Books for Christian Girls: "The Starlet Spy" by Rachel Scott McDaniel

About this book:

  “In 1943, Movie producer Henrik Zoltan approaches Amelie Blake under the guise of offering the Hollywood star a leading part in his upcoming film, but he has a more meaningful role in mind. Amelie’s homeland of Sweden declared neutrality in the war, but Stockholm has become the ‘Casablanca of the North.’ When top-secret atomic research goes missing in Sweden, the Allied forces scramble to recover the files before they fall into Nazi hands.
    The United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) needs someone who’s subtle enough to spy on the Swedish elite without triggering suspicion. Who better than the “all beauty, no brains” Scandinavian starlet? Fluent in three languages and possessing a brilliant memory, Amelie loathes being labeled witless but uses the misconception as her disguise. She’s tasked with searching for the crucial files, but Finn Ristaffason keeps getting in her way. Is the charming shipping magnate after the missing research? Or does he have other reasons for showing up at her every turn?
    With the Gestapo on her heels, Amelie must rely on her smarts in addition to her acting skills to survive a world of deadly spies and counterspies.”

Series: Part of the series “Heroines of WWII”, but is not connected to any other book.

Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Prayers & Thanking God; A few talks about God & Esther; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Someone references Esther when talking about Amelie becoming a spy; Amelie prays with someone who is dying; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches & a church group; Mentions of Christians, Jews, Jews being God’s chosen people; A mention of Heaven; A mention of someone sounding like a preacher (for a certain comment);
             *Note: Mentions of evil (with the war); Mentions of folklore and superstitions from Greek, Norse, and Scandinavian mythology such as the legend of Näck, a sea monster (which can be destroyed with an iron cross being thrown at it) & the northern lights being believed to be a bridge between Asgard (where the gods are) and Earth.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘shut up’, four forms of ‘stupid’, six forms of ‘dumb’, and six ‘idiot’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Fighting, Going into a building on fire, Going to a nightclub for the mission, Being held at gunpoint and knife-point, Being threatened, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone hit by a car, dying, & the person’s final moments (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Amelie thinks that she gets paid to deceive because she’s an actress, but feels guilt at times for lying and breaking into a man’s office when doing her mission; Set during & all about many mentions of World War II, Nazis, deaths, fighting, injuries, weapons, atomic bombs, enemies, smuggling Jews into another countries, the evil involved in this war, & those siding with evil for money/greed; Mentions of someone being hit by a car (murder), someone being stabbed (attempted murder), murderers, a death, fires, explosions, a ship sinking, injuries, blood/bleeding, (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths of loved ones & grief; Mentions of a dying parent (a cover story); Mentions of a woman’s first husband having an accident and found dead & her second disappearing (which makes some believe that she got rid of them both); Mentions of a hit being ordered on a man; Mentions of being held at gunpoint & fights (in films); Mentions of Amelie being taught self-defense & how to harm others (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a man missing part of his pinkie (assumed because of work with machinery); Mentions of a man challenging another to a fight & looking forward to “breaking” the man’s face; Mentions of thieves, thefts, stealing, & stolen items (including the Nazis raiding Jewish communities and stealing their items); Mentions of threats & blackmail; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, social drinking at dinners/parties, drunks, & getting sober; Mentions of cigars, cigarettes, & smoking (many side characters smoke); Mentions of nightclubs; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, deception, & guilt from those; Mentions of rumors, gossips, & eavesdropping; Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of Amelie thinking of all the ways she could die in this mission (no details); A few mentions of a pen that shoots cyanide (that can melt someone’s skin off & is used as a threat); A few mentions of possible kidnappings; A couple mentions of a miscarriage being blamed on the mother being exposed to potent chemicals & her grief/pain; A couple mentions of the deaths of a man’s parents on the Titanic; A couple mentions of the death of a man after injuries from a barroom brawl; A couple mentions of poison that can cause instant death (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of blackouts; A couple mentions of a man who doesn’t care for his stepchildren because they are another man’s children; A couple mentions of multiple divorces; A mention of embezzlement; A mention of a man threating to murder someone (who he thinks is having an affair with his wife); A mention of throwing up;
             *Note: Amelie wishes that just once she could play the leading lady who helps the hero or even defended herself from the get-go instead of being a horrified spectator; Amelie doesn’t want to imagine marrying anyone; Amelie thinks negatively of someone thinking that the man believes him to be superior to those who have less money than him; Someone makes a comment about not trusting foreigners; Mentions of car brands; Mentions of actors, actresses, movies, singers, & songs from this time period (Carole Lombard, Bob Hope, Leslie Howard, Cary Grant, W.C. Fields, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Gone with the Wind, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, & Rosita Serrano); A few mentions of Oscars & Academy Awards; A mention of an Agatha Christie novel.

