“With her father dead, her fortune stolen, and her fiancé casting her aside, Miss Drusilla Merriweather's privileged life has been upended. She is left with only one option: to provide for her family by opening a finishing school in the allegedly haunted castle she's inherited from her eccentric aunt. However, her plan is immediately threatened by unscrupulous developers keen on claiming the coveted estate for themselves, by any means necessary.
Mr. Rhenick Wittenbecker, a dashing architect with a tendency to charm his way out of trouble, is convinced he can protect Drusilla but is challenged by her fierce independence. Yet when strange occurrences--walking suits of armor and unexpected ghostly visitors--arise within castle grounds, Drusilla must decide whether to risk her family's safety and her school on the gallant architect who seems to have found his way into her heart.”
Series: Book #1 in the “Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies”.
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is mentioned; Church going & enjoying the service; Mentions of church, church going, services, a reverend, hymns, & a Sunday school class; Mentions of blessings; A few mentions of statues of angels and cherubs; A couple mentions of God; A couple mentions of people swearing on a Bible to keep a secret; A mention of a godsent opportunity;
*Note: Religious phrases/exclamations are said: ‘heaven forbid’ once, ‘for heaven’s sake’ twice, and ‘good heavens’ is said nine times; Many talks about & many mentions of ghosts and a haunted place (many people believe that Drusilla’s aunt’s house is haunted by her ghost; Mentions of the reasoning behind this being because of hearing strange noises in the night, furniture rearranged, and messages written onto mirrors); Drusilla does not believe in ghosts and is not bothered by this rumor, but her mother is convinced that the ghost of her aunt will haunt her the most because they never cared for each other; *Spoiler* People are behind the “ghost” sightings *End of Spoilers*); A mention of “ghosts” in the afterlife apparently not being affected by screams by living people.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: five forms of ‘idiot’; Eye rolling; Being shot at, Being held at gun-point, Aiming guns and weapons at others, Shooting someone (in self-defense), Being attacked by ravens, Injuries, Pain, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of weapons, gunshots, shooting someone, & people being shot and aimed at with weapons (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a missing person & a couple possible murders and murderer; Mentions of deaths & grief; Mentions of an abduction/kidnapping; Mentions of criminals, members of the “criminal underworld” and crime bosses, crimes, & threats (including of harm and death through a potential drowning); Mentions of a man stealing Drusilla’s family’s money & embezzlement; Mentions of smuggling stolen goods and opium & smugglers; Mentions of arrests & jail/prisons; Mentions of fires; Mentions of fights/brawls, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & saloons/taverns; A few mentions of gambling; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of possibly corrupt police men;
*Note: Drusilla values how Rhenick respects and listen to her opinions and how he doesn’t think his opinion is superior only because of him being a man (unlike others she’s known); Drusilla also thinks about how Rhenick sees women as people and not as inferior beings that need to be spoken to as if “they were lacking in intelligence”; Mentions of insane asylums & some of the characters hoping a man is put into one (because of his delusions about a woman and unrequited love for her); Mentions of Drusilla’s sister, Annaliese, rescuing ferrets from a fur farm & being vocally against such things and women using real feathers in their hats; Mentions of dead rats & snakes brought as gifts form the ferrets to Drusilla and her family; A couple mentions of Drusilla’s father being disappointed when she was born because she was a girl & Drusilla striving to earn his praise; A couple mentions of books and authors (Jane Austen).
Sexual Content- Two hand kisses, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, and two semi-detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss & Staring at lips (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Talks about kisses/kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Butterflies, Nearness, Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of a man who is in love with a married woman (he loved her prior to her marriage to another man and continued to love her after her marriage); Mentions of flirting; Mentions of crushes & young teen girls mooning over boys; A mention of a married man having many mistresses around the city; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of women’s figures (one man suggests that Drusilla has a plump figure and Rhenick comments on liking Drusilla’s natural figure); A few mentions of Drusilla’s mother never have claiming to be overly fond of her husband & the two of them avoiding each other when he was alive.
-Drusilla Merriweather, age 22
-Rhenick Whittenbecker, age 28
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1885
352 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Oh, that was just so fun! Jen Turano knows how to write such a great cast of characters who end up in the most amusing situations and this book was the epitome of it! Like always, I laughed at different parts and read this book overall too quickly because I was enjoying it so much!
I liked both Drusilla and Rhenick and thought they were absolutely adorable together. He instantly fell for her and while I usually don’t care for that, it was actually really cute to see him tongue-tied over her and so smitten. He was just a doll in general and I loved seeing his big family where he is the oldest of five and has four younger sisters and his protectiveness over them—and their influence on him. Solid male lead and just a great guy all around.
The faith content was very light and while I would have liked a bit more, what was there was natural for the plotline.
There was a slight mystery throughout the book and even a bit of suspense. It actually reminded me of other books by this author at times, but had unique elements that will make it stand-out—such as the opening of a boarding school/finishing school! I can’t wait for the rest of the series and learn about about Drusilla’s sister, Annaliese and her friend, Seraphina (really, all of the characters in this book had great names!)
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 (Bethany House) for this honest review.
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