"To Diguise the Truth" by Jen Turano

About this book:

 

  “When a man arrives at the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, anxious to hire them to find a missing heiress, Eunice Holbrooke realizes her past has finally caught up with her…and that she may no longer be able to hide under the disguise that has kept her safe for so long.

   Arthur Livingston’s goal in life is to make his mark on the world as a mining industrialist, but after the man who could help him achieve his goal is murdered, Arthur feels compelled to seek justice for the family—but he’s left with more questions than answers after the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency refuses to take on his case.

   Desperate to conceal her real identity and avoid the irritatingly handsome Arthur, Eunice takes on a different care that requires her to go deep undercover and entangles her in one troublesome situation after another. When other secrets come to light, Eunice has no choice but to confront her past, hopeful that it will set her free but knowing it could very well place her life—and the lives of those she loves—in jeopardy.”

Series: Book #3 (of 3) in the “Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency”. Reviews of Book #1 Here and #2 Here!

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are quoted, thought over, & mentioned; Talks about God, & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of churches, church going, worship, services, a reverend, Sunday school classes, & lessons; Mentions of missions; A few mentions of faiths; A few mentions of a blessing; A few mentions of Eunice’s grandfather not having much use for God & calling God vengeful; A few mentions of someone being berated for going to church from a family member; A couple mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A mention of praying for an elder’s soul at church;

             *Note: A mention of fortune tellers.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘on my word’, a ‘shut up’, and eight forms of ‘idiot’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Going undercover at a mental asylum; Fighting (barely-above-not-detailed, self-protection); Being shot at & being held at gunpoint; Many mentions of a murder, the killer, how it happened, finding the body, blood, & seeing them die (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a man being arrested after attempting to hire an assassin to murder his wife; Mentions of guns/weapons, shooting, shooting someone, being shot at, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of mental asylums, women being mistreated/physically abused there, injuries, & men committing their wives to asylums (after she questioned him on something or grieving someone after their death); Mentions of abductions; Mentions of fighting, fights, being punched/slapped, & punching back; Mentions of crimes, thieving, thieves, & forgery; Mentions of jail/prison & arrests; Mentions of threats, bribes, & blackmail; Mentions of fortune hunters; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of rumors, gossip, & eavesdropping; Mentions of divorces; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of carriage accidents & deaths (some part of a story, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of bodies of the deceased being burned in India; A few mentions of violence; A few mentions of possible fires; A few mentions of drugging someone; A few mentions of gambling; A few mentions of saloons; A few mentions of wine; A few mentions of a horse almost being sent to a horse factory & slaughtered (did not happened); A couple mentions of putting held at knifepoint; A couple mentions of an opium addict & the effects of taking it; A mention of making a crime scene look like a murder-suicide; A mention of mental asylum patients that are “predisposed to commit suicide”; A mention of someone thinking another would never have committed suicide; A mention of a woman (at the asylum) being held underwater for not listening to a nurse (the mentioner was afraid that they would drown her);

             *Note: Mentions of books by Jane Austen; A mention of an infant’s death & the mother’s grief. 

 

 

Sexual Content- Five hand (typically greeting) kisses, three cheek kisses, two not-detailed kisses, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Imaging a kiss (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to be kissed & kiss someone (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (including curves, barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* It’s unclear if Eunice was born out-of-wedlock or after her parents were married, but her parents did love each other and got married *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of a woman who says she married her current husband (who is 20 young than her) because of him being quite virile (Eunice says she probably didn’t need to know that, but it’s somewhat encouraging that they’ve enjoyed a robust romantic life with him. The woman says she’s never seen that side of him, she only assumed it because he keeps more than one mistress. This leads into finding out they were never intimate together nor consummated their marriage.); Mention of mistresses, a man dallying with a maid, & a rumor about a man having a mistress; Mentions of kissing, kisses, & Eunice wanting a man “who knows his way around a good kiss” (Eunice has never been kissed and finds it sad that she could depart from this earth without receiving a kiss from a handsome man); Mentions of flirting, flirty smiles, & blushes; A few mentions of (someone who is not) a bigamist; A few mentions of an illegitimate son; A few mentions of hand kisses; A few mentions of a young woman being with dangerous and vile men; A couple mentions of a man being injured in an accident that he couldn’t share an intimate relationship with a woman or father children; A couple mentions of a grandfather’s Casanova behavior; A mention of a woman taking up with a traveling salesman when he was in town that resulted in a child; A mention of a married man gallivanting around town with questionable women; A mention of a man being told to not have any “manly thoughts” towards a specific young woman; A mention of seeing a couple kiss; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: Mentions of a man saying he has an eye for ladies’ figures & it’s taken the wrong way (he’s a dressmaker and says while he makes dresses to flatter a woman and her curves, he never ogled anyone’s curves); Mentions of a woman saying going naked on an overly warm day could be pleasant.

 

-Eunice Holbrooke, age 27-28

-Arthur Livingston, age 33

                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                          Set in 1887

                                                   347 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

What a good conclusion to this trilogy! Everything was definitely wrapped up with a bow for every character and I really enjoyed the epilogue.

Hidden identities and family company drama are two of my favorite tropes, so I really liked those parts and was pleased with how different parts happened. There is a lot of information and stories thrown at the reader in the first hundred pages, therefore be prepared to catch it all to understand details later. It wasn’t too overwhelming, but I did struggle with keeping track of everyone in her extended family.  

