"The Bride of Blackfriars Lane" by Michelle Griep

About this book:

  “The Continuing Adventure of Jackson and Kit!
   Detective Jackson Forge can hardly wait to marry the street-sly swindler who’s turned his life upside down. Kit Turner is equally excited to wed the handsome detective, and what better way to show her love than providing him with a gift any man of the law would love? She determines to bring to justice the men who years ago maimed his brother—despite Jackson’s warning to leave the past in the past. As she digs into the mystery of what happened, she unwittingly tumbles into her own history and endangers her future happiness with Jackson.
   Detective Jackson Forge can hardly wait to marry the street-sly swindler who’s turned his life upside down. Kit Turner is equally excited to wed the handsome detective, and what better way to show her love than providing him with a gift any man of the law would love? She determines to bring to justice the men who years ago maimed his brother—despite Jackson’s warning to leave the past in the past. As she digs into the mystery of what happened, she unwittingly tumbles into her own history and endangers her future happiness with Jackson.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Blackfriars Lane” series. (Possibly a duology as this is the sequel to “The Thief of Blackfriars Lane”, review Here!)

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Church going, sermon, & benediction; Talks about God, hope, forgiving, & justice being in His hands; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, sermons, choirs, & vicars/reverends; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of a prayer book; A few mentions of Heaven, eternity, & eternal rest; A couple mentions of sins; A mention of the Saviour’s crown of thorns; A mention of Godspeed; A mention of spiritual counseling; A mention of a nun; 
             *Note: Phrases like: ‘saints above!’ (x1), ‘by all that was holy’ (x1), and ‘by all that was right and good!’ (x1) are said or exclaimed; Mentions of devils (regarding calling others a devil, making decisions, calling rats little devils, Jackson calling cucumbers a green demon, and making peace with a demon); Mentions of demons tormenting someone; Mentions of hellfire clubs & their rituals bordering on the occult (including a “prayer” and when they ask Jackson if he’d like to join, he says yes but thinks in his head that it’ll only be for the night and asks God to forgive him); A couple mentions of Jackson’s devil-may-care hair & Kit’s devil-may-care recklessness; A mention of questioning the devil himself for some answers; A mention of a gaze that would make the devil himself and confess; A mention of the possibility of the name of a place opening the cage of demons; A mention of a man being in the pit of hell; A mention of a branding iron being as red as the flames of hell; A mention of the ungodly weight on someone’s shoulders; A mention of a man saying that the bottle (drinking) was his salvation; A mention of making yourself a god (*Spoiler* Kit realizes she’s done this to Jackson in regards of only telling him what she thinks he should know *End of Spoiler*); A mention of a statue of a Greek goddess. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing (& British exclamations) including: a ‘bloomin’’, a ‘bosh!’, a ‘cod’s heads!’, a ‘fiddlesticks!’, a ‘goodness and light!’, a ‘hang it all’, a ‘heaven and earth!’, a ‘hounds a’fire!’, a ‘pish-posh’, a ‘rot!’, a ‘scab-nippity!’, a ‘stars and banners!’, a ‘stars and glory!’, a ‘what a load of balderdash’, a ‘what the blazes’, two ‘botheration’s, two forms of ‘caring a fig’, two ‘egad!’s, two ‘gads!’s, two ‘kipes!’s, two ‘pah!’s, two ‘posh’s, two ‘scads!’s, two forms of ‘stupid’, two ‘thunder and turf!’s, three ‘blasted’s, three ‘dash and rot’, four forms ‘blast it/blast *someone’s name*’, four ‘drat’, four ‘pish’s, four ‘thunderation’s, five ‘bah’s, six ‘what/why the deuce’s, seven ‘how/what/why the devil’s, and ten forms of ‘dash it all/dash *someone’s name*’; Mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of eye rolling; Seeing a death by a wagon wheel (blunt, barely-above-not-detailed); Lots of Fighting, Knocking others out, Being held at knife-point, Being choked, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Blacking out (up to semi-detailed); An explosion & pain (up to semi-detailed); Threatening harm against another; Close calls with alligators, a viper, & rats (up to semi-detailed); Jackson is forced to drink goldfish & is paddled on his backside (up to semi-detailed); Kit feels guilt for a making up a story in the pursuit of justice (she thinks that Jackson and probably God as well would not approve of such means to an end); Jackson later lies about his identity for a plan and doesn’t like doing so; Seeing others drinking (up to semi-detailed); All about many mentions of thieves, thefts, stealing, & stolen items; Many mentions of murders, accidental murders, deaths, how they happened, & finding a skeleton (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of fighting, fights, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; Mentions of suicides, how they happened, hangings, & bodies/corpses (including Kit wondering if these emotions were why her mother committed suicide, *Spoiler* It’s revealed towards the end that her mother didn’t commit suicide but passed away after birth complications while being locked up *End of Spoiler*, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the possibilities of getting stabbed, shot, or thrown into a river with your hands tied; Mentions of a brutal beating that left a young man not the same (mentally), other children being beaten up, & the bullies; Mentions of an abduction/kidnapping, ransom, deaths, & the possibility of a spouse planning it for the insurance money (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of prisons, prisoners, arrests, gangs/mobs, thugs, criminals, crime scenes, & crimes; Mentions of grave robbers; Mentions of an explosion, explosives, & a gas leak; Mentions of threats; Mentions of a men’s club’s rituals of being paddled on the bum (Kit thinks of it as perverse), being branded by a hot iron, drinking champagne with goldfish in it, & possibly drinking monkey’s blood (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & drunks (including side characters drinking); Mentions of smoking, pipes, & tobacco (including a suggestion to smoke to keep away mosquitoes); Mentions of gambling & swindling those with money; A few mentions of a young boy slipping rat poison into his father’s drink & killing him; A few mentions of fires & deaths; A few mentions of hired killers/assassins; A few mentions of a husband beating his wife and child when drunk; A few mentions of a snake bite (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of manure, urine, & a man soiling his trousers A few mentions of dog & chicken fights; A couple mentions of evil men forcing little boys into slavery; A couple mentions of opium dens; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of starvation; 

