Monday, March 18, 2024

"Just for the Summer" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “Ginny Masters manages a popular boutique hotel in Seattle and manages it with aplomb. But the daily challenges and irritations of a fast-paced job and a demanding boss are starting to get to her. Jacqueline Potter manages her grandfather's fishing lodge in Idaho because it was the only job she could find after graduating with her hospitality degree. She's grateful for the work but longs for a more sophisticated and cosmopolitan life she's just not going to find in this backwoods town.
   The solution to both their problems seems obvious. Just for the summer, they'll swap jobs and lifestyles. But they never anticipated swapping love interests . . .”


Series: As of now, no. It seems to be a stand-alone novel. 


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is remembered & thought over; We see that Ginny has a faith, but no hints to Jacqueline having one (besides a mention of her sending a prayer for a new job); Ginny knows that she loves God and God loves her, but longs for being able to love and be loved in a human form as well; Mentions of God & His will; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going; A mention of purgatory; 
             *Note: The words ‘miracle’ and ‘heaven’ are used loosely (wanting a miracle for a job-related thing and thinking a place is heaven); The phrase “when hell freezes over” is said once; A mention of Jacqueline being almost “worshipful” to a new boss to get on her good side; Jacqueline teasingly calls Ginny a “saint”; Mentions of luck, being lucky, & lucky stars; A few mentions of magic & someone being a magician (not seriously); A mention of someone who has passed “looking down” with approval over someone; A mention of a child wondering if a place is haunted.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘doggone’, a ‘give a hill of beans’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shoot’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘stinking’, a ‘ticked’, a ‘witch’ (calling a woman that), a ‘what the devil’, two ‘dad-burned’s, two ‘good grief’s, two ‘hurts like the dickens’, three ‘crummy’s, three forms of ‘dang’, four forms of ‘darn’, and five forms of ‘stupid’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Drinking (with others, both Ginny and Jacqueline; Jacqueline plans to win a guy over with acting helpless and alcoholic beverages); Ginny’s boss manipulates her at work; Jacqueline lies, manipulates, looks to blame others for her mistakes, and has a bad attitude about working at her grandfather’s place (complaining, avoiding responsibilities, not being helpful; It’s said she has an “entitled superiority complex going on”); *Spoiler* Jacqueline feels like she is unwanted and unloved after seeing Ginny take over her job when she wants it back; This causes her to lie more to get rid of Ginny and have a certain man’s interest again; She has an outburst about no one liking her *End of Spoiler*; Ginny tells a lie (not being truthful about her feelings); A father makes his teen daughter tell a lie “for a good reason” (to be able to be alone with a woman); A teenager makes comments about not being happy in her family, yells at her mom, talks about being emancipated from her parents, & is hurt and bitter from her parents’ divorce; Mentions of a young son drowning & the possibility of others drowning (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths from cancer (a mother and a wife, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of injuries, pain, & a broken bone; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & bars; Mentions of an out-of-control party; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & manipulation; Mentions of fathers leaving their families, divorces, & the daughter of a divorced couple being upset (due to her mom “dumping her” on her father); A few mentions of jealousy & hatred; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of a war; A couple mentions of a wife loving her husband’s money and family name more than him; A mention of death row; A mention of an abduction; A mention of thieves; A mention of arrests; A mention of a teenager “pranking” her stepfather by keying his car; A mention of a fire; A mention of cigarettes; A mention of a nightmare; A mention of hunting; 
             *Note: A man makes comments against cancer doctors due to losing his wife to cancer & hating doctors and medicine because of it; Both Jacqueline & Diana mention their therapists & what they’ve been told (such as Jacqueline being told that she overcompensates with guys because her father left her when she was little); Mentions of brand names, items, & stores (Keds, Carhartt, Ralph Lauren, Coco Chanel, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, T-Mobile, Jell-O, iPad, Safeway, & Goodwill); Mentions of authors (Stephen King & John Grisham); Mentions of Disneyland; Mentions of a baseball team; A couple mentions of anxiety; A mention of PTSD (Ginny being concerned over fish who were released after getting caught would have PTSD); A couple mentions of celebrities (Chris Hemsworth & Margot Robbie); A couple mentions of a song (‘The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night’); A couple mentions of car brands; A mention of Google; A mention of the Oscars; A mention of a magazine (Glamour).
 
 
Sexual Content- An almost kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and two barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches & Embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (up to semi-detailed); Jacqueline enjoys receiving attention from male guests & purposely dresses to get guys’ attention (including showing off her legs and waist); a ‘hunky’; Many mentions of dates, dating, secretly dating behind someone’s back, girlfriends/boyfriends, exes, & broken hearts; A few mentions of a kiss (that Jacqueline initiated with a guy); A few mentions of a bachelorette party (with a man there as well); A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of flirting; A bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions.
 
-Genevieve “Ginny” Masters, age 37
-Jacqueline Potter, age 27
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        288 pages


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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Funny thing, this book felt like a throwback for me. Melody Carlson was one of the first (if not the very first) author I read when I got into Christian Fiction 13+ years ago and I really enjoyed her contemporary, usually drama-filled books. That’s not to say that I liked every book (or would recommend them now, I’d have to reread most of them), but this book definitely reminded me of that style. I probably would have enjoyed it much more when I was in the 13-15 age range (as this is the style of books I enjoyed then), but wasn’t fully my cup of tea now in my mid-twenties. 

 

I liked Ginny, but I found Jacqueline to be insufferable, so I was holding out hope for her character development. I forgot how well this author writes shallow, superficial, self-centered characters who only care about themselves and designer brands. (This author does it very well were you want to smack some sense into her.) Brace yourself. If you like drama, have at it, but brace yourself for that girl. The change does happen but it happens very fast towards the end, which was a little disappointing. I would’ve like to see it more gradually, but it was good to see the change regardless. 

 

Ginny has a faith that we see some of, but Jacqueline doesn’t show anything expect a prayer once for something good to happen to her. Both of the potential love interests have no faiths shown or discussed which made me wonder why Ginny was interested in either of them. To be fair, she was really only interested in one and the other just followed her around, but still, it was strange to see no faith discussions or confirmations before they started falling for the other. It felt more like a clean fiction book in that regard. 

 

While I enjoyed parts of this book and it was a distraction for a few hours, I wouldn’t call it spectacular by any means. Jacqueline was pretty frustrating, the ending was rushed, the faith content was light, and there was casual drinking by main characters. It’s an overall very clean and summer-y read, but not one I’ll be recommending often nor thinking about much.

 

 

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.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Revell) for this honest review.

Friday, March 15, 2024

"Frozen Hearts" by Cara E. Ruegg

About this book:

  “Dark magic is at work.
    A strange sickness plagues the land.
   Aksel must learn to control his powers before they control him.
   Twelve-year-old Aksel doesn’t want to be different, he doesn’t want fingers that glow with ice, doesn’t want powers that freeze whatever he touches. He’s terrified of being found out, or worse—hurting someone with powers he can’t control.
   But when a strange illness overtakes his town and claims those he loves, Aksel has to face more than just coming to terms with his strange abilities. With the help of his younger sister, Cathrine, and some unexpected friends, he must journey to the tip of the mountain and go find The Snow Queen who is believed to be responsible for the curse.”


Series: Book #1 in “European Fairytales Retold” series. 


