“On the Manu for These Ladies? Adventure, Independence, and a Big Serving of Romance!
A storied part of American history, Harvey Houses offered women a unique chance to gain independence and see amazing parts of this great country. Celebrated historical romance writers Tracie Peterson, Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, and Jen Turano offer four fun, romantic tales of Harvey girls whose western adventures lead to love.”
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“A Flood of Love” by Tracie Peterson
About this book:
“Returning home to New Mexico for the first time in years to fill in at the Harvey House, Gretchen Gottsacker is sure the past is behind her. But nothing can be that simple. When the man she loved long ago steps back into her life—with a daughter, no less—will she ever be the same?”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any of the author’s other books.
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted; Prayers; Dirk shares that his family is “extremely bound by our religious beliefs”; Talks about God, Jesus, & answered prayers; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God, Jesus, praying, faiths, & Christians; Mentions of prayers, praying, & answered prayers; Mentions of churches, church going, services, & different denominations; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed; A mention of Noah’s Ark; A mention of sin; A mention of the devil;
*Note: “Dear Lord” is said once by a main character (could be taken as a prayer or in vain); A couple mentions of luck & being lucky.
Negative Content- Some eye rolling & sarcasm; A flood & being trapped in high water (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of floods, towns and homes destroyed, & people being trapped (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths (including from railway and car accidents & a fever) and grief (including for a fiancé, brother, parents, and grandparents); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & drunks; A few mentions of World War I; A couple mentions of jails & arrests; A couple mentions of deception; A mention of drunken men shooting up a place; A mention of gossip;
*Note: Dirk is described as having an “exotic presence” due to being half Hispanic and half American; A mention of a woman dying from childbirth complications.
Sexual Content- a not-detailed kiss, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches (including accidentally falling on a man’s lap), Embraces, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Remembering kisses, touches, & embraces (up to semi-detailed); Noticing & Staring (up to semi-detailed); *Spoilers, but about an out-of-wedlock pregnancy* Dirk shares with Gretchen that his brother and his fiancée were pregnant out-of-wedlock, so they planned to elope due to being “condemned” by their family “religious beliefs” and quietly “right the wrong”; Dirk’s brother was concerned that his fiancée would be shamed, ostracized, and abandoned by her friends if the truth came out; Dirk married the woman to honor his brother’s wishes on his deathbed; Dirk tells Gretchen that he never touched the woman and wasn’t unfaithful to his love for Gretchen *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions.
-Gretchen Gottsacker, age 28
-Dirk Martinez
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1929 (Final Chapter in 1931)
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“More Than a Pretty Face” by Karen Witemeyer
About this book:
“Rosalind Kemp becomes a Harvey Girl, clinging to the promise of one day transferring even farther west, someplace her youthful indiscretion won’t catch up to her. But the past is hard to escape, and when the worst occurs, will anyone stand up for her?”
Series: Connected to and set after “More Than Words Can Say”.
Spiritual Content- Galatians 5:1 at the beginning; A couple Scriptures are quoted & remembered; Prayers (including Rosalind asking God why she isn’t free of her past); Church going & singing a hymn; A couple talks about God; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God, His will, trusting Him, & showing grace; Mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, & prayer meetings; Mentions of those & events in the Bible (including a mention of Eve and the “apple”); Mentions of church, church going, services, & hymns; A few mentions of Christians; A few mentions of godly men and women; A few mentions of sins; A mention of Sunday school;
*Note: Religious phrases: a “for Pete’s sake”, a “for heaven’s sake”, a “heaven knew”, and four “heavens”; Caleb refers to being physically close to Rosalind as “near to heaven as he’d ever come”; Someone says a dessert tastes “like heaven”; A reference to “damning evidence” about someone’s sins; A mention of someone battling demons from their past; A mention of being lucky.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘good grief’, a ‘shut up’, and a ‘stupid’; A mention of a curse (said, not written); Eye rolling; Rosalind has lied about her “scandalous” past (details in the Sexual Content spoiler); Fighting & Seeing someone fight (in self-defense); Mentions of deaths (including from illnesses) & grief (including a woman for her son, Rosalind for her parents, & Caleb for his father); Mentions of a woman in an abusive marriage, her being unwilling to press charges her husband, & her son being concerned for her safety; Mentions of a woman being accosted, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of alcohol, saloons, drinking, & drunks; Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; A few mentions of a father having sharp tongue towards his daughter; A couple mentions of wars; A mention of tobacco.
