Books for Christian Girls: "Heart of a Royal" by Hannah Currie

About this book:

“Brought to the palace as a newborn, the royal life bestowed upon Mackenna Sparrow was never meant to last forever. With Princess Alina engaged to be married, Mackenna's presence as companion is no longer required and, like it or not, she must return to the birthright which should have been hers - that of a commoner.

But not everyone at the palace wants her gone. When the truths she's based her life on start crumbling as fast as her future, will she find the courage to trust, both herself and the prince she's fallen in love with?”

Series: Book #1 in the “Daughters of Peverell” series.

Spiritual Content- Talks about God & faiths; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; It is illegal to worship a higher power in Peverell; *Spoiler* Towards the very end, it’s revealed that Rebels (a “terrorist group”) are those who believe in God; At first, Kenna believes there is no god and that those who believe in one are fools, but she is witnessed to by others and starts asking questions (because she doesn’t believe, the ‘G’s for God are lowercase); She prays to commit her life to Him and feels peace afterwards (she doesn’t quite understand all the details about it, but wants to trust and believe like her loved ones’); Her parents hid their faith because it was illegal to share it (they could answer questions, but not directly witness) and always hoped that Kenna would ask questions and believe *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God, believing in Him, trusting Him, a statement of faith, & being willing to die for your faith; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of chapels, worship, & persecution; A couple mentions of a song about a kind lord (the ‘L’ is lowercase, but it’s from a couple Scriptures); A couple mentions of thanking God (one is cut off and replaced with ‘goodness’);

*Note: A mention of someone being idolized (not actually).

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: eleven forms of ‘stupid’; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Having something similar to a panic attack; Pain, Injuries, & Blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of terrorists, attacks, threats, & deaths (towards the royal families, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of exile & treason; Mentions of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip, rumors, & eavesdropping; A few mentions of a potential kidnapping & torture; A few mentions of criminals & crimes; A couple mentions of wars; A couple mentions of prisons; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of drinking bubbly drinks & a drunk; A mention of a bomb; A mention of a tattoo.

Sexual Content- Three hand kisses, three cheek/jaw kisses, a forehead kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses; A dream with a few barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss; Dancing, Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, Shivers, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed, including a bit of a guy’s muscles); Kenna quickly changes the topic in her mind when it comes to sharing a bed “and more” with a guy; A man insinuates that Kenna is pregnant (out of wedlock) and tells her to come find him later (he also leers at her and she feels filthy being in his presence); He bothers her again, hoping to get in a compromising situation with her (does not happen); Kenna is helped out of a dress by a man (they don’t meet the other’s eyes, it’s more awkward than sexual tension filled (about 70/30)); *Major Spoiler* Kenna and Ben are forced to get married because of rumors and a law about if you touch a woman, you have to marry her (he did not touch her inappropriately, but saw the opportunity to marry her as his father wouldn’t allow it elsewise); They both like each other, but are awkward due to the situation and do not share a bed at all *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of hinting of a wedding night, a couple sharing a bedroom (in an intimate way), & being wanted by your spouse; Mentions of a man being known to have ruin many girl’s reputations & his leers; Mentions of a morality law that would force a man who took advantage of a woman or inappropriately touches her to marry her; Mentions of a rumor of someone seducing another; Mentions of a first kiss, kisses, hand kisses, kissing, wanting to kiss, & regretting a kiss; Mentions of touches, dancing, very close nearness, & hand holding; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of blushes & winks; Mentions of being & falling in love; Mentions of courting & courtships; Mentions of crushes, swooning, & a girl going on about a guy’s good looks; A few mentions of men not being allowed in Kenna’s room & if a man was caught there, they would both be ruined; A few mentions of assumed lovers’ trysts & love affairs; A few mentions of flirting; A few mentions of chaperones & reputations; A mention of another man possibly taking advantage of a young woman; A mention of a young woman talking about a young man’s arms and muscles and being held in them “and I don’t mean to dance” (her eyes hint to something more intimate); A mention of a hint about a couple possibly “doing other things” when alone; A mention of a maid giving Kenna the wised that men can be different when they’re alone with a lady & that not every man is a gentleman; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A possibility of a man taking off his shirt in front of Kenna because she’s injured (she hopes he doesn’t because her strength can only take so much, also because he is attractive and her imagination works well (he doesn’t); A few mentions of a mother dying after complications after labor; A mention of a flimsy nightgown being on a newly married wife’s bed; A mention of a girl’s dress showing off “every enviable curve”.

-Mackenna “Kenna” Sparrow, age 17

1^st person P.O.V. of Kenna

306 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This book surprised me. It really did.

All I knew about it was that it was a royalty story about a girl who wasn’t a.) a royal herself or b.) just found out she’s a royal. It gave the story a very interesting perspective since she’s not a royal, but has been mostly treated as one since birth.

Kenna and Ben’s banter was the absolute best and what quickly pulled me into the story. They were adorable and I don’t think I’ve shipped (that is, wanting a pair of fictional characters to be together/in a relationship) a couple so hard in a long time. They were so much fun and all the elements of a young adult story that I like to see.

I do have two smaller…not complaints, but just notes that I wasn’t the biggest fan of. 1.) There’s some alluding to wedding nights and a married couple being intimate and while it stayed right at the threshold of what I’m personally comfortable with, it does bring down the ratings for younger girls. Which is a bummer because I could see young teens enjoying this story. Nothing was over-the-top in the hintings nor was there a fade-to-black scene (the author gets my respect just for that alone, thank you!!), but it still makes me hesitate to recommend this book for those under 16. (If the girl has read secular YA books, then it would be compared as very clean, but it depends on the family’s views on such content being mentioned.)

Secondly, and this isn’t something I necessarily disliked because it fit the pacing of the story well, but a note regardless: the faith content happened all at the very end of the story. I did struggle a bit with this element because it felt rushed to me. I also don’t know if I agree with people hiding their faiths because it’s illegal and not telling their children about their faith because the whole family could be harmed if the child innocently says something. I know it happens in other countries (such as North Korea) and I honestly don’t know what my actions would be in the same situation. I could see some families not agreeing with this element.

All that said, this was an overall enjoyable book and I do plan to read the next book. This one was very entertaining and I really enjoyed the writing style and our main couple.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!