The Wartime Lodging House: Book 3
Publication Date: May 6, 2026
London, 1940. In a Mayfair townhouse behind a wide front door, three women must bond together to make it through the war – no matter their differences.
A world away from the wealth and comfort of her family home, lord’s daughter Betony Styles has come to love her new life at a London lodging house with Grace and Jess. Selling her beautiful gowns to pay for her rent and rations for the other girls, Betony is determined to do her bit.
By day she works in the factory sewing much-needed uniforms for the Women’s Air Force. At night, air raid sirens blaze – but Betony and the other girls do all they can to help in the hardest hit neighbourhoods, rescuing a precious newborn from the rubble. And she’s head over heels with her beau, brave Canadian pilot Winter Macpherson.
But her father believes duty to her family should come before her duty for her country. He demands she give up playing games and come home once and for all.
To stand up to her father and follow her own path, Betony needs Grace and Jess more than ever. But when Winter disappears, her heart shatters. Together, can the lodging house girls give each other hope even in the darkest times?
A completely unputdownable historical novel, perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe. Your heart will break at this beautiful story of love, friendship and courage.
With air raid sirens filling the air and German bombs creating a path of destruction through London, Betony Styles is having a crisis of her own.
Author Natalie Meg Evans delivers the third installment of the Wartime Lodging House series with The Lady at the Lodging House. The books can be read as standalones, but reading them in sequence will illustrate character growth.
A perfect example is Betony, who appears to be rather vain and lacking substance. However, it is her time to shine in this installment. An unexpected event alters her profoundly, yet she shows a remarkable sense of resilience.
Her roommates and landlady appear in the story, experiencing their own struggles. Jess and Grace, both working as part of the war effort, worry about their military boyfriends while Mrs. Kesgrave keeps everyone’s spirits high.
Betony’s challenge centers around her father’s inability to believe she is a capable young woman. She must resort to trickery to raise the necessary funds, but in the process, she gains self-confidence. She, too, worries about her Canadian pilot and whether their relationship is more than superficial.
The author captures the exhaustion of being assigned fire duty, ensuring that embers from enemy bombs don’t ignite the factory’s roof.
The Lady at the Lodging House brings the story of the three young women full circle in a satisfying conclusion.
Natalie Meg Evans has been an art student, actor, PR copywriter, book-keeper and bar tender but always wanted to write. A USA Today best-seller and RITA nominee, she is author of four published novels which follow the fortunes of strong-minded women during the 1930s and 40s. Fashion, manners and art are the glass through which her characters’ lives are viewed. Each novel is laced with passion, romance and desire. Mystery is never far away.
An avid absorber of history – for her sixth birthday she got a toy Arthurian castle with plastic knights – Natalie views historical fiction as theatre for the imagination. Her novels delve behind the scenes of a prestige industry: high fashion, millinery, theatre, wine making. Rich arenas for love and conflict. Most at home in the English countryside, Natalie lives in rural Suffolk. She has one son.
