{{This is an updated review. Originally posted July
15th, 2014, it was updated on April 13th, 2020 to the
Official Rating System.}}
About this book:
“Miss Arabella Beckett has one driving passion: to help the downtrodden women of America. Naturally, she supports the women's suffrage movement and eagerly attends rallies and lectures across the country. On her travels, she makes a simple offer of assistance to a young woman in need that goes sadly awry and lands both ladies in more trouble than they can manage. An independent sort, Arabella is loath to admit she needs help and certainly doesn't need help from an arrogant, narrow-minded knight in shining armor.
Mr. Theodore Wilder, private investigator extraordinaire, is on a mission. A mission that began as a favor to his good friend Hamilton Beckett, but swiftly evolved into a merry chase across the country. By the time he finally tracks down Hamilton's sister, Arabella, he is in a less than pleasant mood. When the lady turns out to have radical ideas and a fiercely independent streak, he soon finds himself at his wit's end.
When they return home to New York, circumstances force their paths to continue to cross, but the most peculiar feelings growing between them certainly can't be love. When the trouble Arabella had accidentally stirred up seems to have followed her to New York and threatens her very life, the unlikely couple must face the possibility that they might have landed in the most peculiar circumstance of all: love.”
Series: Book 2 in the “Ladies of Distinction” series {The novella prologue, “Gentleman of Her Dreams”, reviewed Here! and Book #1, “A Change of Fortune”, Here! {I would recommend reading this series in order.}}
Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God, His plans, & faiths; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Theodore believes in God, but says he does not enjoy a close relationship with Him and is uncomfortable discussing God; Theodore is inspired by Arabella’s faith and says he’s faith has grown; Later in the story, he becomes mad/upset at God but asks God to forgive him; Mentions of God, Bibles, & Scriptures; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, services, & a reverend; Mentions of faiths; A few mentions of being blessed with a talent;
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: six ‘idiot’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Being abducted, being hit, being shot, pain, blood/bleeding, & threatened (up to semi-detailed); Fighting & injuries (up to semi-detailed); Aiming guns; All about many mentions of women disappearing, a killer/kidnapper on the loose, women being tied-up, being (physically) threatened with weapons, & dead bodies; Many mentions of jail, arrests, criminals/thieves, & stealing; Mentions of guns being aimed, gunfire, shooting, being shot, injuries, & blood; Mentions of criminals hitting women; Mentions of blackmail; Mentions of liars & lying; Mentions of gossip & eavesdropping; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & pubs; A few mentions of smugglers; A few mentions of violence; A few mentions of spankings; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of cigars; A couple mentions of throwing up.
“Miss Arabella Beckett has one driving passion: to help the downtrodden women of America. Naturally, she supports the women's suffrage movement and eagerly attends rallies and lectures across the country. On her travels, she makes a simple offer of assistance to a young woman in need that goes sadly awry and lands both ladies in more trouble than they can manage. An independent sort, Arabella is loath to admit she needs help and certainly doesn't need help from an arrogant, narrow-minded knight in shining armor.
Mr. Theodore Wilder, private investigator extraordinaire, is on a mission. A mission that began as a favor to his good friend Hamilton Beckett, but swiftly evolved into a merry chase across the country. By the time he finally tracks down Hamilton's sister, Arabella, he is in a less than pleasant mood. When the lady turns out to have radical ideas and a fiercely independent streak, he soon finds himself at his wit's end.
When they return home to New York, circumstances force their paths to continue to cross, but the most peculiar feelings growing between them certainly can't be love. When the trouble Arabella had accidentally stirred up seems to have followed her to New York and threatens her very life, the unlikely couple must face the possibility that they might have landed in the most peculiar circumstance of all: love.”
Series: Book 2 in the “Ladies of Distinction” series {The novella prologue, “Gentleman of Her Dreams”, reviewed Here! and Book #1, “A Change of Fortune”, Here! {I would recommend reading this series in order.}}
Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God, His plans, & faiths; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Theodore believes in God, but says he does not enjoy a close relationship with Him and is uncomfortable discussing God; Theodore is inspired by Arabella’s faith and says he’s faith has grown; Later in the story, he becomes mad/upset at God but asks God to forgive him; Mentions of God, Bibles, & Scriptures; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, services, & a reverend; Mentions of faiths; A few mentions of being blessed with a talent;
*Note: An insane man believes God
wants him to punish prostitutes for their sins; A few mentions of encountering evil;
A mention of a man acting like a caveman.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: six ‘idiot’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Being abducted, being hit, being shot, pain, blood/bleeding, & threatened (up to semi-detailed); Fighting & injuries (up to semi-detailed); Aiming guns; All about many mentions of women disappearing, a killer/kidnapper on the loose, women being tied-up, being (physically) threatened with weapons, & dead bodies; Many mentions of jail, arrests, criminals/thieves, & stealing; Mentions of guns being aimed, gunfire, shooting, being shot, injuries, & blood; Mentions of criminals hitting women; Mentions of blackmail; Mentions of liars & lying; Mentions of gossip & eavesdropping; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & pubs; A few mentions of smugglers; A few mentions of violence; A few mentions of spankings; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of cigars; A couple mentions of throwing up.
Sexual
Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches
& Hand holding (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including
noticing muscles and curves) & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Arabella
says she found Miss James tied up and that she got trick into (almost) being
forced into a prostitution ring (nothing happen to Miss James); Arabella and a
couple other ladies go undercover at a place where prostitutes have gone
missing (one of the ladies receives an offer from a man); *Spoiler* Arabella is
abducted by a man who likes to collect women and he has plans to kill her
(nothing sexual happens or is hinted to have taken place) *End of Spoiler*; Arabella
& Theodore greatly disagree (and debate) about the women’s suffrage
movement; All about many mentions of prostitution, a prostitution ring, women
being tricked/lured in, helping women get out of it (the word ‘harlot’ is used
a handful of times), prostitutes disappearing, men who solicit their services,
an insane man collecting women, & a man in a foreign country who has women
becoming his slaves; Many mentions of matchmaking; Mentions of “ladies of the
night”, being mistaken as one, & propositions; Mentions of married couples being
affectionate & their affection ensuring another grandbaby soon; Mentions of
kisses, kissing, & mistletoe; Mentions of hand & cheek kisses; Mentions
of flirting & flirts; Mentions of blushes; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions
of romance novels; A few mentions of crushes; A mention of Theodore commenting
(at the beginning of the book) that women are truly only required to produce
children (as opposed to working outside of the house); Love, falling in love,
& the emotions;
*Note: Women are called ‘wench’; A
few mentions of women stashing money down their bodices; A couple mentions of being
frisked.
-Arabella
Beckett, age 24
-Theodore
Wilder
P.O.V. switches between them
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1880
339 pages
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339 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I feel
bad giving book #2 such a low rating compared to #1, “A Change of Fortune”…but
as I’ve said before I do not like reading about prostitution & abductions;
I don’t think we should fill our minds with that (Philippians 4:8!) so I didn’t
like those parts of this book—which is basically the whole plot-line besides
Arabella being a big supporter of the women’s suffrage movement. I do love her
name though! It’s very pretty. I really liked Arabella and Theodore’s banter in
the beginning and found them to be a fun couple, but I wasn’t the biggest fan
of the ending. I’ve mentioned before that I really do not like seeing/reading
about those who twist Scriptures for evil doings. That really affected my
rating along with the prostitution mentions. I do appreciate that nothing was
detailed (especially in regards to prostitution), but this wasn’t my favorite
book in the series.
See y'all tomorrow with a review of a suspense book!
*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.
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