"A Noble Princess" by Saraine Whitney

About this book:

  “What happens when duty and love tear you in opposite directions?
   Wilder “Becks” Beckington knows his duty as a royal bodyguard. Protect, no matter the cost. But when the elderly queen summons him while on her sickbed, she gives him an impossible command he somehow must fulfill. Escort the princess to marry her betrothed, all the while keeping a life-changing secret from her, one that could prove deadly in the wrong hands. He would rather die than lie to the woman who’s become his unlikely friend, but with her entire future at stake, he swears to secrecy.
    Princess Aurelia of Galandra knows her duty as the daughter of the queen. Obey, no matter the cost. But with her mother’s health on the brink, she’s also reeling from the discovery of a terrible secret, one that shakes the very foundations of her reality. While anxieties about her future marriage plague her and nightmares about her past leave her sleepless, she undertakes the journey to the Kingdom of Nordenberg, as her friendship with her bodyguard, Becks, becomes more tentative and fragile by the day.
     While Aurelia struggles to make sense of who she is and Becks battles to push down the rogue feelings he has for her, danger and unforeseen obstacles haunt their every step. The truth must stay safely hidden, or disaster will strike. Can Wilder Becks fulfill his mission, or will his heart and dark past overcome him, to the detriment of the princess?”


Series: Book #5 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, and Book #3, and Book #4!


