About this book:
“Luke
Delacroix has the reputation of a charming man-about-town in Gilded Age
Washington, D.C. In reality, he is secretly carrying out an ambitious agenda in
Congress. His current mission is to thwart the reelection of Congressman Clyde
Magruder, his only real enemy in the world.
But trouble begins when Luke meets
Marianne Magruder, the congressman's only daughter, whose job as a government
photographer gives her unprecedented access to sites throughout the city. Luke
is captivated by Marianne's quick wit and alluring charm, leading them both
into a dangerous gamble to reconcile their feelings for each other with Luke's
driving passion for vital reforms in Congress.
Can their newfound love survive a
political firestorm, or will three generations of family rivalry drive them
apart forever?”
Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned; Prayers, Thanking God, &
Blessings over food; A talk about honoring your father and mother; Luke talks
some about his faith & Marianne is surprised that he is a church-goer (as
she thinks that the Bible seems like a “weighty, convoluted book”); In a
tough situation, Luke prays all the “passages of comfort” but thinks
that God isn’t answering him; Towards the end, Marianne says that her mission
now was to learn to live in a world in a way that “extended forgiveness to
other fallen people”; A pastor is blunt to Marianne about her looking for a
stronger faith; Mentions of God; Mentions
of prayers, praying, Thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles
& Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, sermons, a pastor, &
a minister (mostly for a wedding); Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A
few mentions of monks & matrons in a convent/Mother Superior; A couple
mentions of swearing or lying on a stack of Bibles; A mention of someone who
was disowned from her family and her name being stricken from the family Bible;
*Note: Luke tells Gray he has
three ghosts on his shoulders which Gray asks if they’re good ghosts or bad
ghosts (Luke answers that they’re “The kind who wake you up at night and steal
your joy and make you pray to God for forgiveness”); A couple mentions of Luke’s
inner demons & another man not having any; A couple mentions of Marianne being
compared to “forbidden fruit” for Luke; A mention of a husband worshipping
the ground his wife walks on; A mention of a devilish smile; A mention of talisman.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast’, a ‘damning proof’, a ‘darn’,
an ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘witch’ (when referring to another woman), and three
forms of ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye
rolling; Being punched & bleeding (which Luke says he’s turning the other
cheek, which upset the other man a lot, up to semi-detailed); Going to prison &
running away from/fighting with an officer (both as a visitor and being
arrested, barely-above-not-detailed); Headaches, Pain, & Being ill (up to semi-detailed);
Marianne is shoved by her brother when he’s angry; Marianne’s father goes
through her stuff and kicks some of it in anger & grabs her face forcefully;
Throwing glass items are others in a fit of anger (common in Marianne’s family
and she does it once); Luke struggles with claustrophobia & has “attacks of
panic” (semi-detailed); To meet the weight requirement for something, Luke
drinks a gallon of water to up his weight; Both Marianne & Luke have been
raised to not like the other’s family & there are barbs against each
other’s family; Trying to help a dog that fell in a frozen lake (& someone
else falling in, the dog is okay, up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of jails/prisons,
prisoners/criminals, treason, a spy ring, & a rebellion (Luke in Books #1
& #2); Many mentions of deaths (allergic reactions), poison, chemicals
being in food, & human and animal test subjects; Many mentions of eavesdropping,
gossip, & rumors; Mentions of wars, fighting, & losing everything; Mentions
of a little boy’s dog being shot and killed because of his actions (the father
was proud to get rid of the dog because his wife didn’t like it and was able to
punish his son, barely-above-not-detailed but is very bluntly written; Marianne
is very sad and disappointed that it happened; The young boy becomes very
fearful of many things after & his father shows no remorse); Mentions of child
labor; Mentions of a break-in & vandalism; Mentions of counterfeit items; Mentions
of throwing glass items at others in fits of anger & Marianne’s parents argue;
Mentions of a dog that fell in a frozen lake, his struggling, & a rescuer
falling in as well (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hatred; Mentions of
smoking, cigars, & pipes; Mentions of alcohol/wine/champagne, social drinking,
& a bar; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of children cheating on a test; A
few mentions of prejudice towards an Indian (Native American) man; A few
mentions of insurance fraud; A few mentions of bribery; A few mentions of lies
& lying; A few mentions of backstabbing; A few mentions of using the
bathroom; A couple mentions of an assassination of a president (Book #2); A couple
mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of hunting & skinning animals; A mention
of the Ku Klux Klan; A mention of someone being accused of theft; A mention of being
robbed;
*Note: Marianne shows her smallpox
vaccination scar & says “People were once terrified of getting
vaccinated, but they’ve been doing it for more than fifty years, and I thank
God for it!”; Mentions of the book Don Quixote; Mentions of paintings &
artists.
Sexual Content- Two fingers-to-lips
touches, two hand/palm kisses, a neck kiss, jaw kisses (barely-above-not-detailed),
a forehead kiss, an almost kiss, a not-detailed kiss, four barely-above-not-detailed
kisses, a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss, and four
semi-detailed kisses; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces,
Hand Holding, Nearness, Warmth, & Electricity (up to semi-detailed); Wanting
& Longing for someone; Blushes & Winks; Noticing; Luke says Marianne is
pretty enough to tempt and monk & that he’s no monk; Many mentions of Marianne’s
fathers infidelities, affairs, mistresses (including his grandson’s nanny,
which he tried to hide from his wife by kicking out the woman saying that she
was a thief), his illegitimate children, & others in the family being
mean/rude/hateful to those children (Marianne says that her father does love
his wife *Spoiler* Marianne’s “real mother” had an affair and was then paid
well to hand her over after the birth; Marianne is very thankful that her
father didn’t abandoned her; Marianne’s brother makes snide comments about her
birth & later tells a reporter the secret to hurt her; Marianne’s
(adoptive) mother also makes slips about not wanting to raise another
illegitimate child; Marianne’s (adoptive) mother get very mad at her husband
and throws things at him when he comes home late from the city where his
illegitimate son and his mother live *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of kisses
& kissing; Mentions of blushes & winks; Mentions of flirting; Mentions
of jealousy; A few mentions of a couple showing their physical appreciation of
the other (mostly her: her sitting on his lap and tracing his neck, barely-above-not-detailed);
A few mentions of men not laying a finger on a woman; A couple mentions of a
wife wanting her husband’s secretary to have the face like a bulldog; A mention
of a secret meeting between lovers; A mention of the slang about a child being “born
on the wrong side of the blanket” (illegitimate); A mention of a tramp; Love,
falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Luke compares Marianne to a
beautiful Botticelli (painter) nymph, which she replies that they’re all naked
(he says “not all of them”); Mentions of a man’s bare chest (no
details); A couple mentions of Marianne’s mother’s figure and having her corset
tight to “put other women in the shade”; A couple mentions of a painting
of a woman with a low-cut dress (Nell Gwynn, the mistress of King Charles II); A
mention of going as a half-naked strumpet to a themed ball; A mention of bosom
buddies.
-Marianne Magruder, age 26
-Luke Delacroix, age 30
P.O.V.
switches between them
Set
in 1902 (Final Chapter set in 1906)
352 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
New
Teens-
My
personal Rating-
{Not for
those sensitive to animal (dog) deaths and/or affairs, cheating, and hatred
towards illegitimate children.}
The final book in a trilogy I’ve
been eager to finish.
Unfortunately, It was nowhere
near the first two for me because…well, I’ll get into that in a moment, but I
did like a few different aspects.
I find the topic of chemicals used
in foods to be fascinating and that’s truly what pulled me into this series. I
quickly fell for the sibling dynamics between the Delacroix trio. Seeing a
certain couple’s wedding in this book was particularly sweet.
When the reveal of their last
names happen, I did really like how it was handled—like adults. They still kept
seeing each other, though, which added the Romeo and Juliet-ish trope. For the
first, oh, 40% I was very interested and smiling like a fool at parts—even if it
was insta-love. But my enjoyment started dwindling as it continued.
While it could be refreshing to
have a main girl not be super strong-willed (like most in the Christian Fiction
Historical genre) or very being a wallflower (like many others in the genre),
Marianne was in-between those two in terms of her personality. And I really
struggled with her.
Because Marianne and Luke are
fictional (I would never say this to a real-life couple) and I viewed their relationship
from a not-involved point-of-view: I don’t think Marianne was good enough for
Luke. He was constantly showing his loyalty to her, but all she cared
about was her family’s stats on things and their approval—even when certain
members of her family are just absolutely hateful and evil. She had an opportunity
to do something very important for Luke, but instead she doesn’t do anything
until she receives something sweet from him that finally kicks her into
gear.
Speaking of her family’s evil actions,
a beloved dog is killed (technically off-the-pages, but is mentioned often) and
it about tore my heart out to read it. As a sensitive dog lover, I truly think
that every time I see this book I’ll be reminded of those parts. It was
completely unnecessary and used just to make the reader hate a certain
character even more (when he didn’t need help in that regard).
There’s also a lot of mentions of
cheating, affairs, illegitimate children, and hatred towards those children.
The faith content was…interesting.
I really enjoyed Luke’s parts with his faith, but I wish there would have been
more on Marianne’s parts other than a quick skimming towards the end about giving
forgiveness in a fallen world. (Particularly after her comment about the Bible always
seeming like a “weighty, convoluted book” closer to the beginning. I
wasn’t satisfied at all with her faith parts.)
The ending was odd for me. I knew
that it wouldn’t follow the typical “normal” route, but it still felt like a strange
and random way to end the book.
I’m a bit sad, because I was so looking
forward to reading Luke’s story and seeing all the photography elements. Unfortunately,
there were just too many other parts that took away from my enjoyment.
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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