Books for Christian Girls: "Just Let Go" by Courtney Walsh

About this book:

“For Quinn Collins, buying the flower shop in downtown Harbor Pointe fulfills a childhood dream, but also gives her the chance to stick it to her mom, who owned the store before skipping town twenty years ago and never looking back. Completing much-needed renovations, however, while also competing for a prestigious flower competition with her mother as the head judge, soon has Quinn in over her head. Not that she'd ever ask for help.
Luckily, she may not need to. Quinn's father and his meddling friends find the perfect solution in notorious Olympic skier Grady Benson, who had only planned on passing through the old-fashioned lakeside town. But when a heated confrontation leads to property damage, helping Quinn as a community-service sentence seems like the quickest way out--and the best way to avoid more negative press.
Quinn finds Grady reckless and entitled; he thinks she's uptight and too regimented. Yet as the two begin to hammer and saw, Quinn sees glimpses of the vulnerability behind the bravado, and Grady learns from her passion and determination, qualities he seems to have lost along the way. But when a well-intentioned omission has devastating consequences, Grady finds himself cast out of town--and Quinn's life--possibly forever. Forced to face the hurt holding her back, Quinn must finally let go or risk missing out on the adventure of a lifetime.”

Series: Book #2 in the “Harbor Pointe” series. The first book has not been reviewed.

Spiritual Content- A Scripture is mentioned; Prayers & Blessings over food; Church going; Talks about God; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Grady doesn’t believe in God/ignores Him; Grady wonders where God is when bad things happen, but does try to pray later on; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of faiths; Mentions of churches, church going, & being raised in church; Mentions of a kid who hates going to church, thinks God is a bully, & has his mother praying hard (which isn’t all exactly true); A few mentions of Scriptures; A couple mentions of worship songs; A mention of thanking God;

*Note: A mention of a person being called a miracle worker.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crummy’, a ‘darn it’, a ‘heckuva’, a ‘sissy’, two ‘crap’s, two ‘oh my gosh’s, two ‘sheesh’s, three ‘shoot’s, three ‘suck’s, four ‘heck’s, four forms of ‘screwed up’, five ‘idiot’s, six forms ‘shut up’, and thirty-one ‘stupid’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Fighting, Hitting, & Pain (Grady, semi-detailed); Grady drinks twice (but is not drunk) & has a hangover the next morning; Quinn’s mother left her family & Quinn really struggles with if she did something to drive her away; Mentions of carbon monoxide poisoning & possible deaths; Mentions of fights, fighting, injuries, blood/bleeding, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of accidents, injuries, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of threats & threatening; Mentions of arrests & criminals; Mentions of alcohol, bars, drinking, drinking problems, being drunk, & hangovers; Mentions of parties & partying; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of lies, lying, gossip, & rumors; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of thieves & robberies; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of a divorce; A mention of a nightclub;

*Note: Mentions of social media; Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of brand name clothing; A mention of a secular singer & band (Beyoncé & One Direction).

Sexual Content- two head/forehead kisses, three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Remembering kisses & touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss; Touches, Hand Holding, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including muscles and curves, barely-above-not-detailed); two ‘hot’; A woman tries to throw herself on Grady (he is uncomfortable and asks her to leave, barely-above-not-detailed); Quinn & Grady spend a night in her apartment (they sleep in separate rooms, nothing besides a semi-detailed kiss happens (which Grady doesn’t remember in the morning because he drank)); Mentions of Grady’s past of drinking with different women and then waking up next to them the next morning (“with scattered memories that would make his mother cry”, though, he says he isn’t a creep and wouldn’t sleep with a drunk woman); Mentions of Quinn’s sister who had her son at seventeen (the father is not in the picture) & a friend who also got pregnant out of wedlock; Mentions of sleeping around (not-detailed); Mentions of women throwing themselves at Grady; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of dating, boyfriends, & girlfriends; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of an affair & a woman being pregnant with another man’s baby; A couple mentions of a woman being willing to give a man what men want, but Quinn won’t without a ring on her finger; A couple mentions of waiting to sleep with someone; A (teasing) couple mentions of someone taking advantage of a drunk person; A couple mentions of couples kissing; A mention of a rumor of Grady getting a girlfriend pregnant & paying her to keep quiet (it’s a lie); A mention of a talk before a prom to Quinn about how important is was to protect her purity (even when boys are persistent); A mention of Grady wanting to go to be bedroom with Quinn (but he knows she’s special and will respect that); A mention of Grady used to date girls who were anything but innocent; A mention of a man who seems like a pig; A mention of Grady liking fast cars and fast women; A mention of a girl dancing to arouse a guy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A couple mentions of a sexist attitude (it’s argued as chivalrous); A couple mentions of topless beaches; A couple mentions of a woman’s revealing low-cut top and her figure; A mention of a woman’s jealousy-inducing figure; A mention of bra shopping; A mention of skinny dripping; A mention of butting heads.

-Quinn Collins, age 28

-Grady Benson
P.O.V. switches between them
377 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add ½ for older girls who enjoy redemptive stories.}

Hmm. I’m a bit torn on what to rate this book. I liked that both main characters felt real with their thought processing and actions, but I definitely didn’t agree with all the choices they made or have made in the past. Those mentions were on the lighter side than some books I’ve read in the past with the same “bad boy/player thread”, but it still effected the ratings. The main guy, Grady, does have a checkered past, but Quinn also has struggles from when her mom left her and her family. The Spiritual Content was good, but I think I would have preferred a bit more. Older girls who enjoy redemption stories might enjoy this book the best, but it wasn’t my cup of tea with some content mentioned.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!