Spiritual Content- Prayers (including a prayer by a child thinking she might die and asking forgiveness so that if she “appears before you today, may [she] appear worthy enough to enter through the gates” and another prayer said to“prepare his soul for the death he felt was coming”); Talks about God, trusting Him, forgiveness, & confessing to Him; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; A Christmas-like event is celebrated (Juleaften); Aksel believes in God and Heaven, but still finds death to be scary; A woman says that she couldn’t wait for God to avenge her, so she took matters into her own hands; Aksel’s grandmother tells him that she believes that even a murderer could be forgiven by God as long as the person is truly sorry; Mentions of God, Jesus, & trusting in Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, a monastery, & monks; Mentions of the Christ child, nativity sets, and Christmas trees; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of crucifixes/crosses in a church; A mention of Providence guiding Aksel and Cathrine on the journey;
             *Note: Aksel has “powers”/”abilities” where he can shoot ice from his hand (used for safety and/or self-protection, up to semi-detailed); Aksel wonders if his powers are superpowers or a curse and feels like a monster at times (also thinking that he could be experiment on or even used as a weapon); Dark magic is used for a magic mirror (The Snow Queen, Zabina, uses dark magic once for this and while she knows it is forbidden, the dark does not scare her, or at least, she won’t admit it; Dark magic is looked as wrong and always having consequences); Zabina comments on evil queens have a magic mirror to not only admire herself but also to be “like an all-seeing god”; There are hobgolins (called little demons), faes, julenisse (gnomes), nisse (elves), & mentions of them throughout this book (some are helpful and others like the hobgolins are masters of black magic); *Major Spoilers* Due to the dark magic mirror breaking, the magic leaked out and caused the illness where people’s hearts are freezing; Aksel tells the Snow Queen this and it’s up to her to confess her sins to God for the illness to be lifted; She offers him to use the mirror, but Aksel wants nothing to do with black magic; She is told that only the Light Itself can eliminate the black magic and if she does confess to Him, she’ll lose her powers; She doesn’t think God will forgive her, but Aksel tells her to ask God to help her be sorry for her actions; She goes to confess and “made [her] peace with God” *End of Spoilers*); Aksel has always feel like the mountains are calling to him (but knows it’s forbidden to go there); Aksel’s friend teases him about being the descendant of a god because of Aksel never being cold (they laugh at this, but Aksel says “There’s only one God, Mikkel, and we are both his sons”); Many mentions of spells, curses, powers, feeling like a monster because of them (including Aksel), & using the powers for good; Mentions of someone being accused as a witch & being run out of town (the Snow Queen); Mentions of some grandparents believing that fairytale stories and creatures are real; A few mentions of evil, someone looking evil, & it being said that the Snow Queen is evil and has little demons (hobgoblins) at her lair; A mention of some saying that elves are devilish; A mention of a color being the color of someone’s spirit; A mention of luck; A mention of an alien.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘stupid’, and a ‘wimp’; Fighting, a fire, close-calls with frozen ponds cracking, being attacked by wolves, being tied-up and threatened with being eaten, seeing someone choked & being scared (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Nightmares (about loved ones dying, up to semi-detailed); Aksel doesn’t want to tell his parents about the close-call with a frozen pond because he used his powers and doesn’t want to worry them; Aksel is concerned about death & his loved ones dying; Aksel wants to see his friend in the hospital and plans to sneak in to see him (his father helps sneak in since he doesn’t think they’ll break any rules); Hobgoblins threaten to eat our main characters and their friends (going as far as putting them into a fire); A flashback to witnessing murders & causing/committing murders (Zabina’s point of view, up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Zabina nearly kills an elf who attacked her, but ends up not killing him since she has learned that vengeance is God’s *End of Spoiler*; There is an illness that is freezing people’s hearts and they fall into a deep sleep for days (mentions of them needing IVs to survive and trying to find the cure); Mentions of murders, murderers, & revenge (*Spoiler* Zabina pushed a group of people off of a ledge after witnessing them murder her husband; She says she did it on purpose, but feels relieved when it turns out that someone else pushed them as well, so it wasn’t just her actions; We see this as a flashback and mentioned *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of deaths & possible deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of an illness with people’s hearts freezing, those with the illness being in a deep sleep and not waking up, hypothermia, injuries, blood/bleeding, (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of jail, crimes, & a possible death sentence; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a family member disappearing suddenly; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of lies & lying (done mostly by hobgoblins); A couple mentions of wars; A couple mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of bars & drinking; A couple mentions of decaying animals & the smell (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a thief; A mention of wine (a sip by Aksel’s father); A mention of cheating at a game; 
             *Note: Aksel starts to wonder if he came from another family because he’s always felt different from them with his family doesn’t understand him or have the same powers/abilities he has (*Major Spoilers but Important Note about Biological Families and Comments* Aksel is the son of the Snow Queen and wonders if he is dangerous like she is; He calls her his “real” mother a couple of times; Cathrine wonders if Aksel is “even her brother”; At the end, Aksel tells his adoptive parents that he knows he’s not their son and they both say that he is because “blood doesn’t change that” and that he belongs in this family *End of Spoilers*); In a flashback, Zabina thinks about unleashing her powers on those who call her names so that they will fear her like she fears herself; There are mentions of a murder that happened because the man was different than everyone else (an elf surrounded by humans); Aksel calls his mother “uptight” once because of company coming (he and his grandmother joke about it); Askel feels guilt over his father having an injury because of his disobedience; A few mentions of those with powers/abilities being called ‘freak’, ‘monster’, and ‘witch’ by others.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Aksel, age 12
-Cathrine, age 9
                                P.O.V. switches between them & a few others
                                                        181 pages


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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was a really interesting fairytale retelling! It had Danish influences and no romance at all, so it was different from my normal retellings, but I liked it because of those aspects. 

