Also by this author: When Twilight Breaks
Series: Sunrise at Normandy #3
Published by Revell on February 4, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Historical, Romance
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In 1943, Private Clay Paxton trains hard with the US Army Rangers at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, determined to do his best in the upcoming Allied invasion of France. With his future stolen by his brothers' betrayal, Clay has only one thing to live for--fulfilling the recurring dream of his death.
Leah Jones works as a librarian at Camp Forrest, longing to rise above her orphanage upbringing and belong to the community, even as she uses her spare time to search for her real family--the baby sisters she was separated from so long ago.
After Clay saves Leah's life from a brutal attack, he saves her virtue with a marriage of convenience. When he ships out to train in England for D-day, their letters bind them together over the distance. But can a love strong enough to overcome death grow between them before Clay's recurring dream comes true?
The Land Beneath Us is the third book in Sarah Sundin’s Sunrise at Normandy series. It is the continuing story of the three Paxton brothers, Wyatt, Adler, and Clayton. This book gives us Clay’s story.
Clayton is the youngest son, the one wronged by both his brothers. He is the half-brother who believes he is not wanted….and more. All of these…this is where we find Clayton at the beginning of the story. His life dream had been to be a doctor, but then because of those tragic circumstances he faced at home, he leaves and is determined to join the Rangers. He’s got a dream in his mind that gives him purpose. He believes he knows what exactly the rest of his life will be about, and what his ultimate destiny will be.
The other important person in this book is Leah, an orphan who finds herself at Camp Forrest, a military base in Tennessee, in the middle of soldiers who are there taking basic training. In search of a job, she finds one at a library, which is right down her alley. Then, she faces a very bad happening, and Clayton becomes her knight in shining armor.
This is their story. I hesitate to say too much more, because I don’t want to give any spoilers. But, I really enjoyed seeing their characters grow, both in their relationship and in their personal lives.
Leah is a heroine I would love to have known, to have as a friend. She is strong, determined, and courageous. Her strength becomes more apparent as she is pushed into even more hard times. I found her search for her birth family also to be quite intriguing. She has faint memories of her childhood, those days before her parents died, before she and her little twin sisters were left at the orphanage. If only she could remember more details.
Sarah Sundin has a way of writing about this war, the events, the setting, the details, all of it, that puts you right in the middle of the action. I found myself there with Clay as he faced death at the hand of the Germans. Not to be forgotten, this story also lets you experience the war on American soil, right there with Leah as she searched for purpose and meaning, and a place to belong.
If you enjoy reading historical fiction, especially books about WWII, you won’t want to miss this one!
