"Amber's Song" by Olivia, Kaitlyn, and Camryn Pitts with Janel Rodriguez Ferrer

About this book:

  “In the third book in the Daniels Sister series, Amber and her sisters Ashton and Ansley head to Christian summer camp at Camp Caracara. It’s been an annual tradition for years! With high hopes, the twins meet their cabinmates Gio, an old friend from back home in Texas, and Milli, a new friend with some challenges to overcome. Amber will have to work hard to practice kindness and patience as she handles teasing from her own sisters about bringing along her favorite furry coat from Mom, which she thinks she’ll be able to use as a costume in a skit or two, since she plans on participating in as many as possible this year—she just loves singing and performing for a crowd. And she’ll also need the same patience and kindness as she navigates new camping experiences this year as well.”

 

 

Series: Book #3 in the “The Daniels Sisters” series. Review of the Book#1, Here and #2 Here! (Connected to the “Lena in the Spotlight” series.)

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are discussed, mentioned, read, remembered, quoted, & thought about; Prayers, Praising God, & Thanking Him; Talks about God, His love, & His creation; Some ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Going to a Christian summer camp, a devotional, & a play based off a parable; Many mentions of God; Many mentions of those and books in the Bible, Bibles, & Bible reading; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of praising, worship, & songs; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A mention of a pastor.

 

 

Negative Content- Some eye rolling; Issues with a new girl lying, copying, taking things without asking, & being rude to Amber and the others; Amber looks through another girl’s private notebook & feels guilty about it, but the contents took her attention from the guilt (though she apologizes later); Amber and her sisters miss their mother (who passed away before the first book of this series); Mentions of thieves & stealing; Mentions of getting revenge & getting even with someone (Amber says they shouldn’t do that and feels guilty, but some of her cabinmates decide they need to teach another girl a lesson and meanly tease her, which Amber tries to stop); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of hatred & a girl thinking that the others hate her; A couple mentions of corpses/dead bodies (a misunderstanding); A couple mentions of jealousy;

             *Note: Mentions of the Narnia book series, Nancy Drew books, and characters; A mention of a girl’s father not being around.

 

 

Sexual Content- N/A.

 

-Amber Daniels

                                1^st person P.O.V. of Amber

                                                        176 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Clean for all ages, ratings are lower for older ages due to middle-grade problems. }

While this wasn’t my favorite from this series because of lying from the new girl, there were good lessons in this book for young readers.

 

 

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 Letter from Briarton Park" by Sarah E. Ladd

About this book:

  “Cassandra Hale grew up knowing little about her parentage, and she had made peace with the fact that she never would. But Cassandra’s world shifts when a shocking deathbed confession reveals a two-year-old letter from Mr. Clark, the master of Briarton Park, with hints to her family’s identity. Stung by betrayal, she travels to the village of Anston only to learn Mr. Clark has since passed away.

   James Warrington is a widower and the new master of Briarton Park, where he lives with his two young daughters, his sister, and his mother-in-law. When Cassandra appears at his doorstep with a letter from the previous owner and then proceeds to assist his family in an unexpected way, he is honor bound to help uncover the answers she seeks.

   The more time Cassandra spends in Anston, the more she begins to suspect not everything—or everyone—is as they seem. As details emerge, the danger surrounding her intensifies. Using wit and intuition, she must navigate the treacherous landscapes between truth and rumor and between loyalty and deception if she is to uncover the realities of her past and find the place her heart can finally call home.”

Series: Book #1 in “The House of Yorkshire” series.

Spiritual Content- Church going; Mentions of churches, church going, services, sermons, & vicars; Mention of an infant being baptized; A mention of God (in the phrase “from God knows where”); A mention of praying; A mention of a Christian woman;

             *Note: When a vicar gives Cassandra advice on who she might not want to associate with and that she should be with “the right sort of society”, she’s dismayed to hear such words from a vicar about members from his congregation; *Major Spoiler* The vicar is the murderer and holds Cassandra at gunpoint *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of ghosts; A mention of a godforsaken place; A mention of a vicar saying yes, he’s a vicar, but he’s a man first and a superstitious one at that; A mention of a devilishly hard woman to track down; A mention of knowing the damning secrets of someone else’s life. 

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘la’s and five ‘bah’s (used as injections); Some sarcasm & eye rolling; Finding a dead body & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Being held at gunpoint & fighting (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of a dead body (murdered), how it happened, the murderer, arrest, & blood (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fights, beatings, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of blood, illnesses, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fires, attacks, fighting, injuries, & threats (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hatred; Mentions of deceit, lies, & lying; Mentions of pipes, tobacco, & smoking; A few mentions of snuffboxes; A few mentions of gambling & debts (including rumors of a vicar gambling); A couple mentions of battles & injuries; A couple mentions of alcohol;

             *Note: Mentions of graveyards & graves of infants. 

 

 

Sexual Content- Three hand/wrist kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and two semi-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including a woman’s curves, barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* Cassandra’s biological father was a married man and her biological mother was a maid (another woman says he pursued her “as if he has a divine right to”, it’s revealed at the end that he took advantage of her); Her father took full custody of her by paying off the mother and sent her to a boarding school at a young age; It’s said that his greatest regret in life was not knowing her; Cassandra thinks that her mother was either seduced or taken advantaged of and does not want history to repeat itself; When she meets her biological mother, she is harshly rejected and told that Cassandra upended her life once, that she won’t do it again, but later seeks her out to have a relationship with her *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of illegitimate children, maids being pregnant (from their master), & a husband’s infidelity; Mentions of reputations, a man harming a girl’s reputation, & thinking that a couple is running away together to elope; Mentions that men don’t always have woman’s best interests at heart & that women should be able to protect themselves; A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of temptations & attractions; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of women possibly being attacked; A couple mentions of flirts & flirting; A mention of Cassandra remembering being caught in compromising circumstances with a young man; Love, attraction, falling in love, & the emotions.

 

-Cassandra Hale, age 24

-James Warrington, age 32

                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                            Set in 1811 (Epilogue in 1812)

                                                        336 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Adoptees or those who do not know their biological parents may take caution in reading this book due to emotions Cassandra feels and how others react to her birth. }

The plot of this book went exactly as I was expecting, there was nothing shocking or twists I didn’t expect. Which I think caused the book to feel very long and I had a hard time getting into it.

Like the author’s prior book, there were many moments when the main characters could have sent up a prayer for help from the Lord or where a discussion of faith or trusting God could have happened, but never did and I was really disappointed to see that happen once again. The reveal of who the bad guy was wasn’t shocking, but disappointing, nonetheless. There were many parts that could have been an excellent lead into seeing the characters’ faiths. I really wish the faith elements would have been stronger because this book felt more like a clean fiction book than Christian fiction one.

As far as Cassandra’s birth secret, while it was sad at times, it can definitely be a reality for adoptees or orphans meeting with or learning about a biological parent. I did feel like it gave the story have a depressing undertone, though, which affected my personal rating and I give a caution notice about it. To some it may not bother reading about it, to some it may trigger painful memories or feelings, and to others it may help and possibly heal, every person and their experiences are different.

 

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.