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The Liverpool Sisters #3
Over the Rainbow (3)
THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR KATIE FLYNN
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Liverpool 1939: Olivia Campbell appears to have the perfect life. However, behind closed doors she lives in constant fear of her abusive father, and has no support from her mother.
Longing for love and affection she begins a relationship with Ted, a young lad who works in her father’s factory. But her family disapprove of the relationship and forbid them from seeing each other.
When war comes to Liverpool, Olivia seizes the opportunity to leave behind her unhappy life and join the WAAF. There she meets a fellow trainee, Maude and the two embrace their newly found independence. Soon Olivia meets the handsome Ralph, and all thoughts of Ted are brushed aside. Until he returns to her life with some shocking news that turns her world upside down . . .
_____________________
Praise for Katie Flynn
‘Packed with romance and poignancy’ Woman
‘One of the best Liverpool writers’ Liverpool Echo
‘Heart-warming’ Take a Break
'A poignant war-time romance' Daily Express
_____________________
Liverpool 1939: Olivia Campbell appears to have the perfect life. However, behind closed doors she lives in constant fear of her abusive father, and has no support from her mother.
Longing for love and affection she begins a relationship with Ted, a young lad who works in her father’s factory. But her family disapprove of the relationship and forbid them from seeing each other.
When war comes to Liverpool, Olivia seizes the opportunity to leave behind her unhappy life and join the WAAF. There she meets a fellow trainee, Maude and the two embrace their newly found independence. Soon Olivia meets the handsome Ralph, and all thoughts of Ted are brushed aside. Until he returns to her life with some shocking news that turns her world upside down . . .
_____________________
Praise for Katie Flynn
‘Packed with romance and poignancy’ Woman
‘One of the best Liverpool writers’ Liverpool Echo
‘Heart-warming’ Take a Break
'A poignant war-time romance' Daily Express
400 pages, Paperback
Published March 4, 2021
165 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Katie Flynn
100 books218 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Katie Flynn was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School, where she was extremely happy and extremely undistinguished. Published at the tender age of eight, in Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, she joined a Writers’ Circle as an adult, publishing short stories, articles, etc; only turning to novels in 1971 because the postal strike cut off her main source of income!
At first she wrote under several different names – Judith Saxton, Judy Turner, Lydia Balmain, Judith Arden – but her Katie Flynn books were a delight to write and proved far more popular than she had dreamed. She has now published nearly ninety novels, twenty-seven of which are Flynns. Her most recent titles are: Lost Days of Summer and Christmas Wishes.
Katie Flynn was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School, where she was extremely happy and extremely undistinguished. Published at the tender age of eight, in Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, she joined a Writers’ Circle as an adult, publishing short stories, articles, etc; only turning to novels in 1971 because the postal strike cut off her main source of income!
At first she wrote under several different names – Judith Saxton, Judy Turner, Lydia Balmain, Judith Arden – but her Katie Flynn books were a delight to write and proved far more popular than she had dreamed. She has now published nearly ninety novels, twenty-seven of which are Flynns. Her most recent titles are: Lost Days of Summer and Christmas Wishes.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 14, 2024
The story starts in Liverpool in 1922 when thirteen year old Olivia Campbell meets 14 year old Ted Hewitt. Olivia’s father owns the factory where Ted and his father works. At home Olivia’s life is hard with a mother who is very ill and a father who is hard and abusive. Little wonder that she finds the need for some love and comfort with young Ted. But there is no way William Campbell wants his daughter associating with Olivia. They are forbidden to see each other. Then events take a turn that really complicates the situation. Lives are changed dramatically.
When war comes to England Olivia, known as Liv, seizes the chance to leave behind her unhappy life to join the WAAF. She meets Maude, another trainee and they become firm friends. They are being trained by Corporal Ralph Stebbins. He singles Liv out for extra attention much to the annoyance of Beth, one of the other trainees, who is used to being the one men take notice of. Will that end up causing some issues? And what will happen when the past comes back and a number of lies that changed lives forever are uncovered? When they come to light more than one life is changed in ways no one imagined.
Liv is a lovely caring person who makes allowances for others and their behaviour. But some things cannot be forgiven or can they? Maude is a supportive friend and Ted is interesting. Some people in this story are not what they initially seem to be.
Set largely through the war years this is an interesting historical novel that sheds light on some, to me, little known activities of the war in which women were involved. Well drawn characters and setting well portrayed. I recommend this book for all who like war novels, characters with depth and authentic setting. I am sure it will keep readers turning the pages quicker towards the end. And you may need tissues at times. A couple of things seemed a bit coincidental but overall an engaging read.
