Books for Christian Girls: "My Dear Miss Dupré" by Grace Hitchcock

About this book:

“Willow Dupré never thought she would have to marry, but with her father's unexpected retirement from running the prosperous Dupré sugar refinery, plans changed. The shareholders are unwilling to allow a female to take over the company without a man at her side, so her parents devise a plan--find Willow a spokesman king in order for her to become queen of the empire.

Willow is presented with thirty potential suitors from the families of New York society's elite group called the Four Hundred. She has six months to court the group and is expected to eliminate men each month to narrow her beaus until she chooses one to marry, ending the competition with a wedding. Willow reluctantly agrees, knowing she must do what is best for the business. She doesn't expect to find anything other than a proxy . . . until she meets Cullen Dempsey, and she must discover for herself if his motives are pure.”

Series: Book #1 in the “American Royalty” series.

Spiritual Content- Psalm 40:3 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, read, & referenced; Prayers; Talks about God & dreams; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Cullen says he ignored God for a while, but starts praying again soon after meeting Willow; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of churches & Sunday school;

*Note: A mention of Cullen having a “physique of a Greek god”.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stinking’, a form of ‘stupid’, two ‘blasted’s, two forms of ‘shut up’; Cullen holds back from saying a curse; Some eye rolling; Being attacked & kidnapped (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (semi-detailed); Throwing up; Mentions of murders & how they happened (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of accidents, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of fighting (including boxing), injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of illegal activities, criminals, thieves, stealing, stolen goods, & prison; Mentions of threats & blackmail; Mentions of gambling & debts; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of rumors & gossip; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of cheating; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of cigars; A couple mentions of alcohol; A mention of a casino.

Sexual Content- Many hand kisses (as greetings), five cheek kisses, two almost kisses (up to semi-detailed), two not-detailed kisses, an accidental barely-above-not-detailed kiss, three semi-detailed kisses, and a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Staring at lips & Wanting to kiss; Touches & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes, Flirting, & Winks; Noticing (including muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of a woman giving into a man before they were married, being caught, & a possible child out-of-wedlock; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of reputations, chaperones, women being ruined, & compromising situations; A few mentions of Cullen’s father having mistresses; A few mentions of a man entertaining and conquering women (this includes his comments about having a woman prove her devotion (physically) before proposing to her); A mention of a man not taking advantage of a woman; A mention of a man loving his wife as they have many little ones; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A couple mentions of a woman’s form-fitting bathing suit & her ankles; A mention of a man being willing to help a woman button her dress; A mention of women showing off their assets.

-Willow Dupre, age 24

-Cullen Dempsey

P.O.V. switches between them & Teddy

Set in 1882-1883

364 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This book was one I was anticipating due to it having all my favorite parts of a historical novel—the right time period (1880-1914 is my preferred time period to read about), set in a big city, and because of it being Christian fiction, faith content. These three elements were great in “My Dear Miss Dupré” and I enjoyed those elements, but especially the faith content tremendously. The faiths shown from Willow and Cullen made this book for me and I wish I could have given it a four-star rating because of the prayers and Scriptures highlighted in this story.

As you can tell, this book only received a three-star rating, though, let me explain on why.

I struggled at the beginning to keep tract of who-was-who. (Thankful for reading an e-book copy with a search feature in books like this.) Along with lots of descriptions of what Willow was wearing and the surroundings, it took me a bit longer than I expected to get into this story. I did find the plot of a competition for Willow’s hand to be outlandish, but entertaining.

There was certain comments from others about mistresses, a man using multiple women in a physical way, and other lewd suggestions. While this may go over younger readers heads at times and while it wasn’t strongly directed, I was a little disappointed by these suggestive comments.

I went back and forth liking and… tolerating Willow and Cullen. I would enjoy their faith scenes, but then Willow would seem a little fickle at times (which I can understand because she wasn’t used to being around men that are flirting) and Cullen would start fighting with someone to protect Willow. Which, some readers might find romantic, but I don’t personally find that attractive (especially the scene of him knocking someone’s tooth out and hanging from a thread of gum and also “enjoying the crush of bone beneath his knuckles”).

Another note: This didn’t bother me, but some readers might not like the love triangle in this novel. We see Willow’s point of view, but also Cullen and Teddy, who are both after her hand. Ahh, love triangles. There’s always someone who gets hurt.

All of that said, this book had good potential and I’m willing to try out the rest of the series. It might not be one I squee and fangirl about, but I’m glad I tried it and will be looking out for the next book.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!