"The Heiress of Winterwood" by Sarah E. Ladd

About this book:

  “Pride goes before the fall . . . but what comes after?
  Darbury, England, 1814
  Amelia Barrett, heiress to an ancestral estate nestled in the English moors, defies family expectations and promises to raise her dying friend’s infant baby. She'll risk everything to keep her word—even to the point of proposing to the child’s father, Graham, a sea captain she’s never met.
  Tragedy strikes when the child vanishes with little more than a sketchy ransom note hinting to her whereabouts. Fear for the child’s safety drives Amelia and Graham to test the boundaries of their love for this infant.
  Amelia’s detailed plans would normally see her through any trial, but now, desperate and shaken, she examines her soul and must face her one weakness: pride.
  Graham’s strength and self-control have served him well and earned him much respect, but chasing perfection has kept him a prisoner of his own discipline.
  Both must learn to accept God’s sovereignty and relinquish control so they can grasp the future He has for planned for them.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Whispers on the Moor” series. {Book #2 will be reviewed next week. :)}

Spiritual Content- In the Prologue, Psalm 23 is said & Amelia isn’t happy with God for taking another person she loved; Katherine had a strong Faith; “for all that is good and holy” is said once; Many Scriptures; Jane witnesses to Amelia & another man witnesses to Graham; Church going; Many Prayers; Amelia & Graham both have difficulty trusting God (they work on it near the end).

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘hush’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘Egad!’s, two ‘idiot’s, three ‘shut up’s (or “shut yer mouth”s); five forms of ‘blast’, a “who in blazes”, a “what in blazes”, a “devil of a time”; Four curses are said but not written; A mention of how a horse runs as if “the devil himself was at it’s heels”; Mentions of gambling; Mentions of drinking, drunks & pubs(and Wanting to drink but does not); Fighting, Guns, Knifes & Blood (semi-detailed); A not-scary nightmare; And like the back of the book says, kidnapping.

Sexual Content- a semi-detailed kisses & a detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss; Nearness & blushes that cause warmth & shivers; Notices of a person’s smell; Flattery; A mention of how William was drunk and forced himself on Amelia, kissing her (barely above not-detailed); Edward says two suggestive comments to Amelia (one about having as many babies as she wants & he comments about sleeping alone); *Spoiler* A baby was conceived out of wedlock. *End of Spoiler*; Love, falling in love, and the emotions.

-Amelia Barrett

-Graham Sterling
                                         P.O.V. switches between them.

                                              Set in 1814
                                                        310 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens- 

(and a half)

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens- 

(and a half)

My personal Rating- 

(and a half)

The big twist mention on the back of the cover doesn’t happen till a bit half-way through the book—which I was totally okay with. Because that meant I wouldn’t be in suspense for so long. ;) As I’ve mentioned before I like predictable stories and “The Heiress of Winterwood” was a bit predictable but there were also some surprises I didn’t see coming!

See y'all on Wednesday!
 

*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.

"Hidden in the Stars" by Robin Caroll

About this book:

  “Following an attack that killed her mother and stole her ability to speak, 21-year-old Sophia Montgomery has no choice but to accept her estranged grandmother’s offer to return to their family home. Although detective Julian Frazier is working hard on the case, Sophia unknowingly frustrates him because her inability to speak thwarts her eyewitness evidence. The fact that Julian is undeniably attracted to Sophia doesn’t help either, so Julian hides his feelings as concern for a trauma victim and focuses instead on finding the killer.
  Little do they know, the clues to solving the case may be right in front of them, displayed in Sophia’s mother’s “special” quilt design. Who will realize the secret Sophia’s unwittingly been hiding in plain sight? When the truth comes to light, will Sophia find her voice again? Or will the murderer—still at large—silence her forever?”


Series: Book #21 in the “Quilts of Love” series {They do not have to be read in order as they are not connected. See my reviews of number #17, “A Promise in Pieces”, Here! Number #18, “A Stitch and a Prayer”, Here! Number #19, “Rival Hearts”, Here! and Number #20, “A Grand Design”, Here!}

Spiritual Content- Sophia cries out to God; Alena says that watching Nina dance “was like watching bog (God) breathe life.” She says a bit later that Nina danced “like a goddess”; Julian doesn’t want to believe in God because of things that happened in his past, but his partner Brody does and witnesses; Sophia has a strong Faith; Many Prayers; Many talks of God & forgiving.  

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘drat it’, five ‘stupid’s; Sophia has flash-backs of the attack (it’s not so detailed like it was happening to the reader, but it’s pretty detailed..around semi-detailed); Blood (semi-detailed & detailed); Guns, knifes, shooting, killing, murder and hurting (all semi-detailed); Mentions of a drug cartel.

Sexual Content- a ‘sexy’; a semi-detailed kiss & wanting to kiss; Noticing (semi); With the flash-backs, Sophia remembers a man straddling her (no-details, it was most likely to keep her still, not sexual, but I thought I should add it); *Spoiler* Sophia was born out of wedlock and her grandmother wanted Nina to abort the baby. *End of Spoiler*; A baby was conceived out of wedlock; A Mention of dating; Love, falling in love and a tiny bit of the emotions.

-Sophia Montgomery, age 21

-Julian Frazier, age 29

                                         P.O.V. switches between them.
                                                        203 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

 Early High School Teens- 

(and a half)

Older High School Teens- 

(and a half)

My personal Rating-

(and a half)

{I think a trusted adult should read before the teen}

{For those very sensitive to blood & murder, lower 1-2 stars}

{This was a very hard to rate book, please remember that these are my opinion}

I really enjoyed this book and while it was different from Miss Robin Caroll’s pre-teen books, “Samantha Sanderson at the Movies” and “Samantha Sanderson On the Scene”, there were parts I could tell were written by the same author. “Hidden in the Stars” has a really interknit plot; and since the back of the book says about the murder, I was able to prepare myself for any parts of that. It had humor sprinkled in and it was a very good suspense book. It’s tied with “Rival Hearts” for being my favorite “Quilts of Love” book.    

{Giveaway link removed- 7/15/19}

 See y’all on Monday with another 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 (Abingdon Press) (through Litfuse) for this review.