About
this book:
“Willa Forsythe is both a violin prodigy and top-notch thief, which make her the perfect choice for a crucial task at the outset of World War I—to steal a cypher from a famous violinist currently in Wales.
Lukas De Wilde has enjoyed the life of fame he's won—until now, when being recognized nearly gets him killed. Everyone wants the key to his father's work as a cryptologist. And Lukas fears that his mother and sister, who have vanished in the wake of the German invasion of Belgium, will pay the price. The only light he finds is in meeting the intriguing Willa Forsythe.
But danger presses in from every side, and Willa knows what Lukas doesn't—that she must betray him and find that cypher, or her own family will pay the price as surely as his has.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Shadows Over England” series.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Many Prayers; Church going & sermons; Lots of being witnessed to; Many Talks & Discussions about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Willa isn’t sure about God & His existence, she is very bitter towards the topics, *Spoiler* she prays for forgiveness close to the end *End of Spoiler*; Lukas says he doesn’t remember how to pray & that he never listened to God really, *Spoiler* but realizes his error a third in, and seeks out guidance *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God; Many mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of God-given gifts & callings; Mentions of churches, church going, Masses, sermons, & ministers/priests; Mentions of thanking & praising God; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of Christian families, faiths, & religious people; A few mentions of a Bible; A few mentions of denominations; A few mentions of godly & ungodly people; A few mentions of something sounding miraculous; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of a miracle; A mention of a monk;
“Willa Forsythe is both a violin prodigy and top-notch thief, which make her the perfect choice for a crucial task at the outset of World War I—to steal a cypher from a famous violinist currently in Wales.
Lukas De Wilde has enjoyed the life of fame he's won—until now, when being recognized nearly gets him killed. Everyone wants the key to his father's work as a cryptologist. And Lukas fears that his mother and sister, who have vanished in the wake of the German invasion of Belgium, will pay the price. The only light he finds is in meeting the intriguing Willa Forsythe.
But danger presses in from every side, and Willa knows what Lukas doesn't—that she must betray him and find that cypher, or her own family will pay the price as surely as his has.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Shadows Over England” series.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Many Prayers; Church going & sermons; Lots of being witnessed to; Many Talks & Discussions about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Willa isn’t sure about God & His existence, she is very bitter towards the topics, *Spoiler* she prays for forgiveness close to the end *End of Spoiler*; Lukas says he doesn’t remember how to pray & that he never listened to God really, *Spoiler* but realizes his error a third in, and seeks out guidance *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God; Many mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of God-given gifts & callings; Mentions of churches, church going, Masses, sermons, & ministers/priests; Mentions of thanking & praising God; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of Christian families, faiths, & religious people; A few mentions of a Bible; A few mentions of denominations; A few mentions of godly & ungodly people; A few mentions of something sounding miraculous; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of a miracle; A mention of a monk;
*Note: A couple mentions of
imaging Hell; A mention of the most evolved men.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘sure as blazes’, a ‘what the devil’, two ‘shut up’s, two ‘what/why in blazes’s, three forms ‘drat’s, three forms of ‘dumb’s, twenty forms of ‘idiot’, thirty-five forms of ‘blast’, and thirty-six forms of ‘stupid’; Mentions of curses, almost curses, & choice words (said, not written); Sarcasm & lots of Eye rolling; Being hit, Being shot, Pain, Blood/Bleeding, & Injuries/Wounds (mostly semi-detailed); Having a gun aimed at you (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing someone shot & killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Willa is a thief & steals/robs people on the street; All about many mentions of a war, fighting, fires, gunfire/shots, destroyed places, & missing people (up to semi-detailed); All about many mentions of spies, being a thief, thieves, picking pockets, stealing, & stolen items; Many mentions of being shot, pain, injuries/wounds, bullets, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of people taken away by the German army & never heard from again; Mentions of shooting & killing; Mentions of threats, blackmail, being held at gunpoint, & violence; Mentions of arrests & jails/prisons; Mentions of wine/spirits & drinking; Mentions of pubs & taverns; Mentions of smoking, cigars, & cigarettes; Mentions of Willa’s father walking out her mother after he got her pregnant; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of dead bodies; A few mentions of thugs; A few mentions of traitors; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of drunks.
Sexual
Content- four hand/knuckle kisses, a cheek kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed
kiss, four semi-detailed kisses (one was from Willa being accosted, but has no
‘feeling’), and a border-line detailed // very detailed kiss; Remembering kisses
(up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss (semi-detailed); Touches & Nearness (up
to semi-detailed); Blushes & Flirting; Noticing & Smelling
(barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing muscles (barely-above-not-detailed); Lukas
is known as a ladies’ man/playboy; Many mentions of flirting, flirts, & a
ladies’ man/playboy; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of touches
& wanting to touch; Mentions of scandalous reputations; Mentions of
blushes; Mentions of dates; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of young women
slipping their room keys into Lukas’ hands (it’s not said what happened, but
it’s implied); A few mentions of a man having a few children with different
young women & leaving all of them; A few mentions of finding the opposite
gender in a bedroom & waiting on the bed (implied in a sexual sense prior,
but nothing happens); A few mentions of a man who would charm a girl into a
compromising position; A couple mentions of compromising one’s self; A couple
mentions of proposing something indecent; A couple mentions of a rake &
being less of a gentleman; A couple mentions of chaperones; A mention of going
to the opposite gender’s room for “predictable reasons”; A mention of not
taking off gloves in a sensual way; A mention of thinking a child is
illegitimate; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of a rape of a
country & that women aren’t safe without being attacked there; A few
mentions of infants dying young & stillborns; A few mentions of hitting a knee
to a man’s groin; A mention of a sexual transmitted disease; A mention of a
woman’s lack of curves.
-Willa
Forsythe, age 23
-Lukas De
Wilde, age 28
P.O.V. switches between them & Margot
P.O.V. switches between them & Margot
Set
in 1914
405 pages
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405 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
After
reading quite a few books by this author and being disappointed with the
content, I thought that picking up yet another one would mean that I’m a
glutton for punishment [of putting myself through giving another low rating].
While
still not as clean as I personally would have preferred, I honestly do feel
like someone could knock me over with a feather over my shock of the lack of
questionable content. There were things I didn’t like however. The implications
of Lukas being a playboy in the true sexual sense being one. I quite disliked
that. A flirt I can deal with, but I wasn’t a fan of the hints of more. Being
set during a war and being affected by the actions of that could be triggering
for some. It also could be quite romance-y in the main two’s thoughts and
kisses.
For the
things I liked about this novel, there were a few. Willa and her makeshift
family are thieves, the family aspects were very sweet. I also really liked
Margot and found myself laughing at her reactions to people and things. There
was quite a bit of Spiritual Content, so even though our main two don’t claim
to be “religious” at the beginning or most of the book, there’s a lot of
witnessing to them by other characters. The flirting/banter between the both of
them also had humorous parts. The music/violin plot was also interesting.
Since I
haven’t read the first book in this series, I did spend the first hundred or so
pages not knowing how Willa and her family were connected. I did have to wonder
at many parts where all the chaperones were when Willa would be alone with the
opposite gender, but I guess that’s partially in part of the war, but also that
going out of style with that of the 1920s coming to the scene.
Overall
though? I’m still personally cautious on this author because of comments in past
books. I might pick up the first book due to friends’ reviews, but I’ll have to
see later about reading the third book.
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.
*I received this book for free
from the Publisher (Bethany House) for this honest review.