 

My only two little things I didn’t care for were more minor. I thought it was a little bit of a quick jump for our main character to think that the snow queen was his mother and then quickly accepting it. Also, the illness aspect of the plot did feel a little too reminiscent of a certain event we all went through within the last few years, so I wasn’t the biggest fan of those parts, but it did compel our sibling duo to action. 

 

My favorite part of the story was the sibling content and how much our main characters cared for each other. The ending felt a little bit rushed especially with that short epilogue, but I bet that’s because we’ll see these characters again and other books in the series. At least that’s what I’m hoping! 

 

There are a couple notes/comments that could be triggering for those who were adopted or do not live with their biological families, just as a heads up.

 

Overall, this was a really creative and imaginative retelling. I think I would’ve liked a few things to be fleshed out just a little bit more, but I overall enjoyed it.

 

 

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.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.

Monday, March 11, 2024

"Never Fall Again" by Lynn H. Blackburn

About this book:

  “Landry Hutton has spent three years rebuilding her life behind the secure gates of The Haven, an exclusive resort on the outskirts of Gossamer Falls, North Carolina. As the artist-in-residence, and with her pottery prized by The Haven's guests, Landry is finally ready to settle in permanently. She wants to give her daughter, Eliza, a safe home to grow up in and hires former Marine Callum Shaw to handle the construction.
    Cal grew up in Gossamer Falls and always knew he would someday join his family's business. He longs for a family of his own but has almost given up on that ever happening. Landry is funny, gifted, and everything Cal could ever want in a partner, but he vows to keep his distance. Landry has a daughter and a past. Cal has been down that road before and barely survived when the woman he loved left, taking her two sons with her. He can't bear to lose like that again.
    Before construction on the house can begin, Landry's pottery is destroyed in a suspicious fire. It soon becomes clear that Landry and Eliza are in grave danger--but because of whom? But, after losing one relationship, he is hesitant to try again.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Gossamer Falls” series. 


