"A Noble Friend" by Kendra E. Ardnek

About this book:

  “He'll follow her to the ends of the earth, even as she marries another. But what happens when her husband proves to be a monster?”


Series: Book #15 in the multi-author series, “Cornerstone”. It does not seem to be connected to any other books, however. A stand-alone novel. Click on the books to be taken to that review: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, Book #12, Book #13, Book #14, and Book #16!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned; Church going & a sermon; Talks about God & those in the Bible; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Joah feels ashamed that he forgot it was the Lord’s Day and goes to the chapel when reminded (he has difficultly focusing on the priest as he focuses on Aloise sitting up front, but hears some of the sermon); *Major Spoilers* There is a letter for Aloise from Bluebeard in the room he told her not to go into that says about the Lord giving “our father and mother in the garden” a rule and how he gave Aloise the chance, but proved to be like “our mother” to be “treacherous and willful” as his prior wives so she must share their fate (death); Aloise thinks that she should have obey him because of what the Word commands, but her brother says that the Word commands husbands to love their wives the way the Son loves His church and that only God has the authority over life and death; Joah also says that the Lord will not be mocked and will not allow evil to reign forever; When Bluebeard comes home, he finds out what she’s done and plans to kill her, while ranting about being surrounded by treacherous women and that she isn’t the saint he thought she was; Joah says that the Lord is not even as cruel as Bluebeard is because God sent His Son *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of God (also called the Author); Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches/chapels, the Lord’s Day, a priest, & a sermon; A few mentions of the Word; A mention of Christians; 
             *Note: Joah notes that Bluebeard does not look at Aloise with the “worship she is due”; Joah thinks of Aloise as an “ethereal creature”; A few mentions of a rumored curse/legend on Bluebeard that his wives will die until he finds the right one (which Aloise says that curses don’t really exist “unless one has really displeased the Lord” so she doesn’t believe this rumor); A few mentions of some believing that Joah was the son of a wind spirit or some mystical creature with how he appeared on Aloise’s family’s doorstep; A couple mentions of luck & being unlucky.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘dumb’; Some eye rolling; Fighting & Seeing a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Joah thinks the greatest thing he can do for Aloise is to die for her and considers the thought to be an honor; *Major Spoilers* Aloise comes into the room her husband told her not to and finds miniatures of his past wives with red slashes through their necks and a lock of their hair (which Joah calls the room “clearly designed to intimidate and unnerve”); There is a letter for her from him that talks about the Lord giving “our father and mother in the garden” a rule and how he gave Aloise the chance, but proved to be like “our mother” to be “treacherous and willful” as his prior wives so she must share their fate (death); When he comes home, he finds out what she’s done and plans to kill her, but Joah and her brothers protect her and kill him instead (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of murders, deaths, threats, grief, & guilt (including from a bad fall, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of Joah being left on Aloise’s family’s doorstep underfed and half-conscious; A few mentions of hatred; A few mentions of people acting like whipped dogs or looking at another like “the worst dog to walk the earth”; A couple mentions of blood; A couple mentions of possible robbers attacking or a possible mountain lion attack; 
             *Note: Aloise makes a few comments about women like her being “traded and bartered for like sets of pretty dolls with no feelings”, how some men that would dismiss her protests as “silly female dramatics”, and another woman comments that men with power want “their wives meek and docile”; Joah is concerned that Aloise will be married off to a man who will likely be as cruel and demanding as her father & that her father only views her as a way to expand his riches and prestige; Aloise’s brother says that men have to protect women because “they are all to prone to death as it. It takes work to keep them alive.” and Joah frowns that that statement, but isn’t sure how to refute it.
 
 
Sexual Content- A blush; Seeing a married couple embrace and share two hand kisses; Joah is in love with Aloise, but tries to hide it because of their difference of status and believing he would be sent away by her father or her husband if they found out about it; When Aloise bats her eyelashes, Joah forgets how to breathe and later, also think of her as being “perfection itself”; Joah prays for resistance against the temptation of being with Aloise and tries not to imagine being anything more to her than just her guard; When Aloise pulls Joah into her bedroom to tell him something, he tells her it is highly inappropriate; Mentions of reputations; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of Aloise and her husband having bedroom far from each other; A mention of desire; Very light love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Joah notices that Aloise’s corset is pull too tight which has given her “unnatural curves”.
 
