“She's biding her time.
He's looking for answers.
Everyone is hiding something—it doesn't matter who they are.
For as long as she can remember, Bellinda “Bee” Durand has lived behind a mask of smiles and been weighed down by other people’s expectations. As her father's snoop, Bee is given more freedom with travels and experiences among the gentry of the country than she has ever known in the past.
Yet this isn’t what she wants anymore, especially as she learns more about the man and his family who are her most recent assignment. They are so unlike the hard-edged people she’s known since her mother died that Bee begins to wonder if the cynicism her father has fostered in her is worth holding on to.
Elias Reyes is a Knight of the Educacias, the country of Ventosis’ center of knowledge and civil services. His family is not immune to hardships—the ups and downs of building a business, his brother’s disappearance, and a mysterious sickness that has swept through the land also afflicting his sister—but if that’s not enough, the producers that the Reyes shipping company deal with are targeted by unknown scoundrels.
Pressured by his duty to uphold justice and needing answers, Elias strives to connect the dots.
After a chance meeting with a young lady and new friends, secrets come to light that change everything.
Will the truth really set them free or tear them apart?”
Series: Book #11 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, and Book #10!
Spiritual Content- God is called “the Author” and Scriptures are called “the Scripts”; A few Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, & thought about; Bee notes that her father had no use for Scripture, especially after her mother died; A brother and sister are moved to tears about being able to read the Script for themselves as they come from a country that banned it; Mentions of the Author (God); Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking the Author, & blessings over food; Mentions of books of Scriptures & reading them; A few mentions of a country that has banned the Script; A mention of a chapel; A mention of miracles; A mention of a mosaic depicting something from Scripture;
*Note: “For Scripts’ sake” is exclaimed once by Elias; There are child-size bears who run a library called the “Ursen” and will trade humans knowledge/help in the library for a small item they want (such as a ribbon or a piece of lace); Mentions of the legend of Basajaun & someone leaving food out for it; A mention of gnomes.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘idiot’; Fictional exclamations include: a ‘light of the suns’, a ‘suns’, a ‘what in the worlds’, and five ‘scribbles’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling; Pain, Injuries, Being kidnapped/held hostage, Being locked in a room, Being grabbed, & Fighting (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A fire, smoke, & the fear of a loved one being trapped and injured (up to semi-detailed); Seeing an unconscious and injured man knocked around by other men (barely-above-not-detailed); Bee snoops (spies) for her father on his competitors and feels guilt when doing it, but tells herself it’s just until she can be free from her father’s control (this includes her sneaking into offices and looking for information); Mentions of the death of a loved one & grief (Bee’s mother); Mentions of illegal substances (such as a plant that has been made into a sleeping agent when taking a small amount or higher doses and/or prolonged use making people reliant and emaciated); Mentions of criminals, arrests, & exiles; Mentions of sickness (including rashes, vomiting, and paralyzing headaches); Mentions of fires, injuries, & wounds (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a missing family member (Elias’ brother who disappeared years prior) & grief from his family; A few mentions of bandits; A few mentions of drinks at a party (not said to be alcohol or not; both Bee and Elias have some); A few mentions of a pipe & smoking; A couple mentions of lies; A couple mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of a bully; A mention of something being like a poison; A mention of vandalism; A mention of eavesdropping;
*Note: Bee feels like she isn’t enough and has to earn her father’s attention, but has realized that it doesn’t bring fulfillment and belonging like she hoped it would; *Spoiler* At the end, Bee realizes that his disapproval was never about her, but about what he wants; She also realizes that her mother shielded her from him *End of Spoiler*.
Sexual Content- Wanting to hold hands (once); A bit of noticing & staring (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple blushes; A tiny bit of jealousy; A mention of blushes; A mention of half the city’s women being cow-eyed over Elias; Attraction & the emotions.
-Bellinda Durand, age 19
-Elias Reyes
P.O.V. switches between them
181 pages
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My personal Rating-
I wasn’t familiar with The Wounded Lion story at all, so I read a quick synopsis of it before reading this book. Needless to say, it follows the path of many other strange and slightly gruesome fairytales and I’m thankful the latter part wasn’t in this retelling. That said, I didn’t really see the connections between that story and this one.
The romance was more of a future possibility between the main characters and kept very light with their emotions in this book, which I liked.
The author combined some unique settings to create this world and once I started understanding all the places and words used, it was interesting! I would have liked to learn more about certain parts—such as the Ursen, which are bears that run a library? I’m not quite clear on those and how that came to be (perhaps because this is supposed to be a non-magical series and the backstory of them would have been nice to know. Were they trained, if not magically enchanted or fantasy creatures?) but it added a different element to the story. The book ends with a very open-ended ending, so I imagine there will be a sequel.
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.
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