"Frozen Hearts" by Cara E. Ruegg

About this book:

  “Dark magic is at work.
    A strange sickness plagues the land.
   Aksel must learn to control his powers before they control him.
   Twelve-year-old Aksel doesn’t want to be different, he doesn’t want fingers that glow with ice, doesn’t want powers that freeze whatever he touches. He’s terrified of being found out, or worse—hurting someone with powers he can’t control.
   But when a strange illness overtakes his town and claims those he loves, Aksel has to face more than just coming to terms with his strange abilities. With the help of his younger sister, Cathrine, and some unexpected friends, he must journey to the tip of the mountain and go find The Snow Queen who is believed to be responsible for the curse.”


Series: Book #1 in “European Fairytales Retold” series. 


Spiritual Content- Prayers (including a prayer by a child thinking she might die and asking forgiveness so that if she “appears before you today, may [she] appear worthy enough to enter through the gates” and another prayer said to“prepare his soul for the death he felt was coming”); Talks about God, trusting Him, forgiveness, & confessing to Him; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; A Christmas-like event is celebrated (Juleaften); Aksel believes in God and Heaven, but still finds death to be scary; A woman says that she couldn’t wait for God to avenge her, so she took matters into her own hands; Aksel’s grandmother tells him that she believes that even a murderer could be forgiven by God as long as the person is truly sorry; Mentions of God, Jesus, & trusting in Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, a monastery, & monks; Mentions of the Christ child, nativity sets, and Christmas trees; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of crucifixes/crosses in a church; A mention of Providence guiding Aksel and Cathrine on the journey;
             *Note: Aksel has “powers”/”abilities” where he can shoot ice from his hand (used for safety and/or self-protection, up to semi-detailed); Aksel wonders if his powers are superpowers or a curse and feels like a monster at times (also thinking that he could be experiment on or even used as a weapon); Dark magic is used for a magic mirror (The Snow Queen, Zabina, uses dark magic once for this and while she knows it is forbidden, the dark does not scare her, or at least, she won’t admit it; Dark magic is looked as wrong and always having consequences); Zabina comments on evil queens have a magic mirror to not only admire herself but also to be “like an all-seeing god”; There are hobgolins (called little demons), faes, julenisse (gnomes), nisse (elves), & mentions of them throughout this book (some are helpful and others like the hobgolins are masters of black magic); *Major Spoilers* Due to the dark magic mirror breaking, the magic leaked out and caused the illness where people’s hearts are freezing; Aksel tells the Snow Queen this and it’s up to her to confess her sins to God for the illness to be lifted; She offers him to use the mirror, but Aksel wants nothing to do with black magic; She is told that only the Light Itself can eliminate the black magic and if she does confess to Him, she’ll lose her powers; She doesn’t think God will forgive her, but Aksel tells her to ask God to help her be sorry for her actions; She goes to confess and “made [her] peace with God” *End of Spoilers*); Aksel has always feel like the mountains are calling to him (but knows it’s forbidden to go there); Aksel’s friend teases him about being the descendant of a god because of Aksel never being cold (they laugh at this, but Aksel says “There’s only one God, Mikkel, and we are both his sons”); Many mentions of spells, curses, powers, feeling like a monster because of them (including Aksel), & using the powers for good; Mentions of someone being accused as a witch & being run out of town (the Snow Queen); Mentions of some grandparents believing that fairytale stories and creatures are real; A few mentions of evil, someone looking evil, & it being said that the Snow Queen is evil and has little demons (hobgoblins) at her lair; A mention of some saying that elves are devilish; A mention of a color being the color of someone’s spirit; A mention of luck; A mention of an alien.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘stupid’, and a ‘wimp’; Fighting, a fire, close-calls with frozen ponds cracking, being attacked by wolves, being tied-up and threatened with being eaten, seeing someone choked & being scared (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Nightmares (about loved ones dying, up to semi-detailed); Aksel doesn’t want to tell his parents about the close-call with a frozen pond because he used his powers and doesn’t want to worry them; Aksel is concerned about death & his loved ones dying; Aksel wants to see his friend in the hospital and plans to sneak in to see him (his father helps sneak in since he doesn’t think they’ll break any rules); Hobgoblins threaten to eat our main characters and their friends (going as far as putting them into a fire); A flashback to witnessing murders & causing/committing murders (Zabina’s point of view, up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Zabina nearly kills an elf who attacked her, but ends up not killing him since she has learned that vengeance is God’s *End of Spoiler*; There is an illness that is freezing people’s hearts and they fall into a deep sleep for days (mentions of them needing IVs to survive and trying to find the cure); Mentions of murders, murderers, & revenge (*Spoiler* Zabina pushed a group of people off of a ledge after witnessing them murder her husband; She says she did it on purpose, but feels relieved when it turns out that someone else pushed them as well, so it wasn’t just her actions; We see this as a flashback and mentioned *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of deaths & possible deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of an illness with people’s hearts freezing, those with the illness being in a deep sleep and not waking up, hypothermia, injuries, blood/bleeding, (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of jail, crimes, & a possible death sentence; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a family member disappearing suddenly; A few mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of lies & lying (done mostly by hobgoblins); A couple mentions of wars; A couple mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of bars & drinking; A couple mentions of decaying animals & the smell (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a thief; A mention of wine (a sip by Aksel’s father); A mention of cheating at a game; 
             *Note: Aksel starts to wonder if he came from another family because he’s always felt different from them with his family doesn’t understand him or have the same powers/abilities he has (*Major Spoilers but Important Note about Biological Families and Comments* Aksel is the son of the Snow Queen and wonders if he is dangerous like she is; He calls her his “real” mother a couple of times; Cathrine wonders if Aksel is “even her brother”; At the end, Aksel tells his adoptive parents that he knows he’s not their son and they both say that he is because “blood doesn’t change that” and that he belongs in this family *End of Spoilers*); In a flashback, Zabina thinks about unleashing her powers on those who call her names so that they will fear her like she fears herself; There are mentions of a murder that happened because the man was different than everyone else (an elf surrounded by humans); Aksel calls his mother “uptight” once because of company coming (he and his grandmother joke about it); Askel feels guilt over his father having an injury because of his disobedience; A few mentions of those with powers/abilities being called ‘freak’, ‘monster’, and ‘witch’ by others.
 
