Book Review: "Whisper on the Wind" by Maureen Lang

Summary from BN.com: In Brussels at the height of WWI, a small, underground newspaper is the only thing offering the occupied city hope—and real news of the war. The paper may be a small whisper amid the shouts of the German army, but Edward Kirkland will do anything to keep it in print. Meanwhile, Isa Lassone, a Belgian-American socialite whose parents whisked her to safety at the start of the war, sneaks back into the country to rescue those dearest to her: Edward and his mother. But Edward refuses to go, and soon Isa is drawn into his secret life printing the newspaper . . . And into his heart.

I found myself liking this a lot better than the first book in the series. I'm not sure if it was because of the characters seemed more dimensional or because the setting was now in the city as opposed to a small town but either way, it was a more enjoyable read. The story focuses on Edward and Isa, the sister of Charles from the first book. They grew up together and are reunited during the war. Edward runs the underground newspaper and Isa tries to convince him to let her help. What they don't bargain for are sneaking behind German soldiers' backs and right under their noses, being accused of aiding spies or pretending to be a priest in disguise.

While Edward and Isa were an interesting couple who do have very good chemistry, I found Max and Genny keeping more of my interest. It was like a forbidden love with all sorts of factors standing in their way such as him begin a German solider or already having a wife. There was such drama and passion between the two of them but they had to stay apart. I did find the ending to be a bit too convenient for them but overall I was delighted with how their relationship was presented.

If there was a qualm I had with the story is that there were times when I found things to be a bit disjointed in the plot. Edward's story seemed to be the least interesting out of all the subplots. I realized that he had an important job with the paper but compared to what was going on with Isa, it didn't hold my interest. Therefore it was a bit annoying to keep going back to him when all the action was with Isa.

Overall I found the book to be a good historical romance. As with the first book, Lang has done a lot of research for the time period and it's always great to see these wars from the Europeans' point of view. I'm actually glad that America is not featured in this series because too often we are shown as just the heroes who come to save everyone. I'm hoping by the third book, any qualms that I had with the first two will not be present.

Whisper on the Wind by Maureen Lang is published by Tyndale (2010)

This review copy was provided by the publisher

Other books in The Great War series that I have reviewed:

Look to the East (Book 1)