Spiritual Content- Psalm 46:1-3 at the beginning; Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, thought over, & come to mind; Prayers & Thanking Dieu; God in this book is called ‘Dieu’; Talks about Dieu, His will, running away from Him, & forgiveness; 'H's are capital when referring to Dieu; Aurelia struggles with the idea of trusting God for a miracle after He didn’t grant her father one and feels jaded about it, but continues to pray (*Spoiler* At the end, she asks Dieu to forgive her hatred and bitterness *End of Spoiler*); While Wilder believes in Dieu, he doesn’t feel like Dieu will listen to his prayers, he still prays for Aurelia (noting that Wilder was shocked and confused when Dieu did listen to his petitions); Wilder prayers for Dieu to take his feelings for Aurelia; Wilder comments to a friend that he isn’t a “complete heathen”; Wilder doesn’t receive a booming answer from heaven about his question/prayer, but didn’t “really expect one or deserve one”, adding that if there was an answer “the roaring of the demons” in his head drowned it out; Aurelia talks to Wilder about Dieu not being like his earthly father (*Spoiler* Wilder feels a tug of war on his soul and wants Dieu, but thinks he is unworthy of Him; In the epilogue, Wilder shares with Aurelia that Dieu has redeemed his name *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of Dieu, trusting Him and His plans, prayers, & praying; A few mentions of churches/chapels, church going, a priest, & a sermon; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of reading a book of Scriptures; A mention of a man wanting to be a military chaplain; 
             *Note: “Saints preserve us”, “for heaven’s sake”, “what/who in heaven’s name”, and “Heaven knows” are said once, once, twice, and four times respectively; When a storm happens, Wilder wryly thinks that the heavens are against them; Two different men are called a “devil”; A mention of fairies, dryads, sprites, pixies, and goblins (some children are told a story about them).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing and fictional world phrases including: two ‘thunderation’s, three ‘dragonflies’ (exclamation), three ‘shut up’s, three ‘what in Galandra’s, five forms of ‘blast’, six ‘stupid’s, and eight ‘idiot’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Beating someone up (threatening), Being threatened, Being beaten, Being held at knife-point, Injures, Pain, & Blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Nightmares (including of thinking she’s going to be trapped in the dark and die & also being abandoned by a birth mother and adoptive mother); Attacking and Killing a bear (up to semi-detailed); Wilder beats a man to a pulp who meant to harm Aurelia (he is horrified to realize that he hits the man in the same places where his father would injure him, up to semi-detailed); Wilder breaks a man’s nose & is put into a jail for it (also being beaten by guards himself, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Wilder is willing to hit/punch anyone who thinks badly of Aurelia; Wilder’s father was physically and verbally abusive to him when drunk (this is recalled many times and Wilder has many scars from his father using him as a punching bag) and his mother would turn her back to Wilder being beaten (she later would swallow a potion that would keep her “from ever waking up” again); Wilder recalls being locked in the attic for a week after hiding his father’s alcohol; Wilder recalls his father telling him that he will amount to nothing and that he’s good for nothing; Wilder feels major defeat and guilt when he is unable to protect Aurelia and feels like a failure (this weighs heavily on him); Wilder feels guilt at lying to Aurelia about the secret & thinks that she will hate him (and the queen) for not telling her; Wilder thinks that he is a liar, a coward, and a man who can’t control his temper; Aurelia drinks wine at dinner (once); Wilder contemplates about throwing away his morals and having a glass of hard liquor after distressing news, but does not; Many mentions of fights/fighting, abuse (both physical and verbal including from a parent), beatings, injuries, & scars; Many mentions of lies, lying, liars, deception, & the guilt of it all (regarding the spoiler listed below); Mentions of assassins, assassination attempts, & possible murderers; Mentions of Aurelia’s mother being sick and possibly dying soon; Mentions of raids, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of alcohol (including wine at dinner), drinking, drunkards, & a tavern; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of hatred & prejudice; A few mentions of raids & invasions; A couple mentions of executions; A mention of the death of a younger brother & his mother’s health being poor since; A mention of some men who treat their families as disposable; 
             *Note: *Spoilers but important note for Adoptees* Shortly into the book, Aurelia overhears her mother tell Wilder about her and the king finding Aurelia in a trash heap as an infant, adopting her after their own stillbirth, and how she doesn’t know Aurelia to know; This shakes Aurelia and she believes her whole life is a lie, hurt by her mother not telling her, and thinks of herself as a guttersnipe that doesn’t deserve her princess lifestyle; Wilder doesn’t want to lie to Aurelia, but keeps the order from his queen about the secret; Aurelia has nightmares of her “real maman” abandoning her and her adoptive mother also leaving her (including Aurelia waking up and realizing that her birth mother didn’t want her, threw her away and rejected her of her time, attention, and love; Later thinking that her birth mother found her worthless); Aurelia recalls having similar nightmares as a child and clinging to her parents afterwards and being a good girl so her family won’t forget her; Aurelia feels bitterness about her mother keeping this from her and tries to let go of it; The king of another country calls Aurelia garage and “descended from filth and found in filth”; Towards the end, Aurelia thinks that she has a heavenly Father who knew her before she was born, at least, that’s what the priest at her family’s chapel would tell her; After certain events, Aurelia thinks that she’s nothing; At the end, Aurelia thinks that God granted her a gift in her adoptive parents and despite the years she had been lied to, she had been loved; She asks her adoptive mother if she was ashamed of her and the older woman replies “never!” *End of Spoilers*; Aurelia has a couple moments of panic and at one point, pulls a couple strands of her hair out; Aurelia thinks that a certain country likes their women being “made of porcelain” (regarding their appearances); A man makes a comment about men not waiting a lazy wife that sits around all day and does a pointed glance at his wife who is in wheelchair due to her health; A few mentions of a stillbirth (barely-above-not-detailed).
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a hair kiss, a forehead kiss, a cheek kiss, an almost (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed) kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and an (unwanted) border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, Flutters, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; When Wilder holds Aurelia to comfort her after a trying event, he kisses her hair and then feels guilt as she is betrothed; During the traveling, Wilder and Aurelia pose as a married couple and another man asks if Wilder slept with her in the same room; A man tries to leer at Aurelia & another man looks her over; A man is cut-off from saying something insulting about Aurelia (that “all she’s good for is—“); A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of a married couple sharing a kiss; A mention of a hand kiss; A mention of mooning; Light love, falling/being in love, & the emotions.
 
-Aurelia Beauregard, age 19
-Wilder “Becks” Beckington
                               1^st person P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        209 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{ Trigger warnings for adoptees & physical and verbal abuse from a parent }

 

I did really like both Wilder and Aurelia, but I do wish we could have seen more of their friendship prior to the journey. I felt a little like I was jumping into the middle of a book or missing pages and would have really liked to have seen their friendship more rather than just be told about it. 

 

I think some of this book could be triggering for adoptees and/or who went through physical and verbal abuse from a parent, just as a heads up for those sensitive to those topics. 

 

This was overall a sweet story that had some hard lessons for our main characters to learn. I always like seeing the bodyguard trope for the love interest and while Wilder went a bit overboard at times protecting her, they were cute together—once they talked through some things and removed the weight of guilt and secrets from their shoulders. 

 

 

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 Author for this honest review.

