“Miss Camilla Pierpont, a renowned matchmaker and influential member of the New York Four Hundred, has vowed never to marry after suffering a devastating heartbreak during her debut years ago. However, when she is nearly abducted along the Hudson River, she finds herself rescued by an annoyingly outspoken, albeit fascinating, gentleman who challenges her in a manner she wasn't expecting.
After learning that Camilla Pierpont has enjoyed success with taking wayward young ladies in hand, Mr. Owen Chesterfield travels to the Hudson River Valley determined to convince Camilla to sponsor his sister, who is in desperate need of social rehabilitation.
Knowing her life is in danger, Camilla agrees to Owen's proposition and travels with him to West Virginia, finding herself charmed by the less-than-formal attitude of his small hometown, as well as by Owen himself. But danger waits in the shadows, disrupting what she knows would be the most spectacular match she's ever made--her own.”
Series: Book #3 in “The Matchmakers” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is mentioned; Mentions of God & forgiveness; Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, & reverends; Mentions of a discussion with a Reverend (about forgiving someone but God is not mentioned); A couple mentions of Bibles; A couple mentions of praying; A mention of Sunday school; A mention of a man calling a woman “close to an angel”;
*Note: ‘For heaven’s sake’ is said twice and ‘Good heavens’ is said eight times; There is a tradition (which can be viewed as a superstition) about a recipe in Owen’s family always going into the hands of someone that will later marry into his family (Owen’s Meemaw says that Camilla may view it as a superstition, but “we here in West Virginia believe in the power of [this tradition].”); A couple mentions of a place being “almost heaven”; A mention of being lucky.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: Two ‘oh my word’s, three forms of ‘darn’, three ‘what in tarnation’s, and seven ‘idiot’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Being abducted/kidnapped, Being chased, Being threatened, Shooting at others, Fighting, Punching someone, Pain, Injuries, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Camilla wants to throttle Owen at times (which surprises her because she’s never felt this way before); Owen hands Camilla a glass of champagne at a party; Many mentions of the abduction attempts, abductors, criminals, crime bosses, ransom, threats, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of violence, assaulting someone (punching), someone being punched, the broken nose, & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of mining and factory accidents, explosions, & injuries (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of highway men, thieves, & robberies; Mentions of guns, weapons, being aimed and shot at others, & gunshots; Mentions of someone being chased by a bear & shooting at it to scare it away; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, social drinking at parties, & moonshine making (including a man being blown up while making it & Camilla saying that she’ll have an occasional glass of wine or champagne); Mentions of lies/fibs, lying, & deceit; Mentions of gossip, rumors, & eavesdropping; Mentions of bullies & their mockery; Mentions of a divorce; A handful of mentions of casinos, gambling, & dens; A few mentions of a young girl sneaking off with a loaded gun to learn how to shoot (her brother followed her and taught her); A few mentions of arrests & jail; A few mentions of cigars, pipes, & smoking;A couple mentions of almost drowning; A couple mentions of saloons; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of an unpleasant smell (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a body being held for ransom; A mention of an accident & caring for someone involved in one; A mention of a fire; A mention of slaughterhouse; A mention of jealousy;
*Note: A handful of comments about “feminine sensibilities”, women being the “fairer sex”, and such topics (most are said unaware it’s not a compliment like the man intended but one man is rude about it); Mentions of a man putting his wife into an asylum citing that she was mad (*Spoiler* Turns out he had been giving her dangerous mushrooms that causes hallucinations; She was rescued out of the asylum after a year *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of Luella and her mother sharing an “acrimonious” relationship & Luella thinking that she’s a disappointment to her mother (other family members do not think this latter part is true); A mention of Jane Austen.
Sexual Content- Staring at lips (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Hand kisses, two almost kisses (up to semi-detailed), three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and three semi-detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss & thinking about kissing (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Jealousy; Noticing (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Owen’s Great Aunt Elma says that she doesn’t agree with couples waiting to “test the waters” until they are married & should make sure they are compatible in the kissing department first (this is because her and her late husband waited and found out that they weren’t compatible until after they are already married; She encourages the couples to kiss & others discuss it); A man plans to be seen with a compromising setting with Camilla; Many mentions of kisses, kissing, stealing kisses, men having kissing on their minds, & Aunt Elma’s advice; Mentions of embraces, dancing, & couples sneaking off alone together; Mentions of courtship & broken hearts; Mentions of reputations & chaperones; Mentions of flirting, flirts, winks, & blushes; A few mentions of love-at-first-sight; A few mentions of a Casanova; A couple mentions of a ladies’ man (the man called one thinks it’s a compliment); A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a wife locking her husband out of her bedroom after they were married; A mention of a woman believing she’ll get grandchildren sooner if she lets the couple have more time alone together; A mention of a man and his experience (talking about kissing and relationships); Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Camilla is told not to have her derringer in her bodice because if something happens, she could lose one of her “charms” and be “charmless” (this is brought up twice); A young woman recalls when she was swimming “practically naked” and others (including men) appeared, so she stayed under the water (a few more mentions of this again later); A few mentions of some women terrorizing another woman for her plump figure & commenting about her not needing to eat; A few mentions of women’s figures; A mention of a woman forgoing certain unmentionables that would harm “her, ah, parts”; A mention of a man appreciating more than just a woman’s mind.
-Camilla Pierpont, age 25
-Owen Chesterfield
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1889
368 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
One of my most anticipated reads for 2024 and it met my expectations! I really enjoyed the second book in this series (and would still call it my favorite out of the three) so I was very excited for this one! :)
Owen did feel a bit like other male leads by this author in the way he kept sticking his foot in his mouth—particularly about her gender and the assumed characteristics of women—but it was still humorous. The sibling banter and bickering between Owen and Luella was great. Also, his Meemaw and who especially reminded me of my own Memaw. There was very little faith content which was a little disappointing, but I was glad to see the characters go to church.
This is absolutely hilarious and like every other book by this author, I found myself literally laughing out loud as I was reading this book. I would definitely say this is my favorite series by this author! Everything wraps up with a bow for these characters and while I would have liked to see the couple from the first book again, it was a very cute ending.
There was quite a bit about kissing in regards to the couples, however not much actual kissing on-page; this may alter the rating for younger teens, particularly because of the comment by Owen’s great aunt about making sure your compatible with someone (ie kissing) before you get married to each other. Not quite the message I would want to send to younger teens, but it comes across humorously and somewhat understandably because of said aunt’s marriage to a man who was “worse than a dog”.
This was overall a very fun and very entertaining read, a great ending to an enjoyable series!
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.
