Books for Christian Girls: "A Seaside Wonder" by Melissa Tagg

About this book:

  “In one evening, Indi's world falls apart. Enter the shy professor her family mistakes for her fiancé...make that ex-fiancé.
    Professor Philip West never wanted to return to Maine . . . or his grandfather’s miserable old house. But after his mother’s death, he’s now the guardian of a teenage half sister he barely knows—one who doesn’t want anything to do with him. He longs to help her heal, but he’s exhausted and numb, desperate for relief of his own. Maybe that’s why he’s so easily distracted when he happens upon the little shop with a name on its storefront window that sounds familiar, a hint of a mystery nudging him inside.
    More than a decade has passed since Indi Muir made the heartbreaking decision she’s never recovered from—though she’s certainly tried. She has a full life running her shop and creating the artsy pieces that fill its shelves. If she can just stay busy, she’ll keep her hurt and regret at bay. But when her ex-fiancé returns to Muir Harbor, he brings news that shatters her carefully built walls. Things only get worse when lurking danger comes calling at her childhood home.
    The one bright spot amid Indi’s turmoil is the shy stranger who wandered into her shop months ago and his moody but lovable sister. As she confronts her past and the mysterious threat facing her family, she’s intent on helping Philip win over his sister. He just might win over Indi, too, if they can overcome old secrets and wounds, outrun rising peril . . . and take a chance on love.”

Series: Book #2 in the “Muir Harbor” series. Review of Book #1 Here!

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God, prayers, & faiths; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Going to a chapel; A quote from St. Augustine is said; On one Sunday, Indi thinks that she really would rather hide away in her workshop than go to church; Indi feels like God doesn’t see her or answer her prayers anymore, but recalls a time that God answered her prayers when she was a child; Indi & Holland have a discussion about God answering prayers & wondering if He’s just saying ‘no’ (a conclusion to their hurt is not really said at this point, but discussed later separately with other people); Indi was angry at God for asking her to do a hard decision that left her in a hole in her heart *Spoiler* At the end, Indi thinks that maybe God isn’t making the hole in her heart disappear, but is restoring her *End of Spoiler*; At one point, Philip wonders why he isn’t hearing God’s voice on a topic; Mentions of God & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, services, a sermon, & a pastor; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of a Bible; A couple mentions of a Nativity scene; A couple mentions of someone believing that something wasn’t a coincidence but from the Divine; A couple mentions of blessings; A mention of someone having a come-to-Jesus experience; A mention of someone not knowing another from Adam;
             *Note: A mention of Indi saying that she has too many ghosts; A mention of someone looking like they saw a ghost; A mention of feeling bewitched by a town; A mention of a teen saying that goats have demon eyes.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘crap’, a ‘geez’, a ‘holy buckets’, a ‘holy crap’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘sure as blazes’, a ‘where in blazes’, two ‘blasted’s, two forms of ‘darn’, two ‘for Pete’s sake’s, two ‘oh my gosh’s, two ‘oh my word’s, three ‘holy cow’s, three ‘heck’s, three forms of ‘idiot’, three ‘sheesh’s, three ‘what the heck’s, five ‘gosh’s, six ‘shoot’s, seven ‘dumb’s, and eleven forms of ‘stupid’; A mention of Philip thinking of a name for someone that he doesn’t usually say out loud; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Eavesdropping; Being held at gunpoint, Being threatened, Being choked, Fighting, Pain, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); A close car crash, almost hitting a deer, & landing in a ditch (the people and deer are fine, up to semi-detailed); Philip has a panic attack (semi-detailed); Grieving the loss of family members & what could have been (both Indi, Philip, and side characters); Philip’s mother left him at his grandfather’s house after his father’s death and he’s felt unwanted since then (& struggles with resentment towards her for it); Indi drinks champagne at a wedding; Many mentions of deaths & grieving (a fiancé, fathers, a mother, daughters); Mentions of a car crash, death(s), & a missing toddler (Book #1 covers more about this); Mentions of fights, fighting, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & passing out (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of criminals, crimes, intruders, break-ins, stealing, vandalism, arrests, an accidental theft, trespassing, & someone being pushed down the stairs (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a recovering alcoholic & drinking; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of divorces & how a father hasn’t been in contact with his daughter for twelve years; A few mentions of a man flinging himself off a cliff & being in a coma afterwards; A few mentions of the Vietnam war & a death; A few mentions of a bar; Mentions of a teen into the high school party scene and drinking; A few mentions of teenagers breaking into a rec center; A couple mentions of a train accident & death (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a close car crash; A couple mentions of Lil being left on Maggie’s doorstep when she was a toddler; A couple mentions of a woman living her life drinking and depressed; A couple mentions of champagne at a wedding; A couple mentions of rumors; A mention of someone doing a noble thing and not stepping off of a cliff (meaning literally or metaphorical is not said); A mention of jail; A mention of con-artists; A mention of pipe tobacco; A mention of needing to pee;
             *Note: Mentions of HGTV & Hallmark; Mentions of brand names & items (Jell-O, Peanut M&Ms, Reddi-wip, 7-Up, Levi’s, iPad, iPhone, Keurig, Tupperware, & Band-Aid); Mentions of websites (Google, Uber, Airbnb, & Spark Notes); Mentions of TV shows, movies, & characters (Jeopardy, Star Wars, Gandalf the Grey, Willy Wonka, Clark-Kent, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Batman, & Robin); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of the Narnia books; A mention of Disney.