-Joah, around age 18 
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Joah 
                                                        104 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

When I first heard about this book, I was concerned for two reasons: 

1. The Bluebeard part of this story. I’ve read a clean fiction retelling of that one before and the original tale turns my stomach. (Plus I’m a dedicated rule follower and couldn’t imagine opening a door that I was specifically told not to go into.) This author kept that information much lighter than the original story, though, which was good and made it cleaner for sure! 

2. Male Lead is in love with his foster-sister-like-friend who has just gotten married to another man. There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence but it was mostly the “married to another man” and Joah following her as her guard that made me nervous. Thankfully, though, he does not act on his feelings for her—even prior to her marriage because of the status difference—but especially not when she’s married because he doesn’t want to cause gossip or harm her reputation. I was nervous about a potential cheating element, but was very relieved that there wasn’t any on her part or him trying to tempt her away. It’s a touchy line and I’m glad that it wasn’t crossed. 

 

We don’t get her POV, just Joah’s which I think worked well enough for the story. It would have been nice to see someone else’s perspective like Aloise’s just to see how she views everything that is happening, though. Within the first two pages I was thinking, “you got it bad for her, bud” and that was Joah’s whole personality, but to be fair, when the Bluebeard guy was introduced, I agreed with Joah that that guy was suspicious. 🤨

 

I think for me this was a miss because I don’t care for this fairytale in general and how Scripture was twisted by a villain. The ending had a promise of hope for the main characters, though, which was good, and I hope it works out for 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.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.

"Hope's Enduring Echo" by Kim Vogel Sawyer

About this book:

  “Geology student Leo Day has been waiting for a big find to prove his career path is worthy to his father. While riding the train along the Arkansas River in Canon City, Colorado, Leo spots a young woman waving at the passing cars holding something that looks like a piece of fossilized bone. He catches up to the girl after leaping from the slow train and his pulse gallops when he recognizes it as a rib bone from a smaller dinosaur species, most likely a Allosaurus. She confides she’s found several similar bones, and he asks her to show him where.
    Whether it was loneliness or boredom that led Jennie Ward to leave the water line and escort this stranger to the place where her daddy’s border collie had unearthed several bones, she couldn’t say, but she enjoys visiting with him. Could he become the friend she’s been praying for? As he leaves, he promises to return soon and asks if she’ll be his guide. She has little time for socializing, given her responsibility to the water works due to her father’s injury and aftermath, but the opportunity to gain a friend is too hard to resist. She agrees.
    As the weeks pass, Leo, a man longing for a father’s approval, and Jennie, a girl trapped by her loyalty to a despondent father, become friends and confidantes. And God’s plan for both Leo’s and Jennie’s futures will unfold like an excavation of dinosaur bones.”


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


Spiritual Content- Psalm 40:1 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, thought over, quoted, & discussed; Many, many prayers & thanking God; Feeling peace; Church going, sermons, & singing hymns; Many talks about God, prayers/praying, having Hope, & creation; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Jennie has prayed for her father to get better for over a year, but hasn’t lately because she thinks that if God hasn’t answered them by now, He wasn’t going to (adding that her Mama could “waste her time imploring Him”, but Jennie was done); Jennie does a prayer that has a hint of sarcasm to it and thinks that if God was as forgiving as her Mama said, He’s understand “her momentary lapse into bitterness”; Jennie has been taught that Someone was always watching over her and that knowledge has curtailed her yielding to many temptations over the years, but wonders that if God isn’t answering her prayers, if He’s even paying attention to her and if she even has to behave then, but decides she won’t deliberately get up to mischief whether God was watching or not because she doesn’t want to hurt her Mama; Jennie feels as if it would be selfish to pray for her own silly emotions when her parents need the prayers more in her eyes; Leo plans to visit the different churches in town as he hasn’t experienced other denominations’ services and thinks it could be “interesting and enlightening”; Jennie and Leo both have a moment where they don’t pay attention during a prayer or sermon because of other thoughts and feel ashamed; Leo considered skipping church for hunting dinosaur fossils, but ultimately to still go to church; All about many mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, thanking God, & blessings over food (including Jennie and Leo praying for and with each other); Many mentions of God, His will, peace, having hope, & not holding on to bitterness; Many mentions of churches (including different denominations like Presbyterian and Baptist & a home-church service), church going, services, worship, hymns, sermons, & ministers; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of Jennie’s family doing a home-church most Sundays with just the three of them; Mentions of faiths & sharing it with others; Mentions of God-given talents; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of the Holy Spirit; A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of blessings & being Blessed; 
             *Note: Leo hopes to one day help prove that the earth is thousands of years old and not millions like some of his professors teach (when his father asks him what eternal good is Leo doing, Leo wants to respond that he truly believes that he could “do eternal good by disproving scientific theories that discredited creationism”; *Spoiler* Towards the very end, Leo’s father realizes he was wrong to push Leo down the route of his choosing and says he will cheer Leo on in his determination to align his findings with biblical truths *End of Spoiler*); Leo discusses with Jennie about creationist views and evolution views (including how the Great Flood effected things, how evolution is a theory, and Scripture talking about giant creatures); *Spoiler* Claude lashes out at Leo and Jennie when he thinks Jennie has learned evolution thoughts from Leo and bans him from their home *End of Spoiler*; ‘Heaven only knows’ is said once; Mentions of evolution, eras, & fossils of prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs and trilobites; A mention of Santa Claus.
 

