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Eyes on the Stars
Jessie Keaton and Claudia Sherwood were as different as night and day. But when their nation needed experienced female pilots, their reactions were identical: heed the call. In early 1943, the two women joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots—the WASPs—and reported to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, where they promptly fell head-over-heels in love.
The life of a WASP was often perilous by definition. Being two women in love added another layer of complication entirely, leading to ostracism and worse. Like many others, Jessie and Claudia hid their relationship, going on dates with men to avert suspicion. The ruse worked well until one seemingly innocent afternoon ruined everything.
Two lives tragically altered. Two hearts ripped apart. And a second chance more than fifty years in the making.
From the airfields of World War II, to the East Room of the Obama White House, follow the lives of two extraordinary women whose love transcends time and place.
The life of a WASP was often perilous by definition. Being two women in love added another layer of complication entirely, leading to ostracism and worse. Like many others, Jessie and Claudia hid their relationship, going on dates with men to avert suspicion. The ruse worked well until one seemingly innocent afternoon ruined everything.
Two lives tragically altered. Two hearts ripped apart. And a second chance more than fifty years in the making.
From the airfields of World War II, to the East Room of the Obama White House, follow the lives of two extraordinary women whose love transcends time and place.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 24, 2010
16 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Ames
29 books287 followersLynn Ames is the best-selling author of sixteen books. She also is the writer/director/producer of the history-making documentary, “Extra Innings.” This historically important documentary chronicles, for the first time ever in her own words, the real-life story of Hall-of-Famer Dot Wilkinson and the heyday of women’s softball.
Lynn’s fiction has garnered her a multitude of awards and honors, including six Goldie awards, the coveted Ann Bannon Popular Fiction Award (for All That Lies Within), the Alice B. Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the Arizona Book Award for Best Gay/Lesbian book. Lynn is a two-time Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist, a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist, a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention winner, and winner of several Rainbow Reader Awards.
Ms. Ames is the founder of Phoenix Rising Press. She is also a former press secretary to the New York state senate minority leader and spokesperson for the nation’s third-largest prison system. For more than half a decade, she was an award-winning broadcast journalist. She has been editor of a critically acclaimed national magazine and a nationally recognized speaker and public relations professional with a particular expertise in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.
For additional information please visit her website at www.lynnames.com, or e-mail her at lynnamesauthor@gmail.com. You can also friend Lynn on Facebook and follow her on, YouTube, and Instagram.
Lynn’s fiction has garnered her a multitude of awards and honors, including six Goldie awards, the coveted Ann Bannon Popular Fiction Award (for All That Lies Within), the Alice B. Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the Arizona Book Award for Best Gay/Lesbian book. Lynn is a two-time Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist, a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist, a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention winner, and winner of several Rainbow Reader Awards.
Ms. Ames is the founder of Phoenix Rising Press. She is also a former press secretary to the New York state senate minority leader and spokesperson for the nation’s third-largest prison system. For more than half a decade, she was an award-winning broadcast journalist. She has been editor of a critically acclaimed national magazine and a nationally recognized speaker and public relations professional with a particular expertise in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.
For additional information please visit her website at www.lynnames.com, or e-mail her at lynnamesauthor@gmail.com. You can also friend Lynn on Facebook and follow her on, YouTube, and Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 20, 2018
Great Story! A well written and enjoyable read that saw the deep connections of every character involved in this heartwarming and touching love story. Recommended to everyone (paperback!)
September 1, 2011
This book was fantastic!!!! Grabbed me by the throat and reduced me to a jabbering pile of goo at the end. Great job, Lynn!
June 21, 2016
Reminds me a lot of H.P Munro's book Silver Wings... Both books have the same time period, same flight training school, etc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2023
My feelings about this book are mixed. After thinking long and hard about it and writing most of the rest of my review I found that I couldn't in good conscience give it higher than a three. If one thing had been left out I probably would have given it a five.
Jessie and Claudia's love story drew me in from the first chapter. I don't think there is any point in this book where there is any doubt that they are in love. I rooted for them through the whole book even when I knew there would be a lot of sadness involved. I think their story is an excellent example of what being gay was like at that time.
