"Grace and the Bully" by Norma Jean Lutz

About this book:

  “The ten-year-old Grace Morgan can't stand the dirty, unkempt boy who harasses her meek and quiet cousin. But Grace soon gets a taste of the bully's hard life of poverty when her hometown of Cincinnati is struck by a serious drought, affecting both farmers and Ohio River businesses.

As Grace and her cousin's family finances dry up like the once mighty river, they learn an important lesson about judging other. What can they do to help their loved ones, the bully, and a mysterious, glamorous young woman who's just arrived in town?”


Series: Book #8 in the “Sisters in Time” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to that review: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, & #7.


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Payers; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Church going & thinking about the sermon; Singing hymns; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, sermons, & hymns; A couple mentions of Bible reading.

Negative Content- Grace goes to a place her parents have forbid her to go to (the tavern) & later goes there again blatantly disobeying her parents after they told her never to go there again (her heart is in the right place  for her reasoning, but she does get a list of chores when she tells her parents what she did); Being in a bad storm & seeing lightening up close (barely-above-not-detailed); Drew goes hunting & shoots at a grouse and squirrel (up to semi-detailed); Drew helps dress two rabbits his brother caught (skips over most, but what is said is border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); All about bullies, his actions, & the victims and many mentions of all of it; Mentions of thieves & stealing; Mentions of a tavern, beer, drinking, drunks, & drunks hurting/killing others; Mentions of hunting, dressing the animals, & guns (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of wild animals attacking children seriously hurting them; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of getting ill after eating rotten meat; A couple mentions of tobacco; A mention of fighting/wars; A mention of people killing others for their money.

Sexual Content-

             *Note: A mention of butting into a conversation.

-Grace Morgan, age 10-11
                                P.O.V. switches between Grace & Drew  

                                              Set in 1819
                                                        142 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

All right, I quite liked the ending of this one. For some silly reason, I didn’t see it coming, but I liked how it played out. Grace learns the lesson about praying for someone who bothers you and trying to help that person.

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.

"Bake Me a Match" by Erynn Mangum

About this book:

  “Annie McKay is loving her new job at Merson's bakery and cafe, loving the church she's attending and loving the people who have adopted her into their circle of friends. Life seems to be going great - even with the 3:45am alarm clock every day. At least, it's going great until she accidentally creates the town's newest delectable obsession leaving her crazy busy at work, running into old coworkers and then there's Zach, the attractive music pastor at church, who is always asking her out. It could be love, but that would open up a huge box from Annie's past that is best left locked up tight in the attic of her heart...and surely God wouldn't want her to be opening it back up. Right? With the help of good friends like Laurie Holbrook, a few hundred cinnamon rolls and a lot of prayer, Annie is about to discover that life isn't always taking the easy, smooth highway but that the back roads, though bumpy and painful, can also be full of fun.”


Series: Book #5 in the “Lauren Holbrook” series. Reviews of Books #1Here, #2 Here, #3 Here, and #4 Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are remembered, read, mentioned, & talked about; Prayers & Blessings over food; Church going, sermons, & hymns; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of churches, church going, pastors, sermons, services, hymns/songs, & Sunday school classes; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & Bible studies; Mentions of thanking & praising God; Mentions of Christians & witnessing; A few mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of missions & missionaries; A few mentions of a monastery; A mention of Godspeed.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dang it’, a ‘holy smokes’, a ‘shoot’, two forms of ‘crap’, two forms of ‘darn’, two ‘gosh’s, five ‘heck’s, six ‘sheesh’s, eight ‘oh my gosh’s, and eight ‘holy cow’s; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Quite a bit of sass & sarcasm; Eye rolling; Mentions of serial killers & killing (teasing/joking mentions); Mentions of Annie’s parents’ divorce, them fighting, & the physical abuse she went through (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a divorce & a custody battle; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of alcohol, Annie’s dad spending a lot of time bars, & being drunk; A few mentions of thieves; A few mentions of babies’ tendencies to excrete bodily fluids; A couple mentions of blood & stitches; A mention of suicide; A mention of jealousy;

             *Note: Mentions of TV shows, movies, celebrities, & fictional characters; A few mentions of car & clothing brands; A couple mentions of Starbucks; A couple mentions of a zombie apocalypse; A mention of social media.

Sexual Content- a cheek kiss, and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Some noticing; Mentions of dating, dates, kisses, & kissing; A few mentions of a fiancé cheating; A few mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of flirting; Tiny bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A couple mentions of butting into a conversation; A couple mentions of nursing; A mention of PMS-ing.

-Annie McKay, age 28
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Annie
                                                        434 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Ah. Just a big happy sign from me. Can I leave my review at that? I just feel so refreshed and special after reading this highly anticipated book. One scene in particular had tears in my eyes and touched my heart so much. I loved that while this is currently the final book in this series, the ending is left open enough where we may one day visit the small Colorado town and see everyone again. 

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.