Negative Content- Pain, Injuries, & Being caught in a hailstorm (barely-above-not-detailed); Jennie, Etta, and Leo all try to avoid lying to each other and others (some half-truths and fibs are said still with guilt and asking God for forgiveness; Leo grapples with his conscience about keeping the Ward family’s secret); Mentions of an accident, injuries, & pain (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of the passing of a beloved dog from old age, finding him, & grief/sobbing (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few mentions of eavesdropping; A few mentions of mummified remains of cats being used in science; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a cigarette; A mention of hunters; 
             *Note: After Jennie’s father fell and broke his leg two years prior, he hasn’t been the same and his wife, Etta, is his caretaker while Jennie does his work for their living; Jennie struggles with a “tumble of emotions” like “resentment and worry and sorrow and sympathy” when thinking about her father and how he is now; Jennie feels guilt over her father’s accident (*Spoiler* As it happened the one day she wasn’t with him and her mother and her found him hours later with a broken leg *End of Spoiler*); Jennie’s father interrupts, snaps, and is unkind to Jennie and Etta at times because of his “woebegone attitude”; Jennie’s father, Claude, tells Etta that she should have given up on him months ago and that he is worthless and a burden to her (She is hurt by this as she loves him and promised before God to be faithful whether in sickness or death and tells him so); Jennie feels guilt for wanting her father to be hurt (emotionally) like he did to her and asks God to forgive her for the thoughts; Jennie has a fear that she might not have much more time with her father if he doesn’t get better because it seems as if he is withering away; *Spoilers* After Claude bans Leo from their home, Jennie struggles with the temptation of still meeting with Leo because her father didn’t exactly tell her not to see him, but is reminded by her conscience to honor her father and mother which she does despite the temptation to do otherwise; At one point, Etta goes to the outhouse and sobs over Claude and his harsh words & prays after *End of Spoilers*; Leo thinks that Claude may have ‘melancholia’ (which the discussion questions at the end of the book call it depression) and shudders when he thinks of the “treatments” available for it (such as being shocked with electricity or removing a portion of the brain; Leo does not share about this with Jennie); *Spoilers, but also a mental illness* After contacting the doctor at an insane asylum for a possible evaluation of Claude, he is upset at the thought but Jennie says that “we need a different kind of doctor to make us well when our minds are sick. Folks who are stuck forever in sadness have a sickness in their minds. The sickness is what makes them feel sad all the time. They need a doctor to help them.”; A bit later, Jennie tells Leo that she wishes there were medicines for “sicknesses of the mind” and to “cure endless sadness” which Leo says that maybe there will be someday *End of Spoilers*; Leo and his father have a strained relationship because of Leo not following in his father’s footsteps as a minister and his father disapproving of his career choice (Leo thinks often about wanting to be recognized by his father and gain approval from him; *Spoiler* Towards the very end, Leo’s father realizes he was wrong to push Leo down the route of his choosing and says he will cheer Leo on in his determination to align his findings with biblical truths *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of mental illnesses (called “mental diseases”, an “imbalance somewhere in the brain”, and an “illness of the mind” throughout the book), psychiatrists, & an insane asylum (Leo is also concerned that Claude could become violent to Jennie and Etta & share with his family in a letter that Claude is emotionally unstable, which could be perceived as “harsh and critical” but he wants his parents to understand the problem so they can specifically pray); Mentions of schoolmates and professors ridiculing Leo for his interest in paleontology and/or having a creationist view; A few mentions of books and fictional characters (Pinocchio & Oliver Twist); A mention of Leo always thinking that dish washing was a duty for girls as his mother and sisters saw to the cooking and cleaning up at home, but washes dishes himself as a job at the hotel.
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wondering about a possible kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Etta also kisses Claude on the forehead twice & cuddles into Claude in their bed once (barely-above-not-detailed); A few Touches, a couple Embraces, Flutters, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); A few blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Claude makes a comment about Jennie and Leo wandering around without supervision (which Leo tries to tell him that nothing like that has happen and Jennie is very hurt by her father’s accusation; *Spoiler* Later, Etta allows Jennie and Leo to wander the hill again because she trusts them and can no longer trust Claude’s “ability to make rational decisions” *End of Spoiler*); Some young men corner Jennie and make her uncomfortable with their “overly friendly advances” (Leo doesn’t think they meant harm, but scares them off anyway); Etta thinks about how Jennie hadn’t reached the age of noticing boys when they moved to town, but that apparently Jennie isn’t indifferent and Etta thinks Jennie is smitten with Leo; A few mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of handsome men; Very light love, falling in love, & the emotions (Jennie tries to guard herself the majority of the book from having more than friendship feelings for Leo because he will only be there for a summer and reminds herself about it a few times; She also makes a vow to herself to not let her “silly emotions” interfere in their budding friendship);
             *Note: A mention of Leo looking at the end of a pup to find out the gender.
 