             *Note: Some rude comments from others towards a man who has mental disabilities; A mention of animal magnetism.
 
 
Sexual Content- An almost hand kiss, three (barely-above-not-detailed) hand/wrist kisses, two cheek kisses, two head kisses, three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss; Recalling kisses & embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Snuggling, Nearness, & Hand holding (up to semi-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (including curves and muscles, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Kit wonders about their upcoming wedding night (this part mentions about Jackson removing her dress and her not being sure about “men and their needs, what should or shouldn’t happen on a first night together” other than what’s she’s heard on the streets; also a comment from Jackson that he’s looking forward to “finishing what he started” and that her virtue is safe with him until they’re married); Three men lustfully ogle Kit, stare at her body and bodice in an uncomfortable way, & try to proposition her (one keeps touching her hands and knee & gives her a hand kiss; the second touches her thigh, he says he would like to see a more of her (implied in a sexual way) and she asks if he’d like to see “bit o’ skin” and then threatens him with a knife; and the third one says that she would change her mind about men after “a tumble” with him); Mentions of men paying attention to Kit in an unwanted and lustfully way; Mentions of brothels, prostitutes/strumpets, their “services”, mistresses, & men wanting a certain woman for his “personal pleasure”; Mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of a Jackson’s desire and longing for Kit; A few mentions of chasing skirts (women) or referring to a woman as a skirt (instead of her name); A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of a young girl probably being propositioned by men with lust and greed; A couple mentions of doxies; A couple mentions of feminine wiles; A mention of a possible out-of-wedlock pregnancy; A mention of a man telling Jackson to marry Kit and bed her; A mention of the weather being like “a mistress, calling seductively to lovers”; A mention of dalliances being saved for after a wedding; A mention of a married man calling his wife a cow and that she knows nothing of his dalliances; A mention of a wife lying in her husband’s arms in their bed; A mention of wondering if a man has a penchant for fine women; A mention of jealousy; Love, being in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: Kit says she won’t be dominated like a common scullery maid by her husband & does not like the “obedience card” that Jackson brings up about a wife vowing to honor and obey her husband; A few mentions of a mother passing away after birth complications (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of the Elephant Boys’ name denoting the fact they were all male members; A mention of a punch to a man’s nether region; A mention of twisted men at a hellfire club wanting Jackson to wear a pair of knickers with a red target on the backside.

 

-Katherine “Kit” Turner

-Jackson Forge
                                P.O.V. switches between them 

                                         Set in 1885 (Final Chapter set in 1886)
                                                        320 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Like many books I’ve read lately, I have many thoughts and am not sure where to start. 