 
Sexual Content- N/A.
 
-Aksel, age 12
-Cathrine, age 9
                                P.O.V. switches between them & a few others
                                                        181 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was a really interesting fairytale retelling! It had Danish influences and no romance at all, so it was different from my normal retellings, but I liked it because of those aspects. 

 

My only two little things I didn’t care for were more minor. I thought it was a little bit of a quick jump for our main character to think that the snow queen was his mother and then quickly accepting it. Also, the illness aspect of the plot did feel a little too reminiscent of a certain event we all went through within the last few years, so I wasn’t the biggest fan of those parts, but it did compel our sibling duo to action. 

 

My favorite part of the story was the sibling content and how much our main characters cared for each other. The ending felt a little bit rushed especially with that short epilogue, but I bet that’s because we’ll see these characters again and other books in the series. At least that’s what I’m hoping! 

 

There are a couple notes/comments that could be triggering for those who were adopted or do not live with their biological families, just as a heads up.

 

Overall, this was a really creative and imaginative retelling. I think I would’ve liked a few things to be fleshed out just a little bit more, but I overall enjoyed 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 Author for this honest review.

"Never Fall Again" by Lynn H. Blackburn

About this book:

  “Landry Hutton has spent three years rebuilding her life behind the secure gates of The Haven, an exclusive resort on the outskirts of Gossamer Falls, North Carolina. As the artist-in-residence, and with her pottery prized by The Haven's guests, Landry is finally ready to settle in permanently. She wants to give her daughter, Eliza, a safe home to grow up in and hires former Marine Callum Shaw to handle the construction.
    Cal grew up in Gossamer Falls and always knew he would someday join his family's business. He longs for a family of his own but has almost given up on that ever happening. Landry is funny, gifted, and everything Cal could ever want in a partner, but he vows to keep his distance. Landry has a daughter and a past. Cal has been down that road before and barely survived when the woman he loved left, taking her two sons with her. He can't bear to lose like that again.
    Before construction on the house can begin, Landry's pottery is destroyed in a suspicious fire. It soon becomes clear that Landry and Eliza are in grave danger--but because of whom? But, after losing one relationship, he is hesitant to try again.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Gossamer Falls” series. 


Spiritual Content- Prayers (including Callum praying for/with Landry); Talks about God, praying, church, & Christians; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Church going; Landry says she loves Jesus and has a faith in God; Landry’s in-laws were Christians (including the father-in-law being a pastor) but were “sheep in wolves clothing” and the “mean church people” are the “worst kind of mean people” (in her experience); *Spoiler* Landry says she has a fear of “so-called ‘good Christian’ men.” and adds “The more often they go to church, the scarier they are. And this is coming from a woman who loves Jesus”; Her marriage was not being a happy one and when she tried to tell others, she wasn’t believed and told that she was “blessed” to have snagged him; It’s implied that she was told that she was a “’poor testimony’ to the unbelievers in the world” when taking about it; She was told that she needed to pray for forgiveness and that because he husband was a godly man, she needed to strive to be a godly wife; She knows she couldn’t lump all church-going followers of Christ as hypocrites, but still is nervous about being at a church *End of Spoiler*; Landry thinks that when praying in a certain dangerous situation, she knows that “God didn’t always choose to help. He didn’t always fix things, at least not the way Landry wanted them fixed. But [H]e could help. She knew that. He might not, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, & sermons; Mentions of Christians & ones who are “the worst kind of Christians” (Landry’s in-laws are the latter type and *Spoiler* due to their actions and the lack of other people believing her about them, she hasn’t been into a church in years *End of Spoiler*); A couple mentions of being Blessed; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of divine guidance; A mention of Bible reading; A mention of a Sunday school class; A mention of thanking Heaven; 
             *Note: Callum says he has demons due to a past event; The phrase “speak of the devil” is said once; A couple mentions of lucky & being lucky; A mention of someone being as mean as the devil; A mention of strep throat being evil and from the devil (according to Callum); A mention of a demanding guest being called “the demon…I mean, the delicate flower”; A mention of ghost costumes; A mention of a “Mother Earth” woman that takes care of others; A mention of a woman calling herself a “harpy”; A mention of a younger brother idolizing his older brothers; A mention of someone thinking his mom walks on water.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, an ‘ever-loving’, a ‘give a flip’, an ‘oh my word’, a ‘sucker’, a form of ‘ticked off’, two forms of ‘mercy/sweet mercy’, six ‘dumb’s, six ‘shut up’s, six forms of ‘stupid’, and ten ‘idiot’s; The phrase “cold day in a hot place” is said thrice (to avoid cursing at Granny’s house); A couple mentions of someone’s rear is mentioned (in the way of “pain in the rear” and hauling someone’s rear to jail); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being hit/attacked, Being buried alive, Being drugged, Being abducted, & Pain (up to semi-detailed); A fire & vandalism (up to semi-detailed); Pain, being sick (strep), throwing up (up to semi-detailed); Landry’s husband was not a great guy (*Spoiler* He died in a car accident due to his own drunk driving and because of it, she’s had a hard time with seeing fire trucks ever since because they can cause her to have panic attacks and anxiety; He was the only person involved in the crash; He would use Eliza as a weapon against Landry and to be able to control her *End of Spoiler*); Landry is concerned that her in-laws would fight her for her daughter’s custody or even stoop to kidnapping her; *Spoiler* Landry shares that while her parents weren’t abusive in the way most would think, they were neglectful; Landry wonders if her husband recognized her emotional vulnerability or if he was just a gaslighting narcissist who was “a master at emotional bullying”; She shares about the times that he was physically abusive to her, locked her in a room for hours, and she made plans to leave him with Eliza (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of missing people, abductions/kidnappings, & someone being buried alive (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of someone waving a gun around children, them being frightened, & screams (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of explosions; Mentions of the possibility of a woman being a victim and/or running away from a man (Callum wonders if this is the case with Landry); Mentions of drunk driving, a car accident, & death (of the drunk driver, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a bar, drinks, & drinking; Mentions of drugs, drugging someone, being drugged, & meth labs; Mentions of rehab & addictions; Mentions of illnesses, pain, & throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of grieving (including over the loss of not being in a young child’s life); Mentions of crimes, criminals, crime scenes, fires, arson, & the damages (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of a missing hiker & it been too late to find him; A few mentions of a potential violent death; A few mentions of pranks (including ones in high school) & a group of children being like a gang; A few mentions of bullies & bullying; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of (military-related) deaths; A couple mentions of violence; A couple mentions of ways to torture terrorists (with a child’s high-pitched squeal); A couple mentions of fighting & fights (between siblings); A couple mentions of jail;  A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of someone looking like they were being burned at the stake; A mention of beating someone up; A mention of gunshot wounds; A mention of blood; A mention of a forest fire; A mention of a psychopath; A mention of a wife leaving her husband; A mention of divorce; 
             *Note: Someone tells his family that he isn’t suicidal even though they think he is (he says he need time, but the others don’t buy it); Landry overhears a comment that makes her wonder if there’s someone who doesn’t approve of her daughter because of her race (despite being a part of a “racially diverse” family; She confronts someone about this and is told it’s not due to race at all; A few more mentions of race after this conversation); *Spoiler* Landry’s husband is said to have been a narcissist who would gaslight her and was a “master at emotional bullying” *End of Spoiler*; *Spoiler* Landry and Eliza are kidnapped towards the very end by a man who is obsessed with Landry and it’s said that his “mind broke” from his job and devolved into this form of “madness” & his erratic mental state and “sick mind” are also mentioned; They are able to get away from him by Landry drugged his smoothie *End of Spoiler*; Landry & Callum both have seen therapists for past events and both believed it helped them; Going to a harvest festival (instead of Halloween trick-or-treating); Mentions of therapy & therapists; Mentions of a family member being born during a time where the parents were advised to forget that she even been born (due to a possible stroke during delivery; The family did not follow that advise and she’s a precious miracle for the family who loves her); Mentions of someone fighting cancer, her treatments, & her children’s reactions (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of panic attacks, anxiety, & depression (the first two for Landry and the last for Callum); Mentions of brand names & products (ChapStick, Coke, M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, Oreos, Tylenol, U-Haul, Mac, iPad, & Kindle); A few mentions of Halloween; A few mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of asthma attacks; A couple mentions of FaceTime & Siri; A mention of someone being an expert in “big emotions” (with children); A mention of National Geographic; A mention of a painter (Jackson Pollock); A mention of a werewolf; A mention of someone being concerned for the environment (teasing); A mention of someone being accused of misogyny.
 
 
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two ear/neck kisses, eight barely-above-not-detailed kisses, a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss, and three semi-detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (including a cheek kiss, all up to semi-detailed); Staring at another’s lips (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss, touch, & embrace (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes, Winks, & Butterflies; Jealousy; Noticing (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Landry says her husband got her pregnant on their honeymoon to be able to control her, *Spoiler* she add that she didn’t enjoy the honeymoon and now sees that he was because he was “far more experienced then he’d claimed he was” *End of Spoiler*; Callum asks if Landry’s husband forced himself on her and she says no; Landry says that she had to tiptoe around her husband and will not do that ever again for a man; A man offers Landry private lessons (innuendo); *Spoiler* Towards the end, Landry is abducted by a man who is obsessed with her and has a “predatory glint” in his eyes and mistakes her shiver of terror for desire *End of Spoiler*; A ‘bimbo’, a ‘hotties’, and two ‘baby’s; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & PDA (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of girlfriends, boyfriends, break-ups, exes, dates, & dating; Mentions of cheating, cheaters, & fathers leaving the mothers of their children; Mentions of flirting & flirts (including married men); Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of broken hearts; A few mentions of women watching handsome men working (making comments on their looks and wanting to meet them); A few mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of a married couple kissing; A mention of a possible illegitimate child; A mention of some people being related but not knowing it due to an affair (said that someone’s uncle “fooled around” with someone else’s aunt); A mention of a recently divorced man going on “long bimbo binge”; A mention of a fling; A mention of a couple sneaking around like teenagers so someone doesn’t know that they’re together; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of Callum’s aunts trying to set him up with a woman who was fourteen-years older than him; A mention of a child streaking through a baseball game. 
 
-Landry Hutton, age 32
-Callum “Cal” Shaw
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                                        352 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book took me completely by surprise. I’ve read a few other books by this author and enjoyed parts of different ones, but wasn’t sure about this book. I almost passed on this book because I wasn’t super interested in the plotline, but I’m glad I read it because I ended up really enjoyed it! 

 

The romance was really cute, Cal was the best, and it was overall a really enjoyable read. Definitely way lighter suspense than I was expecting, but that was good too. There were little things here and there that I didn’t care for, but nothing super major. 

 

Cal’s personality won me over the minute he appeared on page. He was fantastic. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in the suspense book before. He made the book for me. 

 

I think I swooned when he prayed with her. Have I seen that before in Christian fiction suspense books? When the main girl is distraught over something that happened in the suspense plotline and he stops and asks if he can pray with her and then prays for her? How come we haven’t seen that more?! It was so sweet! 

 

I did struggle to keep track of how everyone was related, the family feud in town, and all of those correlating elements, but I continued to read to hope that I could figure everything out. I did get really lost with the family trees and how everyone is related—a diagram of the main families‘ trees at the front of the book would’ve been super helpful! I did feel like I was almost jumping into the middle of a series or at least a very busy very active family life—make that three families! 

 

The suspense element really didn’t kick in till right at the end about 85% into the book. There is a bit here and there, but not really much in that first majority of the entire book.

Don’t go in expecting a Lynette Eason or Lisa Harris suspense novel full of action, shoot outs, and car chases—because that’s definitely not this book. 

 

This suspense book was unlike many other suspense books in many ways, but also because it actually covers a decent amount of time throughout the book. There are several chapters where it’s a few weeks later or several weeks later. Typically, I would get a little frustrated with that because I want to be all in our main characters lives and their interactions, but it worked really well for this book. Such as our main characters had discussions off page but then were told about them later when it’s important. I never felt like I was missing out. 

 

I will say that I wasn’t a fan of the villains from Landry‘s past being Christians in the public eye but then being backstabbers in the private. That’s some thing I’ve seen more and more in Christian fiction is the so-called “Christians” that are actually the villains of the story. And I’m not liking seeing that as frequently as I have been seen it. I will say that it bothered me way less in this book compared to other recent reads because those characters weren’t on page causing mayhem or being terrible? We just hear about it from past events from Landry, so it didn’t bother me as much, shockingly.

 

Overall? This was a busy book with all the characters and trying to figure out how everyone is connected, but it had its really sweet moments and a bit of suspenseful ones as well. The faith content was a bit lighter than I would have preferred, but Cal praying for Landry and then little Eliza’s prayers made it good to me. It really was romance book with a touch of suspense, which I shockingly still enjoyed. (Shockingly because I typically like my suspense books to be heart-pounding suspenseful.) Because of mentions of Landry’s abusive husband, I would mark this book for ages 15/16+.

 

 

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 (Revell) for this honest review.

"The Hidden Message" by Lois Walfrid Johnson

1990 edition

About this book:

2009 edition

  “With their father away, who will solve the mystery?

    In the darkness of a November night, Kate O'Connell awakens to the murmur of voices coming from below her room in the Windy Hill farmhouse. Sneaking down the stairs, she learns that Papa Nordstrom must take a job at a lumber camp to earn money for spring planting and be gone for two or three months during the worst part of the winter. Just when they had come together as a family, Papa must go.

    In his absence, all the children are given greater responsibilities for the farm. Them simply have to make it through the winter without him. And then Kate thinks of all the things that could happen on a northwoods farm in Wisconsin. What if something goes wrong?

    And things do go wrong. First in the community, then on the farm with some mysterious disappearances.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Adventures of the Northwoods” series. Review of Book #1, Here! 

Spiritual Content- A Scripture is read, remembered, mentioned, thought over, & discussed; Prayers; Church going (including on Christmas morning); Talks about God, Jesus, & forgiveness; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Kate thinks that she often thought about God in the summer, but now feels like He is far away again (an uncomfortable thought appears to her that it’s because of recent events and a secret she’s keeping); Kate mother makes Kate ask God to forgive her for lying; Kate mother tells her about Jesus saying that “God did something for all of us. … Because He loves us, God sent His perfect Son to die on the cross. When you do something wrong, you can say you’re sorry. You can ask forgiveness. Jesus will forgive you. … When you ask Him to be your Savior, He takes away your sin. He saves you from it.” and encourages Kate to let God forgive her; *Spoiler* Kate prays for forgiveness and fells deep inside of her that He will *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, & services (Kate doesn’t understand much in the Swedish church services her family attends); Mentions of hymns & a hymnbook; A few mentions of playing an instrument for God (Kate has never heard of anyone doing that before and wants to say that for herself, but knows that it’s not true); A mention of thanking God; A mention of the tradition of putting a candle in a window for the Christ child at Christmas; 

             *Note: Kate’s younger brother holds up two fingers being his head to make horns (directed at her lying).

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘sissy’, three forms of ‘stupid’, and ten forms of ‘dumb’; Nightmares; Kate eavesdrops on a conversation her parents are having; Kate and her step-brother argue, tease, and call the other names (such as dumb, brainless, stupid, and tattletale; She also yells that she hates him when he won’t stop teasing her about her dream; she gets upset that he won’t explain things to her as well); Kate and a boy at her school (who picked on her in Book #1) tease and threaten pranks to the other (Kate feels ashamed after a comment she said made him embarrassed); One of the boys (Stretch) says that the teacher doesn’t know “what she’s talkin’ about” (about warning them about a frozen lake) and also says the playground is for babies (and while Kate believes the teacher, she does to go the lake with him); *Spoiler* Kate falls through the ice of the lake and her trying to be rescued out of the icy water lasts a handful of pages (she is afraid that she’ll drown, semi-detailed); Kate keeps it a secret that she was on the lake with Stretch despite being very upset with him about leaving her *End of Spoiler*; Kate decides not to tell her mom about the prior spoiler & her brothers are against that idea (the younger one saying that it’s lying and Kate responds that it’s not lying, she just won’t tell her; Kate asks if they are going to tattle on her and hurts the young one’s feelings by being angry and threatening “you tell on me, and when you do something wrong, I’ll tell on you!”; She realizes that he hurt their bond by saying that); Kate does lie to her mother (thinking that she’s “not really” lying) & plans for her to not find out what happened which she calls “protect her” (her younger brother is shocked by her lying and her other brother says that she’s just protecting her own skin; *Spoiler* At one point, Kate knows that he younger brother is right, but still tells herself that she’s sparing her mother trouble by not telling her and doing the right thing; About half-way through, she tells her mother about falling through the ice and lying to her (not because of her own guilt but because of being emotional after her siblings pranked her), her mother is more upset about the lying and while forgiving her, also punishes her to stay in her room for two hours every day after school; Kate sneaks out by climbing a tree after a debating about doing it or not; When her little sister catches her and wants to go with her, Kate makes her promise not to tell; Later the little sister nearly gets hurt mimicking what Kate does and it shakes Kate up enough where she goes and asks her mother’s forgiveness *End of Spoiler*); Kate witnesses a boy stealing candy from a store (she starts to make excuses for him and doesn’t say anything; Her brother says a lot of the boys steal candy but he doesn’t anymore after his father tanned him for doing it); Kate’s brother and friend physically fight (over Kate not wanting her brother to tease her and when he doesn’t stop, the friends jumps him; Kate cheers for the friend to beat up her brother and when her mom sees them, they get punished with chores); One of Kate’s brothers drives a horse and buggy too fast and recklessly (despite her asking him many times to slow down) and problems happen; *Spoiler* When she sees Stretch as the possible thief, Kate doesn’t want to tell anyone because she’s defended him before and doesn’t want him to “get even” with her if she tells, so she pretends that she didn’t see him; Kate does tell her brother after his prompting and she thinks “Anders might tease. But so what? God loves me the way I am.”; The thief confesses that he was hungry and then started to sell things to buy what he wanted after his father left with all their money *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of Kate’s father death from a construction accident, her mother struggling afterwards with money, & their sadness; Mentions of almost drowning; Mentions of injuries & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of stealing, stolen items, & thieves; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, tattletales, stretching the truth, & hiding the truth from a parent; Mentions of pranks, teasing, & bullies; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of hunting & buttering animals for meat; A couple mentions of a father drinking & drinking more every year; A couple mentions of the disappearing stranger (Book #1); A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of the death of someone’s mother; A mention of someone cheating another; A mention of jealousy; 

             *Note: Like in the first book, there are some name calling between Kate and her older step-brother (including as dumb, brainless, stupid, and tattletale; She also yells that she hates him when he won’t stop teasing her about her dream) and boys vs girls rivalry; Kate enjoys playing the organ, but isn’t happy when told there will be hard work to get better at it; Kate feels sorry every now and then for not using her new family’s last name, but wants to remember her Irish father; Kate hates mice & is incredibly upset about finding a dead one (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of Kate having to “earn the respect” of one of her new step-brothers (and recalls her new step-father saying she’ll have to earn her way with the brother).

 

 

Sexual Content- A boy student (Stretch) winks at Kate & she finds herself staring at him because she thinks that he likes her (one of her brothers gets very upset about this and tells her to like someone else because that boy is trouble); Kate thinks boys are staring at her & therefore like her; Kate calls a boy handsome; Mentions of liking someone & boys staring at Kate (or so she thinks);  A mention of a boy student “making eyes” at a teacher;

             *Note: Kate’s brother tells her that it’s not ladylike to whistle (which makes her determined to learn to listen).

 

-Katherine “Kate” O’Connell, age 12
                                P.O.V. switches between them 

                                              Set in 1906
                                                        144 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This book enters in a bit of crushes for our main character, Kate, so depending on the views of a pre-teen’s family about reading books with hints of liking someone/crushes, this second book might possibly be a miss for them. Personally, I thought Kate was quite a stinker in this book (which I thought we were clear from after the first book!) so she definitely still has lessons to learn. I don’t think this series will be a new favorite of mine by any means, but I know it’s nostalgic for many. 

 

 

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 Tutor's Daughter" by Julie Klassen

About this book:

  “Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father regain his spirits when his academy fails, agrees to travel with him to the distant Cornwall coast, to the clifftop manor of a baronet and his four sons. But after they arrive and begin teaching the younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen and danger mounts. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte, only to find the music room empty? Who sneaks into her room at night? Who rips a page from her journal, only to return it with a chilling illustration?
   The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry, wrestle with problems—and secrets—of their own. They both remember Emma Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. She had been an awkward, studious girl. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her.
   When the suspicious acts escalate, can the clever tutor's daughter figure out which brother to blame... and which brother to trust with her heart?”


Series: No, a stand-alone novel. 

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, & quoted (including at the beginning of a chapter); Prayers & Thanking God; Church going & a bit of a sermon; A hymn is sung & written out; Some witnessing; Talks about God, Heaven, & prayers; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Emma rarely prays since she feels as if God doesn’t answer her prayers and believes she can rely on no one but herself (*Spoiler* Towards the end, she starts being open to God and listening to Him again *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & Thanking and praising God; Mentions of Heaven & one’s eternity; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, services, sermons, & vicars/clergymen; Mentions of a monk & his devotion to God; A few mentions of a drawing of Adam and Eve in the Garden (done by a child and has leaves covering them); A few mentions of Easter (in regards to the holiday break); A few mentions of blessings; A mention of the Old Testament; A mention of Christians; A mention of christening babies; A mention of some people viewing shipwrecks to be God’s grace to them and won’t save any survivors because of it; A mention of someone who has passed not being in the churchyard, but somewhere “far better”;
             *Note: When a conversation about God viewing all lives as “equally important”, someone makes a comment that “that’s one interpretation”; Many mentions of a rumored ghost & a house being haunted (Emma does not believe in ghosts and tries to figure out what it really is); Mentions of Greek mythology & gods from it; A few mentions of superstitions & legends (giants, piskies, mermaids, and ghosts are given as examples); A couple mentions of a woman having a superstitious streak and being “keen on lineage” (see Negative Content Note section for more information); A mention of supernatural terrors; A mention of someone being a “lucky devil”; The phrases “devil of a shock” and “God in heaven” (used when something shocking happened) are both used once.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘care a fig’, a form of ‘dumb’, a ‘what the devil’, a ‘who the blazes’, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘shut up’s, four ‘dash it’s, four ‘thunder and turf’s, fifteen ‘dashed’s, and sixteen “Good heavens”s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling; Thinking you’re going to die, Being trapped, Possibly drowning, & Helping rescue those in a shipwreck (up to semi-detailed); Emma slaps someone (who wouldn’t let go of her); Emma’s father makes a couple comments about wanting to die (he is depressed and grieving his wife); Many mentions of shipwrecks, drownings, bodies, seeing it happen, greedy wreckers, smugglers, thieves, thefts, and stealing (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of teasing, pranks, & meanness from children/teens to others (including Henry to Emma, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths of loved ones & grieving (for a wife & for a mother); Mentions of wars, battles, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of criminals & crimes; Mentions of fighting & fights; Mentions of threats of harm & death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of blood/bleeding, fake blood in a threat/warning, & a drawing of a beheading (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & social drinking (at dinners); Mentions of a mother leaving her daughter with her new husband (abandoning them both); Mentions of ugly names & calling others those names (young Emma and Henry, a young woman called Emma a “cow”, and two brothers fight and call the other a name); A few mentions of possible beatings & thinking a child is being beaten; A few mentions of hangings & a guillotine; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of finding a dead body; A couple mentions of a burn & injuries; A couple mentions of vandalism; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of imaging a loved one being swept out into sea; A mention of jail; A mention of throwing up; A mention of killing a chicken; 
             *Note: Some do not care if a crew on a ship dies as then they can legally have the cargo; Using a chamber pot (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of authors, books, & quotes from both are shared at the beginning of each chapter; Many mentions of those born with disabilities, others disapproving of them, others believing them to be dangerous and/or violent, some families sending others away because of it, & the option of workhouses or asylums (including a mention of some parents being concerned about their other children learning their “less-developed behaviors”); A couple mentions of infant mortality & deaths; A couple mentions of a woman canceling her daughter’s marriage due to a superstitious streak because the man’s family having someone with a club foot; A mention of a man’s tone implying that a woman is “feather-brained”.
 
 
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch (detailed), two hand kisses, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, four cheek/chin kisses, three forehead/temple kisses, a not-detailed kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two semi-detailed kisses, a detailed kiss, and a very detailed kiss; Remembering kisses & embraces (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss & be kissed (up to semi-detailed); Emma recalls her first kiss when she was alone in the dark with a young man (she found it exciting to be alone with him, up to semi-detailed); Emma dreams of a man almost kissing her (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Warmth, & Hand holding (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including muscles and curves, up to semi-detailed); Emma received love letters that mention her lips and her “delectable” earlobe; Emma and Henry talk late at night when in their nightclothes (scandalous for the time period); A man leers at Emma, focusing on her bosom (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of young women being in gentlemen’s bedchambers (both innocently and suggestive); Mentions of kisses, kissing, touches, & embraces; Mentions of flirting; A few mentions of a dance being performed by a man naked; A few mentions of jealousy; A mention of a wedding night; A mention of Henry becoming amorous even at a near-death experience (towards Emma); A mention of a man running away with an older woman; A mention of a teacher only teaching his students on how to flirt with older women; A mention of a possible innuendo by a young man; A mention of a possible drawing of a woman in an embarrassing state; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Henry notices another young woman and finds her unattractive including the fact that he finds her dull; A few mentions of women’s figures (including in a poem by a young man); A couple mentions of Emma’s mother giving her rare praise on her slim figure; A mention of Emma thinking that she doesn’t have much in the bosom area; A mention of Emma’s figure filling out (in her point of view); A mention of an older woman in a low-cut gown; A mention of labor pains.
 
-Emma Smallwood, age 21
-Henry Weston
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                     Set in 1817 (Prologue in 1812 and flashbacks throughout the story)
                                                        414 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

I was in the mood for a regency novel and since this one had a mystery thread hinted through it, I decided to pick it up. Unfortunately, it’s not one I would recommend to BFCG readers because of the romance content in the last hundred or so pages; more on that in a bit.

We start seeing the point of view of the love interest about a hundred pages in and I was glad about that because else wise I would have liked to tar and feather him. If you like books with family drama, then here you go. I typically like it, but I had foreseen some plot twists coming so it took out a large part of my enjoyment, unfortunately. :(

For being so smart, Emma isn’t the brightest on dealing with others. I feel bad saying that, but I say it because she’s truly let past prejudices and actions of someone when they were young completely affect and cloud her judgement now. I can’t blame her because I know I’ve been guilty of this myself in years past, but it added an (in my opinion) unnecessary angst to the romance side of the plot. Speaking of the romance: there were a few kisses that were a bit much and affected the ratings for BFCG’s target ages along with a couple comments during those parts. Sweet at times, yes, but also what I would call a bit too heavy for younger teens. Especially as the main romance content happened with a very heavy detailed kiss being because the characters think they’re going to die, which I don’t think is the best idea to promote. 

 

 

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.