-Jennie Ward, age 17
-Leo Day
-Etta Ward
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                            Set in 1915
                                                        352 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Full disclaimer: This book made me want to cry at about sixteen different parts. 🥲😭🥹

 

It almost felt like a YA Historical novel with Jennie being seventeen. The mother-daughter relationship between Etta and Jennie plus their conversations were so good to see. I’ve commented on this before in another book by this author, but it’s so nice to see a parent who is active in their young adult’s life and not only caring for them, but also praying hard for their grown child. 

 

The faith content was outstanding in this book. Incredibly strong and incredibly prevalent throughout it. Despite her father being a bear about different things, Jennie honors and obeys both him and her mother. She’s tempted to not listen to their words like most teens might be, but prays about it and does the right thing. Having been a caretaker to a family member for nearly a year this book went with some emotions I’ve felt, but other emotions I could understood in a way that only one who has walked this path could, despite my family’s situation being different from the Ward family. In a way, it felt a little unnerving to read, like it was almost too raw to read and I was encroaching on their private lives. But in another way, I understood. I understood where they were coming from and how the path to healing isn’t as easily as we hope or pray for. 

 

The romance was very light and definitely not the main focus of the book. You could argue the romance is basically non-existent because of the age difference with Jennie being only 17 and Leo is in college. That age gap doesn’t personally bother me in this historical setting and how they don’t even share a kiss or any romantic feelings in that way until the final chapter which is partially set a year later. He treated her at first very brotherly, but then they became close friends. The ending had me squeeing in delight! 🥹🥹🥹

 

Leo might be threatening Emmett from “The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow” for my favorite male lead by this author. The way he encouraged her, talked with her, prayed with her (!!), and was her friend which gradually lead into possible more was absolutely lovely and so heartwarming. 

 

I grew up loving to learn about creation science and going to lectures in that field, so many parts of this book reminded me of what I learned then. Despite having very little (more like a small percentage) of interest in dinosaurs and being a little bummed at first this book would have the topic (as I’ve seen it a handful of times before in recent years in the Christian Fiction market), I ended up really enjoying those parts and how it was all connected back into the strong faith themes and conversations. Leo was so passionate about it and the connection to creation—which that was pretty frequently mentioned and discussed which this book have the most about creation science or biblical creationism compared to the other ones I’ve read. 

 

One thing I greatly appreciated about this book was that there were no villains/antagonists in it. No person causing trouble or drama, just characters I could cheer for and hope with. I can’t say I see that much and it was very refreshing. 

 

Often when I’m reading, my mind will jump to predicting what will happen in this book—and usually I’m right. Interestingly enough, though, with this story most of my fears of potential events didn’t happen. I was perhaps waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, but it didn’t happen. The ending of this book is a bit opened ended—it truly could have a follow-up novella or epilogue at least!—but it was wrapped up beautifully and realistically. Our trials and troubles don’t wrap up within a month or three hundred pages, so it makes sense that everything this family is going through wouldn’t either. That said, I wasn’t upset about how it ended and honestly had to wipe away my tears multiple times while reading.

