Wednesday, February 28, 2018

"Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride" by Sandra D. Bricker



 
About this book:

  “As a wedding planner, you'd think she would have the perfect wedding experience...
   Sherilyn Caine has left Chicago behind to marry Andrew Drummond IV, an Atlanta native with a family name that tops all the social registers. Landing the job as The Tanglewood’s wedding planner is a piece of cake for someone with a Type A personality; she’s the perfect fit for a wedding destination hotel known for its attention to even the tiniest details.
  But when everything else is going along swimmingly, why are her own wedding plans drowning right before her eyes? One way or the other, Sherilyn is determined to make this wedding work—until the latest development threatens to call the whole thing off. Is it possible that Sherilyn is allergic to her fiancé?”


Series: Book #2 in the “Emma Rae” series. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & talked about; A few Prayers & Blessings over food; ‘Thank God’ is said quite a few times; Church going; Talks about God & praying; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches/cathedrals, church going, sermons, hymns, & pastors; Mentions of Christmas & Christmas Eve; Mentions of a Christian men’s group; A few mentions of being counseled by a pastor; A few mentions of believers; A couple mentions of faiths; A couple mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a cross necklace;
             *Note: A few mentions of superstitions; A mention of a curse; A mention of a goddess.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crud’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘sucker’s, and two ‘wuss’s; A bit of eye rolling & sarcasm; A but of Pain & Screams (barely-above-not-detailed); Allergic reactions (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a suicide attempt; Mentions of injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, DUIs, & rehab; Mentions of throwing up & vomit; A few mentions of jail time & arrests; A few mentions of smoking & cigars; A few mentions of gas & farts; A couple mentions of (dead) bodies; A couple mentions of punching someone; A couple mentions of robbing a bank & running over a man (doesn’t happen, it’s a scenario); A couple mentions of clubs & a pub; A couple mentions of tattoos; A mention of killing someone; A mention of strangling; A mention of wild parties;
             *Note: Going to Starbucks; Mentions of actors/actresses, singers, celebrities, & movies (including Katy Perry & Lady Gaga); Mentions of brand names; A mention of Covergirl; A mention of GQ.


Sexual Content- five hand kisses, two cheek kisses, three head kisses, an almost kiss, three not-detailed kisses, five barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches & Embraces (up to semi-detailed); Noticing, Nearness, Tingles, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); a ‘sexy’ and three ‘hot’s; Many mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, girlfriends, cheating, exes, & breakups; Mentions of seeing a girl kissing a guy who wasn’t her boyfriend (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses & kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of noticing; Mentions of a magnificent looking guy; A few mentions of an engaged couple saving themselves for their marriage (it’s not side one way or the other if they are or not); A couple mentions of cranking out babies; A couple mentions of honeymoons; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of an older man fixing to marry a former stripper; A mention of lingerie; A mention of swooning; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Sherilyn criticizes her body & weight; A few mentions of AIDS; A few mentions of plastic surgery; A couple mentions of Sherilyn’s curves; A couple mentions of kicking someone’s butt; A mention of a woman’s “everything” dropping when she’s forty; A mention of a buxom woman; A mention of a woman’s great body; A mention of a nude, drunk man; A mention of butting heads; A mention of kicking someone’s rear; A mention of moving a rear end.

-Sherilyn Caine
-Andrew “Andy” Drummond
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        313 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
While I didn’t laugh as much as when I read the first book in the series, I did still laugh and enjoy this one! I personally would have like more faith content, but I did like the ending. I could have done with less of certain comments and kissing, though, similar to the first book as well.


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.

Monday, February 26, 2018

"My Heart Belongs in San Francisco, California: Abby's Prospects" by Janice Thompson


About this book:

  Journey now to San Francisco, California, of 1853 where...
An English socialite finds more treasure than expected on her trip to the American West.
   When Abby Effingham becomes stranded in the middle of the California gold rush, her money depletes quickly even while her prospects for marriage increase daily. But Abby is on a mission to find her mother—not romance. Will a ridiculous scandal keep her from traveling on, or will it wake up an aloof innkeeper to the treasure right under his roof?
   Samuel Harris runs a moderately priced hotel where Abby and her family’s elderly butler find shelter. He is looking forward to when she—and her parade of suitors—move on, though he concedes to let her work in his restaurant. When the sassy socialite is in trouble, will Samuel come to her rescue or find himself alone?”


Series: Part of the “My Heart Belongs” series, but not connecting to any other books.


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & talked about; Church going; Many, many talks and discussions about God & praying; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God; Many mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles and those, events, and places in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school classes, hymns, a minister, & sermons; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of sinful lives & sins; A few mentions of faiths; A few mentions of missionaries; A few mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A mention of religious customs;
             *Note: Mentions of evil; A mention of a godforsaken place.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘sissy’ and a ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Mentions of gunfire, bullets, shooting, & killing; Mentions of fights/brawls, fighting, injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of pain & injuries; Mentions of gambling & gambling halls; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & saloons; Mentions of plucking headless chickens; A few mentions of a wife who tried to leave a marriage; A couple mentions of a fire & deaths; A couple mentions of thieves; A couple mentions of threats; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of cannibalistic natives in a foreign country; A mention of a thief hung; A mention of a man who died from hard work; A mention of manure.


Sexual Content- two nose kisses, a forehead kiss, three hair kisses, and two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, & Shivers (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); A man places his hand on Abby’s backside (he gets punched); Mentions of seeing couples kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of rowdy men laying kisses on the saloon girls; Mentions of suggestive comments about rowdy men & saloon girls; Mentions of women of ill repute & saloon girls; Mentions of rowdy men catcalling/whistling & rudely stared at Abby; Mentions of flirting & winks; A few mentions of a kiss; A few mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of a brothel & prostitutes; A couple mentions of implied scandals; A couple mentions of seeing couples embrace; A mention of an indecent offer (that’s not said); Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Mentions of women wearing dresses that show their curves/figures; A few mentions of men slapping or touching women on their backside; A couple mentions of saloon girls’ messy clothing; A mention of a low-cut dress showing more than one wants to see; A mention of a saloon girl showing her undergarments; A mention of inequality between the sexes.

-Abigail “Abby” Effingham, age 23
-Samuel “Sam” Harris
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                             Set in 1853
                                                        256 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
While this one was probably my top anticipated book of 2018, I have to say that it’s not near my favorite books by this talented author. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the message of this novel, I certainly did, but there was some content due to the problems of the city it was set in. I loved how much Spiritual Content and discussions were in this one and liked all our main characters. It was a neat read and I’m so happy to see—and add to my bookshelves—another book with Janice Thompson’s name on it. :)


See y’all on Wednesday 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 (Barbour Books) for this honest review.

Friday, February 23, 2018

"Mandie and the Quilt Mystery" by Lois Gladys Leppard



About this book:

  “Uncle Ned returns the quilt with the Cherokee message to Mandie, but refuses to tell her what it means! Now she is more curious than ever.”


Series: Book #35 in “Mandie” series. (To read the reviews of the previous books in this series, click the number to be taken to that review:
#1! #2! #3! #4! #5! #6! #7! #8! #9! #10! #11! #12! #13! #14! #15! #16! #17! #18! #19! #20! #21! #22! #23! #24! #25! #26! #27! #28! #29! #30! #31! #32! #33! And #34!) {There also is the “Young Mandie Mystery” series, (Book #1 review Here and Book #2 review Here!) but they do not connect together well.}


Spiritual Content- Psalm 56:3 at the beginning; A Scripture is quoted & prayed; A couple Prayers; Mentions of a missionary & ministers; A few mentions of God; A couple mentions of prayers & praying; A mention of a sin;
*Note: A couple mentions of a “curse”.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: three ‘shuck’s; Mentions of a tornado (Book #34); Mentions of hatred for a certain group of people; Mentions of hunting; A few mentions of switches & spankings; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A mention of a boy caught in a bear trap.


Sexual Content- A few Blushes; A bit of noticing a handsome boy & feeling shy around him; A few mentions of good-looking boys; A couple mentions of Mandie & Joe possibly marrying when they’re older; A couple mentions of blushes.

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 14
                                   P.O.V. of Mandie
                                              Set in 1903
                         156 pages (also available in a collection with two other Mandie books.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

While not a favorite Mandie mystery of mine, it still is a good one with good lessons—and more Mandie and Joe parts. We also find out the Riley isn’t much older than Joe in this one and my honest reaction is to tell him to stay away from Mandie. That girl has enough wannabe suitors! ;)


See y’all on Monday 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.