While You Were Mine

By: Ann Howard Creel

Narrated by: Carly Robins

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Everything she loved could so easily be lost.

The end of World War II should have brought joy to Gwen Mullen. But on V-J Day, her worst fear is realized. As celebrating crowds gather in Times Square, a soldier appears on her doorstep to claim Mary, the baby abandoned to Gwen one year earlier. Suddenly Gwen is on the verge of losing the child she has nurtured and loves dearly.

With no legal claim to Mary, Gwen begins to teach Lieutenant John McKee how to care for his child, knowing that he will ultimately take Mary away. What starts as a contentious relationship, however, turns into something more, and Gwen must open her heart to learn that love means taking chances.

While You Were Mine paints a vivid portrait of 1940s New York and tells an enchanting tale of the nature of love and trust.

©2015 Ann Howard Creel (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

cute

the story is a little slow and tedious as times. but I always enjoy a happy ending

I loved the narrator. I could hear her just fine.

Cute WWll story

I loved the history and romance aspect. Good story line too. Predictable ending.

I couldn't finish this one..uggh

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would NOT recommend this book to anyone. I was dying of boredom. I made it about half way through the book. I might try to finish it later. Normally, I would not write a review without finishing but here's what I've found: 1) Like Creel's last book, we have another female in a tight spot with a "baby" situation. Again, she has a friend with man troubles. Again, her love interest is initially presented as a desperate, pitiable, but respectable man. I feel like it's just another version of "The Magic of Ordinary Days" 2) The idea of the story, the basic plot, sounds great "on paper" but the telling of the story is poorly executed. There is nothing driving the story forward, no reason behind why the characters do what they do. For example, I was excited to see what made Gwen finally decide to confess her feelings to John and the answer was...nothing. Like MANY other times in the book Gwen goes back and forth about her feelings, then this time she just decides do it it with no real REASON for her decision. I was surprised and felt let down by the author. 3) The author approaches the telling of this story too much like a history lesson. It's clear she's done her research and history is an important part to this story. However, it should be just that--a story, not a history lesson. She gives LOADS of excellent descriptions of the events and circumstances--but again, we are not here to have someone give lovely flowery descriptions of the beach scene on Coney Island. We are here for a really good story. She needs to use her descriptions to support the story. Instead, she lets the story get lost in the background of all the mundane events. I think if the author works on her storytelling she could be a good author but right now she is simply describer of events and environments. I felt like I was reading a diary instead of a book. 4) This is not my favorite narrator. She does a good job with inflection but her voice sounds robotic and her male voices all sound nasal. It's kind of hard to enjoy what SHOULD be a romance with this kind of narration. 5) The overall effect of the story combined with the narration was making me bored and depressed.

Has While You Were Mine turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, but I will think twice before reading this author and this narrator again.

What about Carly Robins’s performance did you like?

She has a good pace and reads the story well.

Could you see While You Were Mine being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I can't say. I couldn't finish this book.

Good romance

But the narrator's German accent sounded more Russian or Eastern European at times. Good listen, though.

real story

the real story about the mixed results in soldiers after World War 2 and the family who loves them. Enjoyed listening during my commute.

Narrator

I enjoyed the story line and the time period of the story. The narrator whispered some of time and could not be heard. Otherwise she was good.

Great narrator

I would have given this a 3.5, but GR doesn't allow. I listened to the audio version and the narrator was great! I loved the writing and the characters, but the plot wasn't to my liking. I don't typically read love stories because they are often too sappy. While You Were Mine became tedious and predictable.

Pretty predictable

A pretty predictable story, kind of ho-hum in places but I plodded thru. Tho I admit, if I were "reading" it I probably would have flipped thru a number of pages.
The narration was good and probably the one reason I didn't just fast forward.
Very easy car/driving listening

sweet with relatable characters

this book definitely held my attention and even hot a few tears out of me. enjoyable!

Good for background noise

Narrator was good, easy to listen too. Book itself was slow and steady ; no real climax to it . #saveyour credits