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 (Waterbrook Multnomah) for this honest review.

"A Noble Life" by C.K. Heartwing

About this book:

  “A prince in search of his missing brother. Two sisters tucked away in a snowy wood trying to live in peace. When their paths cross, they find not all in the wood is as it seems.
    When their father the king is assassinated in the palace courtyard, Frederick Belvare can do nothing to stop his older brother Matthias from plunging into the Blackwald forest after their father's assassins to bring justice and to retrieve his stolen crown. Only the Crown Prince does not return, and Prince Frederick must go to the Blackwald to bring his brother back. He enlists the help of his father's knights and sets off into the Blackwald, but rumors lurk of strange men and monstrous bear tracks in the snow.
     Rosalind Everwright and her mother and sister only want peace. Secluded in their little cottage in the Blackwald, they've found for themselves a refuge from the painful past, that is until Rosalind finds a man wounded in the snow. The Everwrights take him in to their care. The huntsman seems to be more than he's letting on, and with his arrival what little peace they've found is shattered.
    Neither Prince Frederick or Rosalind know who to trust in the snowy wood, but one misstep may cost them their lives, for not all in the wood is as it seems.”


Series: Book #14 in the multi-author series, “Cornerstone”. It does not seem to be connected to any other books, however. A stand-alone novel. Click on the books to be taken to that review: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, Book #12, and Book #13!


Spiritual Content- Romans 12:21 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, & thought over; Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God, trusting Him, forgiveness, & fear; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of a bishop at a wedding; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of meeting someone again in Paradise. 
 

Negative Content- The beginning chapter starts with Frederick seeing his father’s body and blood after he was assassinated (he later has a nightmare of this, the attack, & a wolf attacking him; all up to semi-detailed); A fire, smoke, & rescuing trapped horses (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, Being attacked, Being hit, Being chased, Being kidnapped and tied-up, Being held at knife-point, Being shot/Being shot at, Injuries, Pain, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Finding someone injured & near death (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a death (including the person’s horse sniffing the body and looking sad, up to semi-detailed); Grief & sobbing (up to semi-detailed); A horse is also injured (but will be fine, up to semi-detailed); Frederick drinks ale at a tavern; Many mentions of deaths, grief (for fathers and a wife for her husband), a body, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of assassins & an assassination; Mentions of wars, battles, & deaths; Mentions of attacks, fighting, weapons, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & passing out; Mentions of a tavern & ale; Mentions of hunting; A few mentions of a fire; A few mentions of pellets of bears with the head still attached (used for rugs); A couple mentions of lies & lying. 
 
 
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss and a not-detailed kiss; Some Touches, Embraces, & Flutters/Butterflies (barely-above-not-detailed); A blush; Seeing a couple hold hands, embrace, and share a kiss on the forehead; A bit of noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Very light love, falling in love, & the emotions.
 
-Rosalind Everwright
-Frederick Belvare, age 21
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        159 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I’ve read a couple other retellings of Snow White and Rose Red before and because I didn’t care for them, I was starting to think that this fairytale might just not be my cup of tea—but I enjoyed this one! The author did well with the elements of the fairytale, but it never felt like the fairytale was taking over the story, if that makes sense. It was balanced well between the fairytale and then her own story, which I liked. 

 

I thought it was funny that the sisters both met their men in the same scenario—finding them injured and nursing them back to health. I felt a little jipped by not getting Blanche and her guy’s story, but Rose and Frederick had their cute moments. I did really appreciate that they both focused on what was important now-and-then rather than let their emotions take over. It was a very sweet and very clean romance for sure! 

 

I will say that I didn’t quite understand all the details of the timing of events and what was happening towards the end, but that could have been me? I was a bit lost on it which unfortunately dropped my personal rating a bit. (*Spoilers* My question is that if Matthias was going to marry Blanche after knowing her a month after searching for his father’s assassins and the traitor-knight knew that, why was the traitor-knight’s motivation to kill the king was that the king would allow their marriage? I’m confused on this timing because Matthias and Blanche met after the king’s death? So how is that the traitor-knight’s motivation to kill the king as if the king knew of their relationship and approved? Someone please feel free to explain this to me! *End of Spoilers*) Regardless of this though, I did like this story and am curious to see what else the author has written or will publish in the future.