As much as I loved Jessie and Claudia and their stories there was one part of the book I struggled to forgive. The author obviously has a deep distaste or discomfort for pregnancy and birth and yet chose to include both in this book. There is a graphically inaccurate forced medical delivery in this book that truly put me off. Glorification of the hero doctor and jokes aimed at the poor dumb woman who doesn't know how to give birth. Talks of feeling ripped in half and how it would have been better if she was completely unconscious. It was completely barbaric and entirely unnecessary to the story line. There is also a comment later about hospital "births" being more civilized implying that birthing at home is uncivilized. I really wish that authors who are uncomfortable with birth would just leave it out of their writing.
I would not recommend this book to any woman who is pregnant or ever indends to be as everything described within this book to do with pregnancy and birth are inaccurate. It feels criminal to even call what she described as birth as that was a forced delivery.
Jessie and Claudia's love story drew me in from the first chapter. I don't think there is any point in this book where there is any doubt that they are in love. I rooted for them through the whole book even when I knew there would be a lot of sadness involved. I think their story is an excellent example of what being gay was like at that time.
As much as I loved Jessie and Claudia and their stories there was one part of the book I struggled to forgive. The author obviously has a deep distaste or discomfort for pregnancy and birth and yet chose to include both in this book. There is a graphically inaccurate forced medical delivery in this book that truly put me off. Glorification of the hero doctor and jokes aimed at the poor dumb woman who doesn't know how to give birth. Talks of feeling ripped in half and how it would have been better if she was completely unconscious. It was completely barbaric and entirely unnecessary to the story line. There is also a comment later about hospital "births" being more civilized implying that birthing at home is uncivilized. I really wish that authors who are uncomfortable with birth would just leave it out of their writing.
I would not recommend this book to any woman who is pregnant or ever indends to be as everything described within this book to do with pregnancy and birth are inaccurate. It feels criminal to even call what she described as birth as that was a forced delivery.
June 30, 2018
Oh my...
What a lovely story. This is my first book by Lynn Ames. I'm looking forward to which book by her that I'll choose next and really excited that there are several already published that I will get to read. It's tough when you really REALLY enjoy an author but there's only a book or two available. That's how much I enjoyed reading this story.
This book was fantastic! It offered everything from a great plot to fully flushed out characters, great secondary characters and it made me laugh out loud it had some sweet sex scenes that were sizzling enough and yet tastefully done. And at times I was angry and felt like crying. In my opinion an author who can make me feel so much with their writing is a winner and keeper ! Do yourself a favor and read this book - you won't be disappointed !!!
What a lovely story. This is my first book by Lynn Ames. I'm looking forward to which book by her that I'll choose next and really excited that there are several already published that I will get to read. It's tough when you really REALLY enjoy an author but there's only a book or two available. That's how much I enjoyed reading this story.
This book was fantastic! It offered everything from a great plot to fully flushed out characters, great secondary characters and it made me laugh out loud it had some sweet sex scenes that were sizzling enough and yet tastefully done. And at times I was angry and felt like crying. In my opinion an author who can make me feel so much with their writing is a winner and keeper ! Do yourself a favor and read this book - you won't be disappointed !!!
January 28, 2019
At the initial stage I wouldn't say I liked the writing style especially when I realised Jessie called herself idiot too many unnecessary times 😒. Also the way both Claudia and Jessie got on each others nerves was really ingratiating.
So I was mightily surprised by my teary eyes at reading the letters right down to the ending. I think the author successfully got me emotionally invested and not merely entertained.
I'd say this was more 3.5 rating.
So I was mightily surprised by my teary eyes at reading the letters right down to the ending. I think the author successfully got me emotionally invested and not merely entertained.
I'd say this was more 3.5 rating.
March 7, 2024
I loved this book so much.
It's the story of female pilots, what could be better than that?
As usual, Lynn's historical fiction is fully researched and every detail is on point.
The characters are lovely, realistic, spicy and fabulous. The setting is so well done you'll forget you're living in modern times.
Pick up your copy today!
It's the story of female pilots, what could be better than that?
As usual, Lynn's historical fiction is fully researched and every detail is on point.
The characters are lovely, realistic, spicy and fabulous. The setting is so well done you'll forget you're living in modern times.
Pick up your copy today!
February 8, 2020
Worth while read
This was a wonderful and informative story not just the love between two women but as a tribute to the hard and dangerous work undertaken by the WASPS in WW2. I have read this a number of times and always enjoy returning to it
This was a wonderful and informative story not just the love between two women but as a tribute to the hard and dangerous work undertaken by the WASPS in WW2. I have read this a number of times and always enjoy returning to it
September 15, 2020
This book was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. You could feel the love between Jessie and Claudia every time they were together. This was my first Lynn Ames book but it will not be my last.
March 22, 2022
At first I thought it was a little too insta-love and Claudia was a little too childish too much for me but oh boy, if I didn't end with tears in my eyes at the end of the book. Easy read and very touching.
November 27, 2018
An amazing but tragic story!
I loved reading Claudia and Jessie’s story, I only with that they had found each other sooner!!
I loved reading Claudia and Jessie’s story, I only with that they had found each other sooner!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2021
Whew!
What a great read! Touching, and angsty, and just lovely! Lynn Ames has created some wonderful characters, and placed them in a most marvelous love story.
What a great read! Touching, and angsty, and just lovely! Lynn Ames has created some wonderful characters, and placed them in a most marvelous love story.
March 6, 2014
1943 and the war effort needs women pilots to release men to the front. A new batch of trainee pilots arrives at the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots camp in Texas for their basic training. Included in the group, and bunked together in a hut are Jessie Keaton and Claudia Sherwood. As different as chalk and cheese this unlikely pair – one a misfit who is terminally shy, the other a confident carefree risk taker – promptly form a bond that will last a lifetime.
The life of the WASPs is dangerous. Learning to fly every type of aircraft as quickly as possible with less than stellar trainers threatens their physical lives. Hiding their sexuality and relationship from their commanding officers and even their fellow trainees threatens their happiness and their continued role in the WASPs. Discovery would mean being discharged from something they both desperately want to do. So they pretend to like men, pretend to like the social life of dances and dates to shield their relationship from prying suspicious eyes.
As they reach the end of their training and plan for their future together an innocent picnic will change their lives forever.
-----------------
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best historical romances I have read. The fact that the protagonists are lesbians, the romance touching, the impact of being ‘hidden’ devastating all just adds to the layers of love, loss and heartbreak.
Lynn Ames merges the past with the present into a seamless tale of woe that had me crying at almost every turn. The deep love of Claudia that Jessie never thinks she deserves reminds us of the despairing self sacrifice of The Well of Loneliness. Claudia’s suffering in silence that tears them apart is soul destroying. And the abiding feelings of both women, one expressed by an empty life, the other by the longing of her unsent letters, rip your heart out. Just writing the review makes me choke up with the tears.
Exceptionally well written and structured the book flows effortlessly between 1943 and the present when Jessie attends a ceremony to honor the WASP women. The characters are beyond real, they have taken up a space in my heart like family members, lost in time but never forgotten. The dialogue and historical realism is perfectly crafted to make us believe in the lives of these women both in 1943, when they were young and daring, and now, old, fading, but still full of the heat and emotions from 60 years before.
The tension is palpable both then and now. From the beginning we know they are not together in the present and that Claudia has a daughter – suggesting Jessie’s fears were well founded. But Ms Ames holds the suspense throughout as we wait to find out what broke them apart, what held them apart for all those years.
This book will always be on my re-read shelf. It is impossible not to feel every emotion of these complex characters. I read it in one sitting, could not put it down, as I longed for a different ending even though you already know the heartbreak. Throughout the flashbacks what you want more than anything else is for these women to find happiness. Whether I can pluck up the courage to read it again will depend on how many Kleenex I can stockpile and a willingness to cry for hours.
An exceptional history of women’s hidden service and a heartbreaking romance, “Eyes on the Stars’ tops Lynn Ames previous works – no mean feat for a celebrated and justly praised author and a first class storyteller.
