"On the Right Track" by Shaen Layle

About this book:

  “Harriet Bailey gets a wonderful surprise when Ashley Fiske, her friend from the States, brings her young son, Trevor, to White Church Bay for a visit. Harriet cannot wait to share the village’s charms with her friend, but she never predicted they would end up solving a mystery together! An unpublished manuscript by a famous British children’s author named Adelaide Evergreen has turned up in Harriet’s aunt Jinny’s cottage. The book claims to tell the truth behind an infamous and mysterious railway crash that happened in White Church Bay in 1917, on the fringes of the Great War.
    As Harriet delves deeper into the mystery, it’s difficult to tell where literary license ends, and reality begins. And when it is revealed that Harriet’s relative may have had a hand in causing the train tragedy, the stakes become personal. Will she find the truth at the end of the line?”


Series: Book #8 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, Book #4 Here, Book #5 Here, Book #6 Here, and Book #7 Here!


Spiritual Content- Luke 8:17 at the beginning; A couple Scriptures are quoted; A few Prayers; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Church going (once, which Harriet struggles to pay attention to the service and when asked her thoughts, says it was encouraging even though she didn’t fully absorb the message); Mentions of God & His paths for us; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, a hymn, services, & a sermon; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of providential interference; A mention of the song “God Save the King”; 
             *Note: It’s noted that a deceased person had “flown to the arms of heaven”; A man thinks he is looking at an angel when he sees a beautiful woman.
 

Negative Content- Some eye rolling; Being threatened, Being chased, Being hit and knocked unconscious, Being trapped in a fire, Pain, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone become unconscious after falling and hitting their head (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a train crash (up to semi-detailed); All about & many mentions of World War I, a train crash and accident, spies and sabotage, & someone profiting by selling goods on the black market; Mentions of deaths (including from a car accident and a respiratory illness) & grief (including from a wife for her husband and young son for his father); Mentions of a recent near-death experience (Book #7); Mentions of Canary Girls during World War I, chemical exposure, & illnesses (including a fatal liver illness); Mentions of explosives, working in a TNT factory and the dangers, & near deaths in the factory; Mentions of a fire & someone being left to die in one; Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thefts, thieves, & break-ins; Mentions of forgeries, bribery, threats, & manipulation; Mentions of trespassing; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of criminals; A few mentions of two dogs fighting & being aggressive; A couple mentions of dead bodies and a mortuary; A couple mentions of jail & arrests; A couple mentions of stalking & stalkers; A mention of a cat burglar; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of jealousy; 
             *Note: Mentions of actors/actresses & a movie (Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, & My Faith Lady); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of Jane Austen; A couple mentions of Florence Nightingale; A couple mentions of Houdini; A mention of someone suggesting that another should be committed to an asylum.
 
 
Sexual Content- A few touches, embraces, flutters, warmth, & blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Harriet and Will recently admitted to feeling more than friendship for each other; Mentions of dates, dating, & boyfriends/girlfriends; A few mentions of two young men eyeing a young woman with interest and her not being interested in being a trophy for them to compete over; A couple mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of a “hunk/hunky” man; A mention of making eyes at someone; A mention of flirting; A mention of jealousy; Very light attraction & the emotions of possibly being more than just friends with someone; 
             *Note: Harriet thinks that a young boy will change his attitude about romance in a few years (as he currently says “yuck” about it); A mention of a married couple having a “notoriously independent relationship”.
 
-Harriet Bailey, age 34
                                P.O.V. of Harriet 
                                                        245 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens-

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

While this book was overall clean, my personal rating was affected by my enjoyment level of the book and plot and also the writing style not being my favorite. 

 

This one was very jumpy in terms of the writing style and because we just launch into the mystery and new characters introduced, it felt off to me. So that was a bummer. I wasn’t quite sure why I was supposed to care about the train crash? It’s suddenly introduced and Harriet gets wrapped up in the document about it, but I don’t feel like there was enough prior explanation about it and the importance. 

