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Flying Solo: An Unconventional Aviatrix Navigates Turbulence in Life

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French Cajun Nora Broussard Greenwood was born with the wanderlust. Her adventurous spirit doesn’t fit the sedate expectations of catholic 1960s New Orleans suburbia. On a whim, she takes flying lessons to become a pilot. Experiencing the freedom of flight is liberating. However an illicit affair with her pilot instructor forces action. When she confronts her ruthless husband for a divorce, she is cast out sans her children and threatened with her life. Desperate to get them back and gain liberty, she steals her husband’s plane. Trials and tribulations erupt as she navigates the turbulence her life has become. In a bizarre twist of fate, she serves as caregiver to her lover’s sickly wife as a means to survive; hoping he will decide she is his soul mate. But is that to be? Nora must make the make the most difficult decision of her life in order to get things back on track.

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

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80 people want to read

About the author

Jeanette Vaughan

8 books44 followers
Jeanette Vaughan is an award winning writer and story teller. Not only is she published in the periodicals and professional journals of nursing, but also in the genre of fiction. Out on her sheep farm, she has written several novels and scripts. Her screenplay "Angel of Mercy" won the outstanding nursing research award from Texas Tech University Health Science Center. In addition, she was named Distinguished Alumni for the school of nursing in 2001 for her written work and volunteerism for the Sydney Olympic Games. Jeanette has practiced nursing in the fields of critical care and trauma. She is the mother of four children, including two Navy pilots. She lives in a Victorian farmhouse out in the pastures of northeast Texas with her sheep, chickens, donkeys and sheep dogs.

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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Joan.
400 reviews8 followers
July 26, 2012
Flying Solo

By Janette Vaughn

Life Can Be Like Flying Solo

Nora Broussard’s mother, Nellie Broussard, was determined that Nora would marry into wealth, she having been married to Jack, a man who seemed to be either wealthy or broke. Jack, a fascinating man although away much of the time, died when Nora was eight years old. He was always an enigma to her for Nellie never said much about him. Nellie, a nurse, worked hard, even extra hours to send her daughter to Ursline high school where she would mingle with the elite of New Orleans. Nora met a man a few years older, Frank Greenwood, son of a local old wealthy family. Although Frank didn’t kiss well and was not affectionate, instead forever grabbing her, finally after her graduation and she was eighteen years old, they married in a small ceremony at the Greenwood residence. They flew to New York for their honeymoon and on the way Nora day-dreamed of their first romantic wedding night. On this, her first flight, she also contemplated learning to fly for it meant freedom to her. When she ventured some thoughts to Frank about going to college and learning a profession of her own he brusquely replied that she was his wife and that’s all she needed. She didn’t realize that this would be her future with him.

Their wedding night ended up to be anything but romantic. As soon as they were in their room, he grabbed her, tore her clothes off, literally marital rape. He hurt her. Determined to have a son, he took her weekly in the same manner. There was never any cuddling nor affection and although she hated it, she submitted, glad to get pregnant for the only time he left her alone was when she was pregnant or having her period. Over time she had three girls and finally the boy he so desperately wanted. Then he more or less left her alone and she discovered he was unfaithful. The only friends she had at first, for Frank and she lived with his parents in their mansion, were the Black maids, Justine and Mable. Her only occupations were shopping and volunteering, which wealthy people who did not have to work, did. Eventually she made a close friend with a young woman of like background, Charlene Hebert, who stuck with her through thick and thin.

One day when Charlene and she were at lunch, Nora saw this ad for flying lessons, which she decided to do. She saved her shopping money and went to the small airport where Steve Novak gave flying lessons. The sexual electricity between them flared from the first moment they shook hands, and shortly thereafter they satiated their desires. Steve was a wonderful lover and Nora experienced sensations she never knew existed. They fell passionately in love. Steve never mentioned his marital status. Shortly thereafter Nora realized she was pregnant and she hadn’t been with her husband for several months. When she told Steve, deciding she would get a divorce, even though she and Frank were strong Catholics, Steve admitted he was married and that his wife Marci was ill with multiple sclerosis. They had six children. He would never leave her for it was his responsibility to take care of his family.

The plot thickens. What would violent Frank do when he learned she was pregnant? If they separated, how would she support the children, if he didn’t get full custody because he could afford the best attorneys. How would Marci react? Would Steve take any responsibility for this baby? Could she convince him to divorce his wife and marry her? Would she be able to complete her flying lessons?