Sexual Content- Three hand/fingers kisses, a cheek kiss, an almost kiss (semi-detailed), and three detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Electricity, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (up to semi-detailed); Caleb’s mother says that waitresses like Rosalind are no better than women who work in brothels and are “soiled doves” (which Caleb says she and the other Harvey Girls are not that); Seeing a picture of a woman in her underclothes (*Major Spoilers and references to marital intimacy* When she was 16/17, Rosalind posed for a picture in her underclothes/corset to earn money for her father’s medicine; This is the past that she has lied about and tried to keep a secret, but some men figure it out; Those men show Caleb the picture and he blushes while also feels nauseous over how young she was in the picture; One man says she issued the invitation to look at her picture by posing for it, so men don’t have to feel guilty at looking; Caleb’s mother finds out about it and reveals it in front of the entire Harvey House staff; Caleb is hurt by the fact of other men seeing Rosalind in a “state of undress” as it’s an “intimacy reserved for marriage”, but still loves and defends her; They get married and the epilogue shows them kissing, wanting to touch, exploring his bedroom (with references to wanting to explore his bed, the chapter ends with them going to the bed; all in his POV, up to semi-detailed and detailed kisses) *End of Spoilers*; A friend tells Rosalind that a “darkened theater is the perfect place to get close [to her suitor]”; a “hussy”; Mentions of having “sparks” for someone, love at first sight, & infatuation; A few mentions of a man’s “immoral and illegal” business venture of photographing women in a lack of clothing; A few mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of reputations; A mention of a mistress; A mention of jealousy; A mention of a woman swooning over a man’s appearance; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A few mentions of a Rosalind’s figure (which is noted that Caleb finds pleasing); A couple mentions of “sire” a son or child; A mention of a man being kicked in his groin by a woman he grabbed; A mention of the previous man nearly being “gelded” when kicked in the groin.
-Rosalind Kemp
-Caleb Durrington, age 28
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1902
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“Intrigue a la Mode” by Regina Jennings
About this book:
“When Willow Kentworth is warned that strange things are happening in the railyard after dark, she never intends to get involved. That is, until a handsome new employee at the Harvey House—who has secrets of his own—needs her assistance.”
Series: Connected to and set before “Courting Misfortune”.
Spiritual Content- A prayer; A few mentions of prayers & praying; A couple mentions of God;
*Note: A few mentions of luck & being lucky.
Negative Content- two ‘good grief’s; Eye rolling; Nearly being hit by train, Being attacked and left to die, Being trapped in a railway cart, Injuries, Pain, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Breaking into places (due to the mystery); Many mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, saloons, & smuggling alcohol during the Prohibition; Mentions of attacks, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of thieves, robberies, & stealing; Mentions of illnesses (including Willow’s mother having tuberculosis); Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of gambling & poker; A couple mentions of cigars; A mention of a mother giving her young boy a whipping for misbehaving.
Sexual Content- Staring at lips, a fingers-to-lips touch, a forehead kiss, a cheek kiss, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch (barely-above-not-detailed); Winks & Flirting; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of kissing & kisses; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
-Willow Kentworth
-Graham Buchanan, age 23
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1898
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“Grand Encounters” by Jen Turano
About this book:
“After her fiancé abandons her, Miss Myrtle Schermerhorn flees New York’s pity for a position at the El Tovar Hotel on the rim of the Grand Canyon. She’s determined to hold fast to her life of independence—but a rugged, frequent quest of the hotel makes that vow difficult to uphold.”
Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book by this author.
Spiritual Content- Talks about God & signs from Him; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & signs from Him; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, & a reverend; A mention of a Christian’s duty; A mention of divine intervention;
*Note: Religious phrases: a “good heavens”; A few mentions of luck & being lucky.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: Five ‘idiot’s; Eye rolling; Choking & Almost being hit (up to semi-detailed); Myrtle has a sip of wine at a party; Mentions of fights, injures & blood/bleeding; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & drunks; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of a casino; A few mentions of eavesdropping;
*Note: Myrtle’s mother cut her off after she went to become a Harvey Girl & they have not spoken to each other since (*Spoilers* She receives a letter from her mother that she is dying, so Myrtle goes to her, but it ends up being a ploy/lie *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of books & authors (‘Dracula’, ‘The Time Machine’, & ‘The House of Mirth’ by Edith Wharton); Mentions of a brand name (Tiffany and Co. jewelry).
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, four hand/fingers kisses, and a not-detailed kiss; Touches, Dancing, Hand holding, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); A man tries to grab Myrtle; Handsome men are called “delicious” by a couple women (including Myrtle) & Jack notes Myrtle being in a “delectable” gown; A couple mentions of chaperones; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A couple mentions of a woman’s figure.
-Myrtle Schermerhorn, age 23
-Jack Daggett, age 31
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1908
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Overall Ratings:
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
“A Flood of Love” by Tracie Peterson - 2 stars, personally ⭐️ We don’t know why he left her without any warning until half of the story, but he still kisses, embraces, and touches her prior to that. So, because of this, he felt pushy and I didn’t care for him. Communication was not in these characters’ forte. *Spoiler* how in the world did the people in town make a wedding cake in a schoolhouse the evening after the entire town was flooded? It made no sense *End of Spoiler*. Overall, it wasn’t terrible but it was rushed and I didn’t feel connected to the characters.
“More Than a Pretty Face” by Karen Witemeyer - 1 star, personally ⭐️ I figured out what Rosalind’s secret was pretty quick and it made me sad. I felt so bad for her. There’s spoilers to it in the Sexual Content spoiler, but I wouldn’t recommend this novella to teens because of it and how men treated her because of it. I wanted to give her a hug. If I had read the connecting book prior, maybe I would have liked this novella more, but while the main couple was cute, I felt just sad at what Rosalind had been through and it added more sexual content to the story. Caleb was a dear and a great man for her; his mother in the other hand was atrocious. The implications of showing grace to others was good—though, there were a couple theology comments that I didn’t think were quite right (such as calling the fruit that Eve ate an apple when it’s not named in the Bible—just called a fruit). I was thinking I would give this novella 2 stars personally due to how good Caleb was for her, but I personally don’t like to rate books with fade-to-black scenes that high, especially not in the male lead’s POV as it felt like I was witnessing something between a couple (married or not) that I shouldn’t be reading.
“Intrigue a la Mode” by Regina Jennings - 3 stars, personally ⭐️ This one felt the most rushed in the plotline, but I was curious in the smuggling mystery, so it kept my attention pretty well. It would have been nice to see more of the couple together as it felt a little more like being told about their interactions. Such as it being said that they are courting, but there wasn’t a moment of them discussing that. However, it was much lighter romance compared to the previous novellas in this collection, which I appreciated.
“Grand Encounters” by Jen Turano - 4 stars, personally ⭐️ This one was actually a reread for me as I read it a few years ago because I often enjoy Jen Turano’s book. I actually didn’t remember any of it, though, so it was like reading it for the first time. I found this novella to be super cute! There’s a moment of stupidity on a certain character’s part, but it ends well and I found myself laughing throughout the book—especially because of Jack’s conversations with his brother. I will note that there were comments about receiving signs from God that I didn’t love, but it wasn’t like the characters had asked for them, so it could be taken as little winks from God instead. Super cute overall, though, and I wished this novella came in its own physical edition!
See y’all on Monday 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.
