About
this book:
“Journey into the Blue Ridge Mountains of 1918 where Laurel McAdams endures the challenges of a hard life while dreaming things can eventually improve. But trouble arrives in the form of an outsider. Having failed his British father again, Jonathan Taylor joins is uncle's missionary endeavors as a teacher in a two-room schoolhouse. Laurel feels compelled to protect the tenderhearted teacher from the harsh realities of Appalachian life, even while his stories of life outside the mountains pull at Laurel's imagination. Faced with angry parents over teaching methods, Laurel's father's drunken rages, and bad news from England, will Jonathan leave and never return, or will he stay and let love bloom?”
Series: Part of the “My Heart Belongs” series, but not connected to any other books.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, read, & discussed; Prayers; Church going & Hymns; Many talks about God, Jesus, His creation, missions, dreams/callings, & faiths; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of God, Jesus, dreams/callings, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & devotions; Mentions of churches, church going, services, hymns, & pastors; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of Heaven & angels; A few mentions of blessings;
“Journey into the Blue Ridge Mountains of 1918 where Laurel McAdams endures the challenges of a hard life while dreaming things can eventually improve. But trouble arrives in the form of an outsider. Having failed his British father again, Jonathan Taylor joins is uncle's missionary endeavors as a teacher in a two-room schoolhouse. Laurel feels compelled to protect the tenderhearted teacher from the harsh realities of Appalachian life, even while his stories of life outside the mountains pull at Laurel's imagination. Faced with angry parents over teaching methods, Laurel's father's drunken rages, and bad news from England, will Jonathan leave and never return, or will he stay and let love bloom?”
Series: Part of the “My Heart Belongs” series, but not connected to any other books.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, read, & discussed; Prayers; Church going & Hymns; Many talks about God, Jesus, His creation, missions, dreams/callings, & faiths; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of God, Jesus, dreams/callings, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & devotions; Mentions of churches, church going, services, hymns, & pastors; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of Heaven & angels; A few mentions of blessings;
*Note: Mentions of spirits/ghosts,
witchcraft, magic, & the devil; A few mentions of superstitions; A mention
of a man having a Zeus-like aura.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dad-blamed’ and a ‘shucks’; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Laurel’s father is a terrifying drunk for part of the year (while he has never been violent before, there are many threats and he pulls a knife on his son; Him and a few other men prepare for being drunks all winter by cutting wood from their families and stocking up on extra food first; Throughout all of this, Laurel and her mom continue to love him and remember that he’s not always like this); A fire (up to semi-detailed); A fall, pain, & losing a lot of blood (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of drunks, drinking, & alcohol; Mentions of an allergic reaction, doctor related actions to save the child, injuries, blood/bleeding, & illnesses (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of wars, fighting, guns, injuries, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of guns, gunfire, & guns being aimed; Mentions of fires; Mentions of threats; Mentions of outlaws/criminals, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of cigars, pipes & tobacco; Mentions of hunting & animal traps; A few mentions of dead animals (rats) on Jonathan’s porch with a gruesome meaning (up to semi-detailed); A mention of (a rumor of) books with child killings;
*Note: Mentions of prejudice/racist
comments from people about “colored folks” having diseases (Laurel advises them
on to not spout off their theories as there isn’t any evidence of such
silliness); Mentions of books, authors, & fictional characters; A few
mentions of vampires.
Sexual
Content- a hand kiss, a hair kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, three semi-detailed
kisses, two detailed kisses, three very detailed kisses (after one, Laurel
comments that for being holy matrimony there is “no way that something this hot
could be holy”), and quite a bit of staring at another’s lips (*Spoiler* it
should be noted that all of these kisses are after marriage *End of Spoiler*); Wanting
to kiss & touch (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Warmth/Heat, &
Embraces (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including curves &
muscles), Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Because of
an injury that causes Laurel to stay at Jonathan’s house for two nights
(nothing sexual happened), her father rushes in and makes them have a shotgun
wedding (also mentions of her father thinking that Jonathan sneaked out of their
house before—again nothing sexual happened then either) *End of Spoiler*; Many
mentions of kisses, kissing, & thinking about kissing (barely-above-not-detailed);
Mentions of Laurel’s sister who become pregnant out of wedlock and their father
forcing her to leave the house (they have not heard from her since); Mentions
of helping a woman give birth & her pain (up to semi-detailed); A few
mentions/hints of “what’s more than kissing” (barely-above-not-detailed); A few
mentions of puppy love & blushes; A couple mentions of loose women &
reputations; A mention of a buxom woman; Love, falling in love, & the
emotions;
*Note: A couple mentions of a boy
telling a man that they can take a bath together because of their same body
parts; A mention of a book with pictures of naked statues; A mention of a
sin-filled novel with lustful words.
-Laurel
McAdams, age 19
-Jonathan
Taylor
P.O.V. switches between them
P.O.V. switches between them
Set
in 1918
256 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
256 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
{ Due to heavy kisses, this book is receiving a one-star all-around
rating. We really enjoyed the book up to those kisses and are sad to give it
such a low rating.}
For the
first half of this book, it felt like a 3 star.
Then a
twist happened a bit later and it became a 4 star.
However,
some pretty heavy kisses entered in and dropped the rating to a 1 star.
I’m sad
now. ☹️
~*~
This is
my first book by this author, so I decided to go into this book with no
expectations and just a little hesitation. I really liked both Laurel and
Jonathan, their thoughts, and how dedicated they each were to their
callings/dreams. I completely did not see such a twist coming and I really
enjoyed their thoughts about their dreams being changed. (Trying to be vague
here for spoilers’ sake, but probably just sounding silly.) Obviously because
this was a romance, you could see their attraction, but it wasn’t
heavy/overwhelming (not a love at first sight, but a true friendship first
which I loved). Then the twist and heavy kisses started with hints to
wondering about more. Again, I repeat, I’m sad. I can understand a kiss or
a handful here and there to a certain level, but it was some heavy kisses all
at once and ruined most of my enjoyment of the 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.