I only have two things I wish would have been different: 1.) I wish the faith content had been a little more apparent all through the story, as the majority of the faith content was mainly in two sections last a couple pages each time, but I liked what was discussed. And 2.) There were a couple comments/mentions that I thought were unneeded, personally.

While I wouldn’t call this one near my favorite books by this author, it was still a really enjoyable read and I liked Eunice quite a bit. She’s intrigued me since her first mention in the first book of this trilogy and I was so excited to finally get her story and to get to know her. The phrase “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” comes to mind when thinking about our mysterious boardinghouse owner. This was definitely a good ending to a fun series and I’m quite satisfied by it.  

 

 

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 (Bethany House) for this honest review.

"To Write a Wrong" by Jen Turano

About this book:

  “Miss Daphne Beekman is a mystery writer by day, inquiry agent by night. Known for her ability to puzzle out plots, she happily works behind the scenes for the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, staying well away from danger. However, Daphne soon finds herself in the thick of an attempted murder case she's determined to solve.

   Mr. Herman Henderson is also a mystery writer, but unlike the dashing heroes he pens, he prefers living a quiet life, determined to avoid the fate of his adventurous parents, who perished on an expedition when he was a child. But when he experiences numerous attempts on his life, he seeks out the services of the eccentric Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency to uncover the culprit. All too soon, Herman finds himself stepping out of the safe haven of his world and into an adventure he never imagined.

   As the list of suspects grows and sinister plots are directed Daphne’s way as well, Herman and Daphne must determine who they can trust and if they can risk the greatest adventure of all: love.”

Series: Book #2 in “The Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency”. Review of the first book, Here!

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are read, quoted, & commented on; Talks about God (including one about a person that was mad at Him for a death of a loved one and another one about someone praying for courage); ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of a chapel, church services, & a reverend; A mention of helping with missions.

Negative Content- Eye rolling; Trying to find who is attempting to murder Herman; Herman drinks wine at a dinner party; Fighting/Punching (up to semi-detailed); Blood/Bleeding, Pain, & Fainting (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of murders, murderers, & attempted murders (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a ship that went down & deaths; Mentions of a kidnapping & being tied up; Mentions of missing people; Mentions of crimes, criminals, jails, & arrests; Mentions of break-ins/trespassing & intruders; Mentions of stolen items, thefts, & arrests; Mentions of threats, weapons, & pistols and arrows being aimed at someone; Mentions of fights, fighting, punches, & duels; Mentions of blood/bleeding, injuries, stitches, & broken bones (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of poison; Mentions of blackmail; Mentions of lying & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of men abusing women; Mentions of asylums & a man attempting to commit his wife to one because she questioned him; A few mentions of gambling & debts to questionable characters; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of wine, drinking, & having too much to drink; A couple mentions of throwing up.

 

 

Sexual Content- Three hand/fingers kisses, a not-detailed kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Remembering a kiss (up to semi-detailed); Touches & Blushes; Butterflies; Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Discussions that women (& young ladies) need to know how to protect themselves, about the dangers of the world and men, & that if a man does try to attack a woman, that she is not to blame; A man (it’s easy to call him a pedophile because he was an adult and she only thirteen) has a twist view of Daphne, who he thought was using her feminine wiles on him (he says she was “whetting [his] appetite for [her]”, (“twirling her hair in a provocative manner) however, she was completely not doing that); *Spoiler, but important triggering note* Mentions of when an adult man tried to force himself on Daphne when she was thirteen (he dragged her to a forest, but she fainted and nothing else happened); He tries again towards the end and gets beaten to a pulp *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of flirtation, flirts, & flirting; Mentions of feminine allure; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of chaperones & reputations; A few mentions of men trying to attack women; A few mentions of kisses; A few mentions of noticing nearness/touches between couples & blushes; A couple mentions of cheating husbands & a possible affair; A mention of the possibility of men taking unwanted liberties with women; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: Mentions of unmentionables & bustles shaping a woman’s backside.

 

-Daphne Beekman, age 25

-Herman Henderson, age 31

                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                             Set in 1887

                                                        360 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Trigger Warning: Attempted Assault (including towards a minor) & Anxiety}

For the beginning and middle, I adored this book tremendously. Daphne was absolutely amazing with her wit and then how well-spoken she was made me want to take notes. Herman was an almost perfect hero, and their conversations about writing and plots were so amusing. 

I was planning on giving this book a four star rating throughout the majority of the book because of those things and because of how much I actually laughed out loud. However, there was something revealed towards the end that touched on a dark topic and because of it, I feel more comfortable giving it a three star rating. It’s a sensitive topic and while it wasn’t detailed or even near that, it still turned my stomach at that part. (To note: it’s discussed for about 30 pages.) Personally, the topic of assault is something I’m sensitive towards, so I would have preferred a warning about this being mentioned in the book—perhaps at the beginning of the book because it can be triggering for survivors and those sensitive to it—especially as an attempt is made on a minor and we hear a bit of the man’s twisted thoughts.

So, while it was a mostly light-hearted and humorous read surrounding a mystery of who’s attempting to murder Herman, there were also serious discussions about anxiety and anxiety attacks, men abusing women, men not taking no for an answer, and the need for women to be able to protect themselves. This is why my ratings are lower for younger age groups, even though I really enjoyed the main characters and overall plot.

 

 

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.