About this book:
“A Lord Marshal with a secret. An outlaw with a hidden past. A chance encounter that will change everything.
With the evil sheriff overthrown and Robin Hood now the Lord Protector of Nottingham, Little John finds himself of a Lord Marshal—protector of Nottingham and Sherwood and seeker of mercy and justice. But John has a secret, one not even his best friend Robin knows and one he can never tell him. To lie to Robin Hood is to court death.
Wren of Sherwood has been an outlaw for years, ever since her brother up and left their family. Hiding in Sherwood with her ‘siblings’, they all have one goal—to rid Nottingham of Robin Hood.
But when a lord marshal appears, asking to join their little band, Wren is conflicted. The more time she spends with this gentle giant of a man, the softer her heart becomes. Despite the bitterness and anger so deeply rooted in her heart, Wren can’t help but question everything she’s believed about Providence, Robin, and even her own self.
When danger arrives for them, Wren must decide—is she willing to let go of her past to embrace a future worth living? Or is she going to remain rooted in the bitterness of her past?”
Series: Book #9 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, and Book #8!
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted & remembered; Prayers; Throughout the book, God speaks to both Wren and John through thoughts in their minds; Singing a hymn (John); Talks about God, Providence, trusting Him, people being called home, sins, & our reactions to bad things happening; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Wren recalls how she used to go to Mass and listen to a friar “drone on and on about God’s justice, hellfire, and eternal damnation for those who refused to submit to Him”; Wren no longer wants anything to do with Providence as she believes He hasn’t showed her mercy with what she’s gone through & thinks that Providence cares little for her; Despite this, Wren asks where God is, but feels fear at her prior comments and thinks that God won’t bother to do anything for her anyway; Though John knows that Providence has redeemed him and given him mercy, he thinks there’s a darkness dogging his heels; John and Wren discuss about bad things happening and why God would allow it to happen; John struggles to believe the things he preaches to others can be applied to him; *Spoilers* Towards the end, John has a moment where he sees a man (supposed to be God or Jesus), is overwhelmed by the emotions, and believes in the forgiveness he is offered; Wren also has a conversation with God in her mind, after a bit she says that she trusts God, realizes that God has been guiding her steps and never abandoned her, & feels peace *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of God, Providence, trusting Him, & a calling; Mentions of Mass, going to Mass, & friars; A couple mentions of thanking God; A couple mentions of the Ten Commandments;
*Note: ‘Good heavens’ and ‘Heaven above’ are both said once; Wren thinks that perhaps kissing someone is “the evidence [she needs] that Providence does exist” and wonders if God is really out there and cares for her in that moment; Wren comments that she’s shocked Robin Hood allows his men to be religious as she views him as a thief and a liar; Wren curses chance, Providence, or “whatever cosmic being” is nipping at her heels; A man says for the Devil to wreck havoc on someone’s life (meant as a curse); Mentions of chance; Mentions of people looking like they saw a ghost; A couple mentions of a young man seeing evil and it corrupting him.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’ and nine forms of ‘idiot’; The phrase “I kicked his—“ is cut-off; A few mentions of curses and slurs (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Lying; Fighting, Being attacked, Being held at knife-point, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Killing someone (stabbing) & seeing the person’s death (*Spoiler* John with an evil man and he feels no shame for killing the man *End of Spoiler*, up to semi-detailed); John fights the urge to beat a man senseless & imagines killing him (barely-above-not-detailed); Wren notices that John talks about killing an evil man as if it would please him and would be as “simple as slaughtering a pig or cow”; Wren hunts and kills a stag (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed on the animal being shot and the noise it makes; She hates killing it, but it is for food for her and the others) & John kills a rabbit (barely-above-not-detailed); John drinks wine at a dinner; Mentions of killing, deaths (from fevers and an allergic reaction), seeing a loved one’s death, guilt, grief (including for a mother and sisters), & murderers; Mentions of children being abandoned & abused (including one flinching and agreeing that he is an idiot when someone who is stronger than him says so); Mentions of an abusive father (Wren’s father who also threw a goblet of wine at her, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fights/fighting, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of robbing others, thieves/bandits, & stealing; Mentions of crimes, criminals, arrests, treason, & prisons; Mentions of deceit, lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of alcohol (wine and ale), drinking, & a mean drunk; Mentions of hunting, hunters, preparing the animals, & poachers; A few mentions of a war & assassination attempt that resulted in the death of a guard; A few mentions of possible torture; A few mentions of children being over worked; A few mentions of a death in a bar fight; A couple mentions of a group of children being found next to their dead mother (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of the dead bodies of a man’s enemies (and how it doesn’t matter the person’s age, gender, or crime to be killed by the man); A couple mentions of a woman being slapped by a man; A couple mentions of Robin Hood shooting a man with arrows for lying to him (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of an almost execution;
*Note: Wren tells herself that she doesn’t matter and that she never will; John recalls the negative words of his father including calling him a failure (*Spoiler* and a murderer *End of Spoiler*); Wren has a couple moments of anxiety attacks/panic attacks (up to semi-detailed); John believes Robin and Wren will look at him differently and hate him due to events in his past and keeping it a secret (*Spoilers* John’s little sister had an allergic reaction to a bee sting and died under his watch, this causes his father to call him a murderer and John has guilt over it *End of Spoiler*).
Sexual Content- Two forehead/head kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (not-detailed); Staring at lips; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Butterflies, Shivers, & Nearness (including sitting on a man’s lap, up to semi-detailed); Noticing (up to semi-detailed); A bit of flirting, winks, & blushes; When kissing, Wren thinks that perhaps it is “the evidence [she needs] that Providence does exist”; An older young man wears a shirt that shows “too much of his chest”, is called a predator, gets into Wren’s space and holds her tight, & says that Wren is his to “wed, bed, torture, destroy. Whatever [he sees] fit.” if she fails a promise; John is concerned another man may have used Wren for “his own whims, whether monetarily or bodily” and gets angry at the thought; One of the young men in Wren’s group likes her as “a man sees a woman” and she does not reciprocate the feeling; A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of flirting & winks; A couple mentions of a newly married couple touching, holding hands, & kissing; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: John teases a newly married couple about them not being able to visit until after the noon hour.
-Wren, age 22
-John, age 25
1st person P.O.V. switches between them
153 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ve decided that the reason why I like Robin Hood retellings is because they usually always have the found family trope and that is one I always like reading. This retelling wasn’t necessary a straight retelling, however, as it’s set after the events of the classic Robin Hood story. Robin has married Maid Marian and the Merry Men have broken apart. “What happens next for Little John?” is what this book covers and I really liked that angle.
At first, I thought Wren wasn’t very smart with how she dealt with John at their first meeting and then how he follows her. For being on her own for six years, I was expecting more from her in that area. She did grow on me, though, and I quite liked the twist of the book.
The emotions in this book felt a bit like sucker-punches at times. Both Wren and John are hurting and while he can believe in God’s mercy for others, he has a hard time believing it for himself. He reminded me of Marcus from “This Life of Mine” by Victorian Lynn in that way. Wren feels abandoned by God and struggles with her past. They both have to learn about truly trusting God and it happened pretty naturally for a book that’s only 150 pages.
I will note that I obviously didn’t like the villain and his comments towards Wren. Those parts and the hunting details made the suggested age ratings and my own personal rating lower. I do think if you’re okay with or maybe even enjoy more gritty storylines this probably be no problem as there's the Hope of having a relationship with God as a main topic. But, just as a note for sensitive readers, this book might be harder to read at times.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment