Wednesday, July 9, 2025

"Victoria Grace: Courageous Patriot" by Eleanor Clark

About this book:

  “Eight-year-old Sara Elizabeth has just started a brand new year of school, but doesn't like it. If she had her way, she would just quit and never return. She's just too scared, to be honest. However, when Grand Doll visits the school and shares the story of Victoria Grace, a little girl from their family who lived during the time of the Revolutionary war, Sara learns that God can give her the courage she needs to face life's many challenges.”


Series: Book #2 in “The Eleanor” series. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- Joshua 1:9 in the acknowledgments; Scriptures are read, remembered, quoted, mentioned, & thought over; Many Prayers; Church going, singing hymns, & sermons; Many talks about God, Him helping us and being with us, & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Victoria Grace renews her commitment to follow Christ; Many mentions of God, Jesus Christ, trusting Him, & His will; Many mentions of prayers, praying, & praising God; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, hymns, & a reverend; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events from the Bible; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of the freedom to worship as one chooses; A couple mentions of schools no longer have the Ten Commandments hanging up or a prayer at the start of the day nowadays; A mention of a godly man. 
 

Negative Content- Crying over a death & Fainting (barely-above-not-detailed); Set during the Revolutionary War & many mentions of the war, battles, fighting, deaths, grief, injuries, & Victoria Grace helping the wounded (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoilers* One of Victoria Grace’s classmates goes off to join the army to fight and ends up dying, which Victoria Grace witnesses when he is brought in with other wounded soldiers for treatment; Victoria Grace sees the boy’s mother sobbing and she also cries *End of Spoilers*; Victoria Grace is teased by a classmate (calling her “teacher’s pet” and “carrot top” plus also pulling on her hair and dipping her braid into his inkwell; She does not tell the teacher as the boy had already been to the corner as a punishment that day; He later apologizes); Mentions of giving stitches, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of brothers fighting & injuring the other; A few mentions of other wars & deaths; A couple mentions of Indian uprisings; 
             *Note: The famous quote “Don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes!” is said twice and explained; Victoria Grace wants to be a doctor and when her brothers tell her she can’t because she’s a girl, she moans inside her head that “she would never understand why boys got to do so much more than girls” (one brother says that a teacher is a suitable job for a girl, but Victoria Grace still thinks it’s unfair she can’t be a doctor; She starts to be an assistant to her town’s doctor and works alongside him taking care of injured people and wounded soldiers; Later, she realizes she can never be a real doctor, but wants to continue working alongside the town doctor); A couple mentions of a husband/grandfather having to live in a nursing home (Sarah Elizabeth’s grandfather); A couple mentions of a quote from author & book series (Mark Twain & Little House on the Prairie). 
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
             *Note: Victoria Grace’s best friend says that she wishes she was half as smart as her and Victoria Grace responds that she wishes she was half as pretty as her friend; A mention of a couple that was “never blessed with children” (said by the wife).
 
-Sarah Elizabeth
-Victoria Grace McElyea, age 11-13
             P.O.V. switches between them (Jennifer in Prologue & Epilogue only)
                          Set in present day (prologue & epilogue) & 1775-1776
                                                        209 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Set before and during the Revolutionary War, this was a great book to read around the Fourth of July! 

 

Like the first book in this series, the prologue and epilogue are in a modern girl’s POV and the majority of the book is following a young girl living in a historical time; in this book, we follow Mary’s daughter, Victoria Grace, living in 1775-1776. 

 

This story was very faith-filled and had a major emphasis on trusting in the Lord and being courageous. While I’m not usually a big fan of reading this time-period (I’m more of an early 1900s fan), I truly appreciate my American freedom and enjoyed seeing Victoria Grace’s passion and her story. There was also bonus content like questions to ponder, historical facts, how to play pretend with creating a one-room schoolhouse supplies and setting, and even a devotional-like section about courage.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 




*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

 

Saturday, July 5, 2025

"Chaos we Unravel" by Chelsea Michelle

About this book:

