“Dani McGrady is finally back in her hometown of Hillview and wants nothing more than to make the festivals at the town square just as magical now as they were when she was growing up there. But the giant hailstorm that hits the same week she gets back seems to have ruined all chance of that. Or has it?
After getting hired as the Hillview event planner for all the town square festivals, Dani is determined to make everything perfect for the town she loves. But on the exact same week she gets hired, a massive hailstorm takes out not only most of the windows and roofs in the town, but also the beloved gazebo in the square. Suddenly, Flag Day in the Square goes from being an easy, low-key beginning of her Hillview career to a headache the size of one of the hailstones. Everything seems to be harder than it should be, especially once her sisters find out about the attractive city planner she is working with and the cute contractor who can't seem to ever show up on time.
Dani is a fixer at heart and the last thing she wants to do is quit. But with everything mounting at once and nothing going as planned, what does the Lord even want from her? Does He need her help to get things taken care of? Or is Dani trying to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed after all?
With the help of her close-knit, crazy family, her faith in Jesus and lots of coffee from Tiny's coffeeshop, Dani is about to find out there are some things you just can't plan.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Holidays in Hillview” series. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read, quoted, mentioned, discussed, & thought about; Bible reading & Quiet time; Prayers; Church going, going to Bible study, & lessons/sermons (which are written out a few times); Many talks about God, Him being our Shepherd, & trusting Him; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God, Jesus, & Him being our Shepherd; Many mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, sermons, Bible studies, & ministries; Mentions of prayers, praying, blessings over food, & praising God; Mentions of books, people, & events in the Bible; Mentions of Christians; A few mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of a Christian school; A couple mentions of testimonies; A mention of missionaries; A quote from both Elisabeth Elliot & C.S. Lewis are shared;
*Note: A mention of the phrase “God helps those who help themselves” which Dani recalls hearing as a kid and later found out that it’s not in the Bible (but a Ben Franklin quote); A few mentions of luck.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘crap’, a ‘crud’, a ‘darn’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘shoot’, a ‘shut up’, a form of ‘stupid’, a ‘ticked’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘dang it’s, two ‘gosh’s, five ‘good grief’s, and nine ‘oh my gosh’s; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Dani lies a couple times (saying she’s fine when she’s not); A bad storm & damage (semi-detailed); Mentions of tornadoes, bad storms, & damages (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of injuries; A couple mentions of being bullied/teased in high school; A mention of murder; A mention of the lottery;
*Note: Mentions of brand names (Motrin, Sharpie, Air BnB, & Polo); Mentions of celebrities, movies, TV shows, & fictional characters (Chuck Norris, Rocky, Hayley Mills, The Olsen Twins, Lindsay Lohan, Mother Theresa, Ben Franklin, The Devil Wears Prada, The Wedding Planner, Twisters, Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast, Pollyanna, Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, It Takes Two, Princess Bride, Gone With The Wind, A Christmas Story, Walker Texas Ranger, Bob the Builder, Daffy Duck, Frozone, Snoopy, Jack Sparrow, & Barbossa); Mentions of places/stores (Starbucks, Panda Express, Chick-fil-A, IKEA, & Disney World); Mentions of car brands; Mentions of social media & apps (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, & ChatGPT); A couple mentions of songs and singers (‘Proud To Be An American’ by Lee Greenwood & ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ by Miley Cyrus); A couple mentions of Hallmark movies; A mention of Disney Channel; A mention of zombies; A mention of Big Foot.
Sexual Content- A forehead kiss and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, Tingles/Sparks, Butterflies, Nearness, & Smelling (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Remembering touches, hand holding, & nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Winks, Blushes, & Flirting (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dating (including a misunderstanding about a girl dating two guys at the same time), dates, couples, breakups, & exes; Mentions of cute guys; Mentions of sparks; Mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of kisses; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A mention of periods.
-Dani McGrady, age 32
1st person P.O.V. of Dani
266 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I love this family so much. Can I just leave it at that? Because honestly, the parents are great and I just love the four sisters so much 🥹 Their banter and humor are top notch, but then their caring and faith scenes are wonderful too and make the book have such a great family to read about.
I think some readers might find Dani a little intense at the beginning, but I related to her in a lot of ways—particularly about the love of organizing and also being a sheep that keeps trying to help the Shepherd. 😅 I wasn’t sure who the love interest was at first, so I ended up a little surprised and I really liked him by the end. The romance in this book was nice and sweet—their faith conversations made me so happy because they were discussing an important aspect of their lives and it added such a depth to their relationship.
Another winner by my favorite author and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in the series! I definitely let out a squeak at that final page and teaser!
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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