"My Refuge" by Ashley Al Saliby

About this book:

  “Meet Eden! Her fingers were made for the piano. Her voice was made to sing harmony. But suddenly her heart stops working, and everything changes. As the life she wants to be living passes by outside the walls of her hospital room, Eden realizes that she barely recognizes who she is becoming.
    Meet Zahra! Math nerd. Future engineer. She's the baby of the family, but she's got big dreams... or at least, she used to. The war stole her home, halted her education, and imprisoned her in a tent far from home. Now what??
    Meet Mei! Good girl. Optimist. Devoted member of her church youth group. Maybe a little bit clumsy. ;) But sometimes things can get really weird, and really confusing, really fast.
    Meet Katya! Tennis player. Big sister. Fluffy dog tolerator. Her favorite place to be is with her best friends. Life is pretty good, until the morning when it suddenly isn't. With any sense of stability ripped away from her, is there a safe place for her heart and mind?
    Toronto. Syria. Ukraine. Texas. Four girls face the hardships of isolation in remote corners of the planet. Their journeys will be messy, of course. One of them will struggle with growing anger , and another with crippling anxiety . One will drift toward despair . Another will battle surprising temptation . While facing challenges they wouldn’t have chosen, what refuge can they seek? What hope can they cling to? Not always at their best but also never abandoned, read along as Eden, Zahra, Mei and Katya discover that they are pursued and deeply loved by God. Their raw and relatable stories might point your heart to fresh hope, too.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Follow in the Dark” series. 


