Books for Christian Girls: "Engaged in Trouble" by Jenny B. Jones

About this book:

“When a washed-up pop star inherits a wedding planning business, it’s all bouquets and bliss until a bride turns up dead.
Paisley Sutton shot to stardom as a teenage rock sensation, but ten years later that star has fizzled out, just like her bank account. When she unexpectedly inherits her aunt’s wedding planning business, Paisley leaves the glamour of Los Angeles for a charming small town in Arkansas. Thinking she’ll arrive in Sugar Creek and liquidate the moldly property, Paisley’s shocked to find Enchanted Events has experienced a major makeover and is now the place for brides. She’s got two months to keep Enchanted Events afloat if she wants to sell and rekindle her music career with the profits.
Paisley’s tossed into a world of vows and venues, but her most difficult challenge comes in the form of one demanding bride. When this Bridezilla’s found facedown in her cake, all fingers point to Paisley as the prime murder suspect. And she does not look good in prison orange.
This former pop princess will need the help of her gun-toting, ex-CIA grandmother and her handsome neighbor, Beau Hudson, to unravel the mystery and clear her good name. As she and her unruly posse dig into Bridezilla’s life, she discovers the woman had a long list of enemies. The closer Paisley gets to the truth, the more her own life is in danger.
Love is in the air this wedding season, but before Paisley can help the ladies of Sugar Creek say, “I do,” she’s got to unveil a killer. Or find herself the next target.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Enchanted Events” series.

Spiritual Content- Prayers; Thanking God a few of times; Some ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of chapels, churches, church going, church events, Sunday school classes, Bible studies, sermons, & pastors; A few mentions of prayer meetings; A few mentions of being baptized & a youth group; A few mentions of hymns; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of saints; A couple mentions of sin; A mention of being blessed; A mention of a deacon; A mention of spiritual warfare; A mention of holy water; A mention of Hail Mary prayers; A mention of someone crossing;

*Note: A few mentions of angels, dark angels, & demons; A few mentions of zen; A couple mentions of religious extremists & cult leaders; A couple mentions of devilishly handsome men; A couple mentions of miracle working powers; A mention of the witching hour; A mention of an NFL god; A mention of voodoo dolls; A mention of ghosts; A mention of a portal of hell.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘BS’, a ‘darn it’, a ‘heck’, a ‘witch’, two ‘shoot’s, three ‘darn’s, three forms of ‘dumb’, three ‘oh my gosh’s, five ‘geez’s, six ‘gosh’s, six forms of ‘screw up’, eight ‘stupid’s, 9 forms of ‘crap’; Sass, Sarcasm, & Eye rolling; Finding a body, blood, & being accused of murder (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Being attacked, bleeding, fighting, injuries, passing out, & a fire (up to semi-detailed); A break-in (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of a body, blood, the murder, & the killer (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of drinking, champagne, a bottle as a murder weapon, & needing a bottle to drink; Mentions of past wars, fighting wars, deaths, sniper fire, injuries, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of setting a place on fire, planning to murder someone, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of terrorists, bombs/explosives, & spies; Mentions of criminals, prisons, jails, & being arrested; Mentions of DUI, a car crash, & being arrested; Mentions of threats & blackmail; Mentions of stealing; Mentions of cocaine/crack, drugs & medications/prescriptions; Mentions of drunks, bars, alcohol/booze, moonshine, beers, whiskey, wine, & cocktails; Mentions of gambling & betting; Mentions of loans, loan sharks, debts, beatings & expecting one; Mentions of a break-in, burglar, & torn-up stuff; Mentions of slashed tires; Mentions of nightmares & yelling out; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of roadkill & hunting; A few mentions of a drunk party (that didn’t happen); A couple mentions of serial killers; A couple mentions of suicides; A couple mentions of an internment camp; A couple mentions of spiking drinks; A couple mentions of a liquor store; A couple mentions of divorce; A couple mentions of cigarettes; A couple mentions of tattoos; A couple mentions of diarrhea; A couple mentions of a urine sample; A couple mentions of cheating on a test; A mention of mobsters; A mention of robbing a bank; A mention of poison; A mention of a drunken college rave; A mention of wild parties; A mention of tobacco; A mention of throwing up; A mention of dog pee; A mention of needing to pee; A mention of being gassy;

*Note: Mentions of celebrities/singers (Elvis, Cher, Madonna, Beyoncé, Adele, Lady Gaga, Olivia Newton John, Oprah, the Kardashians, Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, George Strait, Idris Elba, Jerry Springer, Richard Simmons, George Clooney, & Wes Craven); Mentions of bands (Rolling Stones & Aerosmith); Mentions of brand-names (Justin, Ray-Bans, Ralph Lauren, BMW, & Mercedes-Benz); A few mentions of Barbie dolls; A couple mentions of serial killer characters (Freddy Krueger & Jason Voorhees); A couple mentions of People magazine; A mention of Starbucks; A mention of Girl Scouts; A mention of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream; A mention of Jeopardy!; A mention of an alien invasion.

Sexual Content- three cheek kisses, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, and a very-detailed kiss; Remembering a kiss (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Dancing, Embraces, Heat, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Noticing, Smelling, & Butterflies (up to semi-detailed); a ‘bimbo’, a ‘hot stuff’, a ‘rake’, two ‘babe’s, nine ‘hot’s, nine ‘sexy’s; Mentions of a ‘Sexy Book Club’ with senior women reading hot romances (barely-above-not-detailed mentions about a man’s pecs & kissing techniques; it’s mentioned about something dirty said, the ladies also fan themselves); Mentions of smutty romance books; Mentions of affairs & infidelity; Mentions of a college girl’s crush on a her married professor (she dressed in a provocative outfit once; they did have an affair at one point, however); Mentions of making out sessions, lip locking, & canoodling; Mentions of an almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses & a bad kisser (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of touches & not touching (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a cheating ex-fiancé; Mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, stealing a friend’s boyfriend, dating, dates, breakups, & exes; Mentions of flirting; A few mentions of reputations & compromising a girl; A few mentions of morals & compromising them; A couple mentions of winks; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a man’s voice being “rumpled-sheets sexy’; A mention of an invitation to join someone in bed; A mention of the police being in bed with the Russians; A mention of a man seducing every woman in a town; A mention of a harem; A mention of a girl’s fantasies (nothing said); A mention of wanting to throw yourself to a guy; A mention of a man that women want to devour; A mention of hanky-panky; A mention of a bachelorette party where a man leaps out from a cake in his skivvies (it doesn’t happen); A mention of a Sexy Single Seniors group & a profile picture showing lots of skin; A mention of lingerie for a honeymoon; A mention of a mother running off after having a baby at age seventeen; Love, falling in love & the emotions;

*Note: Beau catches Paisley coming out of the bathroom wearing a towel that “barely covered up the goods” (it’s mentioned that he lingers looking at her legs, but nothing else is mentioned sexually); Many mentions of bras, boobs (along with slang for them), & strapless dresses; A few mentions of underwear & unmentionables; A few mentions of skin-tight clothes; A couple mentions of curves & figures; A couple mentions of a butt bow on a dress; A couple mentions of feminine productions; A couple mentions of pole dancing; A couple mentions of a man in a cross-dressing cabaret; A couple mentions of “a well-placed knee to [a man’s] manly bits” (it didn’t happen); A mention of kicking a man in his “squishy parts”; A mention of women thinking a guy isn’t straight (he is, though); A mention of paternity suits; A mention of a drag queen convention; A mention of female wiles; A mention of shooting dynamite at a person’s tochus; A mention of working a butt off; A mention of wearing booty shorts.

-Paisley Sutton, age 28(?)
1^st person P.O.V. of Paisley
361 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Jenny B. Jones has always been an author I’ll watch. She has a talent for lots of sass and sarcasm with detailed, zany characters. Unfortunately, there’s always some content that I think could have been left out or comments that didn’t need to be said.

I don’t want to give this book a one-star rating. I never want to give a one-star rating. It’s so disappointing and sad and discouraging when I have to give a low rating because of content. {Especially one with such a great cover. I adore the colors and style of this cover.} But the thing is: I can’t, I just can’t, give a book that accepts smutty romance books as okay—something BFCG is highly against—a rating anything higher than one-star.

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!