  “A woman’s scream. A mysterious fire. And an entire town of suspects.
    Fourth of July is a day twins Chelsea and Michelle look forward to every year. In Maple Springs, it means a day of community, celebration, and family fun.
    When chaos erupts in the heart of the town picnic, Michelle cannot resist the urge to straighten it out. While she starts to chase down leads, Chelsea tries hard not to be drawn into the chaos.
    As sunset falls, Michelle is determined to unravel the chaos before the real culprit escapes. With each clue she discovers, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place, turning an ordinary Fourth of July into an adventure that Chelsea didn’t sign up for.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Watson Twins Mini Mystery” series. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- Prayers & praising God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; A couple mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A mention of church; 
             *Note: Chelsea & Michelle share a twin connection where they can have internal conversations with the other; The phrases “hotter than blazes” and someone running like the “devil himself” was after him are both said once; A mention of being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crap’, a ‘duh’, a ‘geeze’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘suckers’, two ‘drat’s, and four ‘stupid’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); All about & many mentions of a fire, thieves, stealing, & stolen money; Mentions of guns & gunshots; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; 
             *Note: A mention of brand names (Under Armor); A mention of Scooby Doo.
 
 
Sexual Content- A bit of touches & fluttering (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Women are called “chicks” (by main characters’ and their brother); Michelle is concerned that she might fall out of love again and wants chemistry with a guy; A comment about college girls being “notorious” for falling in love with older men, but another says “Wrong. they fall in love with hunky college professions”; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, interest in someone, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of winks; A mention of cheating.
 
-Michelle Watson
-Chelsea Watson
                                1st person P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        114 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

It was fun to read a mystery set on the Fourth of July on the Fourth of July. ðŸ‡ºðŸ‡¸ðŸ§¨ ðŸŽ†

 

As far as the story, I liked how this mystery was a bit low-key and had no murders. It took a little bit for me to remember the characters and their backgrounds—and I pretty got Michelle and Chelsea mixed up a few times at least, but it eventually came back to me. There were enough suspects that could have felt overwhelming, but the authors did well on making it easy on my brain to keep straight. I will say that I’m finding Michelle a little annoying though, particularly because of her messy dating life and wanting chemistry with a guy. I’m going to need her to get it together or it’s going to be difficult to read the next book in the series. ðŸ˜…

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 





*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

Friday, July 4, 2025

"A Will and a Way" by Johnnie Alexander

About this book:

  “Spring has arrived, and Harriet Bailey teams up with wildlife rehabilitator Garth Hamblin on an intriguing quest—tracking down an injured European pine marten. No one has seen more than a glimpse of the elusive endangered species for many years. Garth hopes that together they can find and protect it. But can they do it quickly and quietly before someone else finds the creature?
    Meanwhile, Harriet is happy to meet White Church Bay’s newest arrivals, Elena Hunter and her son, Jack. When the two move into a neglected seaside cottage, the local gossips invent outlandish stories about them. But then the newcomers’ lives are threatened, and Harriet rallies to their defense…although she cannot deny that she is curious about them. Why are they in town in the first place? Why is Elena so cagey about her past and Jack’s? And will their secrets put Harriet and her loved ones in danger?”


Series: Book #11 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to the prior books’ reviews: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, and Book #10!


Spiritual Content- 1 Corinthians 13:13 at the beginning; A few Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & remembered; Prayers; Talks about God & those and events in the Bible; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, children’s church, Bible studies, & a pastor; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of faith & having faith; A mention of miracles; 
             *Note: Mentions of luck; A mention of a movie showing a cat going to the “feline afterlife”
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A ‘dumb’; Some eye rolling; A fire, Trying to rescue someone in a fire, Injuries, & Pain (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone faint & another trapped in a fire (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of injured animals, mistreated animals, blood/bleeding, broken bones, & Harriet’s veterinary clinic treatments (including her doing surgeries & a dog that was hit by a car, a cat that was rescued from a burning trash can, and dog being left to starve to death, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths & grief (including from a boating accident & cancer; for wives, siblings, & parents); Mentions of accidents (including a biker being hit by a car and someone being trapped in a fire), injuries, pain, passing out, & it being touch and go for someone due to injuries; Mentions of poisons & someone being poisoned by someone who wants them ill; Mentions of crimes (including a hit-and-run), criminals, & arrests; Mentions of a break-in & intruder; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of the events in Book #4 that involved sibling rivalry and a near tragedy; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of a pub; A couple mentions of wars; A couple mentions of car accidents; A couple mentions of gambling; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of a woman hiding from her abusive husband; A mention of being bullied;
             *Note: Harriet thinks about women she knew that had relationships with others that were full of competition and backstabbing rather than the “unconditional love and support that characterized healthy friendships”; Mentions of authors, books, & fictional characters and events (The Brontë Sisters’ books); Mentions of a movie (The Three Lives of Thomasina); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of comedians (The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, & Jerry Lewis); A mention of BBC; A mention of Queen Elizabeth; A mention of a horror movie. 
 