 

 

See y’all on Wednesday 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.

"Break My Fall" by Lynn H. Blackburn

About this book:

  “Dr. Meredith Quinn always planned to return to Gossamer Falls to practice dentistry. Now that she's back home, she's made it a point to offer clinics to children and adults in nearby underserved areas. Unfortunately, those same areas are known to harbor drug traffickers, and Police Chief Grayson Ward suspects that local law enforcement is looking the other way.
    After too many losses, Grayson has closed off his heart. But when Meredith enters his life, his walls crumble, and he's left exposed and vulnerable. To keep her alive, he must keep her close, but that makes it impossible for him to retreat and rebuild. Will she be the one who finally helps him emerge from isolation? Or will this force of nature leave him shattered?”


Series: Book #2 in the “Gossamer Falls” series. Review of Book #1, Here!


Spiritual Content- Psalm 19:14 in the Acknowledgments; A Scripture is remembered; Prayers & a Blessing over food; A few talks about God & His plans; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God, Jesus, & His plans; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, & Sunday School classes; A few mentions of miracles (including using it flippantly, like Meredith and Gray saying that them kissing each other was a miracle); A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of a Christian music station & worship music; A couple mentions of “better/holier-than-thou” attitudes; A couple mentions of people calling Meredith a saint; A mention of an event in the Bible; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of Gray having a hard time focusing on a sermon at church because of Meredith; A mention of a character thinking they have died, but that heaven isn’t wet with the rain they are feeling; A mention of a place smelling like heaven (good); A mention of a man who partakes in  criminal actions still going to church and giving to missions for the sake of his appearance in town;
             *Note: Someone says that two brothers are evil (literally, not teasing); Mentions of curses or someone being cursed (or acting like they are; *Spoiler* Meredith calls Gray out for acting like he is cursed where all the women he loves die horrifically *End of Spoiler*); A couple mentions of devilish grins; A couple mentions of luck; A mention of generational curses; A mention of a little girl thinking her dad has magical abilities; A mention of Meredith being told not to take everything out of a toddler’s mouth as gospel (condescending); A mention of Cupid; A mention of Pandora’s box; A mention of an alien abduction.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crummy’, a ‘crud’, a ‘daggum’, a ‘hot as blazes’, a ‘load of horse manure’, a ‘moron’, a ‘sucking up, a ‘shoot’, a ‘shove off’, two ‘blasted’s, two forms of ‘ticked off’, three ‘dumb’s, three ‘shut up’s, ten forms of ‘idiot’, and thirteen forms of ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Some Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Being chased, Being shot at, Gunfire, an Explosion, Hypothermia, Being shoved into a street and almost being ran over, Shock, Injuries, Pain, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Seeing dead bodies & what is left of them (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Meredith’s brother makes she she isn’t going to hurt herself “or worse” when she’s upset (she figures out what he means and says she would never do that); Meredith loses traction when driving in the rain for a moment; All about many mentions of crimes, criminals, drugs, drug trafficking, people making illegal drugs (meth, cocaine, and marijuana) and selling it, drug dealers, drug addicts, & crooked police officers (and them trying to turn others to their side); Many mentions of murders, murderers, attempted murders and possible deaths, & bodies being found (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of the death of a sibling (younger sister) & grief (*Spoilers* Gray’s younger sister was killed by a drive-by shooting and he held her in his arms until their mom got home from work *Spoilers*); Mentions of car accidents, deaths, & major injuries (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of gang violence, drive-by shootings, and a death (*Spoiler* Gray’s sister was shot and killed when she was eleven and died in his arms *Spoilers*); Mentions of fires, deaths, & two bodies being found in a burning car; Mentions of human trafficking of girls (particularly teens, who have ended up dead; barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of domestic violence, physical abuse, wives being bruised and badly injured (including one by her law enforcement officer husband), & another lady being beaten to death (*Spoiler* Gray’s mother *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of those in domestic violence situations feeling stuck & Meredith offering to help them; Mentions of a young man going missing, being found beaten, and having serve brain damage because of the assault; Mentions of guns/weapons, gunfire, bullets, being shot at, & people being shot and killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of injuries, pain, blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of someone pushed into a street, almost ran over by a car, being in shock, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of abductions, possibly planned abductions, & ones where women were abducted and killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a stalker (Book #1); Mentions of tracking and listening devices; Mentions of arrests & jails/prisons; Mentions of terrorists (teasingly, calling a group of kids or an elderly woman driving this name); Mentions of bombs/explosions; Mentions of trespassing; Mentions of mudslides; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of (breast) cancer, it rapidly growing, & aggressive treatments (Meredith’s mother); Mentions of poop; A few mentions of a warning sign being written in blood; A few mentions of bombs & explosions; A few mentions of stolen cars; A few mentions of threats & blackmail; A few mentions of drunks, alcoholics, & a mean drunk; A few mentions of people being buzzed, stoned, high, drunk, or all of the above; A few mentions of hypothermia; A few mentions of vomit; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of nightmares (particularly Gray’s being when he is awake and fears something will happen to Meredith); A mention of a firing squad; A mention of something not being poisoned; A mention of drinking moonshine at a young age; A mention of playing poker; A mention of MMA fighting; A mention of a divorce;
