“Can summer love survive amid mystery and mayhem?
When Abigail Greenwood and her cousins settle in for their annual summer retreat at the stunning and impressive Sagamore Resort in the Adirondacks, all she wants is to spend as much time as possible plunking out stories on her typewriter. But when her cousins insist she join them in the tradition of choosing a beau to adore from a distance during their stay, she reluctantly plays along, setting her sights on a mysteriously quiet and aloof guest. What started as harmless fun soon changes as Abby finds herself captivated by debonair—and handsome—Jackson Gable. Who is he, and why does his arrogant amused smile exasperate her so much?
When a series of events causing mayhem and mischief begin to occur at Sagamore, journalist Jackson Gable is determined to get to the bottom of it, since his father is an investor of the resort. Jack has a nose for mysteries, but he may have to use his recently earned law degree and some of his posh family connections to sleuth out the culprit. Are the events connected? Why are they happening? And why can’t he get the beautiful Abby off his mind?”
Series: Book #2 in the “Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts” series, but does not seem to be connected to any other book. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & discussed; Prayers, Going to chapels, & praying at an altar; Eight of the twenty chapters starts with a Scripture; Talks about God, Jesus, the Azusa revival and events there, & faiths; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Abby’s father is a Presbyterian minister; Abby reads a book by Grace Livingston Hill and comments about the characters believing in “the grace and goodness of God” and finds it inspiring to her own writing; Jack thinks Abby looks like an angel and has a peace hovering about her; Abby wonders after seeing a family that doesn’t want to pray but at an altar at a chapel, if they “attended a church with strict rules of convention and were unaware that God only wanted people’s hearts, not rigid rules and traditions” and encourages them to pray in a pew; Abby and others fast as “another appeal to move God’s heart” for a miracle; Jack tells Abby about the time Jesus appeared to him in a dream to repent for his actions (when he was a teenager); Abby prays for forgiveness from God for writing a fake note; *Spoiler* At the end, Abby asks Jack if he broke the news gently to his parents that he was proposing to her who is Presbyterian *End of Spoiler*; A comment about keeping the Lord first in their hearts; Many mentions of God, Jesus, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of praying for revelation of a crime & for the criminals to be reformed and repent; Mentions of praying at an altar & at churches; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, ministers, sermons, & services; Mentions of the Azusa Street Revival that Abby and her family went to, that deepened their faiths, witnessed miracles at (including her grandmother receiving healing and a man’s arm “supernaturally” growing back), & some viewing it as a spectacle; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of Bible reading & devotional times; A couple mentions of the Holy Spirit; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of water baptism;
*Note: ‘For heaven’s sake!’ and ‘By George!’ are both exclaimed once; A place is called heaven because of it’s bathing pool; A few mentions of luck & not believing in it; A mention of a magical evening.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘good grief’; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; A fire, Being followed/chased by someone, & Being scared (up to semi-detailed); Two side characters that are sisters bicker & argue with each other (Abby’s grandmother warns her to stay away from them, but Abby tries to be kind to the sisters); A man tries to make it appear as if he’s been attacked and robbed (Abby and Jack see the man lying in the dirt, on the side of the road, and pretending to be passed out so someone will rescue him); Many mentions of crimes, criminals, break-ins, robberies, thieves/thefts, stolen items, & sabotage; Mentions of a fire, the arsonist, an arrest, & jail; Mentions of missing teens & a search party for them; Mentions of a saddle being cut, injuries, & how it could have killed someone (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a murder mystery book; A few mentions of teens from the “wrong crowd” breaking into a schoolhouse, smashing the windows, and making a mess; A few mentions of jealousy & bitterness; A few mentions of rumors & gossip; A couple mentions of blackmail;
*Note: Every chapter starts with a Scripture or a quote (quotes are by: Maud Hart Lovelace, Charles Dickens, Lucy Maude Montgomery/L.M. Montgomery, Edna St. Vincent Millay, William Wordsworth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Elisabeth Elliot, E.M. Forster, & Maya Angelou); Mentions of authors & books (Grace Livingston Hill, E.M. Forster, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, & Emily Dickinson); A few mentions of hotel investors believing it’s their fault that an employee is skimming the cash registers because they are under paying him & the employee complaining about his wage being too low to set aside a retirement (however, they are planning for his replacement); A mention of Downton Abbey in the author’s note.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss, and two semi-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Dances, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches, embraces, & dancing (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including muscles, up to semi-detailed); Flirting; Abby thinks Jack is a rake at first; Abby’s cousin and sister plan to have one week to decide on the man they will “place [their] deepest affection and unswerving devotion” (apart from the Lord, who should remain first in their hearts) on for the rest of the summer and if they are “exceptionally lucky”, they will receive a kiss; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & wanting to touch (including a mention of Abby’s seventeen-year-old sister wanting to run her hands through a handsome boy’s hair); Mentions of flirting, flirts, & blushes; Mentions of handsome men, beaus, & Abby’s boy-crazy companions; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of broken hearts; A few mentions of chaperones; A mention of a girlfriend; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: After seeing him for the first time, Abby wonders if Jack likes her brown eyes, but thinks about how almost every heroine in novels having blue eyes; Abby wonders if she lets Jack into her life, if he will “clip her wings” or “enable her to soar” (she wonders this a couple of times, once adding about “didn’t most men want subservient wives who spent hours in the kitchen and provided them with offspring?”).
-Abigail “Abby” Greenwood, age 21
-Jackson “Jack” Gable, age 28
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1907
191 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I really struggled with this book—but not due to any major content problems, because of the classic-style writing style this story was told in. It’s no secret that I’ve never been a classics fan and I would be very curious to see what those who do enjoy classics would think about this book. I found that there were way too many detailed added in that added very little to the plot, such as described of all the trees, her dresses, and the food everyone orders at the hotel. I frankly grew bored at times and had this book been longer, I probably would have marked it as a DNF, but because it was under 200 pages, I decided to stick with it.
There’s a handful of mentions of events that took place prior to this story starting that feel like it’s hints of prior books, but I don’t see that there are connecting books with these characters. On that note, some readers who are not Pentecostal may be uncomfortable with the mentions of a revival that the main characters went to prior to this book starting and the mentions of miracles that are said to have happen there.
We have more details about her clothing and attraction to him, and very little that made me cheery for them as a couple. I did find it a little annoying that she didn’t want to fall for him (yet was obviously doing so) but when he asked twice if he could kiss her, she said yes. I don’t understand how she had a good head on her shoulder for most of the book but didn’t realize that intimate action would affect her emotions/feelings towards him. (It doesn’t help that I really didn’t care for him because of some glimpses of pride/an attitude.)
Overall, I don’t have any major content concerns with this book, it was just a massive miss for me and not my cup of tea. I do think some readers will enjoy it (perhaps those who really enjoy Grace Livingston Hill’s books) and the writing style, but I was unfortunately not one of them.
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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