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read, mentioned, quoted, remembered, discussed, & thought over; Prayers & Thanking God (including some of the girls feeling peace and relief when being prayed over by others); ‘Thank God’ is said five times (once by Zahra’s Muslim mother); Youth group, worship, & a sermon/message; Talks about God, Jesus, Jesus’ suffering, His love, death/dying, & hard times; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God and Jesus; Eden tried to keep a good attitude about being in the hospital, but those best intentions slip away and she’s mad at God; A young woman from Eden’s church tells her about when she was angry at God and prayed angry prayers, which helped her (Eden is concerned if that’s even okay, but the young woman tells her that God knows and sees her completely and kindly; Later, Eden asks how Jesus can change how much she hates her situation and the woman encourages her that Jesus suffered and knows what they are going through); Eden tries the angry prayers and screams at God, allowing herself to say things she hadn’t been able to bring herself to admit; Eden prays that she doesn’t feel like God is with her at all and needs Him; *Spoiler* Eden writes a song about how she hates what is happening to her and how she pushes away, but His love finds a way *End of Spoiler*; Eden’s mom comments about it being a long time since she talked to God about anything, but Eden encourages her that God is listening whenever she is ready; Mei goes to youth group online, worships with her group, & stays connected through text messages with her youth group about a project to show God’s love during the pandemic restrictions; Mei prays to glorify God with her body after reading 1 Corinthians 6:20; Katya remembers and sings a song her mother would sing about God being near; Katya reads Psalms 23 and doesn’t feel like God is with her, but wants to believe that He is; Katya prays during a panic attack for God to help her; Another girl says her family is “pretty religious” and while she hasn’t been to mass in a long time, talking about God isn’t going to offend her; Each of the four girls have someone in her life who speaks truth to her and points her to Jesus in the midst of her hard circumstances; Many mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & books of the Bible; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, youth groups, worship, pastors, sermons/lessons, & services; A few mentions of thanking God (including the Muslim god); A couple mentions of Heaven; A mention of a nun; 
             *Note: Zahra’s family is Muslim and talk about God (the author has a note that: “In Arabic, which is the language that Zahra’s family and their neighbors would speak, Muslims (like Zahra’s family) and Christians use the same word for “God” – Allah. That word refers to the one God, the God who created everything. Beyond that, however, there are a lot of differences in what the Bible and the Qur’an (the Muslim scripture) say about what God is like. The biggest difference has to do with Jesus. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God’s Son and the perfect revelation of who God is.”); Zahra questions how they can say that God is merciful when there is so much pain; *Spoilers* Zahra meets with a female teacher that has an Injeel (part of the Christian Scriptures, in this case and context, the author notes that it is the New Testament) and the teacher tells Zahra that when she was in labor and a midwife prayed for her in Jesus’ name, she felt so much peace and accepted the book; The teacher says she has read it each day and each time, it gives her peace; Her husband says that if she becomes a Christian (an Injeeliyeh woman), he still wants her to wear a veil and that their sons will still go to a Qur’an school (she doesn’t know if she is a Christian or if that is important, but believes that Jesus did was the Christians say He did); Zahra feels awkward and not sure what to say; Later, Zahra has the urge to read the book because she doesn’t know if she’ll have a chance to read one again, but thinks her parents would be devastated if they knew she was interested in another religion; She does read Luke and is moved by it; The teacher gives her the copy and her father sees it, but he doesn’t mind her having it and says that he may even read it after having a dream about being told to learn more about the prophet Jesus; Zahra reads about Jesus predicting His death and how “the firm teaching she had always heard was that God would not allow his prophet to die, and that, in fact, he had not really died. She had been taught that Jesus had been secretly replaced with another man on the cross.” and has questions about it all, but chooses Jesus for herself *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of Zahra’s family praying with their prayer mats, prayer beads, the Qur’an, and her father going to a mosque. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blah, blah, blah’, a ‘gah’, an ‘omg’, two ‘gosh’s, four ‘shut up’s, seven ‘oh my gosh’s, and eleven ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Being in a collapsed building, hearing others being hurt, injuries, pain, & being knocked unconscious (barely-above-not-detailed); Zahra lives in a refugee camp in Syria during a war with her family & Katya lives in a bomb shelter in Ukraine during a war (with her little brother as they are separated from their mom); Katya has nightmares about her mom and friends in distress and hurt; Many mentions of wars, fighting, gunfire, bombings, bombs/missiles, bomb shelters, places destroyed, refugee camps, & a young man being abducted and his family grieving; Mentions of a baby dying during childbirth & grief (*Spoiler* Zahra’s sister’s baby who came too early *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of dying, Eden not being afraid of dying from of Jesus, & a kid down the hall from her passing; Mentions of girls being harassed and attacked/ambushed in Zahra’s area (so she stays in their tent unless her father is with her; unsaid if it is just physical assault or also sexual assault); Mentions of buildings collapsing on top of people, injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of COVID-19 pandemic, people being sick, & having to stay at home; A few mentions of car accidents, death, & grief (by a sister for her twin brother); A few mentions of the possibility of being killed (Katya’s concern for her mother); A few mentions of drownings & deaths; A few mentions of bullies & peer pressure; A few mentions of rumors; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of looted stores; A couple mentions of the concern of a puppy dying; A couple mentions of people being rude to signs being hung up about God (including a man being offended and someone else throwing a tomato at a sign); A mention of Eden getting a heart from “some poor dead person”; A mention of snipers in a war; 
             *Note: Zahra feels like her life is a prison due to being in the refugee camp and that any good opportunity is going to be taken away from her; Mei’s family is living through the pandemic in Canada and having to stay at home, her older sister very withdrawn because of her senior year not being as she hoped/expected; Katya has a few episodes she thinks are heart attacks, but are actually anxiety/panic attacks (described as she can’t breathe, thinking her heart is going to explode, major fear and panicking, and a doctor explains what it is to her, semi-detailed); Eden has some sass and disrespect towards her mom & snaps at her little sister (which makes her mom tell her that her condition is no excuse for acting that way; Later, Eden and her mom talk about how Eden feels pressured by her mom to do more and her mom admits to being too hard on herself and on Eden); Eden feels jealous about others living normal lives and hates being in the hospital; In a moment of anger and hating her circumstances, Eden throws the brand-new phone her parents got her; Mei faces a comment from a classmate about South Koreans being “her people” when she’s actually Chinese-Canadian; Mentions of medical things such as Eden waiting for a heart transplant, needles, IVs, and surgeries and complications; Mentions of panic and anxiety attacks; A mention of a brand-name (Etch-a-Sketch).
 
