"On the Right Track" by Shaen Layle

About this book:

  “Harriet Bailey gets a wonderful surprise when Ashley Fiske, her friend from the States, brings her young son, Trevor, to White Church Bay for a visit. Harriet cannot wait to share the village’s charms with her friend, but she never predicted they would end up solving a mystery together! An unpublished manuscript by a famous British children’s author named Adelaide Evergreen has turned up in Harriet’s aunt Jinny’s cottage. The book claims to tell the truth behind an infamous and mysterious railway crash that happened in White Church Bay in 1917, on the fringes of the Great War.
    As Harriet delves deeper into the mystery, it’s difficult to tell where literary license ends, and reality begins. And when it is revealed that Harriet’s relative may have had a hand in causing the train tragedy, the stakes become personal. Will she find the truth at the end of the line?”


Series: Book #8 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, Book #4 Here, Book #5 Here, Book #6 Here, and Book #7 Here!


Spiritual Content- Luke 8:17 at the beginning; A couple Scriptures are quoted; A few Prayers; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Church going (once, which Harriet struggles to pay attention to the service and when asked her thoughts, says it was encouraging even though she didn’t fully absorb the message); Mentions of God & His paths for us; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, a hymn, services, & a sermon; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of providential interference; A mention of the song “God Save the King”; 
             *Note: It’s noted that a deceased person had “flown to the arms of heaven”; A man thinks he is looking at an angel when he sees a beautiful woman.
 

Negative Content- Some eye rolling; Being threatened, Being chased, Being hit and knocked unconscious, Being trapped in a fire, Pain, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone become unconscious after falling and hitting their head (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a train crash (up to semi-detailed); All about & many mentions of World War I, a train crash and accident, spies and sabotage, & someone profiting by selling goods on the black market; Mentions of deaths (including from a car accident and a respiratory illness) & grief (including from a wife for her husband and young son for his father); Mentions of a recent near-death experience (Book #7); Mentions of Canary Girls during World War I, chemical exposure, & illnesses (including a fatal liver illness); Mentions of explosives, working in a TNT factory and the dangers, & near deaths in the factory; Mentions of a fire & someone being left to die in one; Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thefts, thieves, & break-ins; Mentions of forgeries, bribery, threats, & manipulation; Mentions of trespassing; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of criminals; A few mentions of two dogs fighting & being aggressive; A couple mentions of dead bodies and a mortuary; A couple mentions of jail & arrests; A couple mentions of stalking & stalkers; A mention of a cat burglar; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of jealousy; 
             *Note: Mentions of actors/actresses & a movie (Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, & My Faith Lady); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of Jane Austen; A couple mentions of Florence Nightingale; A couple mentions of Houdini; A mention of someone suggesting that another should be committed to an asylum.
 
 
Sexual Content- A few touches, embraces, flutters, warmth, & blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Harriet and Will recently admitted to feeling more than friendship for each other; Mentions of dates, dating, & boyfriends/girlfriends; A few mentions of two young men eyeing a young woman with interest and her not being interested in being a trophy for them to compete over; A couple mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of a “hunk/hunky” man; A mention of making eyes at someone; A mention of flirting; A mention of jealousy; Very light attraction & the emotions of possibly being more than just friends with someone; 
             *Note: Harriet thinks that a young boy will change his attitude about romance in a few years (as he currently says “yuck” about it); A mention of a married couple having a “notoriously independent relationship”.
 
-Harriet Bailey, age 34
                                P.O.V. of Harriet 
                                                        245 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens-

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

While this book was overall clean, my personal rating was affected by my enjoyment level of the book and plot and also the writing style not being my favorite. 

 

This one was very jumpy in terms of the writing style and because we just launch into the mystery and new characters introduced, it felt off to me. So that was a bummer. I wasn’t quite sure why I was supposed to care about the train crash? It’s suddenly introduced and Harriet gets wrapped up in the document about it, but I don’t feel like there was enough prior explanation about it and the importance. 

 

There were notes from 1917 but I’m not clear if it was supposed to be the document/report that was found in the present day or if it was a nod to almost a dual-time novel. If it was supposed to be the document/report that was found, it was written half like a fiction book and half like a newspaper article, so it was a little strange. 

 

Harriet didn’t act like herself in this book—which always happens once a Guideposts series in my opinion because of all the different writers. She got so distracted with the mystery that she forgot about her clinic for one, which she’s always put the clinic and her clients at the top of her priorities no matter what is going on in the prior books. She also did some things that felt out of character. I would say it was 80/20 on the mystery to the animal/vet parts when it’s usually 60/40 or vice versa. There’s only one mention of Maxwell and Charlie even! 