This is book 3 in a series but it is not necessary to have read the earlier books as I had not. This stands alone fine.
When war comes to England Olivia, known as Liv, seizes the chance to leave behind her unhappy life to join the WAAF. She meets Maude, another trainee and they become firm friends. They are being trained by Corporal Ralph Stebbins. He singles Liv out for extra attention much to the annoyance of Beth, one of the other trainees, who is used to being the one men take notice of. Will that end up causing some issues? And what will happen when the past comes back and a number of lies that changed lives forever are uncovered? When they come to light more than one life is changed in ways no one imagined.
Liv is a lovely caring person who makes allowances for others and their behaviour. But some things cannot be forgiven or can they? Maude is a supportive friend and Ted is interesting. Some people in this story are not what they initially seem to be.
Set largely through the war years this is an interesting historical novel that sheds light on some, to me, little known activities of the war in which women were involved. Well drawn characters and setting well portrayed. I recommend this book for all who like war novels, characters with depth and authentic setting. I am sure it will keep readers turning the pages quicker towards the end. And you may need tissues at times. A couple of things seemed a bit coincidental but overall an engaging read.
This is book 3 in a series but it is not necessary to have read the earlier books as I had not. This stands alone fine.
April 24, 2021
What a brilliant book, I loved reading Olivia's story.
Deffinatly one of my favourite Katie Flynn books, and I have read quite a few.
Olivia and Ted's love story was perfect, the plot was sometimes a little hard to follow, but the quality of the writing and the fantastic storyline made up for it. I had read the previous book 'Under the Mistletoe' a while ago and it was wonderful to tie up all the loose ends at the end of this book.
Deffinatly one of my favourite Katie Flynn books, and I have read quite a few.
Olivia and Ted's love story was perfect, the plot was sometimes a little hard to follow, but the quality of the writing and the fantastic storyline made up for it. I had read the previous book 'Under the Mistletoe' a while ago and it was wonderful to tie up all the loose ends at the end of this book.
August 17, 2023
Excellent
March 2, 2021
I have a little confession to make.- yet another one. Although I have several of Katie’s books I haven’t actually read one before………until now that is. However, my lovely Mam has read a fair few of Katie’s books and she loves them and as we tend to like the same sort of family sagas, I knew that I was on to a winner with Katie’s work. I wasn’t wrong either because I absolutely flipping well loved reading ‘Over The Rainbow’ but more about that in a bit.
I absolutely loved the characters of Olivia and Ted, and I warmed to them from the very start. They are from completely different backgrounds. Olivia is the daughter of a factory owner and she lives a lonely life, as her father keeps her on a very tight leash as it were. She is an only child and her father will not let her socialise or have friends. She finds a friend in Ted and they pair of them become very close very quickly. Something happens, which splits the couple up and they each go on their own way. I don’t want to say too much more on that front as I would hate to spoil the story for anybody. What I will say is that I kept my fingers crossed that somewhere along the line they would find their way back to each other. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
I cannot believe that I left it this long to discover how flipping awesome Katie Flynn’s books are. I picked ‘Over The Rainbow’ up only intending to read a chapter or two but I ended up becoming that wrapped up in the story that I was still sat there reading over two hours and 100 pages later. I hadn’t been intending to read that much in one go but I couldn’t help it. I think that I had taken to well to the character of Olivia that I had to find out what lay in store for her. I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough in my desperation to find out what was going to happen. All too quickly I reached the end of the story and I had to say goodbye to Olivia and Ted.
