Books for Christian Girls: "Ever Faithful" by Karen Barnett

About this book:

“Vibrant historic Yellowstone National Park comes to life in this romantic mystery about a man hiding the truth, braving the west to become something more--and the woman who must confront his deception.
A man who can't read will never amount to anything--or so Nate Webber believes. But he takes a chance to help his family by signing up for the new Civilian Conservation Corps, skirting the truth about certain "requirements." Nate exchanges the harsh Brooklyn streets for the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, curious if the Eden-like wonderland can transform him as well.
Elsie Brookes was proud to grow up as a ranger's daughter, but she longs for a future of her own. After four years serving as a maid in the park's hotels, she still hasn't saved enough money for her college tuition. A second job, teaching a crowd of rowdy men in the CCC camp, might be the answer, but when Elsie discovers Nate's secret, it puts his job as camp foreman in jeopardy. Tutoring leads to friendship and romance, until a string of suspicious fires casts a dark shadow over their relationship. Can they find answers before all of their dreams go up in smoke?”

Series: Book #3 in the “Vintage National Parks” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & talked about; Prayers & Praying; Talks about God, forgiveness, & God-given dreams; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Elsie has difficulty trusting God; Nate thinks God doesn’t like him because he believes that he’s dumb; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of Jewish people; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a godsend;

*Note: An ‘ungodly’ (when referring an unfitting size); A mention of a fire looking like the devil lives there.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘heck’, a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘sissy’, two ‘blasted’s, two ‘idiot’s, four forms of ‘stupid’, and six ‘dumb’s; Some eye rolling; Fires & smoke (barely-above-not-detailed); Some fighting/punches, injuries, & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of fires, smoke, arson, injuries, & a death of a baby (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of Nate’s brother’s death in the line of duty (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of blood & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thieves, stealing, & shoplifting; Mentions of prison & jail; Mentions of fighting, punches, injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of Nate’s father being verbally and physically abusive & a drunk; Mentions of cigarettes & smoking; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of rodent/animal waste & smells; A couple mentions of alcohol; A couple mentions of gambling.

Sexual Content- Almost kisses (barely-above-not-detailed), three hand kisses, a jaw kiss, two cheek kisses, seven barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kiss, and a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss & touch; A bit of staring at lips (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, & Hand holding (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (including muscles and bare chests), Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of kisses, kissing, almost kisses, wanting to kiss, & seeing couples kissing; Mentions of a bet between men to see who can kiss the most girls; Mentions of crushes, dates, & dating; Mentions of a girl’s obsession with the male species; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a couple canoodling or spooning in a car; A mention of making beautiful babies (teasing); A mention of a honeymoon; A mention of boy crazy girls; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A couple mentions of women gaining curves; A mention of a low neckline of a dress.

-Elsie Brookes, age 22

-Nate Webber, age 24
P.O.V. switches between them

Set in 1933 (Epilogue in 1937)
341 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

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My personal Rating-

Since I really enjoyed the first book of this series but not the second book due to content, I was curious to see how this one would be. I’d say it falls in the middle. I liked Elsie and Nate and learning their stories, but because this novel was set during the summer, their romance was a quick one. It was pretty touchy-kissy because of this.

The fires were an interesting plot-line that I wasn’t expecting, and I believe that the author handled them well with Elsie’s reaction to them. The culprit wasn’t necessarily shocking, but it explored the topic of metal illness which is something we are starting to see more of in Christian Fiction. I wish it would have been discussed a little bit more at the time, but it was interesting to see. I did really like the epilogue for this story, though, and found Elsie and Nate to be a cute couple. :)

See y’all on Friday with a new review!