it was a thoughtful and charming read. Fans of historical fiction will adore this! This novel is the third book to feature Emmy Lake in her job as a writer for a lesser known women's magazine based in war weary London during WWII. Emmy has graduated from solely writing the Agony Aunt column to more serious writing and being more engaged in the magazine content and focus. In this book the magazine creator and publisher, Lord Overton, dies and bequeaths the ownership of Woman's Friend magazine to his spoiled, socialite niece the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter. Mrs. Porter decides to totally remake the magazine in her image with disastrous results. The book was lighthearted until it was not and I loved this plot line. I fell in love with this story and the characters. I found myself cheering for Emmy's workmates and family friends the entire way through and loving them more and more as they “keep calm and carry on” through life’s up and downs. They all had this innocence about them that was stripped away bit by bit during the war and while sad, it was also heartwarming to watch friendships form and strengthen. Their resilience was incredible. By the end of this, these characters have to come to feel like old friends. I laughed and cried right along with them.
I certainly hope there will be a book number four to continue their stories.

This book was such an interesting read for me! I loved how the main character persevered and fought to learn the ropes of her new career that was thrown at her. Going into this one, I had no idea it was a third book, but I will now be reading for the first 2! Highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

This was an interesting read for me. The story held my interest all the way through with lots of surprises. It is written in a different dialect and there were a lot of spelling errors. But I read an ARC copy so hopefully, this will be taken care of in the final draft.

Another great installation in the Emmy Lake series. Mrs. Porter Calling had me laughing out loud several times. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, the lives of the London journalists as they weather personal and work-related storms as war rages on. Recommend this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

I received an ARC of this third book in the Emmy Lake series through NetGalley.

Though this book is set in London (I'm an American) during World War II (before I was born), I found this story to have plenty of current relevance.

Mrs. Porter is a 40-year-old woman of privilege who is handed ownership of the popular Magazine, Woman's Friend. She quickly becomes the new sheriff in town. Though she knows nothing about publishing a magazine, she changes everything to suit her whims. Almost needless to say, this destroys the morale of the publication's staff, but not their will to continue their mission even as Mrs. Porter runs Woman's Friend into the ground. Emmy Lake is the book's narrator and is the magazine's advice columnist.

Many of us who have had long careers wind up with a boss like Mrs. Porter at least once, if not more than once. The author does a great job of portraying how the staff of the publication cope with their frustration and the destruction of the fine magazine they had developed.

Number 3 in a series, this was another winning historical fiction novel. Set in London during WWII, it follows the further adventures of Emmy Lake and her friends at the Women's Friends magazine. Under new ownership, Emmy and the other must figure out how to save the magazine that they and their readers love. Great characters and an engaging story.