"An Unexpected Grace" by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse

About this book:

  “Can unexpected grace lay the foundation for a second chance at love?
    After a decade away, Parker Bennett returns home with a traveling troupe to perform a play based on Uncle Tom's Cabin at the Kalispell Opera House. Parker has relished his life on the road, but being home awakens long-buried emotions when he encounters his first love, Johanna St. John. He can't help but wonder if there might still be a place for him in her heart.
    Widowed for three years, Johanna devotes all her time to a demanding toddler, an injured father, and a successful millinery business. After the loss of her husband, she desires to move on, but reconnecting with her past love leaves her unsure of what lies ahead. Both committed to God's distinct calling on their lives, Johanna and Parker struggle to see how their futures can unite, and when strange things start happening around town, their second chance at a life together seems more unlikely than ever.”


Series: Book #3 in “The Jewels of Kalispell” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, read, & quoted; Bible reading & Feeling peace; Many Prayers, Thanking God, & praising God; Church going & Singing hymns; Witnessing to others; Many talks about God, Jesus, callings and gifts from Him, witnessing to others, & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God and Jesus; Johanna feels called to be a pastor’s wife & greatly looks forward to it; Parker wants to share his faith with others, but some have reacted poorly to him talking about God; Johanna has a moment of being mad at God for taking her husband, but still cries out to Him with her questions; Johanna feels peace from God; Johanna realizes she has been too judgmental about Parker’s career because God can use any of them anywhere He chooses; Scenes from the play ‘Everyman’ are shown and quotes by the characters representing The Messenger, God, Death, and Everyman (which Johanna is very touched by seeing); Many mentions of God, Jesus, callings from Him, telling others about God, the gospel, His will, His presence, trusting Him, & peace from the Lord; Many mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, praising God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, pastors/reverends, hymns, & church events; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of seminary school; A few mentions of the Lord’s Prayer; A few mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of the Christmas story; A mention of a gang working with the Catholic Church to reform their streets; 
             *Note: Religious phrases such as ‘for heaven’s sake’, ‘Heavens!’, ‘thank heaven/heavens’, and ‘good heavens’ are said up to thrice each; James doesn’t think that his brother’s “so-called right living” with his “God talk” and Bible reading got him anywhere (because he died young); James thinks of women as “weak-willed” and that “even the Bible spoke of it”; James says he is in control (rather than God) in his life; James goes to church one morning, but doesn’t hear the sermon (as he is too focused on Johanna); A couple mentions of luck & being lucky; A couple mentions of Parker explaining to a reporter about having a new life in Christ, but the man took it and published an article on reincarnation and how Parker was a “serious believer of living more than once”; A mention of Parker recalling about people either laughing at him, mocking him, or telling him to shut his mouth when talking about God; A mention of superstitious people.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘biddy’, a ‘confounded’, a ‘drat’, a ‘stinking’, two forms of ‘shut up’, three form of ‘give/care a fig’, four forms of ‘idiot’, and ten ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; Being grabbed, Being hit, Passing out/Fainting, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Threatening others, Grabbing others (including planning to choke someone), & off-page murder (done by James, up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone who was attacked & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); A child is in a dangerous situation (up to semi-detailed); Grief (Johanna for her late husband & Parker for his father, up to semi-detailed); *Spoilers* James threatens Johanna with taking her daughter away if she doesn’t marry him; *Major Spoilers* Towards the end, he attacks her father attempting to kill him (saying it “invigorated him” to kill the man) and then kidnaps Emily after drugging her; One of the last chapters is him in court about it all and he dies from a cerebral hemorrhage, up to semi-detailed *End of Spoilers*); James drinks whiskey on-page (semi-detailed) & later wishes he could drink again; Mentions of possible suicides (including actresses attempting suicide to get stories about them in newspapers; *Spoilers* Also happens as a plan with an actress that James is working with to distract Parker away from Johanna; James gives her pills to take to overdose and says the doctor can pump her stomach; The woman does this because of the money from him and ends up being saved, but she ends up going mad at Parker and throwing things at him; It’s later said that she was sent to have a mental evaluation, but disappeared instead *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of deaths (natural, murder, and cerebral hemorrhages) & grief (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fires, arson, & a family losing their home; Mentions of a gang, stealing, & their threats; Mentions of an accident, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of corrupt police officers; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of arrests; A few mentions of saloons, drinking, & beer; A couple mentions of mental asylums; A couple mentions of gambling; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of a car accident & death; A mention of thieves; A mention of cigars; 
             *Note: Parker is concerned that his father was disappointed in him and his decisions (*Spoiler* but receives a letter from him about how proud he was of Parker, which helps him *End of Spoiler*); James is very arrogant & thinks of those beneath him as peasants; Scenes and quotes from the play ‘Everyman’; Mentions of plays (Everyman, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Romeo and Juliet, & Hamlet); A few mentions of car brands.
 