I think I could summarize that this book simply wasn’t for me because of the romantic angst. I never thought I would say that about a book—especially the sequel to a book I mostly enjoyed, but here we are. 
Content wise, it was about the same as the first book (with a lot less noticing of the other’s physical attributes but about the same with men propositioning Kit), but the murders and crimes felt heavier to me. Perhaps that’s because it was and there were more sensitive parts regarding those elements to play on my heartstrings. 

If you read and enjoyed the first book tremendously, you would probably be okay with the content found it this one. 

I, however, was quite frustrated with the lack of communication between Kit & Jackson. They are to be married and are so in love, but an important element for the first third of the book is them trying to understand the other and what a marriage-life will be like for them. The first bit of the story, I was finding the difference enjoyable. They weren’t falling back on the oh-so-common “we’re in love, so our differences don’t matter” thread I see often between two characters of very different upbringings and viewpoints in books. It was fascinating to see, for the first third of the book. But then harsh words are spoken and I was full of angst for nearly the entire rest of the story. This was my main problem with this book. And I’m really quite sad about it. I honestly wanted to lock the two of them in a room and make them talk and quit being petty towards the other! Their pride and stubbornness took over the story and honestly ruined this sequel for me, sadly. 

 

 

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.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.

"Apprentice" by Kristen Young

About this book:

  “The Love Collective is everywhere. It sees everything. Be not afraid.
   Apprentice Flick remembers everything, except the first five years of her life. And for as long as she can remember, Flick has wanted to enter the Elite Academy - home to the best, brightest, and most loyal members of the Love Collective government.
   Flick's uncanny memory might get her there, too … even if it is the very thing that marks her as a freak. But frightening hallucinations start intruding into her days and threaten to bring down all she has worked so hard to accomplish. Why is she being hijacked by a stranger's nightmare over and over again?
   Moving to the Elite Academy could give Flick the future she's always wanted. But her search for truth may lead to a danger she cannot escape.
   Apprentice Flick remembers everything, except the first five years of her life. And for as long as she can remember, Flick has wanted to enter the Elite Academy - home to the best, brightest, and most loyal members of the Love Collective government.
   Flick's uncanny memory might get her there, too … even if it is the very thing that marks her as a freak. But frightening hallucinations start intruding into her days and threaten to bring down all she has worked so hard to accomplish. Why is she being hijacked by a stranger's nightmare over and over again?
   Moving to the Elite Academy could give Flick the future she's always wanted. But her search for truth may lead to a danger she cannot escape.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Collective Underground” trilogy. 

Spiritual Content- A couple mentions of a hallucination/dream of “Lyric” who is “wrapped in beams of glorious light” (the author’s acknowledgements implies that this is representing Christ); A mention of being blessed; 
             *Note: “Love all, be all” is used as a common greeting/slogan as well as others telling the apprentices to “find themselves in the universe”; Flick bows all the way to the floor to Supreme Lover Migate; A few mentions of someone acting like an alien (in regards to their personality completely changing); A mention of being stared at like an alien; A mention of looking like you saw a ghost. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stinkin’, a ‘weenie’, a ‘wouldn’t give two flying…’, a ‘you’re full of it’, two ‘gah’s, two ‘what the—‘s, three ‘duh’s, seven forms of ‘dumb’, seven forms of ‘shut up’, eight ‘idiot’, and eighteen forms of ‘stupid’; Made-up curses/phrases: a ‘Hater witch’, a ‘Haterman in a basket of Haters’, a ‘Hater in a pile of Haters’, a ‘how in the love’, a ‘love knows’, three ‘what the love’s, and three ‘ohmylove’s;  Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Flick lies (white lies) a few times; A couple VR situations of a young child being held at knife-point and shooting at them (barely-above-not-detailed) & going against a riot and using weapons against them (up to semi-detailed); When Flick messes up protocol a call times, she thinks she should be shot or killed for it; Pain, Screaming, Hallucinations/Nightmares, & Blacking out (up to semi-detailed); Being hit & slapped (up to semi-detailed); Claustrophobia & Similar to panic attacks; Being picked-on by a group of bullies & their name-calling and taunting; Throwing up; A girl acts like she’s aiming a gun at Flick (twice); *Spoiler* It’s revealed at the end that The Love Collective (Government) abducts children (including from medical kidnapping) and Flick’s hallucinations are actually her memories resurfacing of her own abduction; Flick recalls her mother’s death on the TV show that kills Haters, but doesn’t reaction until she’s told much later that it was her mother; A few mentions of mentions of other abductions *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of hallucinations/nightmares, screams, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of Hate (which threaten their empire) & Haters (which are deemed the enemy (followers of the Haterman) to the government system that is all about love (it’s said that the Haterman was the ruler of the world and everyone hated each other, and adds that Supreme Lover Midgate sought to bring peace and ruled with love)); Mentions of VR situations of a young child being held at knife-point, both being shot, their bodies and blood, & riots (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a show where Haters are publicly execution (including mentions of dog attacks, lasers slicing through the Haters, them being beaten, branding them, one being impaled, electrocuting them, being attacked by wild beasts, blood, pain, & screams, border-line barely-above-not-detailed to semi-detailed) & weapons; Mentions of Embracement (public executions, including a girl saying she would have someone else embraced if she could); Mentions of taunting others with stories of deaths/dying, disappearing, & being eaten by a rabid Hater; Mentions of fighting, hitting, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed): Mentions of seeing other children and teens shocked/tased & their pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of pain, being slapped, & someone being kicked (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of bullies, bullying, beating up others, & threats (including boys bullying girls); Mentions of prisoners & prisons; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of tattoos; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of cheaters & cheating; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of a war; A couple mentions of treason; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of a flock of vultures fighting over a corpse; A mention that someone’s expression could kill a small animal; 
             *Note: A couple mentions of a possibility of a machine that fry someone’s brains and turns them into a vegetable; A mention of zombies. 