             *Note: Meredith has a near-panic attack (barely-above-not-detailed); Gray says that words have power and that if you say something negative to yourself long enough, you’ll start to believe it (and warns Meredith against saying anything negative about herself); Meredith recalls eating Mexican food and the ride home not being quiet; Mentions of dental care (root canals, blood, etc.); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of brand names, items, & places (Reese’s cups, Sheetrock, Bluetooth, Chick-fil-A, & Cherry Coke); Mentions of fictional characters (Anne of Green Gables, Willy Wonka, Hobbits, & Mary Poppins); A mention of plastic surgery; A mention of someone not being a sadist.
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, four head/forehead kisses, two cheek kisses, two chin/jaw kisses, an ear kiss, two nose kisses, two not-detailed kisses, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, four border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and four semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Snuggling, Hand holding, Warmth, Swooning, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch, embrace, & hold hands (including Gray wanting to pull Meredith into his lap to comfort her, up to semi-detailed); Noticing (up to semi-detailed); Jealousy; Flirting & Winks; Talks about kisses & kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing other couples kiss (up to semi-detailed); Gray never knew his dad and isn’t sure his mom even knew him; Meredith comments that guys need hugs too, but Gray comments that they usually prefer those hugs to come from women; Meredith fell hard for Gray shortly after meeting him and her interest morphed into something that “bordered in an unhealthy obsession” and continued to throw herself at him and in his path; Meredith teases her brother about him not wanting to think about her wanting to know a man “better”; Gray thinks that his feelings towards Meredith are the kind that would “get a man punched in the face by a big brother”; Meredith thinks about how “delicious” Gray’s voice sounds early in the morning; Meredith needs Gray’s help unzipping her dress & when he yanks it over her head, he closes his eyes; Meredith’s grandmother fusses at Gray for thinking that old people are clueless (about romance) and adds “How do you think you got here in the first place?” (which her husband overhears and gives her a look that isn’t “sultry or steamy”, but one that is “intimate and powerful”); A ‘baby’ and a ‘harpy’; Mentions of human trafficking (usually of teen girls, including one who ended up dead on the “first night” and the others who died later, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of illegitimate children & a man giving the baby mamas money (while not acknowledging the children, but not letting them starve because of his appearance in town); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of couples kissing in front of others & giving “lingering looks” that “left little to the imagination”; Mentions of PDA; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of dates, dating, & girlfriends/boyfriends; Mentions of love, falling in love fast, & broken hearts; A few mentions of breakups; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a single mom and her son moving into a man’s house that was romantically interested in her (because of hard circumstances; *Spoilers* Gray and his mother; Later, the man beat his mother to death *End of Spoilers*); A couple mentions of snuggling; A couple mentions of sparks & tension between two people; A couple mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of young couples “canoodling”; A mention of a woman being assaulted (not said if sexually or just physically); A mention of the best case scenario being that a man is having an affair (the worst case could be that he is trafficking drugs and people); A mention of cheating; A mention of someone’s husky voice after a kiss; A mention of a woman sitting on her fiancé’s lap; A mention of jealousy; A mention of crushes; Love, falling/being in love, trying not to be in love, heartbreak, & the emotions;
             *Note: Meredith threats to harm the “tenderest parts” of a Gray’s body when upset despite knowing that he doesn’t have to have children and might not care; Gray decided as a teen that he wasn’t going to be a husband or father & feels some grief at times over that decision (see spoilers in Negative Section for more information); Meredith’s brother wonders if the two of them have a curse that detained them to love someone who doesn’t love them back; When Meredith says she has plenty of extra weight to lose, Gray interrupts and says to never let him hear her say that again as her “body is perfection, and it houses [her] beautiful soul”; A few mentions of a nineteen-year-old girl being forced into an arranged marriage with someone twenty years older; A few mentions of Meredith’s arrival ten months after her brother was born being a shock to her family and the town; A mention of being unsure if two boys have the same father or not; A mention of some women liking (unpractical) shoes because of how they make their legs look; A mention of a bikini; A mention of butting out of a conversation.
 