 

There were notes from 1917 but I’m not clear if it was supposed to be the document/report that was found in the present day or if it was a nod to almost a dual-time novel. If it was supposed to be the document/report that was found, it was written half like a fiction book and half like a newspaper article, so it was a little strange. 

 

Harriet didn’t act like herself in this book—which always happens once a Guideposts series in my opinion because of all the different writers. She got so distracted with the mystery that she forgot about her clinic for one, which she’s always put the clinic and her clients at the top of her priorities no matter what is going on in the prior books. She also did some things that felt out of character. I would say it was 80/20 on the mystery to the animal/vet parts when it’s usually 60/40 or vice versa. There’s only one mention of Maxwell and Charlie even! 

 

This eighth book does reference events in the prior book but does not name or give anything away, really. This is most likely because of the different authors and overlapping deadlines/writing. 

 

It was a clean mystery and I think others will probably enjoy it more than me, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite of the series.

 

 

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.

 

"Leap Day in the Square" by Erynn Mangum

About this book:

  “Lucy McGrady only wants two things - to open up her cotton candy truck in time for her town's Leap Day in the Square celebration and to never see Ben Wilson again. And yet, somehow, these two things seem mutually exclusive.
    Lucy has spent most of her adult life trying to forget high school, thanks to Ben. Starting up her cotton candy truck, the Farmhouse Floof, is a dream come true and it seems like everything is finally going her way. Until the new health inspector comes over and it's none other than Ben Wilson. What could the Lord possibly be wanting to accomplish in this situation?
    On top of everything going on with the Farmhouse Floof, there's also the new Bible study on forgiveness Lucy's sister is dragging her to, weekly family dinners with her extremely tight and usually overly-nosy parents and sisters, and just when it seems like nothing can get worse, insert a stray cat.
    Lucy's about to discover that while sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways, sometimes He just has to plop her right in the middle of the impossible to redeem everything that was broken and fix the unfixable.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Holidays in Hillview” series. 


