Books for Christian Girls: "Return to Boone's Hollow" by Kim Vogel Sawyer

About this book:

“With Pap hauled off to the state penitentiary, Bettina finally feels safe. Living with Nanny Fay Tucker, working as a packhorse librarian, and being courted by Shay Leeson is a life beyond anything she'd imagined. And it's only going to get better. Because soon she'll be an honorary auntie to her best friend Addie's baby, and--for sure not much longer--she'll exchange vows with Shay and become his wife. Things in Boone's Hollow couldn't be rosier...until she gets word that the governor suspended Pap's sentence and he'll be coming back sooner than she expected.

Shay wants to marry her real quick and take her out of Boone's Hollow. But how can she go with Nanny Fay needs her and Addie's baby isn't here yet? Pap's return creates a storm in her relationship with Shay. And then another storm--one brewing way overseas--stirs trouble all over Black Mountain.

Will Bettina's world fall apart again? Or will the lessons she's learned from Nanny Fay about holding tight to the One who can calm any storm take her to a place of peace?”

Series: The sequel to “The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow”. Review Here!

Spiritual Content- Nahum 1:3b at the beginning; Many Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, remembered, thought over, & discussed; Many prayers; Church going, sermons, & hymns are sung; Many, many talks about God, Jesus, faiths, praying, listening to Him, & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Bettina wonders if God will ever talk to her like Him talks to Nanny Fay *Spoiler* Towards the end, it happens *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God, listening to Him, trusting Him, & wanting to do His will; Many mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, & blessings over food; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, those and events in the Bible; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, Bible studies, pastors, sermons, & hymns; Mentions of Heaven & not being afraid of dying; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of Christmas & celebrating Christ’s birth; A few mentions of being baptized; A few mentions of angels;

*Note: Bettina has a learning disability that her father called a curse (she always felt stupid and embarrassed because of this); Mentions of superstitions (including one that it’s bad luck to have a pregnant woman at a wedding); Mentions of some people calling Nanny Fay a witch (see Book #1) and thinking she gave a “potion” to someone; A couple mentions of men with evil in their hearts creating wars that hurt so many others; A mention of someone saying that “War is hell”; A mention of Bettina’s father who “made her childhood a living hell”.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: seven ‘stupid’s; A bit of sarcasm & eye rolling; Passing out & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); Grief & Mourning (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of wars, deaths, fighting, bombings, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of Bettina’s father being a mean and violent drunk (including her fear of him and everyone’s concerns for her for when he returns, barely-above-not-detailed, *Spoiler* He returns a dramatically changed man and asks for Bettina’s forgiveness *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of a mother being beaten by her drunk husband & being killed by him (no details); Mentions of passing out, pain, & injuries; Mentions of prison & a prisoner; Mentions of alcohol (moonshine), drinking, drunks, being addicted to drinking, & bootlegging; Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of soldiers having nightmares, being scared of loud noises, or becoming drunks after the war; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of blood; A mention of a house burning down after a lighting strike; A mention of tobacco.

Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, three hand/fingers kisses, a jaw kiss, six cheek kisses, four head/forehead kisses, two not-detailed kisses, and five barely-above-not-detailed kiss (about half of all these kisses are from married couples); Staring at someone’s lips (Shay to Bettina, which he says at one point that when he’s with her, he doesn’t want to think, so it would be best to put some distance between them); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (including a woman being pulled into her husband/fiancé’s lap twice, about half of all these are from married couples); Blushes; Shay mentions that his mother used to say that Bettina was looking for love and that he kind of took advantage of that for a while (Emmett tells him that he’s made amends with Bettina and shouldn’t waste time wallowing in what can’t be changed; later Shay thinks that him and Bettina shared many kisses but the ones after he decided he loved her were sweeter); Shay wants to touch Bettina’s hair (he’s done it before and she wears her hair down since he likes it) but tries to focus on something else; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & wanting to kiss (Shay thinks that he likes kissing Bettina); A few mentions of a 13-year-old girl being forced to marry a 20-year-old man and having to be a “woman in every way” and having multiple children with him; A few mentions of men at a boarding house talking about buying a woman’s love (Shay thinks that he wants more than just temporary pleasure and wants “intimacy that way God planned it”; his father warned him about becoming too cozy with Bettina so that if that did part ways, he won’t regret giving the “most intimate part of himself to a gal that wasn’t his wife”); A couple mentions of couples in movies kissing and making up; A couple mentions of a married couple snuggling on the couch together; A couple mentions that rumors are going to spread after a man spends time in a woman’s cabin (not married, but she wasn’t there so he says that they know the truth and did nothing wrong); A mention of jealousy; Love, being in love, & the emotions;

*Note: Mentions of the deaths of infants (said to have been stillborn, never drawn a breath, or didn’t live long after birth) & the mothers who passed away during labor; Mentions of being concerned about losing a baby; A mention of a woman’s monthly cycle.

-Bettina Webber

-Shay Leeson

P.O.V. switches between them, Damaris, & Addie

Set in 1941-1942

330 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Please note the topic of abuse (though never detailed) and adjust the stars according to each girl in case of triggering content.}

Oh, my heart…that was so incredibly beautiful.

Bettina. We saw her in the last book and like I said then: if we didn’t see her story, we probably wouldn’t like her much. But in this book she’s doing much better, thanks to Nanny Fay and Jesus, in her words and that is so true.

These characters, I love them so. I think they’ve stuck with me (particularly Addie) more than any other character I’ve ever read. The amazing faiths shown and grown throughout this book and the prior. The touching friendship moments. I was nearly bawlin’ for the first fifty or so percent, but eventually I just ended up crying.

It’s not that this is a sad book—it’s definitely not—but as cheesy as it might sound—it touched me in so many ways. Their faiths just stopped me in the middle of reading to go “Wow” with such an awe and reverence. It was all so inspiring to see their faiths in action. It was all perfectly worked in just like it was a part of the characters themselves and their lives—because it was and I loved that.

I think that’s one reason (of many) I love this book and the prior so much: Yes, the romances are so sweet and adorable at times, but it gets to the heart of the matter that God should be our first love, not another human. Bettina really learns this in this sequel and it was so encouraging to see that message in a Christian Fiction book.

There were so many little details that were said almost nonchalantly, but if you pay attention, they’ll hit hard—but I can’t give an example because of spoilers!

“The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow” was already one of my very favorite books, but “Return to Boone’s Hollow” has joined it in the rankings.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!