“Aaron Whitworth hasn't had control over most aspects of his life, but he's always taken pride in being an honorable businessman and better-than-average horseman. When both of those claims are threatened, he makes the desperate decision to hire the horse trainer of a traveling circus as a temporary jockey for his racehorses.
Sophia Fitzroy knows that most horsemen don't take her seriously because she's a woman, but she can't pass up the opportunity to get away from the tumultuous world of travel and performing. As she fights for the right to do the work she was hired for, she learns the fight for Aaron's guarded heart might be an even worthier challenge.
As secrets come to light, will Aaron and Sophia's past vulnerabilities be an insurmountable stumbling block, or will they sacrifice their former dreams and forge a new one together?”
Series: Book #2 in the “Hearts on the Heath” trilogy. Review of Book #1 Here! (Does also mention characters and events from the author’s other series, “Hawthorne House” and “Haven House”.)
Spiritual Content- In the dedication, 1 Peter 1:3-4 is written; A few Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Prayers & Talking with God; Church going; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Aaron wonders if God is trying to teach him another lesson in perseverance or that the world wanted him to remember his place (because he’s illegitimate); Aaron thinks that having word with God (being upset with) is a futile effort; Aaron says that he and God had a “decent agreement” that Aaron didn’t ask for miracles and God didn’t make “Aaron’s life any more difficult than it already was”; Mentions of God, Jesus & faiths; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services & a rector; A few mentions of a Bible study (that Sophia and her brother do together); A few mentions of sins (regarding Aaron’s father’s sins and him considering Aaron to be the “embodiment of sin’s consequences”); A couple mentions of miracles;
*Note: Mentions of horses that are named Apollo, Midas & Poseidon; Mentions of Sophia looking like a faerie; A mention of Aaron facing his demons “whether they came from the world or from himself”; A mention of a priest saying that “the soul is strengthened by being bludgeoned with guilt and the reminder of our own imperfections” (in regards to someone punishing themselves or others for their own actions); A mention of a rumor about a ghost.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bah’, a ‘blimey’, a ‘great heavens’, a ‘shut up’, two forms of ‘blast it/blast it all’, two ‘stupid’s, and five forms of ‘idiot’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being whipped, Injuries, & Pain (up to semi-detailed); Recalling an accident & seeing a loved one and animal in pain (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Aaron & Sophie both drink sherry at a party; Sophia has guilt over lying to get a job; Both Aaron and Sophia say things that aren’t quite the truth but yet do not tell an outright lie either; Many mentions of card games, betting, & gambling (on horses and cards); Mentions of thieves, thefts, & stealing; Mentions of accidents, injuries, pain, & the implied death of a horse (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fighting & throwing punches; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & taverns; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of mistreated horses & an implied scene where a horse had to be put down because of injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of potential injuries from horse racing (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of swindlers; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of wars; A mention of a man potentially hurting a woman; A mention of vandalism; A mention of poison; A mention of someone needing a kick in the backside; A mention of hatred;
*Note: Aaron’s biological father told him that he would be nothing & Aaron tortures himself to be around his father to remind him of his place in the world; A few mentions of an author (Mary Wollstonecraft); A couple mentions of brand names in the Acknowledgments (My Little Ponies and Totino’s frozen pizzas).
Sexual Content- An almost kiss (semi-detailed), two not-detailed kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a detailed kiss, and a very detailed kiss; Remembering kisses & embraces (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss and embrace & wanting to be kissed & embraced (up to semi-detailed); Staring at another’s lips (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including Sophia’s curves and legs, barely-above-not-detailed); Aaron is an illegitimate child & there’s many mentions of it (including: others making jabs towards Aaron because of it, when Aaron’s biological father bought his legitimate son to show him Aaron to show that choices have ramifications (Aaron was ten and the half-brother was six years old), his father not treating his legitimate son well either, & Aaron punishing himself to see his father as a reminder to stay in his place and making himself sick); Sophia and her brother sleep in Aaron’s house and she chooses the couch as it felt too strange to sleep in his bed; Sophia sits in Aaron’s lap (no details); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of reputations & chaperones; A couple mentions of mistresses; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a married couple sharing a kiss; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Sophia wears trousers & it’s shocking for the time period (including mentions of her legs and calves, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of horse breeding & studs and mares being available; A couple mentions of men leering & jeering at Sophia; A mention of a man complimenting Sophia’s riding, but it not really being the compliment she thought it was; A mention of some male employers being all too willing for Sophia to work for them.
-Sophia Fitzroy, age 23
-Aaron Whitworth, age 32
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1817
348 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
After recently reading the first book in this series and being introduced to Aaron for the first time (I haven’t read the other books where he was mentioned), I was very interested in reading his story. I was afraid that going into this book there would be a lot of mentions of illegitimate children and the details of that, but there really wasn’t any details.
I struggled at times with being interested in this story, but that could have been my frame of mind or because Sophia wasn’t my favorite kind of character (she had her good parts, however). The epilogue was really cute and by far my favorite part of the book.
Sophia’s name should’ve been Nellie because, my goodness, she was nosy. She definitely isn’t my favorite because of her endless chattering, but I truly liked that she knew her limits and wasn’t a female main character that balked at a man or society telling her she could or couldn’t do something—which is very common in Christian Fiction and borderlines on a feminist thread for a lot of readers, myself included.
Aaron is a poor, hurt soul because of his upbringing and biological father being a piece of work. He felt very honest and raw towards the end, which I really appreciated seeing and made me more invested into the story at those parts.
While I might not have enjoyed this book as much as the first in the series, it was still an overall pleasant read.
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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