Friday, December 31, 2021

"The Debutante's Code" by Erica Vetsch

 About this book:

  “Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes in this new Regency mystery series.
   Newly returned from finishing school, Lady Juliette Thorndike is ready to debut in London society. Due to her years away, she hasn't spent much time with her parents, and sees them only as the flighty, dilettante couple the other nobles love. But when they disappear, she discovers she never really knew them at all. They've been living double lives as government spies--and they're only the latest in a long history of espionage that is the family's legacy.
   Now Lady Juliette is determined to continue their work. Mentored by her uncle, she plunges into the dangerous world of spy craft. From the glittering ballrooms of London to the fox hunts, regattas, and soirees of country high society, she must chase down hidden clues, solve the mysterious code her parents left behind, and stay out of danger. All the while, she has to keep her endeavors a secret from her best friend and her suitors--not to mention nosy, irritatingly handsome Bow Street runner Daniel Swann, who suspects her of a daring theft.
   Can Lady Juliette outwit her enemies and complete her parents' last mission? Or will it lead her to a terrible end?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Thorndike and Swann Regency Mysteries” series.


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Prayers & Asking God why; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Juliette thinks that God and her parents abandoned her and that God isn’t listening to her (*Spoiler* though at the end, realizes that she was under their care the entire time *End of Spoiler*); Juliette struggles with lying and wondering if the Lord would ask her to enter into a life of deception (she struggles throughout the book of her parents teaching her not to lie and yet they lied to her about their work); Daniel prays about 2/3s in and catches himself as he thinks he and God have a “don’t-bother-me-and-I-won’t-bother-you status, but prays again later on; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of blessings; Mentions of a statue of a saint; A few mentions of churches & church going; A mention of Heaven; A mention of a church’s stained-glass depicting Biblical events;
             *Note: A mention of the phrases “needs must when the devil drives”. 
 
 
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘hang it’, two forms of ‘idiot’, and three ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; Finding a body (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing an autopsy (barely-above-not-detailed) & discussing the findings with the doctor (up to semi-detailed, not gruesome, mostly from a more medical standpoint); Aiming guns, firing them, injuring another for self-protection (barely-above-not-detailed); Being held at knife-point, gun-point, being kidnapped, & threatened; Blood/Bleeding, Injuries, & feeling faint (barely-above-not-detailed); Juliette has to lie because of secrets (she struggles with this); Daniel goes to a pub to find out information (he does not drink nor order a drink); All about many mentions of thieves, criminals, crimes, stealing, stolen items, break-ins, & robberies; Many mentions of murders, murderers, killings, bodies, finding bodies, & how the deaths happened (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the war & fighting; Mentions of gallows & executions; Mentions of jails/prisons; Mentions of vandalism & vandals (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & deception; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of drinking, social drinking, drinks/alcohol/wine, pubs/salons, drunks, & hangovers (Juliette’s uncle acts like a drunk a couple of times); Mentions of cigars, pipes, tobacco, smoking, & smoke; Mentions of hunts & hunting (including going to a hunt, Juliette is relieved that the hounds are unable to get the fox); Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of being bullied; A couple mentions of the possibility of someone being captured or dead; A couple mentions of fights/brawls; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of regicide; A mention of a possible fire; A mention of a possible gambling debt; A mention of snuffboxes.
 
 
Sexual Content- A couple greeting kisses (on the hands/knuckles); Noticing, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Daniel is an illegitimate child (he calls himself that, a “by-blow”, and a “baseborn”, and also resents his mother for agreeing for him to be in someone else’s care. He does not know his biological father. At one point he wonders if Juliette’s father could be his father, but quickly throws out the notion when he thinks that if that was the case, him and Juliette would be half siblings); A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of a man possibly trifling with another man’s wife & a jealous husband; A mention of a couple being found together in a storage room; A mention of a man liking one of the barmaids at a pub; A mention of a prostitute (a man assumes Juliette is one because of her clothing and leers at her); Very light attraction, & the emotions (not romance or relationship heavy. Juliette and Daniel notice each other, but nothing really happens in this first book);
             *Note: A mention of a woman being attacked (not said if it was a physical or sexual way).
 
-Juliette Thorndike, age 19/20 (?)
-Daniel Swann, age 24
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                            Set in 1816
                                                  320 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Okay, wait, that was so much fun.

I picked this book up on a whim because 1.) regency 2.) spies and 3.) art mysteries. It’s easy to say, sold, sigh me up.

I really liked Juliette and her thought processes felt very relatable in many ways. Juliette accepted her family’s secret quicker than most would, but it didn’t bother me much because she was determined to bring her parents home soon, so she quickly got to work. She struggled a lot with the concept of having to lie but yet also wanting to honor God in the way of how she was raised. I really appreciate that struggle being shown and while it wasn’t fully wrapped up by the end of this novel, I think it will be shown again and discussed more in the next book.

I think my only negative was two minor things, but it did drop my rating from a 5 star to a 4.5: there was a lot of characters to keep up with. A lot. Because I read this book as an e-book I made use of the search feature often to remind me which Duke this was or who’s Christian name was so-and-so. The second would be that I had a bit of a hard time with the writing style, though, I’m wondering now if it was actually the font of the e-book that was different from normal.

Another note: I absolutely adored was the use of different words. (I may have slightly swooned over the vocabularies found in this book.) There were so many new and usual words that I highlighted to save to use some day. It was so fun and the dictionary feature of the e-book system definitely came in handy. Most were of French origin and it made it feel very different from the other regency books I’ve read, in a good way.