Sexual Content- a chin kiss, five cheek kisses, a forehead kiss, a almost (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed) kiss, a not-detailed kiss, five barely-above-not-detailed kisses, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses, a detailed kiss, and a very detailed kiss (including being pulled into his lap); Remembering a kiss (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, dating, & exes; A few mentions of a father’s “little sidepiece” (a woman after his divorce); A few mentions of crushes; A few mentions of flirting; A mention of a newly married wife saying she can be very persuasive to her husband in a suggestive tone; A mention of a couple being caught canoodling; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: *Spoiler* In between her senior year of high school and freshman year of college, Indi got pregnant (with her boyfriend at the time, only details on it was that they had gotten more serious than either of them had been ready for and that she knew that when she slept with him that it was happening too fast but didn’t think about the consequences); He proposed and they were going to figure things out, but Indi called off the engagement and gave the baby up for adoption believing that it was the best thing for the baby, that God wanted her to do it (even though it hurt so much), that she was sacred to be a single mom, and that her and the father weren’t destined to be high school sweethearts; The father of the child resents Indi for this choice and says a couple harsh things, but apologizes later, knowing that he was still too into the party scene and that he willing signed the adoption papers; This is a huge part of the story and Indi trying not to thinking about her daughter, but then also wanting to have a relationship with her; It was an open adoption, though Indi hasn’t been in contact with the family, thinking that it’s better for everyone if she isn’t a part of their lives; Indi says that she wishes someone would have encouraged her that she could have been a good mother, but everyone said that she’d done something good and noble; In the epilogue, Indie gets to meet her daughter for the first time *End of Spoiler*; A handful of mentions of a married couple struggling to get pregnant & their prior miscarriages (*Spoiler* They are expecting triplets by the end of the book; a couple mentions of the husband badly wanting to fix it and the wife saying that “he fixed it, all right” and the wife expecting another miscarriage so she didn’t want to tell her husband *End of Spoiler*); A few mentions of some adoptees not wanting to find their biological parents (like Indi being not curious about them at all) and those who want to know about them; A couple mentions of the Santa at the mall kissing the top of kids’ heads being sketchy.

-Indiana Joy “Indi” Muir, age 28
-Philip West, age 34
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                         Set in 2018-2019 (Prologue in 1969)
                                                        396 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I can’t say too much because of spoilers, but adoption & biological families were a huge part of that story and since that’s such a near and dear topic to my heart, I loved how the author highlighted how broken and yet how beautiful adoption can be. Those parts really made this story to me—and while it might sound corny, I truly mean it—touched my heart. The faith content wrapped into those elements were so raw and real, but so honestly written.

On a lighter note, I’m not sure what it is about awkward, giraffe-like male leads that I enjoy reading about so much, but Philip matches that description to a ‘T’. I literally laughed at loud at times with him and Indi, they were so cute together and I loved that they were able to talk about deeper, personal topics and react well to the other’s past and feelings. It felt like a healthy relationship, even if a few parts were too kissy for my tastes.

I’m very eager to read the third and final book in this series once it releases next year. I was excited to read Indi’s story after the first book and now I’m even more curious about Lil’s story.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!