Books for Christian Girls: "Beneath a Prairie Moon" by Kim Vogel Sawyer

About this book:

“Out on the Kansas plains, a group of menfolk eagerly await their mail-order brides, but how long will they endure the highfalutin former society gal tasked with making these ruffians more marriage friendly?
Mark Cleveland is the only man in Spiveryville not interested in ordering himself a wife. His neighbors think he’s a fool, but Mack believes the Good Lord will be the author of his love story, should He choose to pen it.

When the train from Massachusetts arrives in Kansas with the owner of Bingham’s Bevy of Brides and her uptight assistant instead of the Spiveryville brides, Mack knows the men of the town won’t be very happy about their new guests. So he determines to assist Mrs. Bingham and Miss Grant with acclimating to prairie life.

Abigail Grant is a young woman out of options. Although she was raised in wealth and educated at the finest schools, her father’s illegal dealings left her penniless. Cast out from elite society, she takes a place with Mrs. Helena Bingham as a potential bride but finds herself rejected again and again. Now, as she accompanies Mrs. Bingham to the wild and woolly West, Abigail doesn’t know what to expect next. Can she look beyond the tough exteriors to help the unruly ranchers prepare for their brides? Or examine her own heart to discover the plan God has for her?”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Galatians 5:14 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, read, remembered, & talked about; Bible reading; Prayers & Blessings over food; Church going; Witnessing; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mack and Helena have faiths; While Abigail feels like God abandoned her family, *Spoiler* but does start praying and believing again near the end *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God; Many mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of talks about God; Mentions of Bibles & Scriptures; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, & a preacher; Mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of Christians; A few mentions of sins; A mention of hymns; A mention of blessings;

*Note: A few mentions of evilness; A couple mentions of the devil.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blamed’, a ‘shut up’, and two forms of ‘consarn’; A few mentions of cursing & curses (said, not written); Some sarcasm & eye rolling; Being kidnapped, tied up, & pain (up to semi-detailed); A fire & some pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of an accidental death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of illegal dealings, thievery, arrests, criminals, & jails; Mentions of fighting, hitting, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fathers beating & mistreating their sons (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a divorce & a man (possibly) hitting his wife; Mentions of aiming guns & threatening; Mentions of fires & burns; Mentions of stealing, robberies, chasing bad guys, being shot, & gunfire; Mentions of possible scams; Mentions of a former saloon, alcohol, kegs, drinking, & gambling/card games; Mentions of dead chickens (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of mobs & lynches; A few mentions of knives & feeling threatened (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of blackmail; A few mentions of tobacco; A few mentions of human waste smells; A couple mentions of thinking you’re going to find a dead body (doesn’t happen); A couple mentions of an uprising & fighting; A couple mentions of running from the law; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of animal waste; A mention of a murderer; A mention of a drunkard; A mention of jealousy; A mention of slaughtering animals for food.

Sexual Content- a hair kiss and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); A few unwanted touches (on Abigail’s waist, barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Shivers, & Embraces (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing; Mentions of saloon working girls; Mentions of winks, blushes, flirting, & being stared at; A handful of mentions of the physical side of a marriage (nothing is said else wise); A few mentions of being accosted; A couple mentions of indecent comments (about cuddling/spooning); A couple mentions of kisses & kissing; A couple mentions of (not) being molested; A couple mentions of the possibility of a man violating a woman and taking husbandly liberties (he doesn’t); A mention of women of ill repute; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A couple mentions of unmentionables; A mention of butting into someone’s privacy.

-Abigail Grant, age 25

-Mack Cleveland, age 31
P.O.V. switches between them, Helena, & Bill

Set in 1888
342 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Oooh, (very clean) mail-order bride stories and match-making stories are some of my favorites. As y’all might know. ;)

I adored all the faith content, liked our entire cast of characters (well, except that one) and honestly wouldn’t mind a sequel. Or at least a follow-up novella. It did end very well, though, and I was quite happy with that ending. Miss Kim Vogel Sawyer has such a fun writing style!

Being set in a Western town filled with men, there were a few comments I felt slightly uncomfortable with, but overall it was very clean. A bit of off-topic, but I feel like Mack is one of the few heroes I’ve read about who has a mustache. I don’t know why that got me tickled when I realized it near the end. He and Abigail were very cute together, though. :)

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!