Wednesday, November 21, 2018

"A Seat By the Hearth" by Amy Clipston


About this book:

  “Priscilla Allgyer knows she cannot leave the past behind. But can love lead her toward the promise of healing?
 Priscilla Allgyer left the community to escape the expectations of Amish life. Now, years later, she is forced to return—along with her six-year-old son—to the place she thought she’d left behind forever. Though once estranged from her family, Priscilla is welcomed by her mother, but her father is cold and strict. He allows Priscilla to stay with them provided she dresses plainly, confesses her sins, and agrees to marry within the community. Once again, she feels suffocated, trapped, and alone.
  As Priscilla reluctantly completes her shunning, she catches the eye of Mark Riehl, a farmer with a playboy reputation. Wary of Mark, Priscilla barely gives him the time of day—while Mark, unused to being ignored by the women of Bird-in-Hand, won’t give up the pursuit of her friendship. Priscilla desperately needs a friend in Mark, even if she doesn’t realize it—and after Priscilla’s father and the bishop catch her and Mark in a compromising situation, their relationship becomes more complicated than ever.
  As affection quietly grows between them, Priscilla struggles to open her heart and reveal the painful secrets of her past. As Mark works to earn her good faith, can they both learn the hard lessons of love and trust? And can two friends discover a happiness that only God himself could have designed?”


Series: Book #3 in the “Amish Homestead” series. Review of Book #1 Here and #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Church going; Talks about God; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, bishops/ministers, hymns, sermons, youth groups, & Sunday school classes; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; Mentions of sins, sinning, & sinners; A few mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of miracles.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; Pain & Injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Hints of & mentions of an abusive (physically and verbally) home (Priscilla thinks if she had tried harder, it would have been better, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, an angry drunk, & being injured by him (Priscilla’s son’s father, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a car accident, drunk driving, pain, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths from prior books; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of lies; A couple mentions of divorce;
             *Note: A couple mentions of car brands.


Sexual Content- three almost border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, a forehead kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and two detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss/to be kissed (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Nearness, Smelling, & Warmth (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing; two ‘harlot’s; Priscilla had a son out of wedlock & many mentions of the fact (including that he seduced her, and she lived with him, no details); *Spoiler* Priscilla and Mark are forced to get married after being found alone in a barn talking closely; After getting married they both long to be intimate with each other and have a child together (no details); There is one end of chapter part that is hinted about them having intimacy *End of Spoiler* ; Mentions of being intimate behavior & touching/physical contact; Mentions of kissing, kisses, & an almost kiss; Mentions of a playboy reputation, flirting, dating, & girlfriends; Mentions of reputations; A few mentions of fulfilling wifely duties & in name only marriage; A few mentions of a rumor of why a couple is getting married quickly (pregnancy, which she’s not); A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of touches & kisses; A couple mentions of cute boys; A mention of not taking advantage of a woman; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A couple mentions of miscarriages; A mention of sitting on a rear end.

-Priscilla Allgyer, age 24 (?)
-Mark Riehl, age 26
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        331 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
{Could be triggering to some readers for mentions of an abusive home & also being a marriage of convenience plot.}

Well. I truly have enjoyed many of Miss Amy’s other books, but this one was not my cup of tea at all. I really don’t like marriage of convenience or abusive stories because of the content. Priscilla and Mark both seemed really young (almost like high-school aged) in their thoughts and actions as well, so that also took away from the book to me. The detailed kisses are enough to get any book a low rating on here, even though I am very sad to give this author that rating. Just the longings of intimacy mentions were too much to me, but I do have a slight problem with Mark telling his older brother about the lack of intimacy with Priscilla after they were married and then Priscilla with her two friends. Not my favorite by this author to say that least. :(


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 (Zondervan) for this honest review.

Monday, November 19, 2018

"Norah's Ark" by Judy Baer


About this book:

  “Hi, my name is Bentley.
I'm a mutt with a dash of pit bull in the soup, and I have issues. I'm not likely to win any beauty pageants, and I'm afraid of cats. But my human, Norah Kent, thinks I'm the greatest despite all my shortcomings.
The problem is Norah won't go out with anyone who doesn't like me. Norah says she's perfectly happy being single, and that in God's time she'll marry Mr. Right. But I think God's time may be right now, and Mr. Right may be Officer Nick Haley--the one guy who's afraid of a kitten-fearing basket case of a dog like me! I'll do just about anything to bring Norah and Nick together, even if I have to...gulp...woof!”


