The Road to Wings by Julie Tizard is a slow-burn, action-adventure romance about what it takes to be a woman in the US Air Force in 1992.
Earning your wings in the air comes with a high price tag if you’re not careful, you put your life on the line daily. When your heart and soul also become involved, it makes the journey all that more difficult.
Lieutenant Casey Tompkins has just started her flight training program. It’s the most difficult training in the world, even more so if you’re a woman. She has to face a lot during her training, she loses a friend, has male instructors who try to wash her out, and meets a woman whom she struggles not to fall for. In the air, she’s faced with flying a supersonic jet while navigating dangerous weather conditions, and other pilots’ mistakes.
Captain Kathryn Hardesty is tough, she has to be. She was one of the first women instructors in the program and she is the best. She knows the price that comes from making mistakes in the air and has lived through the tragedy. She makes it her mission to look out for all her students, especially the female ones.
Casey has to find the courage and determination it takes to become an air force pilot, can she overcome all the obstacles and find love along the way without crashing and burning?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
One of the things I liked most about this book is that it is full of so much information about becoming an air force pilot. It really helps you emerge yourself into the story and at times I felt like I was in the plane flying it. The details keep you on the edge of your seat when things get tough and help you feel elated when achievements are made.
Both Casey and Kathryn are really great characters with a lot of depth. They are women who love women trying to survive in the US army where they are already at a huge disadvantage because of their gender. The fact that they have to also hide whom they love, otherwise it will end their careers makes them all the braver and endearing.
Kathryn is such a brave individual, she is living with grief that affects her both professionally and personally, yet she just keeps going. Instead of letting it stop her, she uses it to do her job to the best of her ability with no compromises. She’s scared to love again but when push comes to shove she uses all her courage to take the leap. I really admire her.
The slow-burn romance is both sweet and full of longing. The book is set in a time period where being a homosexual in the armed forces meant you were instantly thrown out. The characters have to be careful and the anguish it causes them is heartbreaking but also makes the ending all the more delicious.
Cons And Heads Up
One of the characters is living with the grief of a partner she lost at work and is unable to share it due to being in the air force in the 90’s
The Conclusion
If you like books about the air force, that are accurate and full of great details then this one is for you. The author is a pilot and it shows in her storytelling.
The Road to Wings is full of action and adventure, with a beautiful romance woven into it. It’s full of soaring highs and crash-and-burn lows that you will feel in your soul. It has a great cast of characters to love and some that you will despise. This book will pull you into the world of the US Air Force and hold you on the precipice until it sends you into the free fall of a delightful conclusion.
Excerpt from The Road to Wings by Julie Tizard
Captain Hardesty walked through the squadron building in the late afternoon. Most of the IPs and students were either gone for the day or out flying as she went to each flight room looking through student grade books. She could scan a grade book in a few seconds and spot training problems immediately. She knew the trends to look for to see a problem before it occurred. The door to Good Grief flight was locked, so she used her master key to let herself in.
“Jesus, Kath, you scared the crap out of me,” Captain Arnau said after she jumped at the noise.
“Why are you still here, Barb? You’re on early week and you came in at 0300 hours. It’s 1600 hours, and you’re over your twelve-hour max duty day limit.”
“I know, I know. I’m here because my schedule for tomorrow isn’t finished. That’s why the door is locked. And why are you here, by the way?”
“I’m just checking grade books looking for training problem trends. Your class and Warlock’s are getting near first solos, so the problem children are starting to show up.”
“Tell me about it, Kath. That’s why I have to fix my schedule board before tomorrow because we have so many students on busted rides.”
“Warlock has already washed out three students so far, including their only woman student.”
“Who?”
“Lieutenant Carol Stevens. She couldn’t get over her airsickness.” “Well, you can’t do much about that if they keep getting airsick.”
“Uh-huh,” Kathryn mumbled as she flipped through the grade books. She stopped when she got to Tompkins, Lieutenant C. She studied Casey’s grade sheet and scowled.
“What’s the matter, Kath?”
“I think Carter’s setting up Casey Tompkins to wash her out pre-solo.”
“He gave her a Fair on her EP sim today, but I thought she was doing okay.”
From her previous job as the Good Grief flight commander, Kathryn knew exactly what you had to do to build a case against a student you wanted to get rid of. Carter was sly about it. He didn’t bust Tompkins directly on any of her rides. That would have required the flight commander to fly with her. Instead, he wanted to control all her flights and was documenting a failure to progress in the individual maneuvers, then giving her a grade of Fair. Seeing this, anger burned in her stomach like a bad meal.
Even though women had been in pilot training for sixteen years, and had performed exceptionally well as Air Force pilots, some male pilots still resented women in pilot training. They felt they had the right to try to get rid of women student pilots just because they didn’t like them. Clearly, Carter was one of these guys.
She remembered with excruciating clarity all the crap she’d put up with to earn her wings. She’d endured blatant and subtle harassment every day of pilot training.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-62639-987-7
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Inc.
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