 
 
Sexual Content- A touch & warmth (and remembering it, barely-above-not-detailed); Some blushes, butterflies, & winks; A bit of noticing a guy; A misunderstanding of thinking that a guy is going to do something to Flick & he says he won’t lay a hand on her; Mentions of a guy and girl being snuggled against each other & their “canoodling”; Mentions of flirting, a girl touching a guy’s chest with an “invitation in her voice”, & her leaning all over other guys; A couple mentions of a gorgeous guy; A mention of a girl’s seductive curl to her lips; A mention of drooling over someone; 
             *Note: A couple mentions of the Pleasure Tribe that does entertainment for population, but also provides “personal services” for their clients (said with a smirk); A mention of flabby butts; A mention of landing on their butt.
 
-Kerr Flick, age 15-16
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Flick 
                                          Fantasy/Dystopian
                                                        277 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Ratings are for content, but please note the lack of Christian content found in this first book.}

Dystopian books are my favorite type of story in the fantasy/sci-fi genre because rebelling against a corrupt government? I’m in. 

So, I went into this book expecting that plot line. Well, it took the majority of the book to get to that element. The first half (150 pages) is really just setting the stage and giving a lot of context, therefore it felt very slow to me because of that. Also the…choices of the terms/names (like Love vs Hate, Haterman, the Supreme Lover and whatnot) pulled me out of the story in the beginning, to be honest, but I understand the concept. Once it picked up around page 200, I became much more involved in the story and last few chapters sold me on reading the next book and bumped my personal rating up from a 3 to a 3.5 star. 

On Flick, we don’t really see her emotions, so I had a hard time connecting to or even caring about her. When we see glimpses of personality from Flick, they almost felt out of place to me since they were rare events. The change in her happened too suddenly, in my opinion, but I was excited to see the story picking up and hopefully see more of her character development in the second book. 

While there is a parallel to Christianity (a couple mentions of someone named Lyric that implies Christ) in this story, it’s very light and I’m curious to see if there will be faith content in the next two books. 

 

 

 

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.

"Unknown Threat" by Lynn H. Blackburn

About this book:

  “US Secret Service Special Agent Luke Powell is lucky to be alive. Three of his fellow agents have died in unusual circumstances in the past ten weeks. Luke is devastated by the loss of his friends and colleagues, and his inability to locate the killer feels like a personal failure. He's an expert at shielding others, but now the protectors are in need of protection.
    FBI Special Agent Faith Malone is driven to succeed and confident in her ability to solve every case she's assigned. She's been put in charge of the investigation into the unprecedented attacks, and with Luke's life in danger, the stakes have never been higher. But it's hard to know how to fight back when you don't know who the enemy is.
    As more agents are targeted, Luke and Faith will have to work together to bring a killer to justice and prevent any more names from joining their fallen brothers and sisters on the Secret Service Wall of Honor.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Defend and Protect” series. Mentions characters from the “Dive Team Investigations” series and does give slight spoilers from those books. 
 

Spiritual Content- Psalm 19:14 in the Acknowledgements; Prayers, Thanking God, & Blessings over food; Talks about God, not understanding why bad things happen to good people, & not understanding how God is loving when bad things happen; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Faith doesn’t think God cares enough to intervene, but does start praying, hoping He hears (she also recalls a Sunday school teacher telling her about the Holy Spirit being able to “translate tears and sighs and emotions into words” and she hopes that’s true); Luke calls praying a lifeline; Mentions of God & forgiving; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of faiths; A handful of mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A handful of mentions of churches, church going, & a chaplain; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of Easter services; A mention of a missionary; A mention of Luke closing his mouth in a situation because the things that would come out wouldn’t be very Christian; A mention of a sin; A mention of a man being like a saint; 
             *Note: A mention of not believing in coincidences; A mention of someone being put through hell; A mention of an evil man. 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘crap’, a ‘duh’, a ‘oh my word’, a ‘rats’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘sucker’, a ‘wimps’, two forms of ‘screw up’, two ‘ever-loving’s, three cut-off forms of someone mentioning that another could “shove [something] where—“, four ‘dumb’s, eight forms of ‘ticked off’, eleven forms of ‘idiot’, and eleven forms of ‘stupid’; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; A break-in, being held at gun-point and knife-point, & hostage situations (up to semi-detailed); Gunfire, explosions, being shot, seeing others shot, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); Remembering traumatic events & seeing deaths (including the smell, up to semi-detailed); The abandonment of a father & wondering if you weren’t enough for them to stay (x2); All about many, many mentions of deaths/killings (mostly law enforcement officers), the murderers, finding bodies (and the smell), attacks, explosions (mostly car explosions), bombs, gunfire, shooters, seeing others shot, injuries, blood/bleeding, pain, & near death experiences (semi-detailed); Mentions of families grieving the deaths of their loved ones (law enforcement families); Mentions of suicides, murders that looked like suicide, & mental health/depression (one was due to depression *Spoiler* Luke’s father *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of someone being tortured to death & a threat to do it to someone else (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a poison dart & a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fires, arson, burns, deaths & near deaths; Mentions of someone justifying killings & revenge; Mentions of autopsies; Mentions of a break-in & being held at gun-point and knife-point, & threatened (including threats of harming others, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crimes, criminals, & crime scenes; Mentions of terrorists & treason; Mentions of electronic crimes & counterfeiting; Mentions of gangs, prisons/jails, & someone dying in there; Mentions of someone being hit by a car & her major injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of car crashes, being run off the road, & road rage (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of being stalked & a stalker; Mentions of threats; Mentions of hatred (particularly Luke’s hatred of the FBI and how his family would rather he go into a life of crime than become an FBI agent); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of eavesdropping; Mentions of tattoos; Mentions of the possibility of someone having a split personality disorder; A few mentions of human trafficking; A few mentions of stabbings; A few mentions of stealing & stolen items; A few mentions of drinking, drunks, & sobriety tests; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of possible death/dying scenarios; A couple mentions of drug tests; A couple mentions of divorces; A couple mentions of rumors; A mention of North Korean spies; A mention of (teasingly) hiding dead bodies; A mention of (not) being robbed; A mention of throwing up;  

           *Note: Many mentions of brand names & items (Cherry Coke, iPad, Apple Pencil); Mentions of Uber & Lyft; A few mentions of car brands; A few mentions of sport teams; A mention of a superhero. 

 

 

Sexual Content- Three fingers-to-lips touches, a nose kiss, a cheek kiss, a not-detailed kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss someone;Staring at someone’s lips (up to semi-detailed); A few talks about kissing & kisses; Touches, Embraces, Hand Holding, Shivers, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Noticing & Staring (including abs and a man’s bare chest, up to semi-detailed); Feeling a “wave of desire” (when someone says their name); Winks, Blushes, & Flirting; Mentions of infidelity, affairs, cheating, men having one or not having one, & a possible prostitute (Sexual Content & Spoiler: including a woman saying that “too-good-to-be-true Christians [men]” wouldn’t go “for a normal affair, but they’re all in for the kinky stuff” and a woman offering a married man a “good time” and that she’s never “had any complaints” from any of her lovers; *Spoiler* Faith’s father left their family after an affair with a woman who is only two years older than her and thus she thinks men are unreliable and untrustworthy *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of a woman believing that all men are scum & her trying to hit on a married man; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & wanting to kiss/to be kissed; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, others’ types, dates, dating, & asking someone out; A few mentions of making out & getting friendly with someone of the opposite gender; A few mentions of a possessive and obsessive boyfriend; A few mentions of flirting; A couple mentions that a couple would “make very pretty/beautiful babies”; A couple mentions of asking for consent before kissing someone; A couple mentions of drooling over & ogling a man; A couple mentions of steamy romance books (teasingly saying someone reads them and another teasing back they would ask to borrow them, though they hope the other doesn’t actually read those); A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of a married man sleeping around; A mention of the possibility of a woman refusing to sleep with a man; A mention of a hook up; A mention of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy being frowned upon; A mention of someone asking a question about a kiss but not in a voyeuristic way; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Faith refers to her father once as a scumbag who “donated some genetic material to make [her]”; A couple mentions of giving others kicks in the pants; A mention of butting out of someone’s business; A mention of (teasingly) staring at someone’s butt; A mention of the US Secret Service attracting alpha males. 

