"A Noble Purpose" by Laurie Lucking

About this book:

  “To help her miserable sister, Princess Liesel must survive the elements, danger…and her grumpy guard.
    Princess Liesel’s older sister, Verena, hasn’t smiled in years. Desperate to improve her low spirits, the king declares that the man who can make Verena laugh will earn her hand in marriage.
    But his plan seems doomed to failure from the start. Each unsuccessful attempt only makes Verena more despondent, and a set of mysterious masked suitors raises suspicions about a plot by an enemy prince. When Liesel discovers her sister still harbors feelings for a guard who was sent away years before, she embarks on a desperate quest to find him, both for the sake of Verena’s future happiness and their kingdom’s safety.
    As increasingly dangerous challenges hinder Liesel’s journey, she begins to wonder if they’re more than coincidence. Will she and her travel companions even make it to Verena’s former guard, let alone convince him to return with them?
    With each impediment drawing her closer to her own surly knight, more than just her sister’s happily-ever-after may be hanging in the balance.” 


Series: Book #1 in the multi-author series, “Cornerstone”. It does not seem to be connected to any other books, however. A stand-alone.


Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking and Praising the Holy One; Liesel views her faith as private and has never done any prayers spoken in front of others, so she feels awkward about doing one on the journey; Liesel has a couple of reassurances from the Holy One during prayers and feels peace afterwards; Liesel asks the Holy One to forgive her falsehood to her sister; Mentions of the Holy One (God); Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking the Holy One, & someone looking up to the heavens while praying; Mentions of Resurrection Sunday (called “Siebennet”) & going to church on that day; A few mentions of a priest; A few mentions of blessings; A mention of being reunited with loved ones in paradise with the Holy One for all of eternity;
             *Note: “For heaven’s sake” is said once.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bloomin’’ and a ‘drat’; A couple fictional world phrases like “thank the snows”, “why in the snows”, and “snows” are said and exclaimed; A mention of a curse (said, not written); Some eye rolling & sarcasm; Liesel lies that she will be visiting a friend but instead goes on a journey to find the man she sister fell in love with (when she finds the man, she isn’t honest and doesn’t tell him about the proclamation; She feels guilt over both and her guard calls her out for her deception and lying); Being held at knife-point & an attempted kidnapping (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of wars & possible wars; Mentions of bandits, thieves, attacks, & an attempted kidnapping; Mentions of a fire & injuries; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of a tattoo being received by every man who failed to make the princess laugh (done with a berry juice and lasts about six months); Mentions of lies, lying, & deception; Mentions of hunting; A few mentions of a parent being ill; A couple mentions of being held hostage.
 
 
Sexual Content- a fingers-to-lips touch, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Some Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Tingles, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Liesel falls asleep in the arms of her (young and handsome) guard in the journey; Liesel feels a bit of envy for another’s relationship working out; A few mentions of blushes & falling in love; A couple mentions of a king and his son not being known for their fidelity; A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of envy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
 
-Princess Liesel, age 19
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Liesel 
                                                        142 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was really adorable and I adored the sweet sister content as Liesel is on a mission for her sister’s happiness—which might just lead to some happiness for herself as well. This was my first time reading about this fairytale and thus first time for a retelling as well, but I’m going to have to see if I can find more of this story because this was such a cute retelling! I also really liked how the faith content was worked in naturally. A great start to this multi-author 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.

"Common" by Laurie Lucking

About this book:

  “One person knows of the plot against the royal family and cares enough to try to stop it -- the servant girl they banished.
  Leah spends her days scrubbing floors, polishing silver, and meekly curtsying to nobility. Nothing distinguishes her from the other commoners serving at the palace, except her red hair.
  And her secret friendship with Rafe, the Crown Prince of Imperia.
  But Leah's safe, ordinary world begins to splinter. Unexpected feelings for Rafe surface just as his parents announce his betrothal to a foreign princess. Then she unearths a plot to overthrow the royal family. Her life shatters completely when the queen banishes her for treason.
  Harbored by a mysterious group of nuns, Leah must secure Rafe's safety before it's too late. But her quest reveals a villain far more sinister than an ambitious nobleman with his eye on the throne.
  Can a common maidservant summon the courage to fight for her dearest friend?”


Series: Book #1 in the “Tales of the Mystics” series.


Spiritual Content- Church going; Prayers & prayers/praises of thanks; Talks about & Mentions of a God figure named Luminate and trusting Him; ‘H’s are capital when referring to Luminate (God); Leah questions the Luminate when bad things happen; Mentions of prayers, praying, & praises; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of Mass, churches/chapels, church going, priests, a convent, & nuns/sisters; Mentions of mystic nuns who get visions from the Luminate; Mentions of the mystic nuns performing miracles; A couple mentions of having faith; A couple mentions of religious vows; A couple mentions of rosary beads; A mention of sins;

             *Note: Leah dresses like a nun at one point (though she doesn’t feel comfortable wearing where she hasn’t taken the religious vows, but is told that the lines of right and wrong get blurry at times); Someone is held under a dark spell; Facing a dark sorcerer & his curses/spells (with dark and light sparks from the fighter’s hands, semi-detailed); Mentions of magic, a sorcerer, curse/demons, spells, & a law against magic; Mentions of darkness, dark magic, & dark forces; Mentions of luck & being lucky.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’, a ‘wretch’, two ‘idiot’s, and three forms of ‘blast’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Some sarcasm & eye rolling; Seeing a death (barely-above-not-detailed); Fighting a dark sorcerer (semi-detailed); Leah does lie quite a bit (but does wish she didn’t use so much deceit); Leah also steals letters for trying to prove her innocence; Mentions of a planned assassination & treason; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of starting a war; A few mentions of deaths from an illness; A few mentions of drinking & a tavern; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of traps; A couple mentions of a possible execution; A mention of threatening; A mention of jealousy.

Sexual Content- two fingers-to-lips touches, two hand kisses (barely-above-not-detailed), three cheek kisses, three almost kisses, a not-detailed kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two semi-detailed kissing scenes with kisses, and two detailed kiss; Wanting to be kissed & embraced; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth/Shivers, Nearness, & Blushes (up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches & warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing; Mentions of flirting & a boy who won’t leave Leah alone; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of seeing a couple kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a kiss; A few mentions of hand kisses; A mention of a young man who has a reputation of a rake; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A few mentions of a mother who died in childbirth.

-Leah Wellstone, age 15-16
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Leah
                                                        299 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{A full star can be added for those okay with many kisses and magical elements.}

I remember first hearing about this book when it was released back in February. To be honest, I thought it would be just a sweet royalty book with a bit of action in the plot against the royal family. I was surprised to see the more magic-y parts towards the end, reminding me more of a fantasy than anything else. I’m really quite sensitive to the whole demons/curses/spells scene, so it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea in those regards. Leah and Rafe were cute together, but I did find them a bit too kissy for my tastes. Leah did lie quite a bit throughout the book as well. Overall, it was an easy and fun read, albeit the handful of parts I wasn’t a fan of. Those who are okay with more magic and fantasy parts might enjoy more than I did.  

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.