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are read, quoted, mentioned, discussed, & thought about; Many Prayers, Thanking/Praising God, & Blessings over food (including one that Lucy calls disrespectful and she isn’t surprised she didn’t get an answer); Going to church (including a time Lucy is unable to focus on the sermon) & a Bible study (which Lucy doesn’t want to go to for different reasons but goes to a handful of times and does the lesson book at home; The lessons and pastor’s message are often shared); Quotes by Saint Augustine, C.S, Lewis, Lewis B. Smedes, & Jean Sophia Pigott are read in a Bible study, mentioned, & thought over; Many talks about God, Jesus, forgiveness, a Bible study, sin/sinners, & not being enough, but being enough in God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Lucy feels like she isn’t good enough and struggles with that thought which has affected her Bible reading; *Spoilers* Lucy has the feeling of not being good enough again and then hears the still, quite voice of the Lord saying “Because you’re not. And that’s okay. Because I am.” and she realizes she has let others determine who she was instead of who God says she is *End of Spoilers*; Lucy recalls her friends calling her parents “stricter than God”; Lucy thinks that if she was Moses, she would have added in an Eleventh Commandment (“Thou shall not hide thy dimples underneath thy scowl”); Many mentions of God, Jesus, forgiveness, & peace; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & Bible studies; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, sermons, & hymns/worship; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of Christians, becoming one, & being one; Mentions of sins & being a sinner; A few mentions of Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of being Blessed; A couple mentions of a children’s ministry at church; A couple mentions of testimonies; A mention of Dallas Theological Seminary; A mention of a prayer request; A mention of something smelling like Heaven;
             *Note: Lucy’s sister says that some lies are not sins, but Lucy argues that lying to your sister in church counts as a lie; Lucy thinks “hell hath no fury like the older sister of one scorned”; Lucy thinks her sister looks like an angel; A mention of Cupid.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crappy’, a ‘holy smokes’, a ‘idiot’, a ‘ticked off’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘dumb’s, three ‘gosh’s, three ‘stupid’s, and ten ‘oh my gosh’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Lucy lies a couple of times to her family (to hide her feelings or that she’s gotten enough sleep when they ask); Lucy’s sisters mention about killing Ben and burying his body in their family’s acreage because of what he did to her (which Lucy gets concerned one sister might do this); Mentions of selling organs on the black market (which is what Lucy thinks her sister’s fiancé does); Mentions of poison; Mentions of bullies, mean girls, & their pranks; Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of potential kidnappers & being kidnapped; A few mentions of smoking; A few mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of World War II & Nazis; A couple mentions of jail & felons; A couple mentions of possible car accidents; A couple mentions of gossip; A couple mentions of “animal jails” (animal shelters); A mention of a Russian mob; A mention of thieves; A mention of serial killer movies; A mention of a con man;
             *Note: Lucy struggles with feeling like she isn’t good enough; Lucy and her sisters were bullied in high school about being from a “white trash house” and their lack of money; Lucy has kept from her family about most everything that happened to her in high school, but tells them all of it half-way through (*Spoiler* A girl named Carla and her boyfriend, Ben, with their group would make fun of Lucy by making snide comments of her family’s lack of money and her clothes which made Lucy feel like she wasn’t good enough; Their comments and pranks escalated when a comic was started at a school about her being a superhero with a hand making an ‘L’ for loser on the cape and they all dressed up as her for Halloween with raggedy clothes; She verbally tore into them and Ben left her notes of apologizing in her locker; Eventually and after sharing more notes back and forth, Ben asked her to go to prom and she said yes, but when she got there, he was dancing with Carla and made an ‘L’ for loser aimed at Lucy; *Major Spoilers* It turns out Carla left a note for Ben and signed it from Lucy where it said she would never date someone from a broken family like him; Lucy is stunned by this information and promised it wasn’t her; He apologizes for what happened and that despite not knowing the Lord then, knew what he was doing was wrong; She sobs at the emotions and things that her teenage-self had to face and they choose to start over *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of the foster care system & an implied bad experience; Mentions of movies, TV shows, actors, books, & fictional characters (Pirates of the Caribbean, Marvel movies, Ben-Hur, Angels in the Outfield, The Princess Bride, That Thing You Do, Seinfeld, The Andy Griffin Show, MythBusters, Psych, Chad Michael Murray, Michael Buble, Count of Monte Cristo, Lion King characters, Daffy Duck, the Joker, Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, Jedis from Star Wars, Jack Sparrow, & Mary Poppins); Mentions of bands, singers, & songs (Eagles, Michael Buble, Michael Jackson, Hanson, N*Sync, Aerosmith & Cupid Shuffle); Mentions of Hallmark movies & HGTV; Mentions of brand names & items (Pyrex, Dr. Pepper, M&Ms, Uggs, Tupperware, & iPhone); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of social media platforms & websites (Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, & Google); Mentions of places (Hobby Lobby, Goodwill, Cracker Barrel); A few mentions of Halloween;  A couple mentions of Disney; A mention of ESPN; A mention of Olympic athletes; A mention of the YouTube channel Dude Perfect; A mention of MLM candles; A mention of the grim reaper.
 
 
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Seeing an engaged couple kiss & embrace (no details); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Remembering touches, embraces, & warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* After talking about past events, Lucy says it was good that she and Ben never went on a date because it could have led to them dating and he wasn’t a Christian then which could have changed things now *End of Spoiler*; A ‘babe’; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, break-ups, dates, dating, & asking someone out; Mentions of prom; A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of a heartthrob at school; Some love, the start of falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of unmentionables; A mention of butting into a conversation.
 
-Lucy McGrady, age 28
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        235 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

AH! That ending! Well, now I’m counting down the days to a book I don’t know when is going to be released—that’s just mean! 

 

Let it be known I don’t usually like the whole “misunderstanding-in-high-school-and-holding-onto-to-a-grudge-for-ten-years” trope, but this is one of my favorite authors, so I was going to read it regardless. This was a harsh misunderstanding though—Ben did something to Lucy in a way that truly hurt her and the effects of it have stayed with her all these years. It’s not serious enough to not wish for them to be together one day, but it’s enough to make me side with her sisters about off-ing him and burying him in their family’s acreage for the first while of the book. 

 

That said, when the conversation happened and everything is shared, it wasn’t a “misunderstanding” that I’ve seen in other books and would (quite honestly) roll my eyes at over the pettiness shown by the characters. Perhaps it’s because I felt Lucy’s pain or how the author wrote it, but I could understand her emotions and I’m really glad she wasn’t petty back to those who hurt her. I think that’s probably the main difference from other times I’ve read this trope before, the main girl there is usually insufferable and acts like she’s still in high school despite being in her late twenties. Lucy was definitely not this way and I greatly appreciated it and it made the story actually believable.

 

Just like for Lucy, it took a while for me to warm up to Ben. I do wish they would have talked about The Events™️ just a wee bit more when it all came to light, but I think the discussions that they had were shown well with their emotions and regret and moving forward. As I always appreciate with this author’s books and a reason why Erynn Mangum is a top favorite author of mine, there was a ton of faith content and the main character going about her life, but also going to church and a Bible study. There’s something about that that I just love to see, but especially in this book as it highlights forgiveness (despite Lucy not really wanting to hear about that topic) and that we’re not enough because we all need the Lord. Everything was so well done in the faith content and it felt like I was right in there with them in class. 

 

I loved seeing Lucy and her sisters and many of their conversations made me laugh out loud, so I’m so excited that the next book will be Dani’s story! I definitely need Sam’s ASAP, though! This is the problem about starting a series as it’s being released—you have to have patience and wait for the next book, something I still haven’t perfected in my many years of reviewing!

 

 

 

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.

"Road Trip Return" by Becca Wierwille

About this book:

  “Daniel likes his life the way it is.
    Simple. Predictable. And most importantly, just him and his older brother, Mateo. But as Mateo's wedding approaches, life is already changing. And Daniel worries Mateo’s fiancée, Skylar, will ruin everything.
    When Skylar disappears a week before the ceremony, Daniel’s concerns are confirmed. Skylar is trouble. The wedding must be stopped.
    Drawing on his twelve years of wisdom, Daniel vows to save his family from disaster. Even if that means traveling to Guatemala—the home of his father, and the last place he ever wanted to visit.
    Daniel must sabotage the search for Skylar before Mateo makes the biggest mistake of his life.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Road Trip Rescue” series. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- Jeremiah 29:11 at the beginning and is also discussed in the author’s note at the end; Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God & His plans; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Daniel feels like God’s plans for him and Mateo can’t include Skylar or their father because he doesn’t think they would be good for anyone, but hears a voice in his head that tells him that his plans might not be best either; Daniel prays for God to help him stop the search for Skylar, but hears a voice in his head to say a different prayer—and to ask God if he is doing the right thing and maybe even ask for forgiveness, but decides he can’t listen to that voice because of his plan; Later, Daniel wants to pray to ask God for help, but is too afraid how He might answer it; *Spoiler* Towards the very end, Daniel realizes that God has shown him that His plans are better than ours and that God has worked a miracle in his heart *End of Spoiler*; Set around Christmas; Mentions of God, Jesus, His plans, & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of a church, church going, & a pastor; Mentions of a nativity, Christmas songs, and Christmas trees; A few mentions of miracles; A mention of Bible reading; A mention of Heaven; 
             *Note: An old woman says “gracias a Dios” (Thank God) and seems sincere; A few mentions of a character from Veggie Tales; A mention of being lucky.
 

Negative Content- Some pain & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); A near car accident with ice involved (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few lies & eavesdropping; Daniel feels sudden guilt when Skylar disappears because of his feelings towards the wedding; Daniel’s brother is very shaken when Skylar disappears; Daniel doesn’t want to search for Skylar and plans to sabotage the search because she has hurt his brother again, he doesn’t like the idea of it not just being him and his brother anymore, and thinks it will be the biggest mistake of his brother’s life to marry her; Daniel ignores the voice in his head to talk to his brother about the truth and his fears; Daniel tries not to lie to Mateo, but wants to stall the wedding long enough to make his brother see the truth (this includes him causing in inconveniencing ways like breaking the rules with TSA or turning off his brother’s alarm (which he realizes after doing it that it was wrong to do and tries to think of ways to stall without breaking the rules again); *Spoilers* A bit later he wanders off on purpose to try to miss the flight, feels guilt over the plan, tries to get back to his brother, and panics that his brother will chose Skylar over him when he saw that the plane had left already; They didn’t board and Daniel realizes that he shouldn’t have done that and feeling guilt like he is lying *End of Spoilers*; Daniel wants to keep his plan to cancel the wedding from his brother, which makes him doubt if he is actually doing the right thing if he has to keep it a secret; Daniel has a few opportunities to talk with his brother about his concerns and fears about the wedding, but does not; Daniel does lie to his brother and blames it on being Skylar’s fault that he is in this situation, but a voice in his head tells him that he can’t blame her; Daniel lies again to his brother and feels like he has bitten into a wormy apple and feels a lot of guilt which makes him feel sick and wanting to delay the flight back to miss the wedding; *Spoilers* Daniel sees Skylar and eavesdrops on her conversation, but doesn’t tell anyone because he wants his family to stay just the two of them; He plans to tell the truth after a couple more false leads so they can’t get back before the wedding; Daniel thinks that maybe he is the bad guy after realizing that he is hurting his brother; *Major Spoilers* Daniel tosses his, his brothers, and Kimmy’s family’s passports out the window as a final effort to keep the wedding from happening and feels sick to his stomach for what he has done; He tries to find the wallet with the passports and realizes that not only does he needs to stop the sabotage to do what was best for Mateo, he has also only been thinking of himself and what he wants; Towards the very end, Daniel confesses what he has been doing and his brother admits to knowing because he peeked at Daniel’s journal that morning before feeling guilty and closing it after seeing a few lines of what Daniel had written; Mateo asks why Daniel didn’t come to him and that he can always talk to him about anything before telling Daniel that he forgives him and that they will talk about it again later *End of Spoilers*); Daniel’s father left him and his brother after Daniel was born to go to Guatemala to “take care of some things” (which Daniel thinks was an excuse, but doesn’t care because he doesn’t need their father who is a stranger to him; Because of this, he calls his father by his first name; *Spoiler* Recently, their father contacted Mateo to reconnect with them after twelve years and Skylar went to find him so Mateo can have closure on his past before their wedding; Daniel eavesdrops and hears that his father is dead, and thinks that while he didn’t want to meet him, he didn’t want him to die; Daniel tries to forgive his father for abandoning him and Mateo and puts it in writing that he forgives him so then “it has to be true” but doesn’t feel better; *Major Spoilers* When looking for his brother’s wallet that Daniel tossed out a window, a man walks by and it is their father; It was a rumor that he had died and Daniel realizes that not only did their father make mistakes, Daniel has as well; The father says that after their mother died, he was lost and didn’t know how to be a father; Daniel tells him that he forgives him, but wonders why it still hurts and talks to Kimmy about it (Kimmy says that sometimes forgiving someone isn’t for them, but yourself and can help you feel free) *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of deaths & grief (including parents and Daniel’s mother who passed away after he was born); Mentions of Daniel wandering off (including the time search-and-rescue dogs had to be called and the event in Book #1); Mentions of a theft, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of poop, peeing, needing to pee, constipation, & throwing up; Mentions of spiders (including a giant one) & an awful smell; A couple mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of rumors; A mention of a dog by lost by pet sitters (Book #1);
             *Note: Daniel has sensory sensitivity in crowds and with loud noises (because of this Daniel lost his cell phone privileges after he dropped it in the toilet and tried to flush it when it buzzed and scared him); Daniel feels an “itchiness” on his skin (he also describes it as “a bunch of invisible bugs are snacking on [his] brain”), his chest tightens, and his stomach also hurts when feeling guilt about trying to sabotage the search for Skylar; As his deception and secrets grow, Daniel feels sick; Daniel is worried that his brother will forget about him after he is married & that the wedding is a mistake; Kimmy no longer hides her arm after the road trip in Book #1 (Daniel notices that others are talking about her little arm and it bothers him because that’s how God made her; Daniel and Kimmy also talk about when her old friend made fun if her arm and how it hurt her); A couple mentions of car brands.
 