Although this sounds like the usual romance with the commonality of an unwanted pregnancy, this active, scintillating romance contains unexpected twists and turns that make it different. I recommend it.

Profile Image for Jeanette Vaughan.
Author 8 books44 followers
June 10, 2012
Here are what people are saying about flying solo:

Mary Morton Jones: “It was slow at work, so I started reading. Right from the start it was HOT, HOT, HOT. I got irritated when customers came and in interrupted my reading.”

Tricia O’Connell Hamilton: “I started reading and I couldn’t put it down. I almost missed my daily walk. Couldn’t wait to get back to it. I am very impressed.”

New Orleans resident: “This morning on our 5 1/2 hour ride home I started reading your novel. I could not put it down and finished it tonight. You are a very talented writer! I emailed my friends and told them to read your book – they would love it especially based in New Orleans and we are all members of Metairie Country Club- ha Congratulations! You did a wonderful job! I can’t wait for your next book!”

John Randolph Clark: “As a person who has always been around aviation, I have to say that this book makes one feel that you are right there in the cockpit! This is a journey of the driving human spirit that lies within all of us, including the dream to actually take wings and fly. Mix in the unconquerable perseverance of a woman, who seeks to find her real niche in the scheme of life, and you have a story that is very compelling, fascinating to the last page, and a credit to the writing of true adventure! If you want a gripping story, than look no further than this page turner that keeps you on the edge of your chair.”

Amy Gallagher: "In all my years as a professional aviation journalist., I have yet to read a novel as expressive and compelling, heart-pounding and adventurous as Flying Solo. The words of Jeanette Vaughan will propel readers skyward toward discovering their own ‘love and life’ desires.” - Amy Gallagher AirMed & Rescue Flight Training Magazine
Profile Image for Peri Collins.
34 reviews2 followers
July 15, 2012
This is an engaging story about a woman you will root for, cry with and want to know better. The lush descriptions take you back in time to New Orleans in the 60s. The flying sequences are realistic and make you feel like you are in the cockpit earning your wings too. If there was already a sequel to continue the adventure, I would have purchased it immediately
129 reviews1 follower
December 14, 2013
Flying Solo by Jeanette Vaughn is a story about Nora Broussard Greenwood, a woman in the 60’s in New Orleans who learns to “fly solo” in more ways than one. She decides to learn how to fly, something that women did not do in those days. Married to an affluent man she does not love, she has an affair with her flight instructor. On another occasion she makes the momentous decision to leave her husband, which goes against all that she had been taught.

“Nora would marry way too young. She was the daughter of New Orleans natives, Nellie Shryock and the late Jack Broussard. As a young girl, Nora spent many an afternoon riding the streetcars up and down Carrollton Avenue while her mother worked at Hotel Dieu Hospital. … Her daydreams often were about the adventures she imagined her gypsy-like, Cajun father must have had riding the riverboats up and down the Mississippi.”

By making the decision to learn to fly, Nora set in motion a new, independent life just as adventurous as she imagined her father’s life had been. Her decisions conflicted with the life that she was supposed to be living as a Catholic wife and mother.
Nora had help in her flight from the oppressive life she was leading to a future with promise. Many of her friends advised her, but after considering their advice, the decisions to do the things she did were hers.
In her quest for independence, she discovers an old family secret that involves her whole life. To learn this secret and how she dealt with her old and new life, read Jeanette’s well-written, believable book.
Jeanette Vaughan is well established as a writer and story teller. She has published in periodicals and professional journals of nursing and also in the genre of fiction. She has written several novels and scripts. She is the mother of four children, including two Navy pilots. She lives in a Victorian farmhouse in northeast Texas with her sheep, chickens, donkeys and sheep dogs.
Flying Solo has won the following awards:
Finalist in historical fiction for Beverly Hills Book Awards
Finalist in romantic suspense for Reader’s Favorite Awards
4th place in Reader’s Favorite International Book Awards for Southern Fiction
2 reviews
June 6, 2013