-Meredith Quinn, age 31
-Grayson “Gray” Ward, age 35 
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        352 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After enjoying the first book in this series, I have mixed feelings on this second book. The romance had some really cute and sweet parts, but also frustrated me a bit at their reactions to different things/confessions. The suspense elements were unsettling—as they should be as it’s evil—but have also left me feeling heavy after finishing this book and it overshadowed the cute ending. 

 

As expected, I didn’t love all the dentist parts, but that’s not shocking at all if you know me. 

 

This one picked up pretty close to the first book and similar to Lynette Eason’s current series, I’m thinking that this series as well is going to be one to either reread the prior books before the newest one comes out or binge read them all together once all are released. Because it’s been about a year since the first book released and I’ve read a lot of books since then, it did take some time for me to remember the events and characters in that book. On that note, though, despite some info-dumping at times, there were a few things about characters or “inside information”, if you will, that were either explained later on or not explained at all and you would be lost if you haven’t read the first book before this one. 

 

I haven’t read the novella that could be considered Book #1.5 that was in the novella collection titled “Cornered”, so I was a wee bit lost with that couple and mentions of their story. Unfortunately, this book totally gives away the villain of that book—though, to be fair, I don’t know if it was a secret or if the person is pretty obvious. 

 

We see a glimpse of Faith from the author’s other series and characters from her prior series as well, which was kind of like a fun Easter egg. 

 

Gray has a heartbreaking past and is partially very protective of Meredith because of it—but also because of the feelings he refuses to admit he has for her. Most tragic backstories of main characters don’t affect me too much because I’ve read so many over the years, but I did really feel for Gray. That’s not to say I didn’t want to smack him to get his act together about Meredith, but I could honestly see his struggle and if this wasn’t a fictional story where I knew it would eventually end with a pretty little bow, I didn’t think it would end with them together and him working/worked through his past. That said, there were some points I felt he was dragging his feet too much and then when that 180 happened, it felt a little stark because there wasn’t much build up to it in his POV and just happened. 

 

A lot of the lines/things Gray said definitely felt like they were written by a woman, but it was usually when he was groveling or confessing his feels to Meredith, so I suppose that makes sense. It felt a little jarring to me, though, I suppose because he is this hardened police chief, but then sharing his emotions with her in depth and being all eloquent. It made me roll my eyes a few times, I’ll admit.

 

This book hit me harder than I was expecting and I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s hormones (we can always blame those, right?) but the human trafficking, domestic violence, and drug trafficking mentions—and even though they were kept lighter than most suspense books I’ve read—still hit me while I was reading it. Which, I suppose in a way is good because I don’t want to ever become desensitized to evil, but at the same time, it left me with a heaviness while reading. The author kept it light enough on the details that I think avid suspense readers that are 16+ would probably be fine with it, but it felt different to me. Perhaps it is partially a me issue as I read this book when I wasn’t really in the mood for a suspense story and all of the elements that come with it, but perhaps it was also partially the fact that these awful things are happening in that next county over and it’s gutting to the main characters, so we feel their emotions about it. The ending was rough on this especially and was unsettling to me. 

 

Like the first book in the series, I did like all the family relationships of the Quinn family and how close-knit they are. They have each other’s backs in a great way and it’s honestly refreshing to see a healthy multi-generational family in a fiction series because most are broken, toxic, and/or a mess in many ways. This series is standing out to me because of this element, and I appreciate it. 

 

Whew. That was a lot of thoughts, but I hope you can tell my mixed feelings on this book. It was a hard one to rate, in all honestly, because of all the different elements. All of that said, I’ll definitely be reading the next book because this one hinted way too much about Mo and Bronwyn’s past without giving us any true information—which is just a mean tease! 

 

 

 

 

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 (Revell) for this honest review.