Series: A few mentions of characters from “Million Dollar Dilemma” and “The Whitney Chronicles”.


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are mentioned, read, remembered, quoted, & discussed; Bible reading; Prayers; Church going & a sermon; Witnessing; Many talks about God, His blessings, praying, forgiveness, & being a Christian; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God;
Norah’s pet shop is called Norah’s Ark (based on Noah’s ark in the Bible); Norah has been a Christian since she was ten and loves Scriptures that refer to God’s creatures; Many mentions of God, His blessing, & forgiveness; Mentions of Scriptures & events and those in the Bible; Mentions of Christians, accepting Christ, & witnessing; Mentions of prayers, praying, & prayer lists; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, & sermons; A couple mentions of being a God-sent; A couple mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of angels; A mention of Heaven; A mention of praising God;
             *Note: A few mentions of Cupid; A mention of Adonis.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘biddy’, a ‘crummy’, a ‘duh’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘sucker’, two forms of ‘sissy’, three ‘idiot’s, five ‘dumb’s, and nine ‘stupid’s; Mentions of someone who was attacked by a dog, injured severely, & very afraid of dogs now (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crimes, criminals, thieves, stealing, vandals, & trouble-maker teens; Mentions of accidents, injuries, & scars (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hurt & injured animals (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of a drug raid & nearly bleeding out; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of a bully & his gang of teenage thugs; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of gas (jokes); A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of drinking wine; A mention of blood; A mention of parents arguing;
             *Note: Mentions of celebrities, actors/actresses, singers, movies, TV shows, books, & characters; Mentions of toy & technology brands; A few mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of designers; A couple mentions of Ben & Jerry’s; A mention of Target.


Sexual Content- a hand kiss, two forehead kisses, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and  semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, & Hand holding; A bit of Blushing; Noticing & Smelling; three forms of ‘hunk (one is towards a horse)’ and seven ‘baby’s (from birds); Mentions of kissing & kisses; Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, & girlfriends; Mentions of birds that wolf whistles (that would put a construction worker to shame), comments on people’s bottoms/legs, flirts/makes other comments, & makes kissy noises; A few mentions of flirting; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a married couple kissing; A couple mentions of reputations & not being in a compromising situation; A mention of a married couple possibly giving a mother figure a grandchild; A mention of a girl walking with a little more wiggle to her hips for a guy’s benefit; A mention of a crush; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A couple mentions of a bikini; A mention of lingerie; A mention of feeling Cupid’s arrow on a backside; A mention of being hoisted onto a horse & feeling the handprints on a backside (not-detailed); A mention of a little girl acting like she’s riding a horse by smacking her butt; A mention of a dog sitting on its butt.

-Norah Kent
                                1st person P.O.V. of Norah
                                                        361 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
For some reason, some people might not like this book. I’ll be honest and say I won’t understand how you cannot like “Norah’s Ark” or “Million Dollar Dilemma”, but I’ll leave you with your opinion as long as you respect mine for a case when I don’t enjoy one of your favorite books. Deal? ;)
This book is a favorite of mine purely because of two things:
1. Norah’s love for her dog. The cover says, “Love Me, Love My Dog” and that is something I completely agree with. Norah is a huge (understatement) animal lover and it shows in her peacemaking heart.
2. Norah’s faith is like Cassia’s in “Million Dollar Dilemma” and it truly inspires me to be a better Christian in my knowledge of Scriptures and also how I show my faith towards others. I love the thought Norah has at one point in this novel, “My grandmother said I might be the only sermon someone like Lilly ever hears. That should keep me on my toes.”  
The “romance” side of this book (putting in “ ” as it really is light and while Norah would love to hear bells when she meets the right man God has for her, her faith and love for animals is the main plot, I would say) might seem strange to some due to the three eligible bachelors in Norah’s life, but, trust me when I say, it all works out and I never thought anything was cheesy or forced feeling.
I cannot share in words how much “Million Dollar Dilemma” and “Norah’s Ark” have encouraged me in my personal life, but also just the giddiness I feel when I read these two books reminds me why I enjoy reading.


See y’all on Wednesday 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.