 
Sexual Content- A form of ‘hot’; Mei’s storyline has to do with inappropriate pictures and peer pressure (A guy in her class that she likes asks her to send a “good pic” and when she misunderstands and sends a harmless selfie, he sends her a file of what he means which makes her face turn hot and deep red and slam her laptop shut; She wishes she could un-see what she had just seen and feels sick to her stomach and gross; She has to reopen her laptop for class and tries to close the image without having to look at it again; Mei is told by another girl that the guy likes Asian girls and has a thing for her, but is trying to see if she can lighten up and have some fun (which Mei thinks “not that kind of fun” and is still sicken by the thought of the image he sent); Mei wonders if the picture was some kind of mistake as he seems like a nice guy and plans to have a nice picture of herself (not a gross one) just in case he messages her again; She finds videos online that say “Selfie Angles that will Make Him Go Crazy!” and “Ten Steps to the Hottest Selfie” and her stomach feels funny about them, and tries to figure out a compromise between what she’s seeing in the videos and what she’s comfortable with, but feels weird after trying to imitate what she sees in the videos; Mei clicks on a link in one of the videos and it leads to another picture like what the boy had sent her and she quickly slams her laptop closed and tries to erase it from her mind; She tries to imitate some of what she sees in the “sketchy tutorials” with “just the light from her closet to illuminate her pose” and doesn’t feel right about it, but thinks about her crush on the guy; Mei notices a Scripture about being wonderfully made by God above her mirror and feels turmoil at what she thinks God would feel about her trying to get the guy’s attention; She tries to close the picture without looking at it and wonders “how could a girl post a picture of herself like that?” and shudders before thinking “maybe I’m starting to understand why she would, actually.”; Mei talks with an older girl from church (who she thinks probably doesn’t care about getting a guy’s attention) and the girl mentions to Mei about being careful on her laptop at night because she “ended up on some weird sites one time. We just want to be careful with what goes in our heads, you know?”; *Spoilers* A bit later, the boy messages that she doesn’t need to be embarrassed about sending him a picture because he already thinks she’s beautiful, but she messages that she doesn’t send pictures like that and says that “I’m beautiful because God made me. My body belongs to Him.”, he pokes fun about her comment and Mei feels a sting of embarrassment; In her final chapter, she notices that the boy and the other classmate aren’t in virtual class and have been expelled for obtaining inappropriate pictures of other students, blackmailing them, and posting the pictures online when her parents tell her about it; Mei’s parents talk with her and ask if anyone tried to get her to send pictures and despite her embarrassment about it, she tells them that a guy did try and didn’t send anything but a normal smiling one (and doesn’t mention the weird tutorials she found online); Mei starts to cry and says the whole thing sounds “weird and gross and scary” and her parents agree and say if anything happens like this in the future, they are always there to help; Mei still struggles with the disturbing images in her mind that display “themselves at the forefront of her thoughts” and seem “plastered with superglue onto her thoughts”, which make her feel discouraged and ashamed; She talks with the older girl from her church and the girl shares that she saw pictures on her phone that she wishes she didn’t see at Mei’s age and actually looked at them several times, adding that “after that, it was really hard to get those images out of my head, so I know what you mean. Even more, they will interrupt my thoughts out of nowhere, when I’, having a bad day or even sometimes when I’m trying to pray or worship. So I get it.” and talks to Mei about temptation and how God still loves her; The older girl also tells Mei that her “way-out” when she’s tempted to look at those kinds of pictures again is to literally change her position and walk away and do sometime “aligned with the mission God has called me to in the world” and has really helped her; Mei tries this with the picture fills her mind and it helps *End of Spoilers*; Eden feels jealous about a girl flirting with her crush on social media and notices on the girl’s social media that she has “Perfect hair. Perfect teeth. Perfect makeup. Perfect body. Perfect outfits.”; Mentions of crushes & cute boys; Mentions of jealousy; A mention of flirting; A mention of a song Eden is writing not being for a boy (like one of the hospital staff members teases her about); A mention of a woman trying to quickly cover her hair in Zahra’s area when suddenly having to be in public; 
             *Note: Zahra’s mother mentions about a young man that could take good care of her and protect her, but she doesn’t want to get married and her father says she is still young and has dreams (Zahra is concerned that she will be forced to marry, but that does not happen and is not brought up again); Eden sees an influencer on social media talk about “getting your body summer ready” and she notes that she’ll have another ugly scar on her chest after the transplant. 
 
-Eden, age 15
-Zahra, age 15
-Mei, age 15
-Katya, age 14-15
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        265 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Trigger Warning for wars, bombings, panic attacks, & dealing with inappropriate pictures }

{ Add up to a full star for girls in public school }

At first, I was hesitant about this book partially because of it following four different girls and I was concerned that I would have a hard time keeping track of their lives and telling them apart. That wasn’t the case at all, though, because they are all going through very different events and emotions that it was easy to keep them separated in my mind. None of the girls are connected to each other in any way, which I think might be a first for me as there is usually some connection between characters in the stories I read. 

 

There’s definitely trigger warnings for sensitive topics, but this book could also trigger compassion for readers about those in these situations. I honestly thought the faith content and how these hard topics were handled and discussed were solidly done. 

 

Typically, I wouldn’t care for reading about the pandemic, but Mei’s parts highlighted a different experience than my own along with other things she was experiencing, and it warmed my heart to see her friendship with her youth group. 

