About this book:
“Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . .
When their father's death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family.
Viola Summers wears a veil to cover her scar. When forced to choose between helping in her family's new guest house and earning money to hire a maid to do her share, she chooses the latter. She reluctantly agrees to read to some of Sidmouth's many invalids, preferring the company of a few elders with failing eyesight to the fashionable guests staying in their home. But when her first client turns out to be a wounded officer in his thirties, Viola soon wishes she had chosen differently. Her new situation exposes her scars--both visible and those hidden deep within--and her cloistered heart will never be the same.”
Series: Book #1 in the “On Devonshire Shores” series.
Spiritual Content- Psalm 90:14 at the beginning & Two chapters start with a Scripture; A handful of Scriptures are read, quoted, & mentioned; Prayers & Thanking God; A few talks about God, His will, & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Viola wonders why she was born with a cleft lip (and whether it was her mother’s fault, God’s, or her own); Viola admits that while she believes in God, she “doesn’t like all His ways”; Viola questions someone on why does “God protect some people and not others” & the person responds that she doesn’t know and that she “wishes He promised us all peace and safety, but He does not”; Sarah struggles trusting God with control of her life and family; Mentions of God, His will, & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, church events, pastors/vicars/reverends, & different denominations; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A couple mentions of godsends; A mention of miracles;
*Note: Phrases like “heavens” (x8), “good heavens” (x8), “thank heavens” (x1), and “for heaven’s sake” (x1) are said or exclaimed; Some people or things are described as “devilish” and “the devils”; Mentions of superstitions & curses (regarding what others have said about Viola’s cleft lip); Mentions of mythical creatures (changelings, sirens, nymphs); Mentions of lucky, being lucky, & thanking lucky stars (the latter is refuted by a side character); A few mentions of mythology gods/goddess.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’ and six forms of ‘stupid’; “ass” is used twice when describing a donkey; Regency exclamations such as ‘botheration’, ‘dash it’, ‘losh’, ‘lawks’, ‘the devil’, ‘what the blazes’, ‘what the devil’, ‘balderdash’, ‘dashed’, ‘fiddle’ & ‘thunder and turf’ are said up to three times each; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Eavesdropping (including being hurt by what was overheard); Some sister bickering, squabbles, & hurtful words; Nearly drowning, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Grief (for a father & for a fiancé); Many mentions of injuries, scars, pain, blood/bleeding, & surgeries (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of wars, battles, & deaths; Mentions of deaths (including from a possible suicide, an apoplexy, illnesses, & surgery), a body, & grief (including for wives, husbands, a daughter, & a brother); Mentions of a fire, an explosion, someone being shot, someone being attacked and left for dead, & related injuries; Mentions of a drowning & near drownings; Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thieves/criminals, & crimes; Mentions of alcohol/wine, drinking, drunks, & taverns; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of an abusive husband & his drinking and gambling tendencies; A few mentions of gambling; A few mentions of bullies & being bullied (including Viola being bullied as a child); A few mentions of young boys being chased by vicious dogs; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of tattoos; A couple mentions of pipes & smoking; A mention of hunting;
*Note: Each chapter starts with a quote from a famous author (such as Jane Austen, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, & Lord Byron) or from a historical notice/ad (there are also two chapters that starts with a Scripture); Viola was born with a cleft lip and wears a veil often so others will not stare at her or make comments about her scar (this is a frequent part of her chapters due to mentions of her shame, her “deformity”, and “ugly” lip); Viola has signs of PTSD from past surgeries and a cruel surgeon (up to semi-detailed on her fear and remembering those events); Sarah cares take of her mother (who is poor in health) and is concerned about her health (including a time where her mother doesn’t answer and Sarah fears for the worst); Mentions of authors, books, & fictional characters (Frances Burney, Robert Southey, Walter Scott, John Bunyan, Jane Austen); Mentions of prejudice & shunning (due to someone’s skin color or scars); Mentions of depression (due to sicknesses and miscarriages) & a possible suicide; A few mentions of a husband feeling guilty about his wife’s possible suicide; A couple mentions of miscarriages; A couple mentions of a woman being unable to fully love her daughter due to being reminded of her cruel husband; The word ‘gay’ is used in its old meaning of ‘happy/carefree’.
Sexual Content- Fingers-to-lips touches (up to semi-detailed), a hand kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and three semi-detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Staring at lips (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Tingles, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (x3, up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches & nearness (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (including at muscles, bare chests, and arm/chest hair & men who are partially dressed, x3, up to semi-detailed); Remembering seeing men’s bare chests & in the state of partial undress (barely-above-not-detailed); Two of the sisters see men undressing to go swimming (they close their eyes when the men start to take off their trousers); A misunderstanding/comment about an unmarried woman sneaking into a man’s room; Mentions of kisses, almost kisses, & seeing a couple kissing; Mentions of elopements, couples going to an inn alone, & reputations being ruined; Mentions of flirts, flirting, blushes, & winks; A few mentions of married couples having separate bedchamber; A few mentions of chaperones; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of some men trying to sneak a peek of scantily clad women at a bathing machine; A mention of a man one day asking a woman to share his “life and bed” (through marriage); Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Because of her cleft lip, Viola doesn’t believe she should have children (adding that physicians do not know a great deal about it, but most people blame the mother assuming she “must have had impure thoughts or seen a hare or someone with a cleft lip”; Someone argues this with her because God must allow it for a reason, but she doesn’t think there’s any good reason); A young teen girl starts her menstrual cycle and believes she is going to die due to not knowing what is happening (a female main character explains it to her and gathers what she needs; Mentions of the blood and bleeding “down there”); *Slight Spoilers, but about a woman being deemed ruined* The Summers’ girls have an older sister named Claire who was sent to Scotland to be a companion for a great aunt; However, later, it is revealed that she tried to elope with a man and when the marriage did not happen, her reputation would be ruined so the father sent her to Scotland and said she was dead to him (forbidding any contact with her) *End of Spoilers*; A few mentions of men swimming with no clothes or “au naturel”; A mention of woman not being able to have children at “any age” (unlike a man who can).
-Sarah Sumers, age 26
-Emily Summers, age 21
-Viola Summers, age 21
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1819
448 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I was in the mood for a slower paced book and decided to pick this one up—it has been sitting on my TBR for probably years, but never read due to the length (450+ pages!) and the fact I knew it would be a bit slow and long like most of this author’s books I’ve read.
I went back and forth between which sister was my favorite as I read. I’ll end the book saying it was Viola, but the other Summers girls were good to read about as well. I did make the mistake of reading the back covers of the next books in the series, though, about halfway through which ruined some elements of the three potential romances that happen in this book. So, don’t be like me and avoid those blurbs until it’s time to read those books! My other favorite character was Mr. Hornbeam because he was a kind dear (and not one of the potential suitors).
I enjoyed quite a few parts of this story, particularly all the historical information and details. That said, I would hesitate to recommend this book to teens because there are three potential romantic relationships in this one book and there’s a decent amount of noticing muscles/bare chests and men’s physical appearances that I didn’t care for. I would say ages 16/17+ for sure, personally, because of these parts. Definitely more romance content, emotions, and noticing physical appearances than the one Jane Austen book I’ve read (so far).
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.