 
Sexual Content- Three hair/head/forehead kisses, two cheek kisses, and three barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Tingles, Flutters, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Parker’s manager has articles written about Parker implying he is a playboy/womanizer & rumors about his romantic interests; An actress presses herself against Parker (wearing “very little but her dressing gown”) and suggests they go to her hotel room (which Parker very firmly will not do and adds he won’t compromise either of their reputations); Later, the actress again tries to get him to go to her dressing room (which Parker is once again firmly against and does not go) & tells him to kiss her with “passion” (which, again, he does not do); James wants to marry Johanna and is possessive towards her (*Spoilers* because of the inheritance from his father that she should receive half of through her late husband; He is controlling and tries to threaten her with taking her daughter to get her to marry him; *Major Spoilers* Towards the end of the book, he attacks Johanna’s father (with the intent of killing him) and kidnaps Emily *End of Spoilers*); Johanna makes it clear that her late husband was not her second choice and that she had moved on from Parker; *Major Spoiler* At the very end, Johanna wishes that Parker doesn’t have to leave her, so they get married that night *End of Spoiler*; A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of reputations & threats of being ruined; A few mentions of articles about Parker being a womanizer; A few mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a man being said to have “countless love affairs”; A mention of a woman having “conquests” all over the world; A mention of a seductive smile; A mention of a lovesick look; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of a woman’s ample bosom.
 
-Johanna Easton St. John, age 28
-Parker Bennett, age 28/29
                                P.O.V. switches between them, James, Marvella, & Cora
                                           Set in 1905 (Prologue in 1895 & 1900)
                                                        327 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Often times, when I’m reading a book I added to my TBR months before and finally get to it (and especially if I’ve already read the prior books in the series like this one), I don’t reread the back-cover or info blurb. So needless to say, I was just as blindsided as Johanna with Parker’s news in the first chapter. I think you could have knocked the two of us over with a feather. 

 

I’ve been looking forward to this book, but for some reason it’s taken me months to get to it—but I’m so glad I’ve finally read it! I really liked both Johanna and Parker as main characters and their hunger for the Lord. The faith content was strong throughout this whole trilogy, but this one was super strong and I really loved that element. 

 

I will say that I found the villain to be a little too basic—that is, a standard villain. Just an average one with the very normal goals and personality of a villain. An easy one to dislike, if you will. I found myself annoyed by him, but also feeling bad for him at times. I didn’t love the ending regarding him, but it made sense. 

 

I think it’s a bit odd that this series hasn’t been connecting. We see a few mentions of the prior couples in this book, but that’s it as far as it goes. What really connects this trilogy together is a side character’s POV who is easily my favorite character with her matchmaking (Marvella). There is the bonus of not having to read the previous two books before this one, but I would have loved to see Rebecca and Mark and then Carter and Ellie more and see what was new with them. 

 

As a final note for this review, my favorite parts—and the best parts, in my opinion—was definitely all the faith content. Nearly every page of the book had prayers, conversations, or thinking about God, callings from Him, and following Him, which I just adored. I also really liked our main couple and seeing them fall back into love.

 

 

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.

"With Each Tomorrow" by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse

About this book:

  “As the formation of Glacier National Park takes Eleanor Briggs and her conservationist father on a journey west to advocate for public lands, her heart carries the weight of a painful past. Since the death of her mother, she has spent her life traveling the country with her father and helping him with his work, but now he's considering settling down and writing a book, and she's not sure what that means for her future.
    Carter Brunswick faces trials of his own when the Great Northern Railway's departure threatens his family's livelihood and the entire town of Kalispell. In the visiting conservationist's daughter, Ellie, he finds a spirited woman who challenges his convictions in ways he never anticipated, and his own dreams for the future begin to change.
    When tensions over the railroad's departure boil over, Ellie and Carter are drawn together on a daring journey that tests the depths of their feelings and their faith in God.”