 

-Faith Malone, age 31

-Luke Powell, (slightly younger than her)

                               P.O.V. switches between them

                                                       352 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Add a full star to the Older High School Teens’ rating for those that are very interested in a law enforcement career.}

This was my first book by this author and I was very intrigued by it and engaged into the plot. I’m not sure what it is about the rivalries between different law enforcement agencies that makes me want to read a book more, but I was definitely interested in this story once I saw those elements. 

I can’t say I was blown away by either Faith or Luke. I wish the faith moments would have been a bit more prevalent and explained towards the end of the story. I don’t feel like either of them were strong in their faiths, at least, what was shown gave me that impression. While there were quite a few characters we’re introduced to right away, I did really like those from the Secret Service side (I love seeing friendship banter within stories!) and I assume the next books will be about some of them. I also really appreciate the diversity of characters within this book. I have to say that I wasn’t overall thrilled with the ending as it felt rushed and we’re quickly caught up on some missing details in the last chapter, but the rest of the book’s pacing was well done. 

Now, the ratings. For certain older girls interested in law enforcement or have read secular suspense books and were okay with some of the content, they would probably be okay with this book. I wouldn’t say it was crass or crude, but there were some parts that felt a little…coarse? Not the typical squeaky clean suspense books I’m used to (in terms of small details/comments, not about the murders/killing parts—those were about the same). Certain comments or mentions made this book lower for the age ranges listed above, along with the focus of Faith and Luke’s interest in the other in a…physically noticing way. 

I would definitely read the rest of the series and try out some of this author’s other books, though, I have a feeling they may end up being guilty pleasure reads due to some content I’m not personally a fan of but still really enjoying the suspense side of 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.

 

"The Proposal" by Lori Wick

About this book:
  “Set in 1810 London, England, William Jennings has never been interested in marriage and family. So when a relative dies and leaves Jennings three young children, his world turns upside down.
    Thrilled to have boys to carry on his name, William invests time in the two brothers, but the little girl is tended to by a negligent nanny. Finally, Jennings seeks help from his sister and soon becomes acquainted with her neighbor, Marianne Walker. Her strength and faith intrigues Jennings, but will he allow himself to fall for her and the God she loves?”

Series: Book #1 in “The English Garden” series.


Spiritual Content- Bible reading & Scriptures are read, quoted, thought over, & mentioned; Prayers, Thanking God, & Blessings over food; Church going & sermons; Witnessing & Being witnessed to; Hearing salvation stories from others; Many talks about God, the Trinity, being a Christian, having a faith, & not being in an unequally yoked relationship; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Jennings stopped contacting his sister after she became a Christian because he thinks that the Bible is incomprehensible and doesn’t want to hear about God; Jennings says a pastor has twisted some of the Scriptures and someone else tells him that the pastor is held accountable by other men in the congregation to make sure his interpretation is biblical; *Spoiler* A bit more than half-way through, Jennings prays and asks God to take away his sins (“the worst of which is my belief that I didn’t sin at all”); He continues to pray, read the Bible, and is mentored by other men throughout the rest of the story *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God, Jesus, His will, trusting Him, & praying; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & books of and those in the Bible; Many mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Many mentions of churches, church going, sermons, pastors, singing, & services; Mentions of revivals & being lead to Christ; Mentions of Christians, believing in God, testimonies, & salvation stories; Mentions of training children in the Way & parents making sure they are claiming Christ for their own; Mentions of eternity; Mentions of sins & sinners (At the beginning, it’s said that Jennings probably wouldn’t call himself a sinner and doesn’t think that little children can sin); A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a Bible study; A mention of being blessed;
             *Note: A mention of guardian angels.
 

