Book Review: When Tides Turn by Sarah Sundin

When fun-loving glamour girl Quintessa Beaumont learns the Navy has established the WAVES program for women, she enlists, determined to throw off her frivolous ways and contribute to the war effort. No-nonsense and hoping to make admiral, Lt. Dan Avery has been using his skills to fight German U-boats. The last thing he wants to see on his radar is a girl like Tess. For her part, Tess works hard to prove her worth in the Anti-Submarine Warfare Unit in Boston–both to her commanding officers and to the man with whom she is smitten. When Dan is assigned to a new escort carrier at the peak of the Battle of the Atlantic, he’s torn between his lifelong career goals and his desire to help Tess root out a possible spy on shore. The Germans put up quite a fight, but he wages a deeper battle within his heart. Could Tess be the one for him?

With precision and pizazz, fan favorite Sarah Sundin carries readers through the rough waters of love in a time when every action might have unforeseen world-changing consequences.

What I Loved: There comes a time when you feel the need to clap at the end of a book, or in this case a series. This was one of those times. When Tides Turn brought a satisfactory ending to the series as a whole and the novel as an individual.
Sundin is amazingly talented in weaving the details of military life into her stories. In the case of When Tides Turn, there were areas when the information was a bit too technical for my mind to comprehend. And likewise, there were moments, especially early on in Tess’s story, when the mystery of the spy and French conflict was over my head. I couldn’t quite grasp what was happening in France and what this group in America was talking about. If you find yourself struggling, I’d advise you to “stay the course” 😉 and trust that the most important aspects will make sense in due time. As a mystery lover, I was still able to hone in on the characters’ actions and reactions…even if I didn’t always understand the present problem.
As usual, Sundin can be trusted to craft a well thought out character and even more beautiful, a solid and timeless message for the soul. I was very impressed with the layers of truth and application she was able to bring to light, especially concerning Dan’s ending.

Rating and Recommendation: I can’t speak of When Tides Turn and the entire Waves of Freedom series enough. I’m giving it 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Christian Historical fiction and WWII fiction.

~I received a copy from Revell. I was not required to give a favorable review. All thoughts are my own.