 

One of the girls, Mei, faces a classmate asking her for inappropriate pictures and when she sees what he means, she’s embarrassed and can’t stop the image from coming to her mind again and again. This is a topic I’m cautious about in YA books and one that when discussed in Christian Fiction often comes across as the author putting on her a mom-hat or teacher-hat to educate the young readers she’s reaching. When that happens, the fictional story takes a turn that feels like a lesson and can be a negative in how it’s handled for those readers despite the author’s good intentions because it feels like they’re being “preached at”. I’m very impressed to say that I didn’t get that feeling at all with this book and the hard topics like this, war, and panic attacks it features and discusses. This author kept it natural—whether it be the reactions of the girls in their situations or how they handle different things, and it made the book feel very realistic. 

 

With Mei’s challenges, she doesn’t talk to her parents about the images, but wrestles with it and a older girl who is like a “big sister” at youth group talks with her. I wish Mei would have discussed it with her mom, but with her parents being so busy and Mei feeling ashamed by seeing the imagine, it makes sense that Mei didn’t reach out about it. I was glad there was that older friend that shared Godly wisdom to and prayers for Mei. 

 

I honestly wasn’t expecting this book to make me emotional, but it did with the four girls and what they and their families are going through. I had chills at a couple of parts and found myself near tears once or twice. I have to say that I felt like a big sister with these girls and how proud of I was of them all by the end, seeing how they rose above what was going on in their lives. I was a little bummed that the book ended before we saw some events/results for a couple of the girls, so I was glad to see that there is a sequel and will definitely be picking that one up! 

 

 

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 Author for this honest review.

"A Noble Heart" by Jewel Windall

About this book:

  “Some will always be young at heart, and some try too hard to stay that way.
    Ella never wanted to grow up. Life was simpler when she was younger – when laughter filled each room like the stars in the sky and the smallest wins earned her parents' praise. With her childhood and the grace for her mistakes gone, Ella resolves to be the perfect lady everyone wants. Soon, she realizes what others wish isn’t what is right, but being different will cost her the only life she knows.
    Some will always be young at heart, and some have that innocence stolen.
    James spent the last five years running from his past, the Creator who let him down, and those trying to tear the island apart. After his plans to escape the place for good go up in flames, he finds running might not be the answer. But to truly be free, he risks losing the crew he cares for and the girl who got herself wrapped up in his mess.
    Faith, trust, and pixie dust are gone. Can two lost souls save their broken land?”


Series: Book #4 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, and Book #3!