 
Sexual Content- A few mentions of dating, break-ups, & Skylar running off before on Daniel.
 
-Daniel, age 12
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Daniel 
                                                        210 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’ve been excited for this story since first reading “Road Trip Rescue” and wanting to see more of Daniel. Both this book and the first in the series have a solid middle-grade charm to them and I enjoyed seeing the characters grow—Daniel particularly in this book. 

 

I really felt for both Daniel with all the changes that are upcoming for him and also for Mateo with the hurt of Skylar running off. As an adult, I have to admit questioning the two of them together still, but hopefully it will work out for them and Skylar won’t be so…questionable on her quick decisions. 😅 I think for the middle-grade readers there are good lessons in this book (especially the ones that Daniel learns by the end!), but I would also suggest for parent or a trusted adult to discuss about Skylar going off and her lack of communication due to it not being the healthiest idea for her and Mateo’s relationship. I wanted to shake some sense into her, personally, and make sure she and Mateo have strong Christian couples in their lives to have as mentors. I hope we’ll see everyone again in the third book and I’m looking forward to reading it soon!

 

 

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.

"A Noble Friend" by Kendra E. Ardnek

About this book:

  “He'll follow her to the ends of the earth, even as she marries another. But what happens when her husband proves to be a monster?”


Series: Book #15 in the multi-author series, “Cornerstone”. It does not seem to be connected to any other books, however. A stand-alone novel. Click on the books to be taken to that review: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, Book #12, Book #13, Book #14, and Book #16!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned; Church going & a sermon; Talks about God & those in the Bible; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Joah feels ashamed that he forgot it was the Lord’s Day and goes to the chapel when reminded (he has difficultly focusing on the priest as he focuses on Aloise sitting up front, but hears some of the sermon); *Major Spoilers* There is a letter for Aloise from Bluebeard in the room he told her not to go into that says about the Lord giving “our father and mother in the garden” a rule and how he gave Aloise the chance, but proved to be like “our mother” to be “treacherous and willful” as his prior wives so she must share their fate (death); Aloise thinks that she should have obey him because of what the Word commands, but her brother says that the Word commands husbands to love their wives the way the Son loves His church and that only God has the authority over life and death; Joah also says that the Lord will not be mocked and will not allow evil to reign forever; When Bluebeard comes home, he finds out what she’s done and plans to kill her, while ranting about being surrounded by treacherous women and that she isn’t the saint he thought she was; Joah says that the Lord is not even as cruel as Bluebeard is because God sent His Son *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of God (also called the Author); Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches/chapels, the Lord’s Day, a priest, & a sermon; A few mentions of the Word; A mention of Christians; 
             *Note: Joah notes that Bluebeard does not look at Aloise with the “worship she is due”; Joah thinks of Aloise as an “ethereal creature”; A few mentions of a rumored curse/legend on Bluebeard that his wives will die until he finds the right one (which Aloise says that curses don’t really exist “unless one has really displeased the Lord” so she doesn’t believe this rumor); A few mentions of some believing that Joah was the son of a wind spirit or some mystical creature with how he appeared on Aloise’s family’s doorstep; A couple mentions of luck & being unlucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘dumb’; Some eye rolling; Fighting & Seeing a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Joah thinks the greatest thing he can do for Aloise is to die for her and considers the thought to be an honor; *Major Spoilers* Aloise comes into the room her husband told her not to and finds miniatures of his past wives with red slashes through their necks and a lock of their hair (which Joah calls the room “clearly designed to intimidate and unnerve”); There is a letter for her from him that talks about the Lord giving “our father and mother in the garden” a rule and how he gave Aloise the chance, but proved to be like “our mother” to be “treacherous and willful” as his prior wives so she must share their fate (death); When he comes home, he finds out what she’s done and plans to kill her, but Joah and her brothers protect her and kill him instead (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of murders, deaths, threats, grief, & guilt (including from a bad fall, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of Joah being left on Aloise’s family’s doorstep underfed and half-conscious; A few mentions of hatred; A few mentions of people acting like whipped dogs or looking at another like “the worst dog to walk the earth”; A couple mentions of blood; A couple mentions of possible robbers attacking or a possible mountain lion attack; 
             *Note: Aloise makes a few comments about women like her being “traded and bartered for like sets of pretty dolls with no feelings”, how some men that would dismiss her protests as “silly female dramatics”, and another woman comments that men with power want “their wives meek and docile”; Joah is concerned that Aloise will be married off to a man who will likely be as cruel and demanding as her father & that her father only views her as a way to expand his riches and prestige; Aloise’s brother says that men have to protect women because “they are all to prone to death as it. It takes work to keep them alive.” and Joah frowns that that statement, but isn’t sure how to refute it.
 