‘Over The Rainbow’ is superbly written. When I agreed to take part in the blog tour for ‘Over The Rainbow’, I hadn’t realised that it was actually the third book in ‘The Liverpool Sisters’ series. Not that that fact makes any difference because the book reads perfectly well as a standalone too. I love the way in which Katie grabs your attention from the start and draws you into what proves to be a compelling story with characters that seem more like friends than characters in a book. I found Katie’s writing to be so convincing that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. If I had been able to, I would have umped inside the pages of the book to give Olivia’s father a piece or ten of my mind. I became way too emotionally involved in the story to the point where I was interacting with the book as if the different characters could hear me. I found ‘Over The Rainbow’ to be a gripping read, which held my attention throughout and took me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Over The Rainbow’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Katie’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
I absolutely loved the characters of Olivia and Ted, and I warmed to them from the very start. They are from completely different backgrounds. Olivia is the daughter of a factory owner and she lives a lonely life, as her father keeps her on a very tight leash as it were. She is an only child and her father will not let her socialise or have friends. She finds a friend in Ted and they pair of them become very close very quickly. Something happens, which splits the couple up and they each go on their own way. I don’t want to say too much more on that front as I would hate to spoil the story for anybody. What I will say is that I kept my fingers crossed that somewhere along the line they would find their way back to each other. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
I cannot believe that I left it this long to discover how flipping awesome Katie Flynn’s books are. I picked ‘Over The Rainbow’ up only intending to read a chapter or two but I ended up becoming that wrapped up in the story that I was still sat there reading over two hours and 100 pages later. I hadn’t been intending to read that much in one go but I couldn’t help it. I think that I had taken to well to the character of Olivia that I had to find out what lay in store for her. I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough in my desperation to find out what was going to happen. All too quickly I reached the end of the story and I had to say goodbye to Olivia and Ted.
‘Over The Rainbow’ is superbly written. When I agreed to take part in the blog tour for ‘Over The Rainbow’, I hadn’t realised that it was actually the third book in ‘The Liverpool Sisters’ series. Not that that fact makes any difference because the book reads perfectly well as a standalone too. I love the way in which Katie grabs your attention from the start and draws you into what proves to be a compelling story with characters that seem more like friends than characters in a book. I found Katie’s writing to be so convincing that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. If I had been able to, I would have umped inside the pages of the book to give Olivia’s father a piece or ten of my mind. I became way too emotionally involved in the story to the point where I was interacting with the book as if the different characters could hear me. I found ‘Over The Rainbow’ to be a gripping read, which held my attention throughout and took me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Over The Rainbow’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Katie’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
March 6, 2021
Olivia Campbell and Ted Hewitt meet and fall in love as young teenagers but their different social circumstances in Liverpool are against them and once Olivia's factory owner father discovers their relationship he does all in his power to break them apart.
What then follows is a conclusion to the Liverpool Sisters Trilogy which began with Liverpool Daughter and Under the Misteltoe and whilst all three novels may be read as standalones there is no doubt that they are better enjoyed as a set, particularly as Over the Rainbow brings the trilogy to its final conclusion and ties up several loose ends.
I loved reading Olivia and Ted's story as both are such interesting characters but I think in Olivia the author creates a worthy heroine. She is feisty and determined in the face of such adversity that it's impossible not to warm to her story. Setting the book in Liverpool, in the years leading up to, and during the Second World War, gives the story a strong sense of historical authenticity, especially when Olivia later joins the WAAF, working with a group of like minded strong and determined women.
It's been interesting to see how all the strands of this trilogy finally come together and as the story finishes I felt a sense of completion as everything had come full circle. Beautifully written by Holly Flynn who has now taken up her mother's writing mantle, Over the Rainbow is a thoroughly enjoyable historical saga which held my attention right from the start
What then follows is a conclusion to the Liverpool Sisters Trilogy which began with Liverpool Daughter and Under the Misteltoe and whilst all three novels may be read as standalones there is no doubt that they are better enjoyed as a set, particularly as Over the Rainbow brings the trilogy to its final conclusion and ties up several loose ends.
I loved reading Olivia and Ted's story as both are such interesting characters but I think in Olivia the author creates a worthy heroine. She is feisty and determined in the face of such adversity that it's impossible not to warm to her story. Setting the book in Liverpool, in the years leading up to, and during the Second World War, gives the story a strong sense of historical authenticity, especially when Olivia later joins the WAAF, working with a group of like minded strong and determined women.
It's been interesting to see how all the strands of this trilogy finally come together and as the story finishes I felt a sense of completion as everything had come full circle. Beautifully written by Holly Flynn who has now taken up her mother's writing mantle, Over the Rainbow is a thoroughly enjoyable historical saga which held my attention right from the start
May 12, 2024
Although the book is in Katie Flynn's name, it was apparently written by her daughter, Holly. She has obviously a great deal of talent and I'm not sure why she isn't writing in her own name. However, I've always enjoyed Katie Flynn's work but I must say, this one is a step higher. It kept me interested throughout, and although I guessed one piece about the baby (I don't want to reveal any spoilers) it was a surprise about the second piece.