So, all of that was the cake itself and the icing, but the cherry on top of said cake was finding out that this series is going to continue to be about these same main characters, not a side character that we were introduced to. I don’t see many series published nowadays that follow the same main characters throughout for however many books the series will be. I’m quite tickled pink, actually, about this development. That’s why the romance was super light in this book (though, I have to admit I’m a little concerned for the later books’ romance content…I really hope it stays on the lighter side) and wasn’t the main focus of the plot at all. It was so nice. It was very focused on the mystery that while Juliette and Daniel were noticing each other, it wasn’t over the top or anywhere near what the book was about. (Major plus in my eyes!)

I’m so glad I randomly picked up this book as it’s now one of my top favorites from the year. I’m ready for the second book! :D

 
 
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.

Friday, December 24, 2021

"One Enchanted Eve" by Melissa Tagg

About this book:

  “A delightful Christmas romance about finding the perfect recipe for love.
   After years of mistakes and regret, Colin Renwycke finally has a plan: Hone his baking talent at the Denver Culinary Institute and embark on a new career as a pastry chef. If he's lucky, he might even manage to earn back his family's respect. But despite his skills in the kitchen, Colin's a mess in the classroom and his ongoing disasters are proving too much for his prickly instructor. If he loses his spot at the school, he's out of backup plans.
   Culinary school instructor Rylan Jefferson has the chance to reclaim her dream of running her own bakery. But she only has until Christmas Eve to come up with the perfect recipe to impress an eccentric investor. She has no time for holiday parties or family plans . . . and especially not for the unruly student baker who couldn't follow a recipe if his life depended on it.
   But Colin has the one ingredient Rylan needs most—talent. Lots of it. And when he makes a proposal that just might solve both their problems, Rylan can't say no—even if it does mean traveling all the way to Iowa. It just might be that the snow-covered plains and a charming small town full of postcard Christmas cheer are exactly what her hungry heart needs . . . along with a man who is much more than he seems.”
 
 
Series: #2 in the “Enchanted Christmas” series. Review of the first novella, Here!


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Talks about God; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Colin says he hasn’t thought about God in a long time, but tries praying; Set during Christmas & mentions of those in the Bible & a live nativity; Mentions of God; Mentions of churches & church going; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of thanking God.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘gosh’, a ‘heck’, a form of ‘shut up’, a ‘sissy’, a form of ‘wimp’, three forms of ‘stupid’, five ‘idiot’s; Some sarcasm & eye rolling; Fighting & Hitting (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths & wars; Mentions of killing someone (not seriously); Mentions of fights, fighting, & blood, & injuries; Mentions of jail & bailing someone out; Mentions of an alcoholic, addictions, pills, & rehab; Mentions of parties, alcohol, drinking, a drunk, & frat boys; Mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of overdoses; A couple mentions of stealing; A mention of a burglar;
             *Note: Mentions of cooking alcohol.
 
 
Sexual Content- A head kiss, three cheek kisses, an almost kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and four semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand Holding, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (including a bit of noticing a man’s muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses, an almost kiss, & kissing; Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, & girlfriends; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of blushes; A few mentions of married couples kissing; A mention of a pregnant high schooler; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A couple mentions of a guy taking advantage of a girl.
 
-Rylan Jefferson, age 34
-Colin Renwyche, age 31
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        134 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
This was a another cute Christmas read from this author! It was a bit kissy at times for the length of this novella, but there was also a lot of humor that made me laugh while reading. :)
 
 
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.

Monday, December 20, 2021

"The Lost Noel" by Jo Ann Brown

About this book:

  “Christmas is coming, and Mary is excited that both of her children are bringing their families to Ivy Bay for the holiday. Grace Church is putting on its first ever living Nativity, and the congregation members are all pitching in, including Mary and Betty. But only a week before Christmas, the costumes go missing. Then the sheep escapes from its pen and the flyers around town have all been torn down. Someone is sabotaging the living Nativity! As Mary investigates the strange mishaps, she discovers that the truth is far more complicated than she expected. Can she save the Nativity - and the church's "goodwill toward men" - before Christmas?”
 
 
Series: Book #15 in the “Secrets of Mary’s Bookshop” series. Please click on the number to be taken to that review: Book #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, and #16.


Spiritual Content- 1 Timothy 1:15 at the end in bonus content; Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, read, discussed, & thought-over; Bible reading; Church going & a sermon; Prayers & Thanking God; Set during the Christmas season and a live nativity is the main focus of the plot; Talks about God, Jesus’ birthday, & forgiving; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of churches, church going, pastors, events; Many mentions of those in the Bible, a live Nativity, & nativity sets; Mentions of God & faiths; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of thanking God & the phrase “thank heavens” is said a couple times; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of Christmas hymns; A mention of a miracle;
             *Note: Mentions of Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, & St. Nicholas.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘dumb’, a ‘sucker’, two ‘wicked’s, and four ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; All about missing costumes & an ewe (possibly stolen); Mentions of stealing, stolen items, vandalism, & possible thieves and vandals; A couple mentions of lying; A mention of the Revolutionary War; A mention of jail; A mention of rumors; A mention of the possibility of an animal being hit by a car; A mention of animal droppings;
             *Note: Mentions of a high school group (“Animals Aren’t Props”) boycotting the live nativity because of the animals; Mentions of movies, books, authors (including Agatha Christie), and an old skit (with George Burns and Gracie Allen); A few mentions of a car brand; A mention of the New England Patriots; A mention of a Boy Scouts troop.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Mary Fisher
                                P.O.V. of Mary
                                      289 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
There is three mysteries packed inside this Christmas mystery and a lot of different leads and red herrings. I was able to figure out 1.5 of the mysteries, but it was still enjoyable. A bit of a slow beginning, but it started picking up towards the middle and end as different clues are revealed. This one wasn’t my favorite from the series, and while I thought the reasons for the actions were a little weak, I did liked the multiple mysteries within the story.
 
 
 
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.