Books for Christian Girls: "Her Part to Play" by Jenny Erlingsson

About this book:

  “Desperate for extra income after her mother's passing, Adanne accepts a last-minute job as a makeup artist for a movie filming in her small Alabama hometown. She's working to save her parents' legacy and help her brother, but the money hardly seems worth having to face the actor who got her fired from her last job in Hollywood.
    John Pope has made his share of mistakes over the years. But after turning his life over to God and enduring a messy breakup, he's ready to start rebuilding his career. Imagine his surprise when the woman called in to cover for his usual makeup artist is a quiet but feisty newcomer on the set--and definitely not a fan.
   Sparks of tension--and could that be attraction?--fly between them, but Adanne hates the spotlight, and John's scheming manager has bigger plans for him than to end up with the humble makeup girl from the small-town South. Can these star-crossed lovers find their way to happiness? Or will the bright lights of Hollywood blind their eyes to what's right in front of them?”

Series: As of now, no. It seems to be a stand-alone novel.

Spiritual Content- John 12:3 is referenced in the dedication; A few Scriptures are mentioned & referenced; Prayers, Thanking God, & Talking to God, & hearing words from Him; Church going, a sermon, & Singing a couple hymns; Talks about God, trusting Him, & forgiveness; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Adanne struggles with trusting God and we see that on-page with her thoughts (*Spoiler* She lets go of something and trusts God with it towards the end and feels peace *End of Spoiler*); John hasn’t been to church in years because of his father’s actions, but goes after Adanne invites him; John has recently come back to his childhood faith and wants God to be at the center of his decision-making; John’s mother reminds him to “anchor. If you know who you are in Christ, you won’t have to worry about the in-between. Do what you know. Remember your fist love. Engage in what makes your heart sing. You’ll see God unfold everything else from there”; John’s manager tries to get him to be like the king with Esther and gather “all the beautiful women of the city to find his next wife” (not wife, but an award show date in John’s case) and later asks if he’s going to have to brush off his grandmother’s Bible to understand John; Someone else rolls her eyes at John taking about God, but he continues to tell her that Jesus can free her; Mentions of God, Jesus, trusting Him, faiths, & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, hymns, small groups/Bible studies, & Sunday school; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of worship & songs; A couple mentions of blessings; A mention of the Holy Spirit; A mention of the Vatican;
             *Note: Phrases like “Thank God”, “in God knows how long”, “God knew”, and “God knows where” are said in ways that feel sincere by those with faiths, but could bother some readers by sounding flippant; Cancer is called “the enemy” and “vicious intruders” in a young children’s bodies & Adanne and others pray for it to be eradicated; A mention of John not believing in muses or that kind of stuff.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bah’, a ‘blasted’, a ‘doggone’, an ‘idiot’, and a ‘sucker’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Prior to the book starting John went through a major change and wants to stay on the straight and narrow (this includes no longer drinking alcohol and recognizing it was the start of an addiction; He avoids going to a place where he knows it could derail his progress; He thinks about having a drink a couple of times, but does not drink any alcohol); Adanne is grieving and missing her parents throughout the book (her father passed when she was a child and her mother some time before the book starts, up to semi-detailed); Adanne’s nephew has leukemia & we see him in the hospital and mentions of his condition, treatments, & it being hard on their family (*Spoiler* At the end of the book, he goes into remission and says that Jesus told him he would get better *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of deaths, illnesses (including kidney diseases), & grief; Mentions of cancer, treatments, & those (including children) going through it; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drinks, hangovers, being sober, & an addiction; Mentions of celebrities lashing out at others (including John prior to his change); Mentions of John’s father leaving his mother; Mentions of fight scenes in a movie & injuries made from makeup; A few mentions of a death in a domestic violence situation (*Spoiler* Adanne’s father when she was young and he was visiting a student *End of Spoiler*); A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A mention of gambling; A mention of lies; A mention of tattoos;
             *Note: John has a strained relationship with his father which is due to his father’s unfaithfulness to his mother and it’s implied that he hasn’t talked with him in a while; Adanne thinks about how her and John being so different, including having different skin colors, adding “she didn’t have any problem being with or around a man outside of her race”; A comment about pastors with different “racial congregations” but later coming together to build a church together; Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of singers (Luther Vandross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, & Deborah Cox); A few mentions of movies & an author (Love & Basketball, Pride and Prejudice, & Jane Austen); A few mentions of brand names (Band-Aid, Coke, & a Montblanc watch); A mention of counseling.

Sexual Content- A head kiss, an almost kiss, three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses (one with more build-up in nearness); Remembering kisses & seeing a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Thinking about kisses & Wanting to kiss (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Quite a bit of Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Warmth, Tingles/Sparks, Butterflies, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Flirting, Blushes, & a bit of Jealousy; Quite a bit of Noticing (including muscles, curves, and another woman’s short dress, up to semi-detailed); A woman touches/embraces & passionately kisses John without his consent (barely-above-not-detailed); When looking at a list of women with their pictures, John tells Adanne that he’s not doing anything weird (he’s trying to find a date to an award show); John’s father was unfaithful by having multiple affairs, one-night stands, and had “no issue breaking his wedding vows and then making new ones in the same church he used to volunteer in” (later, his mother comments about him being “caught up in finding his own happiness and convinced himself that it wasn’t to be found with me” and talks to John about forgiving him); Adanne asks John if he’s planning to trying to seduce her (twice, once saying that she has standards and rules; This is after they’ve become closer but not officially dating); Mentions of girlfriends/boyfriends, dating, dates, exes, break-ups, & broken hearts; Mentions of kisses; Mentions of flirting & jealousy;  A few mentions of handsome guys; A few mentions of crushes; A mention of one-night stands (John’s father); A mention of John going with his past girlfriend and their mutual friends on getaways during holidays; A mention of an older woman trying to get John as her boyfriend (kidding); A mention of finding a man and woman alone in a dark corner; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: John notices a woman’s low-cut, fitted top and another woman’s dress that barely concealed her legs (John swallows and keeps his eyes on her face); Adanne prays for Jesus to “be a fence” after she sees John after a workout; Adanne thinks about how she was called “thick” growing up (adding “whatever that meant”).

-Adanne Stewart
-John Pomponio, age 35
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        309 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I’ll admit that I’m always suspicious about the male lead in a Reformed Bad Boy/Reformed Party Boy trope. Even in Christian Fiction sometimes there’s too much about the past actions and stupid decisions than the supposed-to-be-better actions and decisions the character is making in the current day. I don’t care for reading about those past choices and some authors dwell too much in those times. A talented author can show the regrets of those sinful moments without pulling the reader through the filth and I think this debut author did well at it. We see that the male lead has changed and no longer desires anything that isn’t in God’s plan for him, which was great.

This was very Hallmark-ish. I do think it was a bit silly that he noticed her clothes but that’s often a thing when it’s a female author trying to write a male’s POV. I didn’t understand what the big deal was with the secret at the halfway point (regarding her nephew)? It felt added in for dramatics and she was pretty ridiculous about it and other comments around the middle of the book. It doesn’t last long, thankfully. I didn’t love her (loved her name, though!) because of this and actions she later did.

As far as a clean celebrity romance, it definitely had its cute moments within the cheese at times, but it would be a potential good read for older girls who want a small town girl, celebrity male lead kind of story. It had some drama, but also some sweet moments and nice faith content throughout the story. Not a new favorite for me, personally, but I overall enjoyed it.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!