Spoiled, wealthy Iris Tredwick joins the WRNS and is sent to a remote posting in Orkney. Soon she meets mechanic Rob, but her domineering mother does not approve. Then tragedy strikes, and Iris fears the enemy is at work on the island. Can she and her friends prevent another disaster?

Newport-based author, Vicki Beeby, has WON the Romantic Saga Award with her novel, A New Start for the Wrens, for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) annual Romantic Novel Awards for 2023. The awards celebrate excellence in romantic fiction in all its forms.

Vicki Beeby writes historical fiction about the friendships and loves of service women brought together by the Second World War. Her first job was as a civil engineer on a sewage treatment project, so things could only improve from there. Since then, she has worked as a maths teacher and education consultant before turning freelance to give herself more time to write. In her free time, when she can drag herself away from reading, she enjoys walking and travelling to far-off places by train. She lives in Shropshire in a house that doesn’t contain nearly enough bookshelves.

She commented, ‘This has to count as one of my proudest achievements – I’m thrilled to have won. Writing A New Start for the Wrens gave me an escape from the stresses of lockdown, and I’ve been touched by messages from readers telling me how the book helped them through difficult times. Without the support I’ve had from the RNA I don’t think I’d have written it in the first place so I’m really grateful for the amazing work they do championing romantic fiction.’