Series: Book #2 in “The Jewels of Kalispell” series. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are read, mentioned, quoted, remembered, & thought over; Many Prayers, thanking God, & blessings over food; Church going & a sermon (about God’s plans); Lots of witnessing & being witnessed to; Many talks about God, trusting Him, His will, His grace, His creation, having faith, and who you decide to give your soul to; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Carter asks men from his church (the pastor, elders, and deacons) to pray over him and his business; Ellie hates God after taking her mother away despite her prayers for to not to happen (her mother pleads with her to trust God and have faith before she passes, but Ellie only agrees to comfort her mother; Ellie’s mother calls out to Jesus to take her home); Ellie doesn’t understand why God would allow her mother to get sick, suffer, and die when she was a strong woman of faith; After her mother died, Ellie and her father stopped going to church & stopped discussing spiritual matters; Ellie wants to ignore God and thinks He doesn’t deserve anything better; Ellie makes many negative comments and thoughts towards God because of her anger towards Him (such as saying that she doesn’t believe God takes in interest in her life, believes she is control of her destiny and the choices she makes, isn’t sure He exists, & that God hates her); Marvella and Carter both notice that Ellie is fighting God; Marvella discusses with Ellie about Satan wanting her soul & Ellie is very confused and wants to stay on neutral ground (not picking a side, which Carter says that’s the worst decision she could ever make and Ellie doesn’t take it well); Carter is attracted to Ellie but will not pursue her unless she reconciled her hear to God first (he tells her that he doesn’t consider her as wife material because of it and she gets upset); Ellie’s father tells her that he and her mother would have discussions about God despite him not believing there was a God (after her death, he was mad at God for it and aimed to be a “full-fledged atheist”, but decided to do “the next best thing” and declared that he didn’t need God); When Ellie says that Carter’s Christianity shows, he takes it as a compliment which Ellie says didn’t mean it as so (Carter says that it was to him, however); *Spoilers* Around a hundred pages into the book, Ellie starts to have questions about God & asks them to different people; About half-way, Ellie does believe that there is a God, but still doesn’t understand why He would allow her mother to die; Past that point, Ellie notices her anger towards God was diminishing, but doesn’t feel good enough for Him based on how she’s acted towards God; Around the 80% mark, Ellie wants to read the Bible (and does) and a bit later she confesses to Jesus; Later in a dangerous situation, Her father later says that he prayed for the first time in his life *End of Spoilers*; Many, many mentions of God, trusting Him, His will, His grace, His creation, faiths, & having peace; Many mentions of prayers, praying, blessings over food, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, & pastors; Mentions of Christians; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; Mentions of sin being the cause of sickness and “many other things the Lord never intended us to experience”; A couple mentions of elders & deacons; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of hymnals & singing at church; A mention of a Sunday school class; A mention of fasting;
             *Note: Phrases like: ‘Heavens/Good heavens’ (five times), ‘for heaven’s sake’ (twice), ‘thank heaven’ (twice), ‘Heaven only knew’ (once), ‘what in heaven’s name’ (once) are all said; Someone disagrees about the phrase “devil’s in the details” (saying that the devil is all about chaos and disorder & that God is the one who sees to details); Ellie discusses Charles Darwin and evolution with Carter (she comments on organisms adapting to their environments which makes Carter make a comment that Charles Darwin didn’t think through about his theories with actual people and Ellie gets offended and says “I find that most Christians take a stand against him, so your attitude isn’t surprising”; Carter adds that it isn’t his Christian faith that makes him have no use for Darwin, but simply believes that the man was wrong, confused after deaths of loved ones, and finds sorrow in the fact that Darwin allowed the “pain of this world” to lead him away from God; That last part strikes a cord with Ellie and she gets upset at him because he doesn’t know the pain of losing a loved one; *Spoilers* Later, a friend calls Carter out on what he said and that he was being haughty, which Carter realizes he was an idiot for saying it like he did and that it was like “beating her over the head” with his faith and knowledge of the Bible; He apologizes to Ellie *End of Spoilers*); A couple mentions of the doing something “for the greater good”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast’, a ‘how in blazes’, a ‘for pity’s sake’, a ‘lickin’’, a ‘shut up’, two ‘dumb’s, three ‘good grief’s, five forms of ‘stupid’, and six ‘idiot’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Being kidnapped and tied-up, Being attacked/beat-up (x3), Being caught in a brawl, Gunfire, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (semi-detailed); Grief (Ellie for her mother); Seeing someone nearly runover by a car (up to semi-detailed); The prologue starts with Ellie seeing her mother in pain from her stomach cancer & passing away (semi-detailed); In the prologue, Ellie lies to her mother about trusting God to make her feel better; Ellie has a few moments of thinking something disrespectful towards her father but stops herself; Ellie is concerned that her father could be unwell (which ruins her appetite and thinks that she can’t lose him because he is all she has left); A side character plans to harm and threaten others (including throwing rocks at horses to spook them *Spoilers* Which he does at the end, but ends up kidnapping the wrong man; Ellie is told to stay home while the men search for her father, but she sneaks out to help; She has the thought that she should go back, but believes that she’s capable to take care of herself and ends up being tricked and also kidnapped; Carter says that “Ellie’s my problem” when this happens and rejects help trying to find her (thinking that she’s runoff); We see the point of view of the character’s brother who goes along with it (though he voices his disagreements and concerns) because he promised their mother to look after his brother after her passing; When Carter finds Ellie hurt, he thinks “If ever a man deserved killing…[he] pushed the dark thought away”; The two brothers are killed by others when they start shooting at them *End of Spoilers*, (all up to semi-detailed)); Carter recalls see the evidence of a coyote that attacked their chickens as a child (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of cancer, pain, a death, & grief from the family (Ellie and her father for their mother/wife); Mentions of potential deaths from accidents; Mentions of violence, brawls, riots, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of threats, kidnappings, harming others, throwing rocks at horses, planning to harm/shoot and kidnap others, murders, breaking into a business, jails/prisons, arrests, & possibly being hanged; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of a boy growing up with a mean streak & causing trouble; A few mentions of fires; A few mentions of liquor, saloons, & tobacco; A few mentions of a drunkard father who “condemned his family to poverty”; A couple mentions of a mother passing away and leaving behind two children; A couple mentions of scarlet fever & children catching it (but are fine); A couple mentions of stealing/thefts; A couple mentions of ransom; A couple mentions of divorce (regarding a Christian woman not believing in it); A couple mentions of a grizzly bear attacking a camp; A mention of a war (the Civil War); A mention of gossip; 
             *Note: Eleanor/Ellie can be rude and arrogant towards others who have different opinions than her (*Spoiler* She realizes she’s been both of these things around a hundred pages in *End of Spoiler*); Ellie feels hurt by some of her father’s actions and leaving her out of some of his work; When Ellie meets a group of Indians (Native Americans), she thinks of them as “majestic” and is impressed with their English (she comments to someone that the stories about them being savages and attacking settlers need to ceases); Ellie’s father doesn’t believe that animals should be domesticated (but horses are different).
 
 
Sexual Content- A head kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and three semi-detailed kisses (one as a married couple with kissing her cheek and neck as well); Touches, Embraces, & Nearness (including Carter having Ellie on his lap in a tight carriage and a couple mentions of his muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Carter is attracted to Ellie but will not pursue her unless she reconciled her hear to God first (he tells her this and she is upset); A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A couple mentions of reputations & chaperones; A mention of a man kissing his wife’s cheek; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of a woman’s plump bosom and curvy figure.
 
-Eleanor “Ellie” Briggs, age 24
-Carter Brunswick, age 29
                                P.O.V. switches between them, Marvella, & Grant
                           Set in 1904 (Prologue in 1894 & 1895; Epilogue in 1912)
                                                            378 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

It took over a hundred pages for me to become interested in this story because of Eleanor. I found her to be quite insufferable and entitled until she realized she was rude to others and started to get better and not be so snooty. But she could be as prickly as a porcupine at times! Her and Carter get off on the wrong foot and almost become enemies because they’re both in bad moods when they met. 

 

The faith content and all of the witnessing and discussions to Eleanor is definitely the main focus of this book by the end. I like when there’s strong faith content, but I will confess that I didn’t agree with how some Biblical parts (and reasons for why things happen) were shared with her at times. The authors definitely put their heart into this book with the faith content and I do think it could help some readers who have struggled with their faith after the death of a loved one; but at the same time, it may not be a book that reader will want to pick up—much like how Eleanor didn’t want to hear about God either for over half the book. There’s a ton of witnessing to Ellie/Eleanor and it was good to see because she needed the motherly guidance and wisdom from certain characters to heal her heart. 

 

I did really like that while Carter was interested in Eleanor, he wouldn’t pursue anything more than being a friend to her because of her lack of faith. (Though, he did royally mess-up by telling her this and, of course, she didn’t take it well.) 

 

This is a book where if you enjoy seeing the much-needed character development happen for our main characters finally happen, you may enjoy this book! I did find it a bit too long at times and wanted the plot to get a move on, particularly with Eleanor’s hard heart towards God. Neither of our main characters are perfect and we see plenty of their faults and flaws often throughout this book. Most of the time I enjoy not-perfect characters, but I admit to struggling with these two at times. They definitely had their idiotic moments. If you enjoy the enemies to lovers trope, character development, and lots of faith content/witnessing, have at this book! I enjoyed some parts, but would definitely say I preferred the first book.

 

 

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.