Congratulations to Flying Solo author, Jeanette Vaughan! I can only think of one thing that would enhance Flying Solo and that is listening to it read in a sultry Southern voice. As an inland Australian who’s not travelled out of the country, it was difficult in the beginning to get my head around the very different locale and society that Nora Broussard lived in. Then, thanks to the evolution of cyber communication, I heard an excerpt read by Jeanette, role playing Nora. I read the rest of the book with that voice resonating in my head and loved it. The story suited the voice suited the story.
The early 1960s and Louisiana society did not allow for rebellion, especially by women, and yet she not only defied her husband but she deceived him when she sneaked off and learned to fly. As sexy, headstrong and determined as Nora is, it is difficult in the modern era to imagine why she stayed in her marriage as long as she did and yet obvious that she’d have stayed longer had she not fallen in love with her dreamy flying instructor. Aided and abetted by her best friend Charlene, Nora continued her affair with the equally married and adulterous Steve until she finds herself pregnant and forced to make some life changing decisions. She was an adventurous lady and yet a pragmatist; a spoilt brat and yet a supressed victim.
Storyteller Jeanette Vaughan has spun together a narrative that is as complex and as simple as the women she writes about. Thanks to Jeanette’s talent, Nora Broussard is a woman I’d like to have met and her sequel, Solo Vietnam, beckons urgently just on the strength of the vastly entertaining Flying Solo.

Annabelle Brayley
Australia
Profile Image for Valerie Ormond.
Author 8 books112 followers
November 14, 2013
Strap in for this high-flying adventure in the life of independent aviator Nora Broussard. From Nora’s first line of dialogue: “Keep your pants on,” which she screams at a blue Slimline phone, readers get to know this character and want to know what happens to her next. “Flying Solo” follows the turbulent life of a woman living before her times in 1960’s New Orleans suburbia. Through a series of bad decisions, Nora ends up in a bad marriage and a situation destined to suffocate her free spirit. That is, until she learns to fly.
Author Jeannette Vaughan’s descriptions of everything from the country club life to Nora’s escapades in the air bring the reader into the time and place of this historical fiction. The plot is compelling, and keeps the pages turning. I loved her character development, which had me saying, “No, don’t!,” … but still understanding why she does what she does. I laughed, I cried, and I thought hard about the women of this time, not too far in the distant past.
I clearly see why this book has won so many awards, and absolutely loved it. I look forward to reading about Nora’s next adventures in Vaughan’s sequel, “Solo Vietnam,” too. If you are looking for a high-action adventure with a touch of romance and characters you will really care about, do not miss “Flying Solo.”
Profile Image for Jane.
556 reviews25 followers
August 4, 2012
4 Stars

Flying Solo is a fact based story about Nora and her somewhat restricted life. Set in The Deep South during the 1960’s, the mind set of this era managed to both frustrate and anger me. Nora; a woman who married a man with money and power, really enjoyed flying. It fascinated her, but her husband would never allow her to have lessons and become a pilot herself…women just didn’t fly planes! But after seeing an advertisement for lessons at a near by airfield, Nora secretly signed up. This was the beginning of many changes for Nora. She was attracted to her teacher and was unable to resist his advances, for the first time in her life Nora learned that sex wasn’t something that had to be endured, with the right man it could be a magical experience!

Jeanette Vaughan’s attention to detail has turned this story into more than your typical romance. The technical terminology is convincingly accurate as are her descriptions the era. Giving us a sneak peek behind the curtains into an outwardly perfect life we saw the cracks in Nora’s life and travelled an emotional journey with her.

This is a well written fast paced debut novel from an author who is now added to my list of authors to watch.

Copy supplied for review
Profile Image for Bodicia.
209 reviews22 followers
January 10, 2014
As well as being an entertaining story this descriptive book about what life was like for a woman in 1960′s New Orleans was very interesting from a social point of view. I couldn’t help but admire Nora’s fortitude as she stood up to her brutish husband and socially dictated existence and did things her own way. As the story progressed I found myself in two minds about some of her choices but then it was a different time for women, especially those from the religious and social background she came from.

Intriguingly this novel is based on a true story and I would love to know if the real Nora found the contentment and happiness she deserved.