Spiritual Content- Many prayers; God is called the Creator and 'H's are capital when referring to Him; Many talks about the Creator, trusting Him, Him listening, His plans, faiths, & praying; The Creator talks to both James and Ella (usually Scriptures changed to be as if God was saying it to them); James trusted the Creator growing up and after praying to escape the villains for so long and it didn’t happen, he no longer trusts or follows the Creator and has a negative, nagging voice in his head telling him lies that the Creator doesn’t care about him or the others and won’t listen to him; James doesn’t know why the Creator even made him after the hard life he has had and had prayed to die after being kidnapped and unable to escape; James prays for the Creator to save his crew in hopes the Creator will listen for their sakes, but later thinks the Creator doesn’t listen to his prayers and won’t trust Him again; James tells Ella that the Creator isn’t stopping the villains and Ella encourages him to let go of his control and trust the Creator; Ella prays to “whoever was out there”recalling how her parents had believed in the Creator and with her growing apart from her parents, she also grew apart from Him; Ella notices the light in her friend and wants it for herself (the friend witnesses to her and she in turn witnesses to James & has tough discussions about God with each other and that He is always working for their good, which they both struggle to believe for a while); *Spoilers* Halfway through, Ella says that she trusts the Creator and that He has a plan; James notices she has the light as well and isn’t sure he is ready for that yet; Close to the end, James tries to trust the Creator and when it doesn’t go well, he feels betrayed again; At the end, James hears the Creator talking to him to let go and trust Him & it’s later implied that he did *End of Spoilers*; Many mentions of the Creator, prayers/praying, faiths, trusting Him, & Him listening; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a book from a traveling preacher; A mention of a hymn; 
             *Note: Facing sirens and their enticing calls that also have lies about the Creator (semi-detailed); A man says he is his own god and others’ god as well; A victim of the villain has been brainwashed to believe that the villain saved him from his evil family; Mentions of evil & evil people and their plans; Mentions of sirens, fairies, & pixies (including Ella being called a pixie because of her size and personality).
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing and fictional world phrases including: a form of ‘idiot’, a ‘what in all of Edas’, two ‘shut up’s, three ‘stardust’s, three ‘stupid’s, and twenty ‘seas’s; Ella fights the urge to curse at a villain; A couple mentions of curses (said by villains, but not written); Some eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being choked & the character thinking they are going to die (up to semi-detailed); Killing an enemy (twice), Being held at knife-point, Being kidnapped and drugged, Being tied-up, Being hit/punched and knocked out, Fighting/Attacks (including by a monster and seeing it killed), Knocking others out, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Seeing two others killed and others tortured, stabbed, injured, bleeding, in pain, & held at knife-point (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* James was taken as a child by the villains and then trained to be an assassin, completing his first “mission” at age fifteen of killing a government official, which he is still haunted by *End of Spoiler*; James has a couple flashbacks of his mother dying after being set on fire by the main villain (barely-above-not-detailed); When facing sirens and their calls, some of the main characters and crew nearly jump into the waters to be with them (being lured to their deaths, but everyone is saved before they jump); All about many mentions of kidnapped children, the kidnappers, children being stolen away from their families, most of the government officials doing nothing about it, & the purpose of the children being kidnapped (*Spoiler* creating a child army of assassins *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of children and teens being tortured by the villains, nightmares of past events and torture, & their screams (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fights, deaths, bodies, & blood (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of a murder, an accident, deaths, & grief (for a mother and a friend); Mentions of planned executions & torturing others to near death; Mentions of attacks/fights, fighting, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & break-ins; Mentions of fires & living people to die; Mentions of threats of death and harm; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a possible war; A few mentions of suicide missions; A few mentions of hatred; A mention of eavesdropping; 
             *Note: Ella feels like she is a disappointment to her parents and a failure (she tells herself that she is a disappointment & thinks that their social status is more important to them than she is, & struggles with the Creator’s voice mixing with her parents’ voices of disappointment); Both James & Ella have negative, nagging voices in their heads that tells them lies.
 
 
Sexual Content- A handful of Touches & Embraces (some embraces could be taken as comforting embraces and not romance leaning); A few Flutters & Blushes; A mention of a couple kissing for an “uncomfortably long time”; There is a potential future romance thread for Ella and James by the end of the book; 
             *Note: A mention of a woman unable to have children. 
 
-Ella 
-James 
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        166 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{ Add up to a full star for older teens who struggle with trusting God and/or letting go of past events/actions. }

 

My main thought while reading this book was: “They both need hugs. ASAP.” Because really, they both did. Desperately, poor things. 

 

I will say that from either a technical standpoint or the writing style, I did struggle a bit with this book. Some events weren’t clear to me about what was happening, so I felt a bit out of the loop at times and had to reread a handful of sections to pick up on the contexts’ clues to the understand what was going on. I don’t think it was just me as I reread those parts a few times each (mainly towards the beginning of the book), but it totally could have been!

 

I was pretty thrown towards the end when I realized that James is Captain James—as in Captain Hook. So you could say this is a Peter Pan retelling partially from Captain Hook’s perspective which was a really different take on the story. There is a heaviness, however, through this book because of the children being kidnapped, the torture, James’ role in that including being tortured himself, and him being unwilling to forgive himself or trust the Creator (God). 

 

The faith content was by far the strongest thread in this book—it was more like the whole tapestry, really—and I liked a lot of different parts about it. The ending felt a wee bit rushed and I would have liked a little more calm after the massive storm (literally and fugitively) these characters went through. There wasn’t really any romance—only hints to a possible future romance at the end—which was a nice change from my normal fairytale retellings.

 

 

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.

"Three Dog Knight" by Johnnie Alexander

About this book:

  “An invitation to speak at a prominent women’s group luncheon prompts Harriet Bailey to reflect on her move to Yorkshire, which makes her miss her family back in the States. Luckily, her aunt Jinny suggests the perfect attending the village’s much-anticipated antiques appraisal festival.
    When Ivy, the woman in charge of the event, is found in a nearby cave with no memory of how she got there, she claims to have been confronted by a medieval knight from local legend! Harriet knows this is impossible and is determined to find out what really happened.
    As Harriet searches for the mysterious knight’s impersonator, more incidents occur, including the theft of a valuable statue and apparent pranks against local businesses. Can Harriet find the culprit before things escalate to a dangerous level?”