 
Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; A bit of touches, embraces, butterflies, smelling, & nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Harriet thinks about her broken engagement and is concerned that she could be mistaken again about being in love; Mentions of dates, dating, break-ups, & a broken engagement; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of being smitten; A mention of a woman throwing herself at a man; A bit of love, being in love, & the emotions; 
             *Note: Harriet has a moment of self-consciousness when around a glamorous woman.
 
-Harriet Bailey, age 34 (?)
                                P.O.V. of Harriet 
                                                        240 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Book eleven in this cozy mystery series introduces new characters, some familiar faces, and also a couple mysteries with a lot of details to keep up with. I will say that it did take me a bit to get into this mystery, but I kept reading and found the plot interesting as different things were revealed. 

 

It was interesting to learn about the pine marten which aren’t actually endangered but are adorable. This book had a lot more of Harriet being a veterinarian and fixing up hurt animals, probably the most out of the whole series so far. There was a some suspense at the end too that I wasn’t expecting and I look forward to seeing what happens next for these characters.

 

 

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review! 




*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

"The Mermaid's Tale" by L.E. Richmond

About this book: 

  “A Tail Could Tell a Tale
   Locklyn Adair has never fit in. The legs she inherited as a result of her great-great-grandmother’s curse make it impossible for her to belong under the sea. When her niece is also born without a tail, Locklyn is determined to save her from similar rejection by sending her to the only place in the Undersea Realm where legs are acceptable—the Lost Island of Atlantis.
    Darin Aalto would do anything to protect his family, even spearheading an impossible quest to find treasure that has been lost for over a hundred years. But when his best friend, Locklyn, joins his crew, his ability to keep her safe—and his shot at winning her heart—comes perilously close to being swept away.
    A family curse, lost treasure, unrequited love, and a race against time intertwine as Locklyn and Darin seek to save their family, their kingdom, and eventually the entire Undersea Realm without losing each other.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Chronicles of the Undersea Realm”.