Sexual Content- an accident lip touch, a wrist kiss, a cheek kiss, three forehead kisses, an almost kiss, a not-detailed (movie/acting) kiss, five barely-above-not-detailed kisses, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, two semi-detailed kisses, and three detailed kisses; Remembering kisses & Wanting to kiss (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Accidental Cuddling, Dancing, Hand holding, Warmth, Shivers, Nearness, Smelling (including some in a movie/acting); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (including a man being bare chested and his muscles, up to semi-detailed); Amelie is to play as the “blond bimbo” on her mission (which is what she typically plays in movies) and tells those in charge that she won’t be a femme fatale and will not use her body in a “compromising way” or seduce anyone; *Spoiler* Amelie’s biological father was a wealthy man and her mother was a maid at his house; Her mother was disgraced and left after she found out she was pregnant with Amelie (she had Amelie at age seventeen); Amelie’s father never contacted either of them and even though she meets him in this book, she does not and will not tell him she’s his daughter as she doesn’t want to claim him because of his character (Amelie thinks that she’ll throw up if he tries to flirt with her); Amelie’s mother doesn’t trust handsome men because of this, believing that “the handsomer the man, the more dubious the character”; When Amelie had realized that her mother fled her home because she was pregnant with her, Amelie felt weighted with shame; Amelie noticed that her mother held the shame, but Amelie thinks that “mistakes shouldn’t define our futures” *End of Spoiler*; Amelie makes a couple of comments that either come out wrong or could be taken sexual (such as saying it’s her job to study a man’s body and then correct to meaning body language & when a man says he’d like to see more of her, she comments that no one sees more of her than what she’s currently wearing); Amelie is concerned that a man may want an indecent favor in return; Amelie adjusts her robe when in front of a man because she doesn’t want to give the impression that she’s after a romantic interlude & has morals (despite what the magazines print about her) and does not want to give the idea of a temptress; Amelie watches two people to see if they are having a secret relationship (affair), but notices nothing between them (some others believe they are); Someone makes a comment about assuming Amelie is there for a romantic liaison with a man; Amelie cautions a man that if he takes liberties with her and kisses her, she won’t be responsible for her actions towards him; The love interest kisses Amelie and says that he’ll be sleeping elsewhere because the temptation of kissing her more; A man (not the love interest) nuzzles Amelie & says he will “take whatever [he] wants from her” (nothing happens past that comment); Men flirt with, leer at, catcall, & say a couple vulgar slurs and propositions about Amelie (none of the slurs are written out); A man asks Amelie if another man has kept his paws off of her because “you have to watch the quiet ones”; A ‘bimbo’ is said; Mentions of men getting young women pregnant after “dallying” with them and then abandoning them, illegitimate children, & scandals; Mentions of rumors and gossip about affairs, hot romances, romantic liaisons, & scandals (none which are true); Mentions of attractive men & women throwing themselves at them (including one trying to kiss a man); Mentions of men staring at Amelie, their roaming eyes, forgetting their “manners” when around her, & some “pushy” fans; Mentions of ladies’ men & flirting; Mentions of jealousy & a man hitting another for believing his stole his girl; A couple mentions of kisses in films; A couple mentions of a man staring at Amelie’s lips; A couple mentions of sultry smiles (including a director telling Amelie to give one); A couple mentions of “taxi dancers” (where men would pay a dime for a dance with a girl); A couple mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of a young Amelie consuming numerous love stories, having a head “full of romantic delusions”, & wanting to gain approve from a young man (which she now realizes was damaging and that “value was not a trophy to be won from other people’s acceptance”); A mention of it being scandalous if Amelie checks into a hotel with a man (even if they book separate rooms); A mention of a man looking at Amelie with “masculine appreciation”; A mention of mythology legend that could morph into a handsome man and entice women to the ocean’s edge; A mention of a woman using her “charms” to get onboard a ship; A mention of a ladies’ man trying to skirt angry fathers; A mention of a father sending away an apprentice that his daughter was in love with; Love, attraction, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: When having to climb up or down something, Amelie has to hike her skirt up in a somewhat “scandalous” fashion, toss her stockings down to a man (who blushes), & warns him that he better not see anything so he says he’ll keep his gave on her higher portions (she threats his “lower portions” with a kick if he doesn’t); Amelie kicks a man in his groin (self-defense); Mentions of men valuing women for what they could give to them (such as their looks/appearance and fame); A couple mentions of a book about the mating principles of dragonflies (including Amelie commenting that who would have guessed that there was so much information on this subject by the size of the book); A mention of a dress hugging Amelie’s curves.

-Amelie Blake, age 26
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                            Set in 1943 (Final Chapter in 1945)
                                                        256 pages

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My personal Rating-

Put spy in a title and I’m curious to know more, what can I say?

I was taken aback that this book was written in first person, but I ended up really liking that element. It made the book feel like one of those old movies with the main character narrating what’s happening which really added to the 1940s feel of this story. She acts as an airhead and it was quite satisfying.

I think it’s a micro trope, but I always find it interesting that when the main character is a spy and don’t know if they can trust their love interest. I really like that element. One thing I would have liked more of in this book would have been an obvious note that Finn was Christian as well. We saw a couple glimpses, but I would have liked the faith content to take a bit more of center stage at times.

This is the third book I’ve read in the series and the third one I’ve really enjoyed. I’m really enjoying that so far while they are either stateside or abroad (this being my first abroad setting one) and it’s all about the war, they’re not horribly sad with all the details of the Jews being persecuted, fighting and deaths details, and such things that are very common in World War II books. It doesn't feel as heavy as most.

I wish I could’ve given this book a four-star, but because of a couple comments here and there, a few suggestions, and then a few of long kissing scenes, I didn’t care for those parts and it affects the ratings. If an older girl has been exposed to more things in books (such as secular books), this book probably would be just fine, but I have to note these things and that I would mark it for older girls, at least, for sure.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!