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


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are quoted, read, mentioned, & thought over; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food (including a mention of someone looking at the ceiling as if for divine guidance); Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, a pastor, & hymns; Mentions of an abbey, monasteries, & monks;  A few mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & books of the Bible; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of clergy privilege & confessions; A mention of being Blessed; 
             *Note: Harriet doesn’t believe in ghosts, but says she enjoys a “delicious fear” (to quote Anne Shirley); Later, Harriet thinks that “there were so many unexplained phenomenas in the world” and wonders if it could be possible for ghosts to be real, but then stops herself firmly; A pastor is polite but firm about the fact that a living person is the attacker and not a ghost (later adding that maybe he should preach a sermon on the topic); A man tells a pastor that even though he isn’t a churchgoer, he wouldn’t attack someone; A woman tries to use clergy privilege to her advantage so she won’t be in trouble with the police (a pastor tells her that that isn’t how it works); Many mentions of a “ghost” that attacked two people in this book (*Spoiler* It was two people that were doing pranks and dares & didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt *End of Spoiler*); A couple mentions of elves causing mischief at night; A mention of a superstitious person; A mention of a possible ghost cult; A mention of a food sometimes called “devils on horseback”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Two sisters are very bitter towards each other & make unkind and snide remarks (on-page); Seeing someone injured & bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Helping an injured woman and dog who were both hit by someone/something (later, the dog has seizures, but will be fine; border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); *Spoiler* The woman who is attacked was lured to the place by a note by her sister, who didn’t mean for her to get hurt, and was hit by someone else; The man who was attacked was accidentally pushed and hurt by a family member in an argument *End of Spoilers*; Many mentions of injured and sick animals (including a dog being hit and bleeding, another dog being hit by a car and paralyzed, a kitten being rescued from a burning dustbin and her scars, a deer being hit by a car, & people abandon pets when children grow tired of caring for them; all animals are fine; up to semi-detailed) & Harriet’s veterinary clinic treatments (including vaccines); All about many mentions of attacks, attackers, & injuries; Many mentions of break-ins/robberies, stealing, stolen items, thieves, crimes, & crime scenes; Many mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of deaths (including by heart attack and cancer) & grief; Mentions of a legend about a young drummer boy (who was allegedly have been trapped in a tunnel and never seen again; one version of the tale said the boy was eaten by a monster); Mentions of arrests & jailtime; Mentions of businesses and people cheating others; Mentions of injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & stitches; Mentions of pirates & smugglers; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of jealousy (including between sisters); A few mentions of historical battles; A few mentions of cruelty & a bully; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of World War I; A mention of a mother losing a child in a tragic way (referring to the drummer boy legend); A mention of a car accident; A mention of a divorce; A mention of mocktails; 
             *Note: Harriet is homesick and wonders if her decision to move to England was a mistake at times; Harriet’s aunt tells her about a patient that wanted her to prank her family by saying the lady had a major health concern and would need their constant care (which her aunt does not do because “too many people face horrific health concerns for such a prank to be funny”); Mentions of books, fictional characters, & authors (Anne of Green Gables, Sense and Sensibility, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Jane Austen, Henning Mankell, Lewis Carroll, Anne Bronte, & Agatha Christie); A few mentions of car brands; A mention of Queen Elizabeth II.
 
 
Sexual Content- Harriet feels her stomach flutter around a male friend and pushes the sensation away because she’s not ready for a relationship or flutters; Harriet accidentally sees a couple embracing and is embarrassed; Mentions of Harriet’s assistant going out with many guys, but always viewing the men as strictly friends to have a good time with while waiting for the “right one” to come along; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, & breakups; A few mentions of couples sneaking off for secret rendezvous (older couples); A couple mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a couple making goo-goo eyes at each other; 
             *Note: Harriet recalls an older woman telling her not to give away her heart after quarreling with her beau, but Harriet thinks that she isn’t about to make that vow; A woman makes a comment that her sister falls for any man who shows her the slightest attention. 
 
-Harriet Bailey, age 33 (?)
                                P.O.V. of Harriet 
                                                        258 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

You could say that the “honeymoons phase” of Harriet’s move to England has worn off a bit in this book as she deals with homesickness while also trying to solve a mystery. I’ll admit that the mystery element didn’t keep my interest as much as prior books in the series, but I was curious to see what the end result would be. I think the ending was a bit of a stretch, but I was suspicious of a couple characters so it made sense in a way. I’m looking forward to the next book of the series and reading it soon!

 

 

 

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.