“When passion for justice conflicts with the heart, which will prevail?
Noreen O'Sullivan is an enthusiastic member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and believes herself called to defend the cause of prohibition. When she's invited to join the Secret Society of Spinsters, Noreen jumps at the chance to rally others to her movement and shut down the local saloon for good. However, her passionate campaigning often puts her at odds with the men around her—including the local deputy.
Deputy James Paxton believes in preserving the peace, but Miss O'Sullivan has been disturbing his peace for months. If James wants to be elected sheriff, he can't afford to be seen as her ally. But when Noreen ropes him into helping her plan a temperance march, their growing closeness sparks unexpected feelings. Then tensions escalate at the saloon and accusations fly. James must choose between upholding his badge and protecting the woman who's captured his heart—knowing either choice could cost him everything.”
Series: Book #1 in “The Secret Society of Spinsters” series.
Spiritual Content- Matthew 5:44-45 at the beginning; Many Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, read, discussed, & remembered; Many Prayers, Thanking God, & Blessings over food; Church going (including James being distracted once during the service); Many talks about God, Jesus, wives submitting to their husbands, praying for others (including enemies), salvation, & forgiveness; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God or Jesus; Noreen has studied Scripture to find her answer on why God didn’t save her and her mom from her father’s temper & believes that while God does “intervene directly in people’s lives from time to time”, He also worked through humans (like prophets, warriors, and ministers), so she’s decided to be a warrior for His cause; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Noreen realizes that while she’s thought before that she and God must have different definitions of good, they she’s defined good as the absence of bad and assumes the verse in Romans must be referring to Heaven and spiritual blessings *End of Spoilers*; Noreen’s mother has begged her to “curb her defiant ways and practice biblical submissiveness” which Noreen notes that she’ll submit to God and to the laws of the land as the Bible says, but will not kneel to men because of society’s voting rules (adding that because of her father and step-father’s treatment towards her mother, Noreen will not partake in “blind submissiveness” like her mother has; *Spoiler* Towards the end, Noreen’s mother talks to the pastor about situations where obeying God and her husband conflict and is told that obeying God takes precedence *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, trusting God, & His promises; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, ministers/pastors, sermons, prayer meetings, Sunday school classes, & hymns; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of sins;
*Note: Religious phrases such as “heavens”, “thank heaven”, “good heavens”, “heaven help him”, “heaven knows/knew”, “merciful heaven” and “for the love of Pete” are all said up to seven times; A saloon owner uses the event of Jesus turning water into wine against Noreen and her arguments against alcohol (which she responds with other Scriptures that back her opinion); Noreen calls alcohol “the demon drink” and feels like she can hear “the demons cackling over their victory” of someone being hurt by a drunkard; Towards the end, Noreen says she’s confronted the “demons” from her past; A man calls Noreen a “she-devil” twice; A couple mentions of luck & being lucky; A mention of a place looking “demonic” when on fire; A mention of a woman in the temperance union that Noreen idolizes and strives to emulate; A mention of “damning” evidence.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘Gads’, a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘stars and garters’, a ‘stinkin’’, a ‘thunderation’, a ‘what in tarnation’, three ‘good grief’s, three forms of ‘stupid’, and five ‘shoot’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; A fire, Aiming a gun at someone, Being arrested, & Being grabbed by someone with ill-intent (up to semi-detailed); Remembering verbal and physical abuse from a parent (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoilers, but about a past death* Noreen tells James about when she was twelve and her father came home drunk one night: He was unable to get up off the barn floor and because she had come to hate him because of his abusive nature, she left him there and found him dead the next day, having choked on his own vomit; Noreen has felt guilty since that day like she murdered him *End of Spoilers*; Seeing someone who was badly beaten, injured, & bleeding (up to semi-detailed, *Major Spoilers* A girl who was beaten by her drunk father after trying to get him to turn away from drinking; This greatly upsets Noreen because of her own experiences, so she goes to the saloon to destroy the alcohol there and gets arrested for vandalism; The mother of the girl decides to leave her husband for a time with her, which starts a realization for the father about his actions *End of Spoilers*); All about & many mentions of Noreen being against alcohol (with both drinking and selling it) due to her father being an abusive drunk and seeing the harm it can do to a family; Many mentions of men/husbands/fathers becoming physically and verbally abusive when drunk, some beating their daughters and wives (including one near to death), a wife leaving her husband because of his abuse, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of crimes, criminals, jails/prisons, arrests, & possible hangings; Many mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, saloons, & hangovers; Mentions of deaths (including from illnesses and a possible murder); Mentions of wars, injuries, & men returning home changed (and not for the better); Mentions of outlaws, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of fires, smoke, arson, an arsonist, injuries, & vandalism; Mentions of fights, fighting, weapons, guns being aimed at others, & gunshots; Mentions of threats; Mentions of gambling & poker; Mentions of throwing up/vomit; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip, rumors, & eavesdropping; A couple mentions of tobacco; A mention of jealousy;
*Note: Noreen has a strained relationship with her mother due to her mother not standing up to her step-father & him putting a divide between them (*Spoilers* Shortly into the book, Noreen talks to her mother and realizes that her mother made the best choice she could under the circumstances; Noreen’s step-father dislikes her protesting against alcohol due to his political aspirations and bans her from coming to his house, which her mother does nothing about *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of women wanting the ability to vote & have their voices heard (which Noreen thinks that all citizens deserve to be heard regardless of their gender, skin color, or financial status); Mentions of spinsters being treated with careless words and disdainful glances for never being married (including some insults on-page); Mentions of historical figures & books (Clara Barton, Charlotte Brontë, Susan B. Anthony, Jane Austen, Nellie Bly, Louisa May Alcott, Frances Willard, Dwight L. Moody, Doc Holliday, Big Nose Kate, & ‘Little Women’); Mentions of Shakespeare & his plays.
Sexual Content- Four hand/fingers kisses, five head/forehead kisses, and a detailed kiss (mentioning desire, one’s core being affected, and deepening the kiss); Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Cuddling (for comfort and also falling asleep holding the other), Hand holding, Butterflies, Tingles, Warmth, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Remembering kisses & embraces (up to semi-detailed); Winks, Blushes, & Flirting; Noticing & Staring (including muscles, up to semi-detailed); James embraces and holds Noreen when she’s upset (twice; once he falls asleep for a moment as well, but then releases her so no one will see him “spooning” with her in the public place they are in); Mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of reputations; A few mentions of flirting; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Noreen is concerned at the thought of possibly being addicted to James’ smiles (because of her reasoning being similar to those addicted to alcohol would make).
-Noreen O’Sullivan, age 27
-James Paxton
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1894
330 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Karen Witemeyer’s books often have a bit too much romance for my tastes (or just more than I would suggest for teen readers), so they are usually a hit or a miss for me, but I was curious about this book because of the plot and main character’s convictions. Since it was the start of a new series, I thought I would try this one out.
I liked Noreen’s passion for the temperance union and alerting others to the evils of liquor. I’ve often said that if I lived in that time period, I would have been a member as well due to my own strong opinions against alcohol. She had her fiery passion for the issue, but had to learn about not being such a clanging cymbal about it because it could push others towards what she’s promoting against. She couldn’t quite see the forest for the trees, but thankfully she has wise friends (including James) that help her in that regard. There was a lot of wisdom shared at times that made both Noreen and James become stronger in their beliefs and have great character development.
I do want to note that the two of them fell for each other super quick—to the point it was a little ridiculous how fast they were attracted to each other and getting butterflies at the other’s nearness. Because of this and some events in the book, it felt very typical/cliché and standard for the genre.
The faith content was very strong and I really enjoyed seeing the couple discuss their faiths, what was important to them, and also try to lovingly make the other aware of something that was important (mostly him to her about her the clanging cymbal mentality I mentioned previously).
While there was only one kiss (on the lips) in this book, it was a bit long and detailed—and mentioned certain words I don’t love seeing in a Christian Fiction book, so this part and all the other romantic feelings the main couple have for each other are why I’m not highly recommending this book despite mostly enjoying it. I think it was a little too much in the romance regards for those under 16/17, personally. It will depend on the girl, of course, but I would share caution with this book due to the romance and tough topic of domestic violence.
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.