I didn't know this book was part of a trilogy but nevertheless, it was a very good read on its own. Apart from an enjoyable story, I really did like the fact that the protagonist was not portrayed with a perfect figure like most are. Olivia was plump and self-conscious about her figure and her character came over very well. It was obvious that the author had done her homework and had gained a good knowledge of military workings and Royal Air Force stations. I did think it a bit of a ridiculous coincidence how Olivia discovered the story behind Greystones, but I suppose Holly's finale was limited in creating a satisfactory conclusion.
All in all, a book I would recommend.
I didn't know this book was part of a trilogy but nevertheless, it was a very good read on its own. Apart from an enjoyable story, I really did like the fact that the protagonist was not portrayed with a perfect figure like most are. Olivia was plump and self-conscious about her figure and her character came over very well. It was obvious that the author had done her homework and had gained a good knowledge of military workings and Royal Air Force stations. I did think it a bit of a ridiculous coincidence how Olivia discovered the story behind Greystones, but I suppose Holly's finale was limited in creating a satisfactory conclusion.
All in all, a book I would recommend.
March 23, 2023
Olivia Campbell comes from a privileged background, big house, money but her strict father won't even let her have any friends.
So when she accidentally meets Ted they become fast friends.
Then over time they become something and the inevitable happens and Olivia is left in the family way.
Her father takes care of everything, takes her away to have the child, arranged an adoption but then Liv is told that her baby has died and Ted and his father have left town.
Devastated she has no choice but to move on with her life, but many years later Ted comes looking for Liv and now her father is in a panic.
He has been keeping secrets all these years and never told her the full truth of that night in December, Christmas Eve when she gave birth...
I absolutely loved this series, was such a wonderful conclusion and all the pieces slotted into place.
So well done, couldn't wait to get onto the next.
So when she accidentally meets Ted they become fast friends.
Then over time they become something and the inevitable happens and Olivia is left in the family way.
Her father takes care of everything, takes her away to have the child, arranged an adoption but then Liv is told that her baby has died and Ted and his father have left town.
Devastated she has no choice but to move on with her life, but many years later Ted comes looking for Liv and now her father is in a panic.
He has been keeping secrets all these years and never told her the full truth of that night in December, Christmas Eve when she gave birth...
I absolutely loved this series, was such a wonderful conclusion and all the pieces slotted into place.
So well done, couldn't wait to get onto the next.
January 15, 2021
Brilliant just amazing the story of two young people falling in love and for a pregnancy to occur as a result of that love because she was under age her father took over me what am
Evil man exciting the young man and his father from there home sending them away and hiding the fact that there was twins the father was an Evil got who in my opinion got his just desserts dieing alone at least ted and Olivia got together in the end and found there daughters I sincerely hope that there is more to the Liverpool series an amazingly well told story
Evil man exciting the young man and his father from there home sending them away and hiding the fact that there was twins the father was an Evil got who in my opinion got his just desserts dieing alone at least ted and Olivia got together in the end and found there daughters I sincerely hope that there is more to the Liverpool series an amazingly well told story
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2021
This was book 3 in the series which I'm assuming is a trilogy, it tied up previous loose ends and brought the story to a conclusion. Liv and Ted were lovely characters and I really felt for them. You could read this as a standalone but it's best to read them in order so you understand what's going on.
July 31, 2021
So this is the final book in a series of three. It would probably have been a good idea to have read the first two books first! By the time I had got to the end I was thinking there was at least another plot going on, then I read the letter from the author and the penny dropped. However, I did think that there were too many coincidences to be credible.
March 25, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters were very engaging. I got the feeling a great deal of research had gone into the role of the WAAF and this enhanced the credibility of the story. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
June 24, 2021
A lovely book to read hard to put down. And didn't want it to end. I had my thoughts what would happen some were correct others surprised me .but I was pleased at the end would love a follow on book to follow the family further
April 6, 2024
Over The Rainbow
All three books were a great read. Was kept guessing right to the end but lovely endings. Be nice for a 4th book to see what happened after the war to all the characters.
All three books were a great read. Was kept guessing right to the end but lovely endings. Be nice for a 4th book to see what happened after the war to all the characters.
April 7, 2021
What a beautiful read from start to finish I loved this story as it grips you in and so looking forward to reading more by this wonderful writer
May 4, 2021
really enjoyed this book glad for the happy ending in hte series could not put it down
November 16, 2021
The story was interesting, I knew of the balloon Girls. Hard work! The end was interesting
March 15, 2023
I really enjoyed this book, in fact I loved reading it.
Read
December 1, 2025Another heart warming tale with an emotional ending
August 11, 2023
Easy holiday read one of three books following on from previous read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews