Books for Christian Girls: "The Elusive Miss Ellison" by Carolyn Miller

About this book:

“Hampton Hall's new owner has the villagers of St. Hampton Heath all aflutter--all except Lavinia Ellison. The reverend's daughter cares for those who are poor and sick, and the seventh Earl of Hawkesbury definitely does not meet that criteria. His refusal to take his responsibilities seriously, or even darken the door of the church, leave her convinced he is as arrogant and reckless as his brother--his brother who stole the most important person in Lavinia's world.
Nicholas Stamford is shadowed by guilt: his own, his brother's, the legacy of war. A perfunctory visit to this dreary part of Gloucestershire wasn't supposed to engage his heart, or his mind. Challenged by Miss Ellison's fascinating blend of Bluestocking opinions, hoydenish behavior, and angelic voice, he finds the impossible becoming possible--he begins to care. But Lavinia's aloof manner, society's opposition and his ancestral obligations prove most frustrating, until scandal forces them to get along.

Can Lavinia and Nicholas look beyond painful pasts and present prejudice to see their future? And what will happen when Lavinia learns a family secret that alters everything she's ever known?”

Series: Book #1 in the “Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace” series.

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Many Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, read, thought over & talked about; Bible reading; Church going, sermons & noticing stain glasses of those in the Bible; Hymns are sung & written out; Witnessing; Many talks about God, the Bible, the cross, His will & forgiveness; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God (expect one); Nicholas isn’t happy with God & doesn’t think it’s useful to pray (he does at one moment wishes he knew how to, & later tries; *Spoiler* He starts reading the Bible and starts to believe half-way through *End of Spoiler*); Lavinia feels that God is very far away at one point; Many mentions of God, His love and peace & forgiving; Many mentions of a reverend (Lavinia’s father), sermons, church going, services, hymns, a church & Sunday schools; Mentions of prayers; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those in & books of the Bible; Mentions of thanking God; Mentions of blessings; Mentions of Christians, believers & faiths; Mentions of sins & sinners; A few mentions of salvation; A few mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of martyrs; A mention of a prayer book; A mention of a miracle; A mention of an angel;

*Note: The phrase “Good God!” is exclaimed by Nicholas; Nicholas mentions thanking “whatever gods may be” for something; A mention of praying to a man’s god; A mention of “ghosts or some such Gothic nonsense”; A mention of a devil-may-care attitude; A mention of a man wishing he was in Hades.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘biddy’, a ‘dash it’, a ‘what the devil’, two ‘blast’s, sixteen forms of ‘stupid’; Two curses are said (said, not written); A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm; Nightmares about the war, pain & being shot (up to semi-detailed); Pain & Sicknesses (up to semi-detailed); Drinking wine, whiskey & brandy (Nicholas); Mentions of & remembering an accident, death & blood (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a war, fighting & deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of illnesses, fevers, possible deaths & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of an old dog’s death, pain & whimpering (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fighting & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of pain, injuries & blood; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of drinking, wine & brandy; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a little boy who drowned; A few mentions of saloons & pints; A few mentions of lies; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of bets & gaming.

Sexual Content- a thumb-to-lips touch, two palm kisses, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, a semi-detailed kiss and a detailed kiss; Touches, Nearness & Warmth (up to semi-detailed); Wondering about touching & kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); A man tries to corner, touch & kiss Lavinia (he’s pulled away from her, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of reputations, not having a chaperone & things looking scandalous; Mentions of noticing; Mentions of blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of a flirt & flirting; A couple mentions of someone carrying a girl off to “ravish” her (it doesn’t/didn’t happen, just a mention of the thought); Love, falling in love & the emotions;

*Note: Wearing & mentions of a dress with a low neckline (which Lavinia isn’t comfortable in) and men glancing at the contents of her dress (Lavinia says their glances are “dirty, hot, and soiling”).

-Lavinia Ellison, age 23

-Nicholas Stamford, age 29
P.O.V. switches between them

Set in 1813
303 pages

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My personal Rating-

Debut author Carolyn Miller had me smirking & laughing in her novel “The Elusive Miss Ellison”. I mean, I had some pretty high hopes for this book because one of my favorite historical authors, Carrie Turansky, gave a blurb for this one, but I wasn’t disappointed. I did enjoy it. The writing style was a little bit different from what I’m used to, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all.

Character wise: I absolutely adored Lavinia. She is gold, pure, witty gold. And that fact that I was listening to my beagle bark while reading about Lavinia and her beagle was just icing on the cake. I got quite tickled at one of her lines towards Nicholas: “You, sir, are outside of enough!” Hahaha! I love that wording! Nicholas had his good moments as well, but I feel like Lavinia and I would get along splendidly.

I was pleasantly surprised by all the faith & Spiritual content, and so enjoyed reading all those parts. I am curious to see how the differences on such content will be in the next book of the series (releasing in June) with the main girl not having a reverend as a father. Regardless, I’m looking forward to reading it. :)

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!