 
Sexual Content- A blush; Seeing a married couple embrace and share two hand kisses; Joah is in love with Aloise, but tries to hide it because of their difference of status and believing he would be sent away by her father or her husband if they found out about it; When Aloise bats her eyelashes, Joah forgets how to breathe and later, also think of her as being “perfection itself”; Joah prays for resistance against the temptation of being with Aloise and tries not to imagine being anything more to her than just her guard; When Aloise pulls Joah into her bedroom to tell him something, he tells her it is highly inappropriate; Mentions of reputations; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of Aloise and her husband having bedroom far from each other; A mention of desire; Very light love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Joah notices that Aloise’s corset is pull too tight which has given her “unnatural curves”.
 
-Joah, around age 18 
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Joah 
                                                        104 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

When I first heard about this book, I was concerned for two reasons: 

1. The Bluebeard part of this story. I’ve read a clean fiction retelling of that one before and the original tale turns my stomach. (Plus I’m a dedicated rule follower and couldn’t imagine opening a door that I was specifically told not to go into.) This author kept that information much lighter than the original story, though, which was good and made it cleaner for sure! 

2. Male Lead is in love with his foster-sister-like-friend who has just gotten married to another man. There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence but it was mostly the “married to another man” and Joah following her as her guard that made me nervous. Thankfully, though, he does not act on his feelings for her—even prior to her marriage because of the status difference—but especially not when she’s married because he doesn’t want to cause gossip or harm her reputation. I was nervous about a potential cheating element, but was very relieved that there wasn’t any on her part or him trying to tempt her away. It’s a touchy line and I’m glad that it wasn’t crossed. 

 

We don’t get her POV, just Joah’s which I think worked well enough for the story. It would have been nice to see someone else’s perspective like Aloise’s just to see how she views everything that is happening, though. Within the first two pages I was thinking, “you got it bad for her, bud” and that was Joah’s whole personality, but to be fair, when the Bluebeard guy was introduced, I agreed with Joah that that guy was suspicious. 🤨

 

I think for me this was a miss because I don’t care for this fairytale in general and how Scripture was twisted by a villain. The ending had a promise of hope for the main characters, though, which was good, and I hope it works out for them!

 

 

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.