Negative Content- A bit of eye rolling; Seeing grieving from children who lost their father; *Spoiler* The children runaway from Jennings due to the abusive nanny *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of a physically abusive nanny & young children receiving pain, bruises, and injuries from her; Mentions of using the bathroom outdoors; A few mentions of a death of a parent & how it happened (his horse got spooked by a snake and landed on him, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of potentially drowning; A couple mentions of lying & lies; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of jealousy; A mention of throwing up.
 
 
Sexual Content- Four not-detailed kisses and four barely-above-not-detailed kisses (most were done by married couples and a couple of the kisses lead to them being in/going to a bed); Married couples sharing a bed & a few hints to kissing and back massages; Some Noticing, Nearness, Touches, & Embraces; Blushes; Mentions of reputations; A few mentions of a husband kissing his wife’s neck; A couple mentions of a married woman “throw[ing] off every inhibition” after her husband left; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of a mother who died in labor; A mention of a miscarriage.
 
-Marianne Walker, age 24
-William Jennings, age 33
                                P.O.V. switches between them, the children, & many others
                                             Set in 1810
                                                        297 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Somehow, this was my first book by an author that’s deemed a “classic” for the Christian Fiction industry.
My reasons for a low-star rating is more do to technical details than content, but let me first say some things I enjoyed:

It was pretty clean. There’s a couple parts of married couples sharing a bed and very light hinting to more, but I do think it would go over most younger readers’ heads.

The faith content was good and loaded throughout the story. (Though I did find Jennings’ moment to be a little out of the blue, but it was needed for the rest of the plot to happen, I suppose.)

My main struggle with this story was that there’s a lot of head-jumping (when the point of view changes within the same chapter with no breaks). I really struggled with that for most of the story. Jennings was also a bit…annoyingly selfish at the beginning, but thankfully that changed fast. (Also, have to add: Where were all the chaperones?! Jennings and Marianne were left alone a lot and while there were mentions of her reputation not being harmed, nothing about chaperones??)

Overall, it wasn’t a new favorite book or one I highly enjoyed. I’m not sure if I’ll read another book by this author if head-jumping is normal in her book, but this one was an okay read for me, personally.

 
 
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.
 

"Hearing Lies" by Olivia Smit

About this book:

  “They’re all fighting different battles … and no one wants to tell Skylar the truth.

   After navigating her final year of high school, Skylar Brady can’t wait to go back to Golden Sound. But when she gets there, nothing is quite like she expected. Anastasia is gone, the library is in danger of closing, and there’s something Cam isn’t telling her. Skylar is sure she can rescue the library. But can she save Cam?

   Mike, on the other hand, never wanted to return to Golden Sound, but after his summer internship falls through, he finds himself headed straight back to the unresolved mess he left behind. So many secrets: the summer job that went wrong. The woman who paid the price. And the fact that Eric knows the truth … and plans to hold it over his head in more ways than one.”

Series: Book #2 in the “Seeing Voices” duology. Review of Book #1 Here!

 

Spiritual Content- 1 John 4:19 at the end; Prayers, Thanking God, & Blessings over food; Church going & worship (Skylar struggles with feeling like her private line to God has been cut off (because of not being able to hear the worship or sermons)); Talks about God, Jesus, & being a Christian; Some ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God & Jesus; Mike says he’s not really into religion (He asks Skylar to help him with answering question about how he became a Christian to be able to apply to a position at a Christian camp, and while she thinks it would maybe encourage him to give Jesus another chance, she doesn’t think lying is the way to do it; She does end up helping him by sharing about God’s love with him and he also uses Google; He tries to think of Jesus-y things to say in the interview and has a bit of guilt about it all); Mike thinks it’s too simple to just pray for everything to be fixed with just a “wish and a prayer” & someone talks to him about it (*Spoiler* While he does not fully believe or asks Jesus to forgive him by the end of the book, he has questions that he hopes a couple other Christians around him will answer and he no longer feels like a coward because of past choices *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of God, Jesus, & forgiveness; Mentions of being a Christian & being in a Christian family (Skylar says it’s hard to be a Christian alone as none of her family are believers and Mike says he grew up in an atheist home); Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, worship, sermons, & pastors/priests; Mentions of a Christian camp & a song about forgiveness; A few mentions of Bibles and Bible reading; A few mentions of Heaven; 

