This is a heartbreaking WWII love story between a flight nurse and a soldier.
While the book seemed a bit choppy, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this one. I connected with Kate immediately and was rooting for her and William every step of the way.

4.5 stars rounded up

I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from Net Galley for free. This review is voluntary and mine alone.

A beautiful heartbreaking love story of a soldier and flight nurse during World War II. This story alternates between the 1940's and early 2000's to share the FMC and MMC's point of view. The details and writing style really help. you picture this story as you read.

Being my first book by Noelle Salazar, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I immediately connected with Kate Campbell, but the story was predictable in some ways and unusual in others. Her desire to help others as a nurse in the South Pacific came through the prose. The conditions she lived in with other women during WWII made for some vivid and horrifying depictions of what life was like for women brave enough to offer their services to the war effort.

After an injury sidelined her, she returned home to recover, realizing they may send her to another post. When she receives an assignment to England, she develops an infatuation with a flyboy, and the author's prose beautifully portrays their love. The storyline saddened me, and I couldn’t see this as a historical romance. It was more a depiction of how people felt about life during the tumultuous times of WWII, when life was short, and people made the most of each minute as death stalked them all.

The settings became characters in themselves, with captivating dialogue. But with so many subplots that turn and twist, I sometimes felt I was reading a copy of several stories crammed into one. I loved the ending, even though it made me sad.

The book was a good read if you like dual-timeline reads. This one kept me rereading sections because I had difficulty tracking who was telling the story and where it was heading.

It's a good, strong 3.5 to 4-star book. I will read more of the author's work.

I received this book as an Advanced Copy from Net Galley for free. This review is voluntary and mine alone.

This is my first book by Noelle Salazar and I like this book well enough to read her others, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite. It was interesting to take my personal experience of being a military spouse and translating it to the book. I feel like i was able to sit in Kate’s Shoes and really understand her. The characters were well developed. The story was full of emotions and very heartfelt. I can’t put my finger on it but it just felt like this story was missing something to make it all the more special.

The Lies We Leave Behind
By: Noelle Salazar
Pub date: November 5, 2024
Publisher: MIRA

Salazar writes some beautiful historical fiction novels based on real life strong women. I have enjoyed all her books and this one will be added to my physical books. Thank you MIRA for the gifted eARC, as this is one I will want to read again.

The story is one about our heroin Kate Campbell who is a nurse flying in wartime to transport the wounded and caring for them. Her life has been very difficult and her calling as a nurse has helped so many. She was in the Pacific in 1943 and after an injury she is sent home.

After healing she is sent back overseas to the countryside. Her life took a drastic turn as she tries to heal from her past.

A dual timeline kept me engaged as William a retired veteran and the journey he has been on during and after the war.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this INCREDIBLE story. Salazar is an auto-buy for me and if you are a historical fiction fan, I highly recommend this one as well as The Flight Girls, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily and Angels of the Resistance.

The Lies We Leave Behind provides an intimate and emotionally charged story of the immense loss that can come from war and the coinciding political ideologies held by families. The story is told from different viewpoints and from different time frames. We are first introduced to William, who will be looking back on his experience during WWII. It is a surprise visitor who triggers his journey of remembering and discovery. Next, we are introduced to Kate, whose version is being told from the WWII era. Kate’s story reveals the struggles she has faced throughout her life and the lies she had to tell in order to survive. We learn of her immense love of caring for others and the path this love leads her down. We see the relationship between her and William. We learn more about the lies Kate has had to carry and will continue to carry with her. We see how these lies and her longing to help others shape her decisions.
The details provided throughout the story offer a beautifully written unraveling of the lies, with a final revelation that completely alters William’s life.
While there are some slower moments throughout, the details provided are vital to overall story development. This is an absolute must-read for any reader of historical fiction.

Pretty average and mostly predictable, but Kate was a well drawn character. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Compelling story of love and duty and what lengths some with go through to save the ones they love. A young woman shows up at the home of a soldier who fought in WWII and to fill in the story of the nurse he fell in love with, who disappeared during that tumultuous time. The POV shifts from the former soldier, William, to Kate, th'e nurse he loved. The story goes in a direction not foreseen in the initial telling, and shows us the impact love has on the decisions and directions life takes.

My kindle copy had a weird formatting problem. (I'm guessing it's formatting), where every few pages, there would be a line with a number then Noelle Salazar. ___NIcolle Salazar - as a line break, every few pages, and a couple of typos.

Overall, great story,, very much enjoyed.

I fell in love with Noelle Salazar’s writing when I read “The Flight Girls” at the beginning of this year. I have always enjoyed historical fiction novels that are epic tales of strength, courage, loss, and love. “The Lies We Leave Behind” was all of those things and more, grabbing a hold of me from the very first page.

***‘Look for the light. Seek the sun. Feel its warmth on your face.’***

We follow Kate, a naval flight nurse taking care of soliders during WWII and William, a retired veteran who has just recently lost his wife of many years. The novel follows them both through their journeys through out their lives, giving us the opportunity to see the ravaging of war from both their perspectives. I loved that we got to hear both of their voices, as I felt it was so important to the heart of this story.

I won’t spoil the details of what transpires in the novel, but it very much reflects what our history has known during that time.

This novel was wonderful, and I look forward to adding it to my collection in November.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

This is my first book by Noelle Salazar and she knocked it out of the park! Talk about a gripping, page-turner, historical novel . . . The war is real, the characters are extremely well developed, and the story line is filled with love, fear, hope, death, and showcases the measures people will go to in order to help others during wartime.

Kate, a flight nurse, is dedicated to giving each of her patients the best care in near impossible circumstances during World War II. She meets a charming lieutenant who captures her unwilling heart. After Kate suffers a wartime injury and is sent home to recover she is sent to a new base in the English countryside.

When her love returns to active duty she receives news about her family and her past. She takes great personal risks to find her long-lost little sister while facing the atrocities of her past and her parents.

I can't recommend this book enough!

This was a decent book. I enjoyed readying it and enjoyed the characters. It was a bit slow moving for me in the beginning of the book, however I am glad that I read it.