Jeanette’s writing was really easy to get stuck into and I read this book in a few hours. The story was compelling and I was eager to know what happened next; very difficult to put down. The story makes you think about how much things have changed in the majority of the western world on issues such as divorce and also about how religious beliefs can be such a deciding factor for some people when there are difficult decisions to be made. Thought provoking and very readable. An unusual love story.
Profile Image for Dan McNeil.
7 reviews92 followers
July 23, 2013
Nora Broussard Greenwood is a sweet Cajun girl married to rich but thuggish Frank Greenwood of the affluent Greenwood clan in New Orleans. The only solace from her shambles of a marriage (aside from her children and best friend Charlene) is taking to the skies as a pilot. When she decides to take flying lessons, she quickly finds love with both being airborne and with her flight instructor Steve Novak. When the affair takes a turn, Nora is faced with a number of life changing choices that prove difficult for the Catholic raised Cajun.
Author Jeanette Vaughan expertly weaves plot and dialogue while intertwining a flying motif throughout (Nora’s flight lessons, her flight from her husband, to Steve, to a new life.) It’s very interesting to watch angel Nora as she shakes the earthly shackles of a crumbling and loveless marriage and learns to fly on her own.
It’s a well paced read and I found it very enjoyable. The characters are well drawn out – it’s fascinating to watch Nora’s growth as she grows her metaphorical wings. “Flying Solo” is an excellent book - I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Jane Blanchard.
Author 11 books53 followers
September 11, 2015
Flying Solo: An Unconventional Aviatrix Navigates Turbulence in Life by Jeanette Vaughan is the story of Nora Broussard Greenwood, married at age 18 to a man incapable of love. Raising four children in the early 1960s in Catholic New Orleans, leaves little choices for women of Nora's social standing. Feeling trapped, Nora decides to take flying lessons, only to fall in love with the instructor. The liaison leads to a pregnancy and the story revolves around how Nora deals with the situation. Lots of social commentary for the times.

There are a few anachronisms and grammatical errors. But, if you enjoy a feminist-in-the-making, star-crossed romance, or prevailing over adversity, ignore these, and enjoy Nora Broussard Greenwood's story. I kept turning the pages to see how she resolved issues and the final outcome.
2 reviews
June 20, 2012
As a person who has always been around aviation, I have to say that this book makes one feel that you are right there in the cockpit! This is a journey of the driving human spirit that lies within all of us, including the dream to actually take wings and fly. Mix in the unconquerable perseverance of a woman, who seeks to find her real niche in the scheme of life, and you have a story that is very compelling, fascinating to the last page, and a credit to the writing of true adventure! If you want a gripping story, than look no further than this page turner that keeps you on the edge of your chair.

John R. Clark, M.A, M.Ed, LPC, RPT
Profile Image for Beth Carpenter.
Author 61 books674 followers
September 19, 2013
I finished Flying Solo yesterday, and my mind keeps wandering to the characters, to what they could have done differently and what might happen in the future. Obviously, they were well developed and realistic for me to feel this way. I can’t condone Nora and Steve’s behavior, especially since they were dragging a combined TEN children into their mess, and yet I connect with them and understand why they acted as they did. Nora is impulsive, but brave and loyal. The flying scenes with her are wonderful, as were the setting in New Orleans and her relationship with Charlene. This is the kind of story that lingers.
Profile Image for Margaret Tidwell.
610 reviews9 followers
February 18, 2013
I fell in love with the main character in the book and I hated her husband. I felt bad for her through the whole book and I always hoped that things would turn out good for her and that she would end up with the man that she loved. I was let down a little bit when it didn't end how I wanted it to but it did end how most stories like this ended in the 60's. When I was first finished I was let down by the ending but after thinking about it for a few days I now like the ending because it was more true to life than some of the other books that I have read.
Profile Image for Susan.
760 reviews32 followers
February 22, 2013
'Flying Solo' takes us to New Orleans and Tyler Texas in this novel, although fiction it's based upon true events. An inspirational love story where the characters are strong, believable and come alive on the pages. A real page turner that grips you and doesn't let go. Highly recommended for all readers.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the author which was provided for an honest review.
Profile Image for Eadie Burke.
1,997 reviews16 followers
July 5, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. It is an unstoppable fast-paced read with a lot of twists and turns. It is based upon a real-life story which makes it an even more interesting read. I loved Nora's spunk and Steve's never-ending love of her despite his dedication to his wife. I will definitely have to read the second and third book of this marvelous trilogy! I need to find out how Nora's life moves forward and if and when her and Steve get back together!
Profile Image for Caroline Dixon.
1 review2 followers
August 5, 2014
A fantastic read. I was engaged from the first page. Jeanette captured the spirit of her characters as well as her locale. I could identify with Nora on so many levels. I can't wait to see what's next!
1 review
July 14, 2012
Very sexy touching thought provoking story. Makes me remember how difficult life was for women in our not so long ago American past, young women take so much for granted now. Hope there is a sequel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Traci.
1 review
August 20, 2012
I loved this book! I loved Jeanette's writing style. This book was hard to put down. I loved the main character Nora, she was so brave for a woman in the 60's and I am looking forward to the sequel.
Profile Image for Julie.
1 review1 follower
September 4, 2013
A great action, adventure, love story. I was spell bound and couldn't put the book down. Jeanette captures your attention from beginning to end!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews