Books for Christian Girls: "More Than Meets the Eye" by Karen Witemeyer

About this book:

“Many consider Evangeline Hamilton cursed. Orphaned at a young age and possessing a pair of mismatched eyes--one bright blue, the other dark brown--Eva has fought to find her way in a world that constantly rejects her. Yet the support of even one person can help overcome the world's judgments, and Eva has two--Seth and Zach, two former orphans she now counts as brothers.
Seeking justice against the man who stole his birthright and destroyed his family, Logan Fowler arrives in 1880s Pecan Gap, Texas, to confront Zach Hamilton, the hardened criminal responsible for his father's death. Only instead of finding a solitary ruthless gambler, he discovers a man not much older than himself with an unusual family. When Zach's sister, Evangeline, insists on dousing Logan with sunshine every time their paths cross, Logan finds his quest completely derailed. Who is truly responsible for his lost legacy, and will restoring the past satisfy if it means forfeiting a future with Evangeline?”

Series: Book #1 in the “Patchwork Family” series.

Spiritual Content- Ephesians 4:31-32 at the beginning; Scriptures are read, quoted, & remembered; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going & a sermon; Talks about God & those in the Bible; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of faiths & discussing; Mentions of churches, church going, services, worship, pastors, sermons, hymns, & tithing; Mentions of a sinner & sins; A few mentions of thanking God; A few mentions of God’s creatures; A few mentions of Bibles & hymnals; A few mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of godly direction; A couple mentions of spiritual callings; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a missionary committee;

*Note: Mentions of superstitions & thinking a “witch” is cursing you (and all the other mean and ridiculous comments Evie has gotten over the years); A mention of a devilish quip; A mention of personal demons.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, a ‘screwed up’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shucks’, a ‘what the devil’, a ‘wimpy’, four ‘stupid’s, six ‘shoot’s, and eight forms of ‘idiot’; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; A train accident, injuries, blood/bleeding, & a death (up to semi-detailed); Gunfire, being shot at, pain, blood, & seeing someone die (up to semi-detailed); A tiny bit of sipping alcohol; Many mentions of gambling, gamblers (including Logan, though he doesn’t like it), & cheating; Mentions of Logan’s father who committed suicide & his mother finding the body (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of an attempted murder, physical abuse, & bruises; Mentions of a train wreck, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & a death (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of gunfire, being shot at, seeing others shot, injuries/wounds, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a scar, fights, & hitting (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of threatening & threats of killing people; Mentions of criminals, crimes, & stealing; Mentions of con-men & thieves; Mentions of an explosion; Mentions of beatings & being slapped; Mentions of hatred & revenge; Mentions of embezzlement; Mentions of illegal alcohol, saloons, bootleggers, drinking, & drunks; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of hunters & shooting animals for food; A few mentions of an illness & a death; A few mentions of people drowning animals; A few mentions of a privy & the smell; A couple mentions of hanging; A couple mentions of a shooting & death; A couple mentions of gunfights & knives; A mention of cigarettes.

Sexual Content- a cheek kiss, two forehead/head kisses, three semi-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Remembering a kiss (semi-detailed); Staring at someone’s lips (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss someone & Thinking about it (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Warmth, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of wedding nights & hits of having babies; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of touches & touching; Mentions of blushes & winks; A few mentions of finding a couple kissing enthusiastically (twice); A few mentions of a saloon girl (it’s hinted that she may also be a prostitute as times); A few mentions of flirting; A few mentions of reputations; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: Logan is hit in his groin; A couple mentions of going for a man’s groin to cause pain & why not to do it; A couple mentions of a woman’s dress that left little to imagine.

-Evangeline Pearson Hamilton, age 19

-Logan Fowler, age 23
P.O.V. switches between them

Set in 1894 {Prologue in 1879, Epilogue in 1895}
346 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

When I first heard the premise of this book, I was interesting. Many of y’all may know that adoption advocating and orphan care are topics very near to my heart. I knew ahead of times that it would be a hard read because of the great loss that adoption is borne from and reading our main girl’s backstory. The prologue hurt my heart in that way and I found myself tearing up.

Shortly into the book, I realized how much I liked Evangeline. I enjoyed her sass and overall bright personality. I can’t say I liked Logan as much, but he was pretty decent. ;) I loved all of the faith content and while I was hopeful about giving this book a four-star rating, with all the kissing, I can’t really do that. The plot and the extra romance added was all very interesting, but because of the pretty heavy romance and kissing, it lowered my ratings. I’m giving “More Than Meets the Eye” a three-star rating on the caution that there is quite a bit of kissing and such, but I have to say that I enjoyed many other parts of the story.

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!