Book Review of 'These Long Shadows' by Jennifer Mistmorgan

Happy Saturday Bookworms!

I hope everyone is having a fantasic weekend so far! I am the matron of honor for my sister's upcoming wedding and today we will be doing our first bridal party get together! I am so excited to get some much-needed girl time and who doesn't love planning a wedding!

Today I am featuring a novel in one of my favorite genres by another new-to-me author so I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this Historical WWII Romance and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and enter the amazing giveaway from JustRead Tours.

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for These Long Shadows by Jennifer Mistmorgan, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: These Long Shadows
Series: On Victory's Wings #3
Author: Jennifer Mistmorgan
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: March 21, 2025
Genre: Historical Romance WWII

How do they rebuild a marriage that wasn’t real in the first place?

London, 1945: Two years ago, Jonty Ables married Katie Baines to save her and her unborn baby from shame. But now the war is all but over, the baby is gone and they must work out where their shaky marriage fits into lives irrevocably changed by war.

Clinging to the memory of a time before all happiness evaporated, Katie works hard during the day as a seamstress. At night she comes home to a tiny terrace on a bomb-scarred street, crammed with her extended family and their problems. Years of estrangement sit between her and her recently demobilized husband. She’s not even sure she loves him, so why is she so crushed that he calls out another woman’s name in his sleep?

Jonty is determined to honor the vows he made no matter how many ghosts now plague him, but with such separate lives his wife is more of a stranger than ever. When Katie’s friend goes missing, Jonty seizes the opportunity to help her find him just so they have a reason to talk. But the war casts long shadows over their efforts, and fighting for their future might just be the hardest battle of them all.

If you love epic wartime romance with a dash of intrigue, you’ll love this second-chance, marriage-of-convenience love story.

My Review

There is so much emphasis that is put on the horrors of World War II that oftentimes the aftermath is an afterthought while it was just as tragic. Lives that have been upended try to come back together in fragmented pieces, and those bits have been reshaped due to what they’ve endured during the war. Not a single person came out of that war unscathed, and These Long Shadows shows the hard road to recovery as the war is winding down with its own unique complications.

Though it had a slower start for me, once I was hooked, I was transfixed. There is a lot of unspoken pain within these pages, almost like everyone is mindlessly going through the motions of life until they figure out where they fit or what they need to do. I can only imagine how lost you’d feel after years of fighting an all-consuming war.

I enjoyed the little mysteries that are nestled in the middle of the book, which adds more layers of intrigue to an already compelling story. I loved how organic it all felt. This world and these characters felt alive to me. The descriptive writing and world building are impeccable. When I read that the author experienced the loss of a child herself, that is when it became clear to me as to why it felt so real…because in a manner of speaking, it was.

The time after the war ends had one of my favorite moments, showing a glimpse of the euphoria that must’ve been felt when the war was finally over. That feeling must’ve been palpable, like the world could breathe after years of holding it in, and this moment at the beach highlighted this beautifully.

An exceptional story with the happiest of endings, These Long Shadows is another viewpoint that shows another facet of a tumultuous time in history exquisitely.

My Rating: ★★★★★

About the Author

Australian author Jennifer Mistmorgan sometimes feels like she was born in the wrong era. So she writes romantic historical fiction set in the 1940s, against the backdrop of WWII and its aftermath. She infuses her sweet romances with wartime drama, gentle faith and a dash of intrigue. She lives in Canberra with her family and a wonky-eared West Highland terrier.

Connect with Jennifer by visiting jennifermistmorgan.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email newsletter updates.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a $20 Amazon Gift Card (US$)!

(5) additional winners will each receive an ebook bundle of all 3 books in the "On Victory's Wings" series!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 25, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on April 1, 2025. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Open internationally. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!