"A Summer at Sagamore" by Lisa M. Prysock

About this book:

  “Can summer love survive amid mystery and mayhem?
    When Abigail Greenwood and her cousins settle in for their annual summer retreat at the stunning and impressive Sagamore Resort in the Adirondacks, all she wants is to spend as much time as possible plunking out stories on her typewriter. But when her cousins insist she join them in the tradition of choosing a beau to adore from a distance during their stay, she reluctantly plays along, setting her sights on a mysteriously quiet and aloof guest. What started as harmless fun soon changes as Abby finds herself captivated by debonair—and handsome—Jackson Gable. Who is he, and why does his arrogant amused smile exasperate her so much?
    When a series of events causing mayhem and mischief begin to occur at Sagamore, journalist Jackson Gable is determined to get to the bottom of it, since his father is an investor of the resort. Jack has a nose for mysteries, but he may have to use his recently earned law degree and some of his posh family connections to sleuth out the culprit. Are the events connected? Why are they happening? And why can’t he get the beautiful Abby off his mind?”


Series: Book #2 in the “Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts” series, but does not seem to be connected to any other book. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & discussed; Prayers, Going to chapels, & praying at an altar; Eight of the twenty chapters starts with a Scripture; Talks about God, Jesus, the Azusa revival and events there, & faiths; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Abby’s father is a Presbyterian minister; Abby reads a book by Grace Livingston Hill and comments about the characters believing in “the grace and goodness of God” and finds it inspiring to her own writing; Jack thinks Abby looks like an angel and has a peace hovering about her; Abby wonders after seeing a family that doesn’t want to pray but at an altar at a chapel, if they “attended a church with strict rules of convention and were unaware that God only wanted people’s hearts, not rigid rules and traditions” and encourages them to pray in a pew; Abby and others fast as “another appeal to move God’s heart” for a miracle; Jack tells Abby about the time Jesus appeared to him in a dream to repent for his actions (when he was a teenager); Abby prays for forgiveness from God for writing a fake note; *Spoiler* At the end, Abby asks Jack if he broke the news gently to his parents that he was proposing to her who is Presbyterian *End of Spoiler*; A comment about keeping the Lord first in their hearts; Many mentions of God, Jesus, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of praying for revelation of a crime & for the criminals to be reformed and repent; Mentions of praying at an altar & at churches; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, ministers, sermons, & services; Mentions of the Azusa Street Revival that Abby and her family went to, that deepened their faiths, witnessed miracles at (including her grandmother receiving healing and a man’s arm “supernaturally” growing back), & some viewing it as a spectacle; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of Bible reading & devotional times; A couple mentions of the Holy Spirit; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of water baptism; 
             *Note: ‘For heaven’s sake!’ and ‘By George!’ are both exclaimed once; A place is called heaven because of it’s bathing pool; A few mentions of luck & not believing in it; A mention of a magical evening.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘good grief’; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; A fire, Being followed/chased by someone, & Being scared (up to semi-detailed); Two side characters that are sisters bicker & argue with each other (Abby’s grandmother warns her to stay away from them, but Abby tries to be kind to the sisters); A man tries to make it appear as if he’s been attacked and robbed (Abby and Jack see the man lying in the dirt, on the side of the road, and pretending to be passed out so someone will rescue him); Many mentions of crimes, criminals, break-ins, robberies, thieves/thefts, stolen items, & sabotage; Mentions of a fire, the arsonist, an arrest, & jail; Mentions of missing teens & a search party for them; Mentions of a saddle being cut, injuries, & how it could have killed someone (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a murder mystery book; A few mentions of teens from the “wrong crowd” breaking into a schoolhouse, smashing the windows, and making a mess; A few mentions of jealousy & bitterness; A few mentions of rumors & gossip; A couple mentions of blackmail; 
             *Note: Every chapter starts with a Scripture or a quote (quotes are by: Maud Hart Lovelace, Charles Dickens, Lucy Maude Montgomery/L.M. Montgomery, Edna St. Vincent Millay, William Wordsworth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Elisabeth Elliot,  E.M. Forster, & Maya Angelou); Mentions of authors & books (Grace Livingston Hill, E.M. Forster, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, & Emily Dickinson); A few mentions of hotel investors believing it’s their fault that an employee is skimming the cash registers because they are under paying him & the employee complaining about his wage being too low to set aside a retirement (however, they are planning for his replacement); A mention of Downton Abbey in the author’s note.
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss, and two semi-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Dances, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches, embraces, & dancing (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including muscles, up to semi-detailed); Flirting; Abby thinks Jack is a rake at first; Abby’s cousin and sister plan to have one week to decide on the man they will “place [their] deepest affection and unswerving devotion” (apart from the Lord, who should remain first in their hearts) on for the rest of the summer and if they are “exceptionally lucky”, they will receive a kiss; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & wanting to touch (including a mention of Abby’s seventeen-year-old sister wanting to run her hands through a handsome boy’s hair); Mentions of flirting, flirts, & blushes; Mentions of handsome men, beaus, & Abby’s boy-crazy companions; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of broken hearts; A few mentions of chaperones; A mention of a girlfriend; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: After seeing him for the first time, Abby wonders if Jack likes her brown eyes, but thinks about how almost every heroine in novels having blue eyes; Abby wonders if she lets Jack into her life, if he will “clip her wings” or “enable her to soar” (she wonders this a couple of times, once adding about “didn’t most men want subservient wives who spent hours in the kitchen and provided them with offspring?”). 
 
-Abigail “Abby” Greenwood, age 21
-Jackson “Jack” Gable, age 28
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                          Set in 1907
                                                        191 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I really struggled with this book—but not due to any major content problems, because of the classic-style writing style this story was told in. It’s no secret that I’ve never been a classics fan and I would be very curious to see what those who do enjoy classics would think about this book. I found that there were way too many detailed added in that added very little to the plot, such as described of all the trees, her dresses, and the food everyone orders at the hotel. I frankly grew bored at times and had this book been longer, I probably would have marked it as a DNF, but because it was under 200 pages, I decided to stick with it. 

 

There’s a handful of mentions of events that took place prior to this story starting that feel like it’s hints of prior books, but I don’t see that there are connecting books with these characters. On that note, some readers who are not Pentecostal may be uncomfortable with the mentions of a revival that the main characters went to prior to this book starting and the mentions of miracles that are said to have happen there.  

 

We have more details about her clothing and attraction to him, and very little that made me cheery for them as a couple. I did find it a little annoying that she didn’t want to fall for him (yet was obviously doing so) but when he asked twice if he could kiss her, she said yes. I don’t understand how she had a good head on her shoulder for most of the book but didn’t realize that intimate action would affect her emotions/feelings towards him. (It doesn’t help that I really didn’t care for him because of some glimpses of pride/an attitude.) 

 

Overall, I don’t have any major content concerns with this book, it was just a massive miss for me and not my cup of tea. I do think some readers will enjoy it (perhaps those who really enjoy Grace Livingston Hill’s books) and the writing style, but I was unfortunately not one of them.

 

 

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.

 

"A Winter at the White Queen" by Denise Weimer

About this book:

  “In the world of the wealthy, things are never quite as they appear.
    Ellie Hastings is tired of playing social gatekeeper—and poor-relation companion—to her Gibson Girl of a cousin. But her aunt insists Ellie lift her nose out of her detective novel long enough to help gauge the eligibility of bachelors during the winter social season at Florida’s Hotel Belleview. She finds plenty that’s mysterious about the suave, aloof Philadelphia inventor, Lewis Thornton. Why does he keep sneaking around the hotel? Does he have a secret sweetheart? And what is his connection to the evasive Mr. Gaspachi, slated to perform at Washington’s Birthday Ball?
    Ellie’s comical sleuthing ought to put Lewis out, but the diffident way her family treats her smashes a hole in his normal reserve. When Florence Hastings’s diamond necklace goes missing, Ellie’s keen mind threatens to uncover not only Lewis’s secrets, but give him back hope for love.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts” series, but does not seem to be connected to any other book. 


Spiritual Content- A Scripture is referenced; A few Prayers; Talks about God & Jesus; Some 'H's are capital when referring to God; Ellie shares about Jesus with a little girl; A little girl asks why God didn’t make a female bird pretty like the male one of its kind (but then she notices that the female bird’s song is beautiful); The same little girl doesn’t understand why God would let someone get hurt, but is told that God lets people make choices; Mentions of God, Jesus, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; A mention of a Bible; A mention of something being a sin; 
             *Note: Magic is mentioned & talked about in terms of magic tricks and a magician (we see some tricks on page and most are explained showing the science behind them; The magician does not do anything sensational or dark and will not do those in his shows); Lewis thinks that Ellie looks like an “elven enchantress, a spirit from another realm” at one point; An illusion of a “ghost couple”; A few mentions of fate and destiny in meeting someone; A mention of someone falling into a “blue devil” (low spirits); A mention of someone sharing a ghost story.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘biddies’, a ‘blimey’, a ‘for Pete’s sake’, a ‘law’, and two ‘stupid’s; A bit of eye rolling; Ellie’s cousin wants help with keeping something from her mother (which the deception unsettles Ellie’s spirit, but doesn’t know what else to do); Mentions of deaths (including from cancer) & grief; Mentions of a woman who fell to her death; Mentions of a child almost being hit by a car & someone else being injured and facing possible amputation (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thieves, criminals/crimes, stealing, & a stolen item; A few mentions of alcohol & drinking; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of gossip & rumors; A mention of beheadings; A mention of the Spanish-American War; A mention of drugs; A mention of gambling;
             *Note: Ellie’s aunt orders her about and to find out about potential suitors for her cousins (Ellie is also ignored by others because of her lack of standing); Ellie feels like she is below others of high society (due to always being overlooked and cast aside); Ellie comments on not being able to do something that her aunt would disapprove of and Lewis comments that it sounds like a good reason to do it; When finding out about potential spouses for her cousins, Ellie would employ the dropped-item tactic to see if the man will pick it up, but it when comes to Lewis and testing him with it, she doesn’t want to appear as a “brainless female”; *Spoiler* At the end, Ellie’s aunt apologizes to her for how she’s treated Ellie *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of books & fictional characters (classics); A few mentions of brand names (Coca-Cola, Juicy Fruit gum); A mention of a stuffed alligator at a hotel.
 
 
Sexual Content- A semi-detailed kiss, and a border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss & Staring at another’s lips (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Smelling (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Flirting & Blushes; Noticing (including his muscles, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Ellie wonders if Lewis has a mistress/paramour based on a couple comments and hints she sees (*Spoiler* he does not, but does have a niece who is his ward; His sister was used and discarded like trash, later saying “she became involved with a rake, eloped, and got herself with child” and that the man disappeared when she died having the baby *End of Spoiler*); Ellie doesn’t want to see a man who has a woman on the side nor does she want to be that woman; When Ellie goes into Lewis’ rooms at night, she thinks that she might as well pin a scarlet letter to her chest if someone sees her (not sexual at all, she is going to visit someone); Ellie asks her aunt if she thinks a man is going to “debauch” her (which her aunt doesn’t want her to use “such vulgar terms” and no, doesn’t think that will happen); A look of longing; Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of reputations & chaperones; Mentions of couples touching, embracing, & holding hands; A few mentions of broken hearts & a man using a woman for information (*Spoiler* Ellie’s past beau *End of Spoiler*); A couple mentions of a man being labeled as a womanizer; A mention of someone being accused of having a “sordid affair”; A mention of a young woman throwing herself to a man; A mention of a man wearing a “very flamboyant” color of loungewear (he’s a magician); Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Ellie’s aunt asks her how she will “achieve the proper womanly proportions” if she skips a meal; Ellie is uncomfortable in a bathing suit and doesn’t want anyone to see her in it; Ellie wears a dress that “might even give her a bosom”; Ellie stashes something in her padded corset/bosom; A couple mentions of two women’s curvy figures (Ellie notices); A mention of Ellie blushing like she confessed that she forgot to wear one of her unmentionables; A mention of an aunt’s “prodigious” bosom; A mention of a couple where the man is a dozen years older than the woman; A mention of a mother dying in childbirth.
 
-Ellie Hastings, age 29
-Lewis Thornton
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                           Set in 1910
                                                        188 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was pretty cute! It said it was set in 1910 but if felt a little closer to the 1920s in different regards like their vocabulary and phrases used, but it was still a fun and quick read. 

 

Because this was under 200 pages it did feel rushed and jumpy at times—I would’ve really like some things to been expounded upon. Another 50 or so pages could’ve fixed that I think, but it was still pretty cute albeit cheesy and dramatic a few times. I will definitely be continuing on with the rest of the series because the Gilded age is my favorite historical time period. :)

 

 

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.