Books for Christian Girls: "A Mark of Grace" by Kimberley Woodhouse

About this book:

  “Ruth Anniston survived an injury that left her physically scarred, broken, and angry at God. Now she finds herself working behind the scenes as a kitchen supervisor at the El Tovar Hotel, hidden away from curious eyes. When money begins to disappear from the hotel, Ruth's entire livelihood is put at risk.
    Frank Henderson has at last succeeded in obtaining his dream job as the head chef at the El Tovar. But with the continuing thefts at the hotel, and his growing affection for Ruth, Frank's career--and his heart--are in jeopardy.
   As tensions run high, Ruth and Frank must work together to save the El Tovar and forge a new path for the future together.”

Series: Book #3 in the “Secrets of the Canyon” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!

Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, read, quoted, thought over, & discussed; Bible reading; Many Prayers & Thanking God; A hymn is sung; Many talks about God, questioning Him, grace, works, & faith being enough to have salvation; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Ruth prays honest prayers to God, including ones being mad and asking why her injuries happened (she feels bad after lashing out); Many mentions of God, His creation, questioning Him, grace, works, & faith being enough to have salvation; Many mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & praising Him; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, a sermon, & a hymn; Mentions of Heaven & eternity; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of blessings; A mention of a Bible study; A mention of Sunday school; A mention of sinners;
             *Note: A couple mentions of a “miracle elixir”.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘stupid’, and a ‘shoot’; A mention of a man cursing at others (said, not written); Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Almost being hit by a car; Pain & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); A man is willing to kill for his goal; Frank wants to punch a man (twice, but doesn’t act on it); Ruth feels unworthy because of her injuries & scars; Ruth is sold a product called a “miracle elixir” and thinks it’s helping her (there are some side effects, barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of the mountain lion attack (Book #2), Ruth stepping in the way of the mountain lion to protect someone, injuries, & scars (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of thieves, thefts, stealing, stolen money, & plans to harm a business; Mentions of a car accident, death, a major injury, & someone else being hit by a car (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kidnapping, threats, & beating others up and starving them for information (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crimes; Mentions of a con-man, his scams, & a product with narcotics; Mentions of a rockslide, someone being pushed off an edge, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & burns (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of grief (for a father and a husband); Mentions of food poisoning; A few mentions of bribes; A few mentions of rumors & gossip; A few mentions of a saloon & alcohol (Oliver drinks brandy); A few mentions of a cancer diagnosis; A couple mentions of slavery; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of a man being bitten by a dog;
             *Note: A couple mentions of some men not being happy about Ruth having such a high role of management.

Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, three cheek kisses, three head/forehead kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss (a total of six are by married couples); Wanting to kiss (once, barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing; Ruth doesn’t think any man would want a woman like her (scared and broken); A handful of mentions of blushes, winks, & flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions.

-Ruth Anniston, age 34-35
-Frank Henderson, age 37
                                P.O.V. switches between them, Oliver (x10), Charles (x6), & Emma Grace (x3)
                                    Set in 1909 (Prologue in 1894 and 1907 & Epilogue in 1914)
                                                        336 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This final book is set two years after the prior book and I’ve so been looking forward to reading Ruth & Frank’s story! Frank is such a good guy. He’s fantastic in the prior books, but he really shines in this book. A male lead that encourages the main girl in her faith is something I always love to see. I would have liked to see a bit more of him and his thoughts outside of Ruth and being a chef, but it was still really good to see more of them both.

There’s a slight mystery in this book, but we are quickly told who the culprit is in the story (by seeing their point of view). So rather than a “let’s find the culprit who’s stealing from the hotel” it’s a “let’s see how well our main characters do finding the culprit that’s stealing from the hotel”. I was a little bit disappointed that it was the second one, instead of the first, but I quickly got over that and wanted to see what would happen.

I will say that the con-man was so annoying! I do wish that that part was handled quicker, but it made sense at the end. The ending was a bit rushed and more telling than showing (which I’ve fussed about with other books), but it was still a good conclusion to the series. The faith content is what really made this series stand out and I appreciate how clean it was throughout the series. It would be a series I would have no problem recommending to girls around ages 14/15, depending on the girl.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!