The East End Girls #3

Published  May 29, 2026 by @Bookouture

East London, 1943: As air raid sirens wail, can the East End Girls join forces to protect their city and the people they love?

Nell Reilly’s blonde curls and piercing blue eyes might look angelic, but she is ready to fight with everything she has for a better future. Brought up in London’s tough East End, she is fiercely determined to keep the promise she made to her little sister Jo to build a new life for them one day. Until a chance meeting changes everything…

Absorbed in her work with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, the last thing Nell is looking for is love, but tall, broad-shouldered Tom Hunter stops her in her tracks. Tom is her wayward brother Frank’s new right-hand man in his black-market operations, and Nell knows from bitter experience the risks of falling for a man like that. But when she witnesses his unexpected kindness and sees how he cares for Jo, she realises that Tom has made an impression she can’t forget, no matter how hard she tries…

But Tom has a secret, one he’s finding harder and harder to keep. And when Nell finally discovers that he is an undercover police officer, she also learns something that makes her heart his cover is blown and he’s in terrible danger.

As London prepares for another night of air raids, Nell races through the blackout to find Tom and warn him. Can she reach him in time to save his life? And as bombs crash down over the East End, will their love survive to fight another day?

My Thoughts:

I was delighted the author included the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in her story! They were part of British Royal Air Force during the Second World War and their supportive roles across the British Empire is fascinating to read about.

A Wartime Promise for the East End Girls also centers around the black market in East London during the war and Nell’s family is caught right in the middle of it. Nell doesn’t approve of her family’s criminal activities and wants a better life for her sister and herself. Nell and Jo’s situation is precarious and the sisters must make a decision that could break their family apart.

Jean Fullerton certainly did her research for this book, and it shows through her use of the unique dialect during that era.

There was also a little romance in this story and it was well balanced for the story and was heartfelt to read about.

The style of language, the well-researched historical elements really put me in the time and place. I enjoyed this story so much and I was fully engaged in the character’s lives.

A wartime story for the ages!

Stephanie

I obtained a review copy from the publishers through NetGalley for an honest review.