The life of the WASPs is dangerous. Learning to fly every type of aircraft as quickly as possible with less than stellar trainers threatens their physical lives. Hiding their sexuality and relationship from their commanding officers and even their fellow trainees threatens their happiness and their continued role in the WASPs. Discovery would mean being discharged from something they both desperately want to do. So they pretend to like men, pretend to like the social life of dances and dates to shield their relationship from prying suspicious eyes.
As they reach the end of their training and plan for their future together an innocent picnic will change their lives forever.
-----------------
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best historical romances I have read. The fact that the protagonists are lesbians, the romance touching, the impact of being ‘hidden’ devastating all just adds to the layers of love, loss and heartbreak.
Lynn Ames merges the past with the present into a seamless tale of woe that had me crying at almost every turn. The deep love of Claudia that Jessie never thinks she deserves reminds us of the despairing self sacrifice of The Well of Loneliness. Claudia’s suffering in silence that tears them apart is soul destroying. And the abiding feelings of both women, one expressed by an empty life, the other by the longing of her unsent letters, rip your heart out. Just writing the review makes me choke up with the tears.
Exceptionally well written and structured the book flows effortlessly between 1943 and the present when Jessie attends a ceremony to honor the WASP women. The characters are beyond real, they have taken up a space in my heart like family members, lost in time but never forgotten. The dialogue and historical realism is perfectly crafted to make us believe in the lives of these women both in 1943, when they were young and daring, and now, old, fading, but still full of the heat and emotions from 60 years before.
The tension is palpable both then and now. From the beginning we know they are not together in the present and that Claudia has a daughter – suggesting Jessie’s fears were well founded. But Ms Ames holds the suspense throughout as we wait to find out what broke them apart, what held them apart for all those years.
This book will always be on my re-read shelf. It is impossible not to feel every emotion of these complex characters. I read it in one sitting, could not put it down, as I longed for a different ending even though you already know the heartbreak. Throughout the flashbacks what you want more than anything else is for these women to find happiness. Whether I can pluck up the courage to read it again will depend on how many Kleenex I can stockpile and a willingness to cry for hours.
An exceptional history of women’s hidden service and a heartbreaking romance, “Eyes on the Stars’ tops Lynn Ames previous works – no mean feat for a celebrated and justly praised author and a first class storyteller.
June 22, 2013
Great read. I love books about women's roles in WWII, and reading about two WASPs - Army Air Corps. Really captures the period. Adventure, heartbreak, love, drama - and it made me cry, which doesn't happen very often.
November 15, 2014
A friend lent me this book - the first Lynn Ames novel I've ever read - and I'll now be raiding her bookshelves for more! Not the happiest of stories, but it kept me engrossed til the end. The only negative I have about it is that I really dislike the use of letters as a device to tell a story.
July 20, 2011
Cried my eyes out throughout the whole book.
September 17, 2011
Do you like being sad?
If so, read this book.
If so, read this book.
July 14, 2013
Very good book, but somewhat sad..
April 29, 2015
DNF. A lot of the writing, especially the dialogue, felt really anachronistic. The constant use of "cutesy" nicknames seriously grated on me.
September 3, 2013
Absolutely loved it!!! I'm looking forward to read the next books.
August 19, 2016
I just should have stopped reading after the first few pages. Would have saved myself a very painful read.
April 5, 2015
Wow
What a great book! I loved reading about the WASPs, but more than that, what a beautiful love story. Thank you Lynn Ames, than you very much.
What a great book! I loved reading about the WASPs, but more than that, what a beautiful love story. Thank you Lynn Ames, than you very much.
July 8, 2015
Get the tissues ready while exploring a story of true love, sacrifice and the history of these extraordinary women.
August 17, 2015
OMG. This is like "The Notebook" for lesbians, I cried...I cried hard, and loved it. Such a moving story.
March 30, 2016
I did not appreciate the characters
April 8, 2016
A good love story set in the WW2 days. A little slow in the middle and takes a long time for resolution of the story. A predictable, yet satisfying end.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews