About this book:
“Can
she come home to a place she's never known?
Everyone remembers the kidnapped
Alaskan baby...but they don't know she's returned home.
Sage Duncan is the only person in Owl
Creek who knows her true identity: the missing Alaskan chocolate heiress. Now
she's returned to Alaska to learn about the family she was stolen from--without
disclosing her identity. But keeping her deep secret from gorgeous town sheriff
Hank Crawford is much harder than Sage thought...especially when she finds
herself falling for him.”
Series: Book #1 in the “Home to Owl Creek” mini-series from the “Love
Inspired” line.
Spiritual Content- Psalm 147:3-4 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned,
quoted, & remembered; Prayers; A few talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized
when referring to God; Hank says Addie’s birth led him straight to becoming a
man of God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over
food; Mentions of church going, youth groups, & a church’s outreach
programs; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of Bibles;
A couple mentions of sins & the Ten Commandments; A mention of Godspeed;
*Note: Sage mentions that her (adoptive)
mother didn’t seem to show herself as a religious person in any way and that
the kidnapping explained so much about her lack of faith; Sage wonders if her (adoptive)
mother repented and found Jesus in her final days; Sage’s (adoptive) father is
convinced she accepted God as her Lord and Savior, and that he prays for her
everyday.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘stupid’ and four ‘idiot’s;
Eye rolling; All about a kidnapping/abduction
of a baby twenty-five years ago & the criminal (Sage wonders how he mother
was able to steal another women’s baby); Many mentions of lies, lying, liars,
& deceit/deception; Mentions of unexpected deaths & accidents (including
a car accident); Mentions of con artists & scams; Mentions of gossip; A few
mentions of stealing & crimes; A few mentions of going to jail; A mention
of wondering if a woman is in a bad marriage & running away from an abusive
situation;
*Note: (Not necessarily Negative,
but something to note: Sage comments on her mother showing signs of mental
instability and that while it frightened her as a child, she knows she loved
her in her own way).
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed
kiss, two semi-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (which I’ll
being noting below my final thoughts, up to semi-detailed); Remembering a kiss
(up to semi-detailed); Nearness, Smelling, Warmth, Touches, Embraces, & Electricity
(barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (attraction at first sight) &
Butterflies; Hank was intimate with his ex-girlfriend (which he says he regrets
twice being intimate outside of marriage and didn’t have a relationship with
God then) which resulted in Addie, who he didn’t know existed until she was a
few months old (because the mother passed away); Sage’s mother told her father
that she rescued Sage from two underage teens who hadn’t been able or willing
to raise her; Many mentions of dates, dating, girlfriends, & exes; A few
mentions of high school sweethearts & seeing a married couple kissing; A couple
mentions of crushes; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of Sage’s (adoptive?)
mother struggling with infertility & her parents separating for a time because
of it; Mentions of Hank being a single father & prejudice he’s faced from
people over it.
-Sage Duncan
-Hank Crawford
P.O.V.
switches between them
224 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For those who have been wanting
more “realistic” fiction in the Christian Fiction category, this book might be
something you’d be interested in. The main girl was abducted as a baby, possible
mental illnesses are discussed, and the main guy of this story has a daughter
out of wedlock (which he says twice that he regrets being intimate outside of
marriage). Because of these things, I hesitate to recommend it for those under
16, but it was all handled very carefully and was overall clean.
There were the typical, slightly
corny lines that I expect from a Love Inspired book, but because I was interesting
to see the ending and reveal, I tried not to focus on the romance side of this
book all that much. I did find a few different parts to be a bit odd (such as
Hank called his mother by her first name when talking to Sage about her and the
next paragraph’s note), but overall it was a decent story.
*Note: I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hank
and his thought process in this paragraph: “He wanted to kiss her. Truthfully,
he had wanted to kiss her for quite some time now, but his desire to steer
clear of complications had veered him off course. His head had ruled his
emotions. And why shouldn’t he share an embraced with a lovely woman with whom
he’s established a special connection. This opportunity might never crop up
again. Sage would be leaving town soon and he would be left with a host of
regrets if he didn’t at least try to act on his instincts.” And then he kisses
her. Personally, this rubbed me the wrong way.
*Note: With the adoption aspect
of this book, it may be difficult for some adoptees to read. Sage’s (adoptive, though it wasn’t
a legal adoption) mother told her father that she had rescued Sage from two
underage teens who hadn’t been able or willing to raise her. Her adoptive
father was convinced that Sage was an abandoned baby. Later says he overlooked
all the red flags and accepted his wife’s story without question. Sage knew she
was adopted and always felt like she didn’t belong—which she attributed that
feeling because she was adopted, she now think it was because she was abducted.
Words like “rescued” and “abandoned” are used often when referring to the past.
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.
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