 

This eighth book does reference events in the prior book but does not name or give anything away, really. This is most likely because of the different authors and overlapping deadlines/writing. 

 

It was a clean mystery and I think others will probably enjoy it more than me, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite of the series.

 

 

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.

 

"Leap Day in the Square" by Erynn Mangum

About this book:

  “Lucy McGrady only wants two things - to open up her cotton candy truck in time for her town's Leap Day in the Square celebration and to never see Ben Wilson again. And yet, somehow, these two things seem mutually exclusive.
    Lucy has spent most of her adult life trying to forget high school, thanks to Ben. Starting up her cotton candy truck, the Farmhouse Floof, is a dream come true and it seems like everything is finally going her way. Until the new health inspector comes over and it's none other than Ben Wilson. What could the Lord possibly be wanting to accomplish in this situation?
    On top of everything going on with the Farmhouse Floof, there's also the new Bible study on forgiveness Lucy's sister is dragging her to, weekly family dinners with her extremely tight and usually overly-nosy parents and sisters, and just when it seems like nothing can get worse, insert a stray cat.
    Lucy's about to discover that while sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways, sometimes He just has to plop her right in the middle of the impossible to redeem everything that was broken and fix the unfixable.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Holidays in Hillview” series. 


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are read, quoted, mentioned, discussed, & thought about; Many Prayers, Thanking/Praising God, & Blessings over food (including one that Lucy calls disrespectful and she isn’t surprised she didn’t get an answer); Going to church (including a time Lucy is unable to focus on the sermon) & a Bible study (which Lucy doesn’t want to go to for different reasons but goes to a handful of times and does the lesson book at home; The lessons and pastor’s message are often shared); Quotes by Saint Augustine, C.S, Lewis, Lewis B. Smedes, & Jean Sophia Pigott are read in a Bible study, mentioned, & thought over; Many talks about God, Jesus, forgiveness, a Bible study, sin/sinners, & not being enough, but being enough in God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Lucy feels like she isn’t good enough and struggles with that thought which has affected her Bible reading; *Spoilers* Lucy has the feeling of not being good enough again and then hears the still, quite voice of the Lord saying “Because you’re not. And that’s okay. Because I am.” and she realizes she has let others determine who she was instead of who God says she is *End of Spoilers*; Lucy recalls her friends calling her parents “stricter than God”; Lucy thinks that if she was Moses, she would have added in an Eleventh Commandment (“Thou shall not hide thy dimples underneath thy scowl”); Many mentions of God, Jesus, forgiveness, & peace; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & Bible studies; Many mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, sermons, & hymns/worship; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of Christians, becoming one, & being one; Mentions of sins & being a sinner; A few mentions of Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of being Blessed; A couple mentions of a children’s ministry at church; A couple mentions of testimonies; A mention of Dallas Theological Seminary; A mention of a prayer request; A mention of something smelling like Heaven;
             *Note: Lucy’s sister says that some lies are not sins, but Lucy argues that lying to your sister in church counts as a lie; Lucy thinks “hell hath no fury like the older sister of one scorned”; Lucy thinks her sister looks like an angel; A mention of Cupid.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crappy’, a ‘holy smokes’, a ‘idiot’, a ‘ticked off’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘dumb’s, three ‘gosh’s, three ‘stupid’s, and ten ‘oh my gosh’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Lucy lies a couple of times to her family (to hide her feelings or that she’s gotten enough sleep when they ask); Lucy’s sisters mention about killing Ben and burying his body in their family’s acreage because of what he did to her (which Lucy gets concerned one sister might do this); Mentions of selling organs on the black market (which is what Lucy thinks her sister’s fiancé does); Mentions of poison; Mentions of bullies, mean girls, & their pranks; Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of potential kidnappers & being kidnapped; A few mentions of smoking; A few mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of World War II & Nazis; A couple mentions of jail & felons; A couple mentions of possible car accidents; A couple mentions of gossip; A couple mentions of “animal jails” (animal shelters); A mention of a Russian mob; A mention of thieves; A mention of serial killer movies; A mention of a con man;
             *Note: Lucy struggles with feeling like she isn’t good enough; Lucy and her sisters were bullied in high school about being from a “white trash house” and their lack of money; Lucy has kept from her family about most everything that happened to her in high school, but tells them all of it half-way through (*Spoiler* A girl named Carla and her boyfriend, Ben, with their group would make fun of Lucy by making snide comments of her family’s lack of money and her clothes which made Lucy feel like she wasn’t good enough; Their comments and pranks escalated when a comic was started at a school about her being a superhero with a hand making an ‘L’ for loser on the cape and they all dressed up as her for Halloween with raggedy clothes; She verbally tore into them and Ben left her notes of apologizing in her locker; Eventually and after sharing more notes back and forth, Ben asked her to go to prom and she said yes, but when she got there, he was dancing with Carla and made an ‘L’ for loser aimed at Lucy; *Major Spoilers* It turns out Carla left a note for Ben and signed it from Lucy where it said she would never date someone from a broken family like him; Lucy is stunned by this information and promised it wasn’t her; He apologizes for what happened and that despite not knowing the Lord then, knew what he was doing was wrong; She sobs at the emotions and things that her teenage-self had to face and they choose to start over *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of the foster care system & an implied bad experience; Mentions of movies, TV shows, actors, books, & fictional characters (Pirates of the Caribbean, Marvel movies, Ben-Hur, Angels in the Outfield, The Princess Bride, That Thing You Do, Seinfeld, The Andy Griffin Show, MythBusters, Psych, Chad Michael Murray, Michael Buble, Count of Monte Cristo, Lion King characters, Daffy Duck, the Joker, Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, Jedis from Star Wars, Jack Sparrow, & Mary Poppins); Mentions of bands, singers, & songs (Eagles, Michael Buble, Michael Jackson, Hanson, N*Sync, Aerosmith & Cupid Shuffle); Mentions of Hallmark movies & HGTV; Mentions of brand names & items (Pyrex, Dr. Pepper, M&Ms, Uggs, Tupperware, & iPhone); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of social media platforms & websites (Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, & Google); Mentions of places (Hobby Lobby, Goodwill, Cracker Barrel); A few mentions of Halloween;  A couple mentions of Disney; A mention of ESPN; A mention of Olympic athletes; A mention of the YouTube channel Dude Perfect; A mention of MLM candles; A mention of the grim reaper.
 
 
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Seeing an engaged couple kiss & embrace (no details); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Remembering touches, embraces, & warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* After talking about past events, Lucy says it was good that she and Ben never went on a date because it could have led to them dating and he wasn’t a Christian then which could have changed things now *End of Spoiler*; A ‘babe’; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, break-ups, dates, dating, & asking someone out; Mentions of prom; A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of a heartthrob at school; Some love, the start of falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of unmentionables; A mention of butting into a conversation.
 
-Lucy McGrady, age 28
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        235 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

AH! That ending! Well, now I’m counting down the days to a book I don’t know when is going to be released—that’s just mean! 

 

Let it be known I don’t usually like the whole “misunderstanding-in-high-school-and-holding-onto-to-a-grudge-for-ten-years” trope, but this is one of my favorite authors, so I was going to read it regardless. This was a harsh misunderstanding though—Ben did something to Lucy in a way that truly hurt her and the effects of it have stayed with her all these years. It’s not serious enough to not wish for them to be together one day, but it’s enough to make me side with her sisters about off-ing him and burying him in their family’s acreage for the first while of the book. 

 

That said, when the conversation happened and everything is shared, it wasn’t a “misunderstanding” that I’ve seen in other books and would (quite honestly) roll my eyes at over the pettiness shown by the characters. Perhaps it’s because I felt Lucy’s pain or how the author wrote it, but I could understand her emotions and I’m really glad she wasn’t petty back to those who hurt her. I think that’s probably the main difference from other times I’ve read this trope before, the main girl there is usually insufferable and acts like she’s still in high school despite being in her late twenties. Lucy was definitely not this way and I greatly appreciated it and it made the story actually believable.

 

Just like for Lucy, it took a while for me to warm up to Ben. I do wish they would have talked about The Events™️ just a wee bit more when it all came to light, but I think the discussions that they had were shown well with their emotions and regret and moving forward. As I always appreciate with this author’s books and a reason why Erynn Mangum is a top favorite author of mine, there was a ton of faith content and the main character going about her life, but also going to church and a Bible study. There’s something about that that I just love to see, but especially in this book as it highlights forgiveness (despite Lucy not really wanting to hear about that topic) and that we’re not enough because we all need the Lord. Everything was so well done in the faith content and it felt like I was right in there with them in class. 

 

I loved seeing Lucy and her sisters and many of their conversations made me laugh out loud, so I’m so excited that the next book will be Dani’s story! I definitely need Sam’s ASAP, though! This is the problem about starting a series as it’s being released—you have to have patience and wait for the next book, something I still haven’t perfected in my many years of reviewing!

 

 

 

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.