Spiritual Content- Prayers (including Callum praying for/with Landry); Talks about God, praying, church, & Christians; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Church going; Landry says she loves Jesus and has a faith in God; Landry’s in-laws were Christians (including the father-in-law being a pastor) but were “sheep in wolves clothing” and the “mean church people” are the “worst kind of mean people” (in her experience); *Spoiler* Landry says she has a fear of “so-called ‘good Christian’ men.” and adds “The more often they go to church, the scarier they are. And this is coming from a woman who loves Jesus”; Her marriage was not being a happy one and when she tried to tell others, she wasn’t believed and told that she was “blessed” to have snagged him; It’s implied that she was told that she was a “’poor testimony’ to the unbelievers in the world” when taking about it; She was told that she needed to pray for forgiveness and that because he husband was a godly man, she needed to strive to be a godly wife; She knows she couldn’t lump all church-going followers of Christ as hypocrites, but still is nervous about being at a church *End of Spoiler*; Landry thinks that when praying in a certain dangerous situation, she knows that “God didn’t always choose to help. He didn’t always fix things, at least not the way Landry wanted them fixed. But [H]e could help. She knew that. He might not, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, & sermons; Mentions of Christians & ones who are “the worst kind of Christians” (Landry’s in-laws are the latter type and *Spoiler* due to their actions and the lack of other people believing her about them, she hasn’t been into a church in years *End of Spoiler*); A couple mentions of being Blessed; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of divine guidance; A mention of Bible reading; A mention of a Sunday school class; A mention of thanking Heaven; 
             *Note: Callum says he has demons due to a past event; The phrase “speak of the devil” is said once; A couple mentions of lucky & being lucky; A mention of someone being as mean as the devil; A mention of strep throat being evil and from the devil (according to Callum); A mention of a demanding guest being called “the demon…I mean, the delicate flower”; A mention of ghost costumes; A mention of a “Mother Earth” woman that takes care of others; A mention of a woman calling herself a “harpy”; A mention of a younger brother idolizing his older brothers; A mention of someone thinking his mom walks on water.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, an ‘ever-loving’, a ‘give a flip’, an ‘oh my word’, a ‘sucker’, a form of ‘ticked off’, two forms of ‘mercy/sweet mercy’, six ‘dumb’s, six ‘shut up’s, six forms of ‘stupid’, and ten ‘idiot’s; The phrase “cold day in a hot place” is said thrice (to avoid cursing at Granny’s house); A couple mentions of someone’s rear is mentioned (in the way of “pain in the rear” and hauling someone’s rear to jail); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being hit/attacked, Being buried alive, Being drugged, Being abducted, & Pain (up to semi-detailed); A fire & vandalism (up to semi-detailed); Pain, being sick (strep), throwing up (up to semi-detailed); Landry’s husband was not a great guy (*Spoiler* He died in a car accident due to his own drunk driving and because of it, she’s had a hard time with seeing fire trucks ever since because they can cause her to have panic attacks and anxiety; He was the only person involved in the crash; He would use Eliza as a weapon against Landry and to be able to control her *End of Spoiler*); Landry is concerned that her in-laws would fight her for her daughter’s custody or even stoop to kidnapping her; *Spoiler* Landry shares that while her parents weren’t abusive in the way most would think, they were neglectful; Landry wonders if her husband recognized her emotional vulnerability or if he was just a gaslighting narcissist who was “a master at emotional bullying”; She shares about the times that he was physically abusive to her, locked her in a room for hours, and she made plans to leave him with Eliza (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of missing people, abductions/kidnappings, & someone being buried alive (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of someone waving a gun around children, them being frightened, & screams (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of explosions; Mentions of the possibility of a woman being a victim and/or running away from a man (Callum wonders if this is the case with Landry); Mentions of drunk driving, a car accident, & death (of the drunk driver, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a bar, drinks, & drinking; Mentions of drugs, drugging someone, being drugged, & meth labs; Mentions of rehab & addictions; Mentions of illnesses, pain, & throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of grieving (including over the loss of not being in a young child’s life); Mentions of crimes, criminals, crime scenes, fires, arson, & the damages (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a missing hiker & it been too late to find him; A few mentions of a potential violent death; A few mentions of pranks (including ones in high school) & a group of children being like a gang; A few mentions of bullies & bullying; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of (military-related) deaths; A couple mentions of violence; A couple mentions of ways to torture terrorists (with a child’s high-pitched squeal); A couple mentions of fighting & fights (between siblings); A couple mentions of jail;  A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of someone looking like they were being burned at the stake; A mention of beating someone up; A mention of gunshot wounds; A mention of blood; A mention of a forest fire; A mention of a psychopath; A mention of a wife leaving her husband; A mention of divorce; 
             *Note: Someone tells his family that he isn’t suicidal even though they think he is (he says he need time, but the others don’t buy it); Landry overhears a comment that makes her wonder if there’s someone who doesn’t approve of her daughter because of her race (despite being a part of a “racially diverse” family; She confronts someone about this and is told it’s not due to race at all; A few more mentions of race after this conversation); *Spoiler* Landry’s husband is said to have been a narcissist who would gaslight her and was a “master at emotional bullying” *End of Spoiler*; *Spoiler* Landry and Eliza are kidnapped towards the very end by a man who is obsessed with Landry and it’s said that his “mind broke” from his job and devolved into this form of “madness” & his erratic mental state and “sick mind” are also mentioned; They are able to get away from him by Landry drugged his smoothie *End of Spoiler*; Landry & Callum both have seen therapists for past events and both believed it helped them; Going to a harvest festival (instead of Halloween trick-or-treating); Mentions of therapy & therapists; Mentions of a family member being born during a time where the parents were advised to forget that she even been born (due to a possible stroke during delivery; The family did not follow that advise and she’s a precious miracle for the family who loves her); Mentions of someone fighting cancer, her treatments, & her children’s reactions (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of panic attacks, anxiety, & depression (the first two for Landry and the last for Callum); Mentions of brand names & products (ChapStick, Coke, M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, Oreos, Tylenol, U-Haul, Mac, iPad, & Kindle); A few mentions of Halloween; A few mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of asthma attacks; A couple mentions of FaceTime & Siri; A mention of someone being an expert in “big emotions” (with children); A mention of National Geographic; A mention of a painter (Jackson Pollock); A mention of a werewolf; A mention of someone being concerned for the environment (teasing); A mention of someone being accused of misogyny.
 
 
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two ear/neck kisses, eight barely-above-not-detailed kisses, a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss, and three semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (including a cheek kiss, all up to semi-detailed); Staring at another’s lips (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes, Winks, & Butterflies; Jealousy; Noticing (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Landry says her husband got her pregnant on their honeymoon to be able to control her, *Spoiler* she add that she didn’t enjoy the honeymoon and now sees that he was because he was “far more experienced then he’d claimed he was” *End of Spoiler*; Callum asks if Landry’s husband forced himself on her and she says no; Landry says that she had to tiptoe around her husband and will not do that ever again for a man; A man offers Landry private lessons (innuendo); *Spoiler* Towards the end, Landry is abducted by a man who is obsessed with her and has a “predatory glint” in his eyes and mistakes her shiver of terror for desire *End of Spoiler*; A ‘bimbo’, a ‘hotties’, and two ‘baby’s; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & PDA (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of girlfriends, boyfriends, break-ups, exes, dates, & dating; Mentions of cheating, cheaters, & fathers leaving the mothers of their children; Mentions of flirting & flirts (including married men); Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of broken hearts; A few mentions of women watching handsome men working (making comments on their looks and wanting to meet them); A few mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of a married couple kissing; A mention of a possible illegitimate child; A mention of some people being related but not knowing it due to an affair (said that someone’s uncle “fooled around” with someone else’s aunt); A mention of a recently divorced man going on “long bimbo binge”; A mention of a fling; A mention of a couple sneaking around like teenagers so someone doesn’t know that they’re together; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of Callum’s aunts trying to set him up with a woman who was fourteen-years older than him; A mention of a child streaking through a baseball game. 
 
-Landry Hutton, age 32
-Callum “Cal” Shaw
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        352 pages


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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book took me completely by surprise. I’ve read a few other books by this author and enjoyed parts of different ones, but wasn’t sure about this book. I almost passed on this book because I wasn’t super interested in the plotline, but I’m glad I read it because I ended up really enjoyed it! 

 

The romance was really cute, Cal was the best, and it was overall a really enjoyable read. Definitely way lighter suspense than I was expecting, but that was good too. There were little things here and there that I didn’t care for, but nothing super major. 

 

Cal’s personality won me over the minute he appeared on page. He was fantastic. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in the suspense book before. He made the book for me. 

 

I think I swooned when he prayed with her. Have I seen that before in Christian fiction suspense books? When the main girl is distraught over something that happened in the suspense plotline and he stops and asks if he can pray with her and then prays for her? How come we haven’t seen that more?! It was so sweet! 

 

I did struggle to keep track of how everyone was related, the family feud in town, and all of those correlating elements, but I continued to read to hope that I could figure everything out. I did get really lost with the family trees and how everyone is related—a diagram of the main families‘ trees at the front of the book would’ve been super helpful! I did feel like I was almost jumping into the middle of a series or at least a very busy very active family life—make that three families! 

 

The suspense element really didn’t kick in till right at the end about 85% into the book. There is a bit here and there, but not really much in that first majority of the entire book.

Don’t go in expecting a Lynette Eason or Lisa Harris suspense novel full of action, shoot outs, and car chases—because that’s definitely not this book. 

 

This suspense book was unlike many other suspense books in many ways, but also because it actually covers a decent amount of time throughout the book. There are several chapters where it’s a few weeks later or several weeks later. Typically, I would get a little frustrated with that because I want to be all in our main characters lives and their interactions, but it worked really well for this book. Such as our main characters had discussions off page but then were told about them later when it’s important. I never felt like I was missing out. 

 

I will say that I wasn’t a fan of the villains from Landry‘s past being Christians in the public eye but then being backstabbers in the private. That’s some thing I’ve seen more and more in Christian fiction is the so-called “Christians” that are actually the villains of the story. And I’m not liking seeing that as frequently as I have been seen it. I will say that it bothered me way less in this book compared to other recent reads because those characters weren’t on page causing mayhem or being terrible? We just hear about it from past events from Landry, so it didn’t bother me as much, shockingly.

 

Overall? This was a busy book with all the characters and trying to figure out how everyone is connected, but it had its really sweet moments and a bit of suspenseful ones as well. The faith content was a bit lighter than I would have preferred, but Cal praying for Landry and then little Eliza’s prayers made it good to me. It really was romance book with a touch of suspense, which I shockingly still enjoyed. (Shockingly because I typically like my suspense books to be heart-pounding suspenseful.) Because of mentions of Landry’s abusive husband, I would mark this book for ages 15/16+.

 

 

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.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Revell) for this honest review.