"The Secrets Beneath" by Kimberley Woodhouse

About this book:

  “Anna Lakeman has spent her life working alongside her paleontologist father, drawing intricate sketches at every dig. When they find dinosaur bones near their home in Wyoming Territory, they're swiftly caught up in the era known as the Bone Wars. But when her father becomes sick and an old beau, Joshua Ziegler, returns for the summer, Anna's world is upended and the practical, orderly life she has made for herself shatters.
    Medical student Joshua Ziegler left his hometown to forget the one woman he truly loved and deeply hurt--Anna Lakeman. But when he returns, time hasn't erased the feelings they've always had for each other. When Joshua's nephew goes missing--just like his sister did years ago--and Anna's job is threatened, tensions mount and dangerous secrets are unburied. How can they keep the perils of the past from threatening their renewed affection?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Treasure of the Earth” series. 


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read, mentioned, remembered, & thought over; Many prayers & Thanking and Praising God; Church going, sermons, & a hymn; Talks about God, Jesus, His love, & forgiveness; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Joshua wants to serve God in his career as a doctor; Anna has neglected her relationship with God for the past few years, but being caught in a flash flood makes her pray about Him taking her home (she adds that she feels useless to God anyway) and has confidence that she would spend eternity in Heaven (*Spoiler* At the half-way point, Anna asks God to forgive her and feels reconciliation from Him *End of Spoiler*); At church, Joshua listens a bit to the sermon and ends up tuning out the pastor’s words due to something else going on (his sister nudges him to pay attention); When a young boy is missing, Anna thinks that “God Almighty knew where the boy was. She had faith in that. But whether or not He would show them where to find [the boy] was beyond her.”; Anna & Joshua have a few discussions & thoughts about creation and science (including they both believe that the scientific and church communities used to go hand in hand before Darwin’s book came out, that “the church shuns science because of the new prevalence of evolution. And scientists shunt the church because they think we’re ignorant”, & a mention of the majority of the fossils being from the Flood which happened “thousands of years ago”; When Joshua catches himself using the term “bad blood” about someone, he remembers Anna’s words that they are all sinners & that sin is responsible, not someone’s blood (there’s then a paragraph about history showing that plenty of people who were raised in horrid environments end up doing nasty things themselves, however); Julian has begged God for years to make him normal, but Damian would tell him that God hasn’t done anything for him; Anna’s father warns her about thinking that her love can change a person, that only God’s love can do that; When Anna is in a scary situation, God tells her that she is His and she’s reminded that He is in control; God tells Joshua to leave Anna in His hands and Joshua shakes off the words because of anger; Mentions of God, Jesus, His will, forgiveness, & miracles; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of those & events in the Bible Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, sermons, & hymns; Mentions of being a Christian & doing the “Christian thing to do” by being kind to others; Mentions of sin & sinners; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of God’s creation; A couple mentions of mission work; A couple mentions of sharing one’s testimony; A couple mentions of something being a “godly sacrifice”; A mention of someone’s talent being a gift from God; A mention of someone being a godsend; A mention of thanking heaven; A mention of singing the doxology at church; 
             *Note: The phrase “Heavens” and “Good heavens” are used as a sigh or exclamation x4 and x2 respectively; *Spoiler* When Julian’s father dies, Julian feels the coffin with rocks because his father didn’t deserve to be buried at the church cemetery & deserved to “burn for all eternity”; Julian feels a bit of guilt for lying to the clergyman but believes his lie to be necessary *End of Spoiler*; *Major Spoilers* When Julian kidnaps Anna, she sees both sides of his split personality & when she prays out loud about him, the dark side screams, implying a demon or evil spirit is in him; Julian wonders about God fixing him like Anna said, but Damian tells him that God can’t fix anything because He’s the one who caused their pain by creating their father; Julian chooses to believe that God loves him and feels lighter, thinking that Damian is gone but he comes back; It ends with Julian being shot and Joshua witnessing to him about Jesus, and Anna forgiving him before he passes *End of Major Spoilers*; Discussions & mentions of dinosaurs; A few mentions of the evil look in a man’s eyes and face; A mention of someone acting like the “devil himself” is chasing him.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘idiot’, two forms of ‘shut up’, and ‘stupid’s; A bit of eye rolling; Finding the skeleton of a person & another person hiding it (up to semi-detailed); Being held hostage/kidnapped & Threatened with death (up to semi-detailed); Being shot, being shot at, Being caught in a bad storm, a flash flood, falling in a trap, injuries, blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Taking care of an ill family member (up to semi-detailed); Julian is beaten to the point of being unconscious & verbally abused by his father (on page, up to semi-detailed); When caught in a flash flood, Anna wonders if she should just give up and drown (but she continues to fight for her life); A side character (whose point of view we see often), Julian, was physically & verbally abused by his father (we see him being verbally abused & being beaten on page to the point of being unconscious) & his mother would encourage him to not be tainted by his father’s ugliness (Julian wishes that he could give the same pain to his father; Shortly after the prologue, it’s said that his mother left and Julian is hurt that she didn’t take him with her; His father taunts and blames him for her leaving; *Spoilers* When his father confesses to have actually killed her and buried her in his garden, Damian kills his father *End of Spoiler*; *Spoiler* Anna’s father collapses (an apoplexy) & it’s discovered he has something wrong with his heart that could cause him to die; Anna cares for him and he starts to do better (up to semi-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Joshua’s young nephew goes missing & there is a search for him (we see panic and grief from his family, up to semi-detailed) *Spoiler* It turns out that the boy ran away from home and realized he made a major mistake *End of Spoiler*; When Joshua shares his concerns about Julian, Anna fusses at him about gossiping (Joshua apologizes to Anna, but is still suspicious of Julian; Julian kills animals (prairie dogs, birds, squirrels, & fish) to feed his garden (his mother told him when it naturally happens that it helps the earth and not to kill the animals himself, but he doesn’t stop because his garden flourishes afterwards (*Spoiler* Julian brings Anna dead animals for her garden and she throws up after seeing the carcasses, up to semi-detailed *End of Spoiler*); Anna is scared that her horse might have died after surviving a flash flood’s effects (but is okay); Many mentions of missing children, what could have happened to them (including murder), & their families’ grief (including Joshua’s family for his sister, up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of a man’s violent temper, everyone being afraid of him, & the man physically and verbally abusing his family; Mentions of murders, deaths, bodies, & crimes (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths & grief (for a mother, a father, a daughter, a sister, a best friend); Mentions of a parent being sick (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of pain, passing out, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of manure; A few mentions of the Civil War, division, & prejudices; A few mentions of the deaths of men & horses (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of someone being thrown from a horse, her injuries, & resetting her broken leg (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of drowning; A mention of bullies; 
             *Note: Julian talks about “the darkness” inside of him and his brother, Damian, embracing it while their mother would tell Julian to fight the darkness (because of this, Julian believes something is wrong with him & he needs to be fixed by a woman who will care for him; The light and dark inside of him battle each other & we see this on page (up to semi-detailed); When Anna is kind to him, he latches on to her for her to fix him; Joshua and her father warn her about Julian’s attention/obsession with her, but she is very stubborn about it and continues to defend and see him despite an inkling of concern she has because she hates to be wrong; *Major Spoilers, but Important Trigger Note* Towards the end, Julian holds Anna hostage; Damian is actually another part of Julian and not another person, so the person that killed his father, a young girl he had a crush on as a child, tried to kill Joshua, & kidnapped Anna, was Julian under the influence of Damian (spilt-personality); Julian is unaware that he did all of that; Anna sees the switch in personality when being held captive and is scared by it; Julian ends up being killed at the end after Anna witnesses to him and forgives him *End of Major Spoilers*; Julian believes that all fathers are awful because his father was; Anna is told that she shouldn’t be in the science field because she’s a women & it’s mentioned a handful of times (including when she says she wishes there “was a bit more help for the fairer sex”); A couple mentions of history showing “that plenty of people who were raised in horrid environments end up doing some nasty things themselves”.
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a cheek kiss, a nose kiss, five forehead/head kisses, two not-detailed kisses, three barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and semi-detailed kiss (with Joshua moaning in both); Remembering a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Butterflies, & Nearness (including Joshua touching Anna’s hair, all up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Joshua pulls Anna onto his lap; Joshua makes Anna blush by mention about them getting married and her being “in the family way” one day; After a kiss, Joshua tells Anna that it could be dangerous to kiss her again because that kiss brought “the fire of passion inside [of him] to a roar” (Anna blushes and he apologizes that he didn’t mean to embarrass her & he steps back so he doesn’t do anything to disrespect her); Julian was obsessed with a girl as a child & now becomes infatuated/obsessed with Anna; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of reputations; A couple mentions of crushes; Love, being in love, & the emotions.
 
-Anna Lakeman, age 21
-Joshua Ziegler
                                P.O.V. switches between them & Julian
                                           Set in 1878 (Prologue in 1869 & Epilogue in 1880)
                                                        336 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

 

{Warning for those sensitive to: murders (including of a young girl), physical and verbal abuse from a parent, & a person with a mental illness causing harm to others.}

 

This is one of those books that as soon as I finished it, I just had to pause and take it all in, trying to figure out my thoughts. A part of me feels a bit heavy, but another part really liked the message of reaching out to others with the love of God because that’s a really important thing—when it’s God-inspired. Which I’ll come back to in a moment.  

 

In all honesty (which is all I ever do on this blog and in my reviews), had this book not been by this author I wouldn’t have read it. I truly have no interest in this field—the cover definitely would’ve enticed me because it’s a beautiful color, but no interest in dinosaurs and the paleontologist field so I would have passed. However, I decided to read it because I’ve enjoyed other books by the author in the amount of faith content she includes. That said, I was definitely expecting this to be a much…lighter read that it actually was.

 

The beginning of this book was heavier than I was expecting with having a side character being verbally and physically abused by his father. Because we continue to see that young man’s perspective as the book continues, we see him wrestle with the darkness inside of him, and I began to be a little worried about this burdening my heart reading it. But I held onto the hope that the author would have a great amount of faith content like all the prior books I’ve read by her. And there was. This book had a major topic of being kind to those who might be strange or different than you & also the topic of forgiveness is very important. Those parts were really good to see. There still is that heaviness, though, because of other parts of the story.

 

I was very curious if this book would mention the evolution approach or a creation approach since it has to deal with dinosaurs. It was interesting to see how the author lightly touched on that topic and God and science being hand in hand. I look forward to seeing if this is discussed more in the second book of the series.  

 

Both Anna and Joshua definitely had their flaws and things that they needed to discuss with the other, but they were also really cute together. She was a bit too prideful and stubborn at times, but she was working on it—sometimes—which is more than I can say for some stubborn female leads. I did get very frustrated with her at the end though with her reactions to Joshua and her father trying to protect her. She was very frustrating then. Coming back to my one about reaching out to someone with God’s love—when it’s inspired by God. Anna did reach out to Julian because she’s a Christian and it was the right thing to do, but it felt like it was more to honor the memory of her friend who was kind to him growing up. As much as I dislike to admit it, I probably would have been in a similar situation as Anna there at the end—though I’d like to think I wouldn’t have been so stubborn about needing protection like she was. 

 

There were definitely things I liked about this book (the faith content) and some things I didn’t like. I flew through reading it and even though I was pretty sure I knew how the ending would go (I was completely correct), I still wanted to know how it would all work out. I would give a caution about this book to sensitive readers and mark it for 15+ for sure, however.

 

 

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.

"The Heart's Choice" by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse

About this book:

  “After witnessing a wrongful conviction as a young girl, Rebecca McCutcheon--the first female court reporter in Montana--is now determined to defend the innocent. During a murder trial, something doesn't sit well with her about the case, but no one except for the handsome new Carnegie librarian will listen to her. 
   Librarian Mark Andrews's father sent him off to college hoping he would take over the business side of the family ranch. Mark would rather wrangle books than cows, but when a patron seeks help with research in hopes of proving a man's innocence, Mark is immediately drawn to her and her cause. 
   In a race against time, will Rebecca and Mark be able to find the evidence to free the man before it's too late?”


Series: Book #1 in “The Jewels of Kalispell” series. 


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are read, quoted, thought over, & discussed; Many prayers; Witnessing & Being witnessed to; Many talks about God, Jesus, having a relationship with Him, having faith, how just being good isn’t enough, & sin; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Church going, listening to sermons, & singing hymns; Rebecca went to church with her family and believes in God, but never head the reverend saying about having a relationship with God, so she is confused when it’s brought up; Marvella is determined that Rebecca gets right with God and is concerned about Rebecca’s soul and salvation (Rebecca wants to take time to read the Bible and ask lots of questions); Mark gives an analogy to Rebecca about how being good isn’t enough and on sin; *Spoiler* About halfway, Rebecca prays and makes the decision to follow Christ *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God, His will, & having a relationship with Him; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, books of the Bible, & those in the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, blessings over food, & praising God; Mentions of churches, church going, church groups, pastors, & hymns; Mentions of someone going “home to the Lord”, Heaven, & hell; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of sin & being a sinner; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of Christians & testimonies; A couple mentions of a godsend; A couple mentions of a heathen; A mention of Easter; A mention of Sunday school; A mention of Bible studies in college; 
             *Note: The villain acts the part as a Christian and comments on God; The villain calls his wife a “churchgoing, goody-two-shoes”; A man says that Godly women should be quiet and stay at home; A mention of Santa Claus.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’, a ‘sucker’, two ‘bah’s, two ‘blast’s, three ‘idiot’, and four forms of ‘stupid’; A few phrases like “by thunder”, “good heavens”, “oh my stars”, and couple other similar ones are used; Being held at knife-point (barely-above-not-detailed); In the prologue, ten-year-old Rebecca sees a man robbed, attacked, and murdered & another man blamed for the crime (she tells Mark about it and it’s bothered her for years as an innocent man was put in jail for it, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); The villain kills someone (he likes the powerful feeling he gets from it, up to semi-detailed), plans to commit more murders if necessary, hopes a blizzard kills someone, & grabs a woman by her throat to make her pass out; Rebecca and Mark reenact the murder to try to find out who did it (fake, with coffee); Rebecca goes to hit an annoying man (but is stopped); The villain drinks, get a hangover, and gambles; Many mentions of murders, murderers, the weapons, the bodies, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of someone being near death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of poisons, being poisoned, & a death; Mentions of someone being stabbed (in self-defense); Mentions of crimes, criminals, robberies, stealing, stolen items, arrests, jail, & a possible hanging (death penalty); Mentions of marriage scams (a man being married to many women for their money and either disappearing or killing them); Mentions of threats & blackmail; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & saloons; Mentions of gambling; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of manure & urine; A few mentions of possible fires & planning for someone to be trapped and killed in one; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of grief (a man for his wife); A mention of tobacco; 
             *Note: Mark and his father do not see eye-to-eye and exchange a few harsh words (*Spoiler* By the end of the book, things have happened and discussions are had where they understand the other and are not upset at the other *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of books & authors.
 
 
Sexual Content- Staring at another’s lips (once), a chin kiss (from a married couple), a nose kiss, a neck kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, & Hand holding (including from the villain and his wife, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Nearness & Warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Butterflies; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); A handful of mentions of couples kissing (married and engaged) & the villain hoping to take his wife to their bedroom; A few mentions of reputations; A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of the (married) villain hoping a barmaid will sit in his lap; A mention of a bride wanting to keep herself pure for her wedding day; Love, falling in love, trying not to be falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Both of Rebecca’s parents tell her not to fall in love with and marry the first man she meets, as they want more for her (they both tell her that they love the other, but married for the wrong reasons and thankfully God took their “blunders and turned it into something beautiful”); A man calls women the “fairer sex” and the “lesser sex” (he tries to have Rebecca enter a courtship with him, but would want her to quit her job, which she calls his words “antiquated” and is very annoyed by him); A man says that Marvella wears the pants in her family and Marvella thinks that she’s trained her husband well because he’d be a mess without her (her comments are meant to be humorous as she’s nosy and wants the best for others); Mentions of women at a Women’s Club meeting complaining about their husbands (A man talks badly about the women there and says that “their sole purpose in gathering is to complain about the very hand that feeds them.” And that they “complain about their husbands and families and bemoan their lack of power.”; When Rebecca goes to the meeting, she hears what he means and is confused by this and asks if this is what she has to look forward to, one of the women there says that it’s what married women do and adds “Women often bear a difficult like. That burden is especially hard when they’re poor, but that doesn’t mean marriage is horrible or that we are all miserable. Women are the glue that holds the country together. God made us that way. We are the nurturers, the encourages. Without us, men would wander around punching things and never get anything accomplished.”).
 
-Rebecca Whitman, age 23/24 (?)
-Mark Andrews, age 28
                                P.O.V. switches between them, the villain, & Marvella
                                             Set in 1904 (Prologue in 1890)
                                                        336 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After reading Kimberley Woodhouse’s “Secrets of the Canyon” trilogy and enjoying it, I was curious about this new book and the fact that that main girl is a court reporter. 

I’ll be honest (as always ;)) and say that it was a very predictable/simple plot, but that doesn’t make it bad because it was still a good read. 

I know there’s probably some who might not like all the faith content and discussions, but I really liked seeing Rebecca’s questions and her wonderings about God and what a relationship with Him means and enjoyed having good faith content discussed and shown. 

Mark & Rebecca were just cute together. I particularly liked how this book wasn’t insta-love/insta-attraction and how they both wanted to be “just friends” because they didn’t want a relationship at that time (and I know that’s a pretty common thing in romance fiction books, but I actually believed these two when they said that—unlike all the other couples—because it actually lasted half the book). This part and how they sincerely discussed God, encouraged the other, and didn’t focus on the other’s physical appearances makes me think that it would be okay for new teens as it shows a healthy friendship-to-more. There is the villain’s point of view (who is running marriage scams) and a murder, though, in terms of other content. 

 

 

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.