“Who Stole Tilly from the Auction Block? Breathe in the nostalgia of everything old red truck in book one of a new cozy mystery series. The Hadley family ranch is struggling, so RaeLyn, her parents, and brothers decide to turn the old barn into an antique store. The only thing missing to go with the marketing of the store is Grandpa’s old red truck, Tilly, that was sold several years ago. Now coming back up on the auction block, Tilly would need a lot of work, but RaeLyn is sure it will be worth it—if only she can beat out other bidders and find out who stole Tilly after the auction ends. Hadley finds herself in the role of amateur sleuth, and the outcome could make or break the new family venture.”
Series: Book #1 in “The Little Red Truck Mysteries” series.
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is mentioned & discussed; Church going, Sunday school, services, & sermons; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school, youth group, Bible studies, a prayer team, worship, services, sermons, & pastors; Mentions of an Easter service & children’s choir; Mentions of missionaries, mission fields, & ministries; Mentions of Baptist and Methodist churches; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of a nativity set; A couple mentions of hymns; A mention of being reborn;
*Note: The phrase “don’t know me from Adam” is said; A mention of good lucky charms (not believing in them).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘doggone’, a ‘shoot’, four ‘good grief’s, and seven forms of ‘oh my stars’; “B.S.” is said and refers to a time “before someone”, but it takes someone back when first said (implied cursing); Sarcasm & eye rolling; When a guy brings up about him and RaeLyn sneaking around when they were younger, she thinks that she doesn’t want her parents wondering how much sneaking around she did because “berry stealing was the height of [her] crime spree”; RaeLyn’s aunt suggests about doing something and keeping it a secret from her parents (they don’t do it, however); Some grief by RaeLyn for her grandfather; All about many mentions of a stolen car and items, thefts, thieves, & trying to find the car; Many mentions of divorces; Mentions of car accidents & a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths in a house fire (a man’s parents when he was a teenager); Mentions of deaths of loved ones, grief (including RaeLyn with her grandfather), & illnesses (cancer and Alzheimer’s); Mentions of crimes, criminals, arrests, & jail; Mentions of trespassing & the possibility of being chased with a shotgun; Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of alcohol, drinks at a party, & not being a drinker; A couple mentions of the death of an infant; A couple mentions of an injury; A couple mentions of bullying; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a shoot-out in a movie; A mention of chewing tobacco;
*Note: A man calls his wife “the little woman” (which makes RaeLyn wonder if the man is always demeaning to women); Many mentions of car brands, brand names, & items; Mentions of stores & fast-food chains; Mentions of actors, movies, TV shows, & singers (including John Wayne, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Farrah Fawcett, & Frank Sinatra); Mentions of social media platforms; A couple mentions of a short story (“The Last Leaf” by O. Henry); A mention of Reader’s Digest; A mention of a married couple having vastly different views on politics due to one being from Texas and the other from California.
Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Touches, Dancing, Hand holding, & Butterflies/Flutters, (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); RaeLyn recalls herself and a friend battling over a guy & believes a guy stole her friend away from her; A man gives too much attention to RaeLyn for her liking & tries to hit on her; A man is called a “rounder” (meaning he gets around), has cheated and had affairs, & left his current wife for another woman (he has been married and divorced four times); Another man is caught in an embrace with a woman who is not his wife (*Spoiler* by RaeLyn who prior saw the man light up when he sees the woman and then later when they’re in an embrace; She wonders if she should tell his wife what’s going on, but realizes that she already knows and is pretending she doesn’t; RaeLyn decides to let it go and not be involved in their martial disputes after seeing that the woman knows what’s going on *End of Spoiler*); A woman talks about her marriage to a man fifteen years her senior, their divorce after his cheating, & her regret over the relationship; Mentions of affairs & cheating; Mentions of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy & the couple getting married but someone else thinking that they never really loved the other; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, dating, exes, break-ups, & broken hearts; Mentions of winks, blushes, & flirting; A couple mentions of wives leaving their husbands or taking a “sabbatical” away from him; A couple mentions of men hitting on RaeLyn and also a married woman; A couple mentions of jealousy; A teasing mention of a stolen kiss; A mention of a woman using her “charms” to woo men; A mention of a crush (being allowed but not a crush on a married man); A bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of a voluptuous woman and her low-cut & figure hugging outfits; A few mentions of labor pains.
-RaeLyn Hadley, age 26
1st person P.O.V. of RaeLyn
256 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
My most anticipated release of the year was a success!
I found my eyes squinting whenever Mason was on page because I wasn’t sure how to feel about him. 🤨 But he eventually won me over by the end of the book and I’m curious to see what happens next for the two of them.
Now, I’m not a big car person. Old, vintage, or brand new. Never really interested me. But because this book is written by one of my favorite authors and it sounded like there would be antiques been discussed, I was very interested in it.
If you like small town drama, go for this book. It’s messy and gets messier with each chapter. Which is why I would mark it for 16+, personally. I did find myself confused at times everyone’s different ages and some connections, but I just went along with trying to figure it out as I went and I think I did well. This book reminded me a lot of the “Brides with Styles” trilogy, though I liked that series a bit more. ;)
This was overall a fun, small town mystery and I’m super excited to see what this series leads to next!
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.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.
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