Book Review: Dangerous Days for the Home Front Nurses by Rachel Brimble

Published February 20, 2025 | By Mick Arnold

Please join me in welcoming Rachel Brimble to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest novel, Dangerous Days for the Home Front Nurses.

April 1942, Bath – the nurses are under fire in the city they once thought safe…

Freda knows the work she does on the home front is vital. Especially when bombs begin raining down on her beloved city of Bath and she and her friends find themselves feeling the effects of war like never before.

Years of being told to be a ‘good girl’ by her mother, Freda has always done what’s been expected of her. But, even though she’s proud of her work nursing soldiers and victims of war, she can’t help but wonder if there’s more for her in life. And her secret desire to become a journalist feels increasingly like a calling she can’t resist.

Even though it’s not considered work suitable for women, Freda knows she has to follow her dream. Even if it means leaving her nursing, friendships and maybe even true love behind. But then tragedy strikes close to home, and she has to ask herself – can she ever find a way to make her dreams come true?

A completely gripping, heartwarming story of friendship, love and following your dreams. Dangerous Days for T{::}he Home Front Nurses is perfect for fans of Lizzie Lane, Rosie Clarke, and Call the Midwife.

*****

‘Dangerous Days for the Homefront Nurses’ is a superb follow-up to ‘The Home Front Nurses’ and I hope the author is proud of what she has produced.

The author wastes no time in setting the scene and then ratchets the tension to high, as we open in the middle of a German air raid on the historic city of Bath, where the story is set. The protagonists are nurses and so are right in the middle of the action. With around the first quarter-ish of the book set both during and directly after this event, the author kept my fingers ready to turn the page as the action does not let up for an instance. The description of the scene outside and within the hospital are some of the most realistic I have come across, and this goes a long way to the authenticity of the book.

If I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was there and if I had have been, then I’d have known I was in the best hands possible. This is, however, not simply a book packed full of action, it’s also one which took me through an emotional wrangle; set at the perfect level, just enough to make me gasp in the right places, but not enough where I ever wanted to stop reading.

The nurses also have plenty to deal with outside of work, with each having major troubles to deal with, both personally and with their families. Love comes knocking, both expected and in an unexpected and brave way, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

The writing is smooth, never hurried, in spite of the break-neck speed, especially of the first quarter of the story. I fell in love, in different ways and for different reasons with each main character and due to the skill of the author’s writing, even began to understand and sympathise with a current/previous frenemy of the main girls.

Changes are afoot at the end and I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the next, what I hope will be of many, instalment.

Finally, I should like to extend my thanks to the author for writing this book, to Rachel for hosting her Blog Tour, and Laura of Novel Kicks for allowing me to review this wonderful book.

About Rachel Brimble –

Rachel Brimble is the bestselling author of over thirty works of historical romance and saga fiction, most recently published by Aria

The first book in her new series with Boldwood, The Home Front Nurses, set in Bath, was published in August 2024.

Her latest novel, Dangerous Days for the Home Front Nurses, book two in the Home Front Nurses series, was released by Boldwood Books on 14th February 2025. Click here to buy on Amazon and Waterstones.

Say hello to Rachel on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Bookbub. Click here to sign up to her newsletter.