“Brianna Kelly has worked at Ballymacool House and Boarding School since she was a wee girl and will likely die there. Despite a sense that she was made for something more, Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds, looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.
When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry, is sent to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, he finds himself drawn to Brianna, immediately and inescapably. There is something about her that feels so . . . familiar.
When Brianna unearths an intriguing silver platter in the woods, she commits to learning its origins. Could the handsome newcomer hold the key? If so, their discovery could change everything.”
Series: Mentions & features characters from the author’s other book, “A Dance in Donegal”.
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is mentioned; Prayers & Blessings over food; Thinking about God; Talks about God, His plans, seeking Him, prayers, & praying; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God (the Irish word ‘Tiarna Dia’ is used as well) & His plans; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of church bells; A couple mentions of clergymen & nuns; A few mentions of an Easter gathering; A couple mentions of a woman crossing herself before and after praying; A couple mentions of a prayer for lost items (but the woman says it to Christ Himself instead of Saint Anthony); A couple mentions of being Blessed; A mention of the Good Book; A mention of hymns; A mention of Godspeed;
*Note: A few mentions of an old wives’ tale about a certain flower bringing evil wishes if brought inside a house; A couple mentions of superstitions & ghost stories;A mention of a “godforsaken” song; A mention of someone idolizing another; A mention of a place being hellacious; A mention of a rebel witch hunt.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast it’, a ‘bleedin’’, a ‘confound it all’, a ‘dumb’, two forms of ‘shut up’, four ‘blasted’s, and four/five forms of ‘idiot’; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Being slapped, being threatened, passing out, pain, & injuries (up to semi-detailed); The headmistress of the school is belittling to Brianna & slaps her (multiple times); When she’s having a hard time, Brianna thinks of her family (who she doesn’t remember), but doesn’t do that often because it’s too painful (there’s a couple more mentions of Brianna’s sadness over this and her imaging her family); Mentions of a war possibly coming (WWII); Mentions of uprisings, rebellions, rebels, traitors/treason, civil unrest within a country, deaths/killings, seeing beatings, fights/fighting, screams, threats, & someone fearing of retaliation (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fighting, violence, & threats (including a girl causing trouble); Mentions of Brianna being slapped, pain, & injuries; Mentions of a teacher berating his students, calling them demeaning names, & rapping the knuckles of a student multiple times; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of slavery/servitude; A couple mentions of a school having controversy over serve punishments and treatments of its students; A couple mentions of tobacco & cigars; A couple mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of dung; A mention of an unruly teen girl possibly needing a kick to her backside (to get her uncontrol); A mention of alcohol; A mention of the death of a beloved horse; A mention of hunting;
*Note: Mentions of an infant’s death from typhoid.
Sexual Content- Two fingers-to-lips touches, eight (barely-above-not-detailed) hand/palm kisses, five forehead/top-of-the-head kisses, an almost kiss, seven barely-above-not-detailed kisses, two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Recalling kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Staring at lips; Recalling kisses, embraces, & nearness (in an affair, not our main characters, semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Magee was involved with a married man who promised her a job at his house as a nanny to his child by day and his lover by night; She didn’t care about anything else after their first kiss and has been bitter and feeling betrayed by him ever since he changed his mind *End of Spoiler*; Lots of Touches, Embraces, Warmth, Electricity, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes, Butterflies, & Winks; Noticing (including muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Michael’s young cousin is infatuated with him & other girls think he’s her heartthrob; Mentions of an affair & adultery; Mentions of kisses & wanting to kiss someone; A few mentions of some men being much too interested in women & the consequences they have; A few mentions of suggestions of a young woman possibly doing something “untoward”; A couple mentions of Brianna not acting on any impulse regarding Michael or a man; A mention of a man making a comment about most men being willing to visit with a woman in his bed; A mention of a man forcing his advances of a woman; A mention of a man (not) taking advantage of a young woman (Michael doesn’t want to give that impression to Brianna); A mention of Michael being unsure how his (young, female) cousin will take a simple kiss on the cheek; A mention of flirting; A mention of a whistle (from a girl at the school to Michael); Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
-Brianna Kelly, age 20
-Michael Wray
P.O.V. switches between them & Magee
Set in 1935 (Epilogue in 1939)
332 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
This was my first book by this author and it was pretty sweet. I was originally intrigued by it because of seeing somewhere that it was loosely inspired by Cinderella. A fairytale retelling in 1930s Ireland? Yes, I’m interested!
Because of the fairytale retelling plotline, it’s definitely a simpler story and you’re quickly able to pick up on hints and guess some of the details to come, but I was personally okay with it. I did struggle at the beginning keeping my interest in the story (mainly due to that awful headmistress!) but as the Cinderella concept continued, I followed along better. I was pretty positive I knew how this book was going to go early on, but that was okay with me because of the fairytale-style storyline.
I never really felt connected to Brianna or Michael but liked both of them well enough. He was just a good guy and I felt so bad for her. Their romance was very sweet and decently clean (quite a bit of nearness and attraction, but it was more in the sweet way than sexual tension, in my opinion. The main thing I would note on content would be the mentions of an affair & a woman recalling kisses and embraces from said affair).
There’s a lot of Irish Gaelic which was interesting and I found myself looking up the meanings and pronunciations often. (I found the glossary after finishing this novel tucked between the acknowledgements & the preview of another book…oops.) I’m not familiar with Irish Gaelic or Irish history at all, so while I was a little lost at times, I found it interesting and paused to research different words and events.
This was a pleasant, simple read overall and I enjoyed it. I’m curious to read the author’s other books, especially after meeting a couple from her first book in this story.
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 (Revell) for this honest review.
