First Chapter Review & Giveaway: They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark

 

I received a digital copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This biographical historical romance novel is set before and during World War II.

BLURB: They were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love and wanting to be a family, but WW2 got in their way. Three hundred ten days before Pearl Harbor, buck private Dean Sherman innocently went to church with a new friend in Salt Lake City. From that moment, the unsuspecting soldier travelled a remarkable, heroic path, falling in love, graduating from demanding training to become a B29 pilot, conceiving a son and entering the China, Burma and India theater of the WW2. He chronicled his story with letters home to his bride Connie that he met on that fateful Sunday, blind to the fact that fifteen hundred seventy-five days after their meeting, a Japanese swordsman would end his life. 

Transferred to the Mariana Islands, he and his crew were shot down over Nagoya, Japan as part of Mission 174, captured and declared war criminals. Connie’s letters reveal life for a brand-new mother whose husband is declared MIA. The agony for both of them; he in a Japanese prison, declared a war criminal, and she just not knowing why his letters stopped coming.

COVER: Beautiful. The photograph of the Shermans along with the WWII era planes speaks to the subject, genre, and time period. Love the blue background.

FIRST CHAPTER: The author starts at the beginning--which in this story is the day Stan Carter met Private Dean Harold Sherman, took a shine to him, and invited him to church and for a visit to his girlfriend's house. Little did Dean know that he would meet his future wife in that church, and that a war they didn't know was brewing, would separate them forever. 

KEEP READING: Definitely. I've got to be honest, I struggled with the mountain of information, characters, and events included in this first chapter, but once I got to the end of the chapter, I totally understood why the author opted to introduce the reader to Dean Harold Sherman this way. Thankfully, Roger Stark broke all the bits and pieces up into sections by date, so that helped me digest each part before moving on.

You can quickly tell that the subtitle of this book, "A History of Love, War, and Family" is appropriate. I like the intention behind it, since this allows the book to be of interest to those who enjoy some romance, those interested in WWII history, and those who like family sagas. 

Even in this first chapter, Stark uses Connie Sherman's words to make this story come alive for the reader. Prior to the first chapter, the author indicates some scenes are taken from documents in the National Archives, while others are dramatizations based on historical research. Stark has also used the sixty-seven letters written by First Lieutenant Dean Sherman and Connie Sherman as inspiration. 

I look forward to reading more of They Called Him Marvin.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brigham Distributing (September 1, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0578855283
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0578855288
• Purchase here!

This First Chapter Review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Roger Stark is giving away three autographed copies of his book, THEY CALLED HIM MARVIN!

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• Three winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one autographed paperback copy of They Called Him Marvin
• This giveaway ends midnight June 30.
• Winner will be contacted via email on July 1.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway