"Catwalk" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “Big Apple. Bigger Problems.
  The success of the Forrester sisters’ On the Runway TV show lands them a hot ticket to Fashion Week in New York City. Paige is determined to garner the attention of New York’s top designers, but her newfound fame threatens to go to her head. Erin wants to help promote the work of some eco-minded designers, but struggles to be taken seriously. Can Paige keep her prima donna behavior in check? Will Erin’s involvement hurt the people she’s really trying to help? Success in the big city comes with even bigger challenges, and as the pressure grows, so does the drama.”


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


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Church going & sermons; Talks about God & His plans; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, fellowship groups, sermons, & a pastor; Mentions of Christians & faiths; Mentions of witnessing; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed; A mention of a Bible; A mention of a prayer list; A mention of a spiritual feeling;

             *Note: A couple mentions of the phrase “died and gone to heaven”; A mention of positive energy.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, two ‘dumb’s, and two forms of ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written): Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Mentions of car accidents, deaths, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of awful working conditions in other countries & the possibility of the workers’ deaths; Mentions of terrorists, criminals, & bombs; Mentions of vandalism, gangs, thugs, & juvenile detention; Mentions of assaults, being tackled, being handcuffed, & bruises; Mentions of mean girls & their hurtful words; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, those with drinking problems, parties with lots of alcohol, & clubs; A few mentions of (verbal) fights; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of gossip & rumors;  A couple mentions of a mother who died from an overdose; A couple mentions of prison; A mention of a prima donna saying she wants to go some where to die;

             *Note: Many mentions of designers & brand names; Mentions of celebrities, movies, & TV shows.

Sexual Content- a cheek kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; a ‘sexy’ and three forms of ‘hot’; *Spoiler* Mentions of Erin’s best friend who is pregnant out of wedlock & their original promise not to have sex before marriage *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of dates, dating, couples, boyfriends, & breakups; Mentions of broken hearts; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of unmarried couples spending nights with each other; A few mentions of a cheek kiss; A few mentions of falling in love; A couple mentions of cheating; A couple mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of blushes; A mention of a jab about a girl sleeping with the right guy for a TV job (she didn’t);

             *Note: Mentions of a girl who had to go through a strip search at an airport; Mentions of curvy & stick-thin girls; A couple mentions of anorexia; A mention of a girl having a crazy idea that she’s fat; A mention of a dress showing a lot of a girl’s leg; A mention of some girls wanting to be shown in just their underwear on TV; A mention of tampon ads; A mention of getting a kick in the butt from God.

-Erin Forrester, age 18
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Erin
                                                        206 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add ½ star for those interested in teen drama.}
{Add ½ star for those interested in fashion and designer names.}

It’s been a few years since I read this series for the second time, but it was neat to read it with a different view. I do remember enjoying this second book as a favorite in the series because of getting to see most of the Carter House Girls in this one, and to me, that really is like catching up with old friends. It’s like a cameo or guest star, it’s so fun!

There’s also quite a bit of faith content from Erin and I do like seeing her thoughts in a first-person POV. One of the more cleaner books of Melody Carlson’s many YA series, but still has some comments that some readers might not like.

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 Sea Before Us" by Sarah Sundin

About this book:

  “In 1944, American naval officer Lt. Wyatt Paxton arrives in London to prepare for the Allied invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a "Wren" in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Dorothy pieces together reconnaissance photographs with thousands of holiday snapshots of France--including those of her own family's summer home--in order to create accurate maps of Normandy. Maps that Wyatt will turn into naval bombardment plans.
  As the two spend concentrated time together in the pressure cooker of war, their deepening friendship threatens to turn to love. Dorothy must resist its pull. Her bereaved father depends on her, and her heart already belongs to another man. Wyatt too has much to lose. The closer he gets to Dorothy, the more he fears his efforts to win the war will destroy everything she has ever loved.
  The tense days leading up to the monumental D-Day landing blaze to life under Sarah Sundin's practiced pen with this powerful new series.”


Series: Book #1 “Sunrise at Normandy” series.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, read, remembered, & quoted; Many Prayers; Church going, a sermon, & a hymn; Many Talks about God, Him caring, & forgiveness; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; A couple ‘Thank God’s are said; Dorothy isn’t happy with God, and tries praying a few times, but does think often that God will smite who ever she prays for *Spoiler* She goes through many inward debates and finally realizes near the near that God does care for her *End of Spoiler*; Wyatt also witnesses/lives out his faith in front of her; Many mentions of God, Jesus, & forgiveness; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, services, hymns, sermons, & ministers; Mentions of faiths; Mentions of Jews; Mentions of Easter; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of sins & sinners; A couple mentions of Godspeed.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast it all’, three ‘balderdash’s, four ‘bother that man’s, four ‘rats’s, four ‘stupid’s, and five ‘shucks’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm; Seeing an accident & death (barely-above-not-detailed); Air raids, Bombs, & Gunfire (up to semi-detailed); Shooting (up to semi-detailed); Fighting & Pain (up to semi-detailed); Throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); All about many mentions of a war, fighting/battles, attacks, Nazis, bombs/explosions, fires, screams, gunfire, air raids, planning attacks, destroyed buildings, killing, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed to a few semi-detailed parts); Mentions of seeing bodies & drownings (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of an accident, death, & nearly being killed; Mentions of injuries, stitches, pain, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of shooting down planes & damage; Mentions of spies; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & running away; Mentions of alcohol & drinking; Mentions of arrests, jail/prison, & an electric chair; Mentions of embezzlement; Mentions of debts; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of a wife wanting a divorce; Mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of concentration camps; A couple mentions of cigarettes.

Sexual Content- a cheek kiss, three forehead/head kisses, a not-detailed kiss, six barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses (all three were unpleasant/forced), and three border-line semi-detailed // detailed kisses; Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Nearness, & Warmth (up to semi-detailed); Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); a ‘harpy and a ‘hot’; Many mentions of kisses, kissing, being kissed, & wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of adultery, stealing another’s spouse, & a kept woman; Mentions of lovers; Mentions of touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of flirting; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of dating, dates, asking someone out, & girlfriends; Mentions of crushes & infatuation; A few mentions of longings; A couple mentions of a couple being alone in a house together (implied sexual things would happen, but they do not go); A couple mentions of scandals; A couple mentions of couples kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of whistles/cat calls; A mention of reputations; A mention of a Casanova; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.

-Dorothy Fairfax

-Wyatt Paxton
                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                               Set in 1944 {Prologue set in 1941}
                                                        373 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Ratings for EHS & OHS girls are for those interested in WWII}

I’ve been told for quite a while now that I need to read a Sarah Sundin book, since I’ve had a couple of her books on my TBR, but still haven’t read them.

Well, I’ve checked that box!

This start to a brand-new series interest me because of our main girl Dorothy’s job. She takes older pictures from others’ vacations of set places to create a visual map of the area their soldiers will be fighting.

I’ve read so many World War II books and while all of them have had the true realness of that time period, I never personally thought about all the plans and planning that went behind all of the attacks. I found “The Sea Before Us” to be very eye opening in that regard.

I will admit that I got very lost and boggled down at times because of all of the military and group terms and numbers (not to mention all the ranks), but I was able to follow along decently. Those highly interested in those topics would probably find all of that more interesting than I did. ;)

For our characters: I have to say that the Prologue really took me by surprise and I figured out quickly that the next to books in this series will be about Wyatt’s brothers. As for that Texan boy, I really liked his character development shown throughout this entire book. His actions and feelings in a “back-to-square-one” kind of way felt very natural.

For Dorothy. Poor, dear, sweet, Dorothy. My heart literally hurt reading about Dorothy trying to change herself and act different just for a guy. Honey, no, please, you’re worth so much more than that! That cad made my skin crawl and I was ready to give him the boot the moment he was introduced. I really did want to take Dorothy by her shoulders and shake her many times, to be completely honest. It felt it took her forever to see that how she was acting for a guy wasn’t right, but I was happy to see her true self eventually come to the pages and those around her.

While I really enjoyed all the Spiritual Content (Wyatt’s faith and him living it out in front of Dorothy was a favorite part of mine), I do have to say that I was disappointed with all the kissing and romancey thoughts. I’m hoping the author’s other books aren’t so kissy.

One thing I was expecting to happen by the end of the story, didn’t happen. I’m thinking that the later books will have it and I’ll most likely try them out.

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.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Revell) for this honest review.

"Recipe for Murder" by Lisa Harris

About this book:

  “Pricilla never expected to be involved in a real life mystery, but that's exactly where she finds herself when she joins her son at his hunting lodge in the beautiful Colorado mountains. A superb cook and articulate hostess, Priscilla plans an informal buffet for the guests at her son's hunting lodge. But the dinner party turns to chaos when a guest is found dead after sampling one of her salmon-filled tartlets.”


Series: Book #1 in the “Cozy Crumb Mystery” trilogy.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & talked about; Prayers; Witnessing; Talks about God, Jesus, His timing, sin consequences, & worrying; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & thanking Him; Mentions of prayers; Mentions of faiths & churches; Mentions of sins; A few mentions of those in the Bible; A few mentions of blessings; A couple mentions of Christmas; A couple mentions of priests & minsters;

             *Note: Mentions of a woman leaving her faith.  

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’; All about mentions of a murder, death, poison, the body, & the murderer; Mentions of pain, broken bones, blood, & bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of jail/prison & inmates; Mentions of blackmail; Mentions of gossip; Mentions of a divorce; Mentions of hunting & hunting trips; A couple mentions of drinking; A couple mentions of betting & poker; A couple mentions of tattoos; A couple mentions of vomiting; A mention of the mafia; A mention of drugs.   

Sexual Content- 1 barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling; Mentions of noticing; Mentions of flirting, blushes, wanting to touch, & jealousy; Mentions of dates & dating; Mentions of falling/being in love; A couple mentions of sexual immorality & debauchery; A mention of a Casanova; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: Mentions of spouses having affairs; Mentions of husband who left their wives; Mentions of a young woman flirting with a man double her age; A couple mentions of plastic surgery & liposuction.

-Pricilla Crumb, age 64

-Max Summers, age 65
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        250 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This was a little “cozy mystery” that had a murder (however, it’s not a suspense murder book), but there was a bit of a sweet romance/matchmaking and quite a bit of Spiritual Content for such a small book!

See y’all on Monday 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.