Spiritual Content- Matthew 8:17 at the beginning; Prayers to the “Wave Master”; A couple talks about the Wave Master; ’H’s are capital when referring to the Wave Master; Darin isn’t afraid of death because “death is just a door, leading to the realm where we will see the Wave Master face-to-face”; Darin hears/feels the Wave Master talking to him about resting in Him; Mentions of the Wave Master; Mentions of prayers, praying, & praising and thanking the Wave Master; A few mentions of a prophetess at a Wave Master’s temple telling someone about an event that will happen (which comes true); A couple mentions of the Wave Master’s Realm; A mention of a hymn about the Wave Master; 
             *Note: Fictional phrases are said and exclaimed like: “What in the Wave Master’s name” once, “Master of the Waves” once, and “Wave Master knows” twice; Locklyn is called a “witch” thrice (because of her legs and being able to sing); Most Crura (mermaids or mermen that are born with legs instead of a tail) have a “Land Dweller” in their ancestry, but Locklyn’s legs are a result of an ancestor crossing the Sea Enchantress; Locklyn’s ancestor made a deal with the Sea Enchantress to gain legs for her tail and was supposed to give her voice to the enchantress as a payment, but the ancestor didn’t keep her end of the deal and so the enchantress cursed her lineage; Locklyn is able to sing spells and it affects wild creatures or merfolk to sometimes do what she wants (such as singing them a lullaby to force sleep or calm them from attacking); Falling in enchanted sleep (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of magic, the Sea Enchantress, her cursing a mermaid for not keeping her part of a deal, her dark magic, spells, enchantments, & sorcerers; Mentions of Locklyn and another singing to control or influence other merfolk or wild creatures; Mentions of sirens (described as a torso of a woman and has the bottom half of a squid); A few mentions of evil; A mention of another kingdom who “worship” science.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘suck-up’, two forms of ‘blast/blasted’, and eight forms of ‘stupid’; Fictional phrases are all said and exclaimed like: “why/how under the sea” nine times, giving or not giving “two periwinkles” about something four times, “for the love of everything under the sea” once, and “great blue whales” once; Mentions of curses (said but not written, including by Darin); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Eavesdropping; Lots of Fighting (including for the characters’ lives and against dangerous predators), Being choked, Being held at knife-point and holding others at knife-point, Knocking others out, Being attacked, Being tied-up and arrested, Being drugged, Grief, Major pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, & Near-death situations (semi-detailed); Seeing others killed (including by dangerous creatures, merfolk, and magic), attacked, slapped, beaten, killing creatures, & bleeding (semi-detailed); Finding skeletons (semi-detailed); A nightmare (that includes being chased by a merman who means her harm and being squeezed by a giant squid); Main characters imagine the other hurt or other worst case scenarios (including being killed, unconscious, attacked, or grabbed by those that mean ill, up to semi-detailed); Locklyn doesn’t know if she could kill a person and recalls weeping over having to kill a squid; Darin drinks, hopes to get drunk to avoid reality for a moment, and has a hangover (when Locklyn finds this out, she nags him about it); Many mentions of deaths & grief (including a ship wreck and the skeletons, a giant crab being able to shear someone in half with it’s claws, a monster instantly killing someone, & an explosion killing and injuring others; up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of fights, fighting, weapons, threats and threatening others, dangerous creatures and predators, killing, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of slave traders & kidnappings/abductions; Mentions of a possible war & attacks; Mentions of criminals, crimes, arrests, exile, & death sentences for breaking laws (including being worked to death in a dangerous place & being locked in a chamber with a poisonous octopus);  Mentions of stealing, stolen items, & thieves; Mentions of poison, poisonous creatures, & blow darts sedating others; Mentions of fighting, injuring, and killing dangerous creatures (including sharks); Mentions of a rumored monster that devours merpeople; Mentions of having to sacrifice dolphins for a plan; Mentions of explosions & explosives; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of gambling & betting on fights; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, getting drunk, hangovers, & tavern/bars; A few mentions of someone seeing their sibling violently killed (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of vomit; A few mentions of being bullied; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of murder and assassinations; A couple mentions of hunting; A mention of someone starting to consider taking their life (suicide) because of a past decision; A mention of a story about a Crura baby being kidnapped and fed to sharks; A mention of a concern that a baby died (she did not); A mention of a woman running away from home because of her abusive father; 
             *Note: Locklyn was abandoned by her parents when she was born with legs & faces a lock of prejudice because of being a “Crura“ (a mermaid with legs); Along with others calling her these names, Locklyn also calls herself a “freak” and a “social outcast” a few times; Many scenes of prejudice towards Locklyn and others like her who are born with legs & many mentions of it and hatred towards them (many of the negative comments and snide remarks are written out such as calling Crura “spindle-shanks” (derogatory name), a monster, and freaks; Locklyn is very concerned about her niece being hated and having to fight her way through life; A merman says Locklyn should have died when she was born and some of his comments poke at her insecurities (she says he is bigoted and “small souled”); A few mentions of another kingdom hunting Crura for sport); A couple mentions of historical figures (Sosthenes & Plato).
 
 
Sexual Content- A forehead kiss; Remembering a forehead kiss (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Tingles, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Remembering touches & embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including muscles and his bare chest, barely-above-not-detailed); Jealousy; A merman often leers and at Locklyn & it’s said that prior, he tried to “come on to” her and propositioned her in her hut; He later asks her for a kiss which disgusts her; When Locklyn comments that he doesn’t even see her as a person, he comments that it doesn’t matter because “you can be a lovely creature without being a person, can’t you?” (implying she does not have a soul and is a mutant of their kind); A man sneers about Darin having a “spindle-shanks” like Locklyn in his bed (untrue); Locklyn is concerned that a guard would let someone into her room to take “their way” with her; Locklyn says that romance is off the table for her until she can “bring a child into the world without being terrified they would be better off never entering it” (a guy grins at this news and says that “all the ladies” come looking for him eventually, implying she will as well); Locklyn is concerned that a guy is interested in her for something she has no interest in giving him without a ring on her finger & doesn’t want to fall for him if he only desires a fling; Darin has a worst case scenario moment where he imagines Locklyn being jerked into a building by a faceless merman; A mermaid flirts with Darin; Locklyn and Darin are hiding their feelings for each other (they’ve know each other since Locklyn was born, but Darin started to fall for her when she was sixteen and he was twenty-four); Mentions of a man leaving his wife for another woman whose older husband wasn’t giving her “the marital satisfaction she craved”; Mentions of unwanted advances & a merman “coming on to” Locklyn; Mentions of lovers; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of crushes/feelings for the other; A couple mentions of a king having a “fling” with someone that resulted in a child; A couple mentions of a teenage son leaving home to be with a mermaid; A mention of an affair; Love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A few mentions of labor (pain and moans, barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a mother dying in childbirth; A mention of a queen being “unable to produce an heir”.
 
-Locklyn, age 20 (?)
-Darin, age 28 (?)
                                P.O.V. switches between them in 1st (Locklyn) & 3rd (Darin)
                                                        286 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I had pretty high hopes for this book and really wanted to like it, but I ended up not enjoying it as much as I hoped for a lot of different reasons. We’ll get what I didn’t care for out of the way first. ðŸ˜…

 

For the first third of this book, I did struggle quite a bit with the plot because there is a lot of information thrown at the reader, but also backstories and history of all the mermaids and other countries and such. Which was interesting because there were also some parts I don’t think were explained quickly enough—like the idea of Atlantis and what is means for mermaids with legs like Locklyn. I definitely just had to keep reading to try to figure everything out and also to learn about the setting. 

 

While usually one POV being in 1st person and another in 3rd person wouldn’t usually bother me, I didn’t care for seeing Darin’s POV because of the writing style change. For his first few chapters, they felt a little clunky and awkward because of it, but it either eventually got better or I got used to it. I couldn’t quite picture what was happening in the action scenes, which I think was due to the writing style as I had a harder time when those scenes were told in Darin’s POV chapters. 

 

I didn’t personally love the romance as it felt strange to me due to Locklyn and Darin being in-laws and growing up together. I kept seeing him more as a big brother figure than a love interest and then their hemming and hawing over telling the other about their feelings got to be a little too “woe is me” for my tastes. I wanted to smack them to get it together or just forget about the other (oops, foreshadowing), I really didn’t care about the end result with their not-yet-a-romance relationship. At one point, she wants to apologize to him for being a “melodramatic, self-absorbed little fool” and I was honestly proud of her self-awareness in the moment because I had been basically calling her that for the majority of the book thus far. 

 

There were more sexual innuendos and suggestions than I was expecting in this book because of mermen who don’t see Locklyn as someone worthy of respect or even as another merperson. It was honestly pretty disgusting how one was always taunting and leering at her and I was just waiting for him to die, if I can be bluntly honest. 

 

Some scenes felt a little dark, particularly the mentions of mermaids being cut in half by a giant crab or a person witnessing their sibling’s death. 

 

I will say that once I was able to follow along, the book went by quickly—partially in part because of the page length being under 300 pages, but also because the author didn’t add filler to the plot. Everything mentioned had it’s importance and matter to the story, which I appreciated.

 

This book does end on a cliffhanger most readers would probably be upset about and be eager to read the sequel, but it didn’t bother me too much. I might continue to the next book, however, my library doesn’t have it, so I don’t know when that will be.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 




*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.