"Chivalrous" by Dina L. Sleiman

About this book:

  “Strong and adventurous Gwendolyn Barnes longs to be a knight like her chivalrous brothers. However, that is not an option for her, not even in the Arthurian-inspired Eden where she dwells. Her parents view her only as a marriage pawn, and her domineering father is determined to see her wed to a brutish man who will break her spirit.

  When handsome, good-hearted Allen of Ellsworth arrives in Edendale searching for his place in the world, Gwendolyn spies in him the sort of fellow she could imagine marrying. Yet fate seems determined to keep them apart. Tournaments, intrigue, and battles--along with twists and turns aplenty--await these two as they struggle to find love, identity, and their true destinies.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Valiant Hearts” series. {Review of Book #1 Here!}

Spiritual Content- Many Prayers; ‘H’s are capital (except “God himself”); Many Talks about God, Scriptures, women & believing; Scriptures are quoted, read & discussed; Many mentions of those in the Bible & Christians; Mentions of going to mass; Mentions of nunneries; A book of sermons & discussing it; Allen says that God has put a certain place on his heart; Allen has a faith; Due to confusing religion in her childhood, Gwen ignores religion (*Spoiler* That changes during the book and it’s revealed that she’s mad at God. *End of Spoiler*);

*Note: Witchcraft, witches & Black magic is done (semi-detailed); a suit of armor that is “hot like Hades!”; Three ‘hellcat’s; Many mentions of goddess & demigods.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast it all’, a ‘drat’, a ‘shut up’, four forms of ‘idiot’, five ‘stupid’s, and seven ‘blasted’s; Sarcasm; Many mentions of spankings, slapping, lashes & bruises; Gwen’s mother loves her wine & mentions of slurred words; Drinking wine; Mentions of gambling; Hunting (semi0detailed): Blood & Killing (semi-detailed); Tournaments, sword fighting & jousting (semi-detailed to detailed): Killing & Fighting (semi-detailed); Planning a rebellion & killing; Mentions of murders & people who were butchered; A Mention of hanging; *Spoiler* Gwen’s father says that he should have killed her when she was an infant. *End of Spoiler*.

Sexual Content- three hand kisses, three cheek kisses, a nose kiss, a head kiss, three semi-detailed kisses and a detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss, Mentions of kisses; Married couples kiss; Noticing, & Smelling (semi-detailed); Butterflies & pounding in stomachs; Touches (semi-detailed); Dancing (borderline semi-detailed // detailed); Flirting & staring at a woman’s form; A jerk comments and stares at Gwen’s low dress; a ‘hellion’, two ‘harlot’s, two ‘wench’s, and three ‘hoyden’s; Mentions of virtue; Rosalind is a romantic; A mention of rape; Mentions of cheating & being faithful; Mentions of forcing marital intimacies & consummating a marriage; Mentions of marital intimacies, showing love physically, being close, & submitting to a husband; Mentions of bearing children, the process & “seeds”; Mentions of a woman’s “valuable reproduction organs.”; A forbidden love; *Spoiler* Rosalind is pregnant, “takes care of it” and is no longer with child. Let’s not get me started on this. !! *End of Spoiler* Writing a love poem; Many Mentions of when Allen loved Merry (book #1); Love, falling in love, & lots of the emotions.

             *Note: Many mentions of figures, curves, low dresses, & cleavage;  

-Gwendolyn “Gwen” Barnes, age 16

-Allen of Ellsworth, age 18
                                         P.O.V. switches between them, Rosalind & Warner

                                              Set in 1217 {Medieval}
                                                        351 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating-

I’m being really nice giving this book a 2-star rating as I truly didn’t like a lot of it. While there was quite a bit of Spiritual Content that was nice, all the Sexual & Marital hints and mentions made the ratings very low! *sigh* I can’t recommend this series due to this book and its content. And that Spoiler in the Sexual Content? I am still so annoyed about that! Argh! Something tells me book #3 will be about her, but whether it is or not, I will not be reading 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 review.

"Dauntless" by Dina L. Sleiman

About this book:

  “Born a Baron’s daughter, Lady Merry Ellison is now an enemy of the throne after her father’s failed assassination attempt upon the king. Bold and uniquely skilled, she is willing to go to any lengths to protect the orphaned children of her former village—a group that becomes known as “The Ghosts of Farthingale Forest.” Merry finds her charge more difficult as their growing notoriety brings increasing trouble their way.

  Timothy Grey, ninth child of the Baron of Greyham, longs to perform some feat so legendary that he will rise from obscurity and earn a title of his own. When the Ghosts of Farthingale Forest are spotted in Wyndeshore, where he serves as assistant to the local earl, he might have found his chance. But when he comes face-to-face with the leader of the thieves, he’s forced to reexamine everything he’s known.

  Where Legend and History Collide, One Young Woman Will Fight for the Innocent.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Valiant Hearts” series. {Book #2 will be releasing in September.}

Spiritual Content- Isaiah 61:3 at the beginning; Prayers and mentions of; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of those in the Bible; Psalm 23 & other Scriptures are quoted; Allen is the priest of the group; Witnessing to Merry; Merry does not believe in God anymore—only herself (*Spoiler* At the end she realizes that God was with her along. *End of Spoiler*).

*Note: Mentions of ghosts.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, an ‘idiot’. a ‘shoddy’, a form of ‘shut up’, two ‘curse them!’s, two ‘stupid’s, four forms of ‘blast’; Curses are said but not written;  Mentions of blood, hangings and swords (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of killing animals for food.

Sexual Content- two ‘b*st*rd’s, two not-detailed kisses; a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; a semi-detailed kiss; a detailed kiss; Hand kisses (semi-detailed); Remembering a kiss (semi-detailed); A mention of puckering; Wanting to Kiss & Touch; Noticing and Staring; Touches and Shivers (up to semi-detailed); Butterflies & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Allen has a major crush on Merry; Hints that an earl have mistresses; John was born out of wedlock; Love, falling in love, & the emotions (lots).

-(Lady) Merry Ellison, age 17

-Timothy Grey, age 19
                                         P.O.V. switches between them, Allen & John

                                              Set in 1216 {Medieval}
                                                        359 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

(and a half)

Early High School Teens-

(and a half)

Older High School Teens-

(and a half)

My personal Rating-

(and a half)

This was a well written book, but I, for some reason, couldn’t connect to it as well as I was hoping. For being set in the Pre/Early Medieval days, it was pretty clean! I appreciated that. The action scenes and tumbling parts were detailed in a way you know either the author did it herself or she researched like crazy. I was confused about John and who he was but I finally got it by the end. My main deal with this novel was all the lovey-dovey stuff, it was just a bit too much! But, I plan on reading the next book in the series when it comes out.  

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 review.