             *Note: A mention of the phrase “Thank Google” (by someone who is not a Christian); A mention of Mike thinking that his owns his own demons; A mention of a devilish grin; A mention of Mike trying to clear his brain by being “Zen and stuff”.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crap’, a ‘frigging’, a ‘omg’, a form of ‘suck’, two ‘idiot’s, three ‘dumb’s, three ‘oh my gosh’s, three forms of ‘screw up/screwed’, three ‘what the heck’s, seven forms of ‘dang’, seven ‘shoot’s, and thirteen forms of ‘stupid’; Mentions of or alluding to curses (such as a guy replacing the first letter of Mike’s name; Mike also cusses; all are said, but not written out); A bit of eye rolling & sarcasm; Seeing someone having a panic attack; Going to a place after there was a party with drinking, drugs, & people still high or drunk (not taking part of any of it); Mike recalls when he was drunk/buzzed and hang out with others who were drinking & smoking (and on his bad days, he says, he misses it but he swore he wouldn’t go back to it; he does later wish he had a few cans of beer to not be able to remember a hard conversation later); Mike tells a white lie to his parents (he later tells them the truth); Mike lies about being a Christian to get a job; Mike also lies to Skylar, but she knows he’s lying to her; Nightmares of dying, being held at gunpoint, drowning, & being attacked by a shark (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of smoking (cigarettes and joints with marijuana and “the good stuff”), being high, parties, alcohol, drinking, drunks, hangovers, drunk driving, & a car wreck (that thankfully didn’t hurt anyone); Mentions of the car accident that Skylar lost most of her hearing from; Mentions of panic attacks; Mentions of stealing money, thieves, & thefts (*Spoiler* Eric encouraged Mike to steal money from when they worked at McDonald’s together by saying that everyone does it and that an old CEO doesn’t need it—which Mike believed back then but changed his mind after someone else was fired because of their actions, he confesses and apologizes to those involve *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of blackmail & threats; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of a tattoo parlor (that is also a coffee shop); A few mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of bullies & being bullied; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of crimes; A couple mentions of someone getting a tattoo of a serpent & the blood (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of horror movies; A mention of eavesdropping; 

             *Note: Mentions of McDonald’s; Mentions of social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Netflix, & FaceTime); Mentions of brand names (Tupperware, Kleenex, Band-Aids, Pop-Tarts, Nutella, & an iPad); Mentions of books & a movie; A few mentions of Google & Google Maps; A mention of Starbucks.

 

 

Sexual Content- A blown kiss, a fingers kiss, four cheek kisses, three forehead kisses, a not-detailed kiss, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Tingles, Butterflies, & Hand Holding (including Skylar having her head in Cam’s lap when watching a movie, barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, & dating; A few mentions of cute boys; A couple mentions of kisses; A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of parties where guys and girls go upstairs together; A mention of a break-up; Some love, being in love, & the emotions (teenagers); 

             *Note: Skylar & Mike stay at her boyfriend’s house with him and his family (nothing sexual happens or is alluded to); A few mentions of shirtless guys (not noticed in a sexual way); A mention of a sports bra; A mention of sitting down hard & making your butt hurt.

 

-Skylar Brady

-Mike Brady 

                                1^st person P.O.V. switches between them  

                                                        222 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Add a Full Star for Girls Who Are in Public/Private School}

I’ve been saving reading this sequel until I could reread the first book as I wanted to be fully invested in this new story and not trying to remember details as I was reading it. I’m really glad I did because I still enjoyed the first book so much and it made seeing certain parts of this second story even better.

Between both books, there is such so much vulnerability and sincerity from these characters that you can’t help but like them and want to cheer them on to do great things. I honestly wasn’t sure how I would feel about seeing Mike’s, Skylar’s brother, point of view, but I ended up becoming very involved in his parts almost as much as Skylar’s.

With this story, like the first one, it ends kind of open-ended—including the parts with Mike wondering about God—but like a lot of the story, it feels realistic that way. And it leaves it open for possibly another story (let me be hopeful! I want to see a novella of the prior Christmas break so bad!) to be told. (Also, the epilogue! My heart!)

Personally, I think this duology is a hidden gem in the Christian Fiction YA market. It doesn’t glorify the negative content discussed at all (it shows that it’s not right and the characters regretting their actions/choices) and then there also isn’t a rush confession of faith at the very end of the story. It’s just…realistic and I really appreciate it.

 

 

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.