“Annaliese Merriweather has been appointed the temporary headmistress of the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies while her sister is on her honeymoon, but she doesn't feel cut out for the role. Especially after she loses two of her most troublesome students during an outing to a county fair and has to recruit the help of Seth McCormick, an eccentric inventor, to retrieve them.
Soon after, one of those mischievous students disappears again, intent on pursuing a pirate map. Together, Annaliese and Seth set out to find her, accompanied by a menagerie of Annaliese's rescued animal companions. As they stumble from one chaotic situation to the next, sparks fly between Annaliese and Seth. Somehow, they'll need to outwit dangerous individuals also intent on seeking treasure and bring everyone back in one piece--all while deciphering what their hearts desire.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies”. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted; A couple talks about God & answered prayers; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; A man accuses Annaliese of giving him a “sermon” about his job as a plume hunter, which makes her quote Proverbs 12:10 and the man says he doesn’t understand Bible verses, so Annaliese shares that she has also been confused when reading the Bible which is why she replies on a good minister to explain the confusing parts to her; A woman comments on always wondering why God gave her the gift of memorization because as a woman she doesn’t get many opportunities to add value to her societies; Mentions of God & God-given gifts; Mentions of prayers, praying, & answered prayers; Mentions of a reverend, church services, & sermons; Mentions of a cross necklace; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of divine intervention;
*Note: Religious exclamations: “good heavens” is said five times; Mentions of a castle being “haunted” by “ghosts” (Book #1); A few mentions of luck; A couple mentions of a fortune teller at a carnival who claims to tell people how and when they will die; A mention of someone “channel[ing]” another (teasingly/used lightly, not in the spiritual sense).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘stupid’, two ‘on my word’s, and four forms of ‘idiot’; A parrot has a “loquaciousness” vocabulary and exclaims “Zut!” (which some online say means “d*mn” in French) nine times (which is repeated once and a woman tries to correct the parrot into not using that word, but the parrot continues to say it anyway); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Holding others at gun-point (multiple times), an Explosion, & Gunshots (including aimed at animals; up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone held at gun- and knife-point & threatened with harm and death (barely-above-not-detailed); Annaliese is offered a glass of wine by another adult (social drinking) and while the other is said to drink it, it is not clear if Annaliese does; Many mentions of animals being mistreated, hunted for their feathers or fur, taken away from their proper environments, & killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths (including Annaliese’s father by an apoplectic fit); Mentions of crime bosses, possibly planned and attempted murder, & foul play involved in someone’s disappearance (Book #1); Mentions of kidnappings/abductions, near kidnappings, kidnappers, & ransoms; Mentions of criminals, crimes, thieves, stealing, pickpocketing, robberies, & stolen items; Mentions of arrests & prison/jail; Mentions of fires, explosions, & grenades; Mentions of threats of shooting or killing someone (including at gun and knife-point); Mentions of weapons, brandishing them at others (including characters carelessly using pistols or pistol-like weapons for the first time but believing she will be a good shot because she’s read books on the subject), gunshots, & bullets; Mentions of someone being shot, in pain, & bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of saloons/taverns, alcohol, & drinking (including social drinking between adults and a teen girl planning to drink moonshine before she is stopped by the bottle being taken away from her); Mentions of sickness (including a mother lying about being sick often to have time to herself; Her older children are aware she’s lying, but do not question it); Mentions of teen girls running away from home; Mentions of lies & lying (including a mother to her family so she can have time to herself; Her older children are aware she’s lying, but do not question it); Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of gallows/hangings; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of nightmares;
*Note: Comments about & Mentions of women not having as many opportunities as men, publishers not wanting to punish women authors, progressive women, a woman not disliking men but how they control everything a woman can and cannot do, & men saying they will be in trouble with the idea of women demanding the right to vote; A few mentions of celebrities/well-known figures (Leonardo da Vinci, Lord Byron, & Blackbeard); A mention of Romeo and Juliet.
Sexual Content- A bit of staring at lips (barely-above-not-detailed); an almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed) and three barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Talks about kisses, kissing, & first kisses; Wanting to kiss & thinking about kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a couple kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Hand holding, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoilers* Towards the end, Annaliese and Seth talk about wanting to kiss each other, but also wanting to just “be” and not have a formal courtship; This stems from Annaliese being concerned that Seth will want a traditional wife which she would not be because of her interests; At the end, they have a discussion about this and share some kisses; A friend tells Annaliese that it’s the 1880s and it’s past time for couples to be able to get to know one another without announcing anything formal; Annaliese realizes in the last couple chapters that she does want to get married to Seth and proposes to him *End of Spoilers*; A woman shudders at the idea of interrupting what some newlyweds were doing when alone together; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & first kisses; Mentions of crushes/infatuations; Mentions of teen girls finding men/young men “dreamy” and ogling them; Mentions of flirting (including teen girls batting their lashes at a boy) & blushes; Mentions of chaperones & reputations; Mentions of romance novels; A few mentions of men’s muscles & teen girls sighing over a man’s muscles; A mention of a man telling another man that the second man’s wife is in love with him (implying an affair); A mention of men eyeing Annaliese like they wanted to devour her; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Conversations about & Mentions of unmentionables & corsets that enhance a woman’s “charms” or bosom (also discussed in mixed company); Mentions of teen girls wanting the enhancer corsets, a woman offering to help with finding undergarments to “enhance a feminine figure”, & a mother not allowing her thirteen-year-old to wear one; A woman digs around in her bodice for a piece of jewelry and while two upright men quickly turn around, two other men gawk of the woman before Annaliese makes them turn around as well; A woman comments about possibly teaching teen girls who to dress in a way that will “really draw” a gentleman’s attention; A mention of a dress with a low neckline; A mention of female praying mantises eating their mate (which makes Annaliese comment that her students’ mothers would not want their daughters to think it’s acceptable to “do away with” one’s mate); A mention of butting heads with someone.
-Annaliese Merriweather
-Seth McCormick
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1885
304 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
After reading “A Lesson in Propriety” last year, I’ve been curious to read Drusilla’s sister’s story and her friend’s story. This book is the sister’s and the next book (releasing in the Spring of 2027) will be the friend’s. This book was quite…zany! Definitely go into this story expecting some silly and dramatic parts, with chaos and adventure thrown in. It’s definitely not a serious story by any means and best for those that enjoy more fluffy—and probably unrealistic—romps in their historical fiction.
As far as our main characters, they are both deemed odd ducks by others, but they go along swimmingly together (pun intended!) because of it and their interests. A very peculiar couple, but they had some cute moments. I didn’t quite feel their romance as they both had their head in their hobbies and then suddenly wanted to kiss the other. I think they worked together because they were both odd by most standards, but I would have liked to see more of their relationship outside of all the crazy events with others that they kept getting swept up into. As a vegan, I appreciated all the animal rescuing and Annaliese’s heart for animals, but it also got to be a little repetitive throughout the book.
All the teenaged girls chatter was a bit much to read at times, but I imagine the audiobook would be entertaining due to that. It was dialogue heavy and a lot to read. Norma Jean (Seth’s little sister) was thirteen going on twenty-three with all of her ideas. I’m pretty sure I would have been going gray at a very young she if she was my little sister! She was exhausting at times and drove me a bit crazy.
Overall, I wouldn’t say this is a new favorite by Jen Turano, though I did enjoy some elements about it. Because of some comments, I would only suggest this book for ages 15/16+ because while the romance content was lighter between the main couple, there were some other parts I didn’t personally love or feel comfortable with recommending for younger ages.
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.
