"A Tailor-Made Bride" by Karen Witemeyer

About this book:

  “When a dressmaker who values beauty tangles with a liveryman who condemns vanity, the sparks begin to fly!

    Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with the new dressmake in Coventry, Texas. He's all too familiar with her kind—shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothing, this seamstress is not at all what he expected.

    Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man?

    When Hannah decides to help Jericho's sister catch a beau—leading to consequences neither could have foreseen—will Jericho and Hannah find a way to bridge the gap between them?”

 

 

Series: No, a stand-alone.

 

 

Spiritual Content- Proverbs 31:30 at the beginning; Many Scriptures are mentioned, read, remembered, referenced, quoted, discussed, & thought over; Bible reading; Many Prayers; Church going & singing hymns; Talks about God, His creation, & Christians; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of God, the Lord’s Providence, His will, & His creation; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & devotionals; Mentions of those, events, & places in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, services, sermons, hymns, & a preacher; Mentions of Christians; Mentions of Heaven & angels; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of a godsend; A few mentions of a sinner & being sinful;

             *Note: A mention of a smile being the essence of devilment; A mention of a woman looking like an angry goddess from Greek myths.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bah’, a ‘drat’, a ‘give a fig’, a ‘land sakes’, a ‘shoot’, a ‘shucks’, a ‘where the devil’, two forms of ‘blast’, three ‘stupid’s, and five forms of ‘idiot’; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; A couple mentions of curses and cursing (said, not written); A flash flood, almost drowning, & rescuing someone (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked, held at knife-point, bleeding, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a flash flood, injuries, almost drowning, & an unconscious person; Mentions of fighting, injuries, & pain; Mentions of possible injuries & illnesses (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of vandalism & vandals; A few mentions of a child nearly drowning; A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of hatred; A few mentions of saloons, drinking, & drunkenness; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of a war; A mention of murderous impulses; A mention of gunshots; A mention of bullies; A mention of a hog shrieking at butchering time; A mention of manure.

 

 

Sexual Content- Two fingers-to-lips touches, two hand/palm kisses, three forehead kisses, two almost (semi-detailed) kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, a detailed kiss, and a very detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss someone (up to semi-detailed); Imagining kisses & touches/embraces (up to semi-detailed); Lots of Touches, Warmth, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (including Hannah sitting on a Jericho’s lap, all up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch someone & be touched (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Lots of Noticing (including a woman’s curves and bare calves (Jericho is attracted to/tempted by Hannah and his body reacts in physical ways (wanting to kiss her, mouth going dry, etc.)) & a man’s muscles (Jericho flexes his muscles in front of Hannah a few times), up to semi-detailed); A ‘hussy’; Mentions of almost kisses, kisses, & kissing; Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of jealousy & possessiveness; Mentions of chaperones, reputations, compromising a woman’s virtue, & a man not taking advantage of a woman; A few mentions of a married woman leaving her family to play as a mistress to another man; A few mentions of seducing; A few mentions of women throwing themselves at men; A couple mentions of some marriages never being any deeper than physical attraction; A mention of a madam in a bordello; Love, attraction, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: Mentions of women’s curves; Mentions of men’s muscles & their physiques; Mentions of modesty & modest dresses; A couple mentions of scanty gowns inciting men to lust; A mention of a woman’s ample hips.

 

-Hannah Richards

-Jericho “J.T.” Tucker, age 27

                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                             Set in 1881

                                                        348 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I will very easily admit that I wanted to throttle Jericho most of the book. Particularly in the first half because he was a twerp to Hannah, and while less overall in the second half, I still would’ve been fine with whacking him with a shoe a few times then as well. There were more than a few parts of him noticing her curves or her noticing his muscles that made their romance be based much more on the physical attraction side, which albeit is common for the enemies-to-lovers trope, is not my favorite to read about. They had a lot of cute moments that made me smile, and I really enjoyed all the faith content in this novel, but I do hesitate to recommend this book to anyone under 16 because of all the kisses and noticing.  

 

 

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.

 

“Everywhere to Hide” by Siri Mitchell

About this book:

  “How does a woman protect herself from an enemy she can’t see?

   Law school graduate Whitney Garrison is a survivor. She admirably deals with her mother’s death, mounting student debt, dwindling job opportunities, an abusive boyfriend, and a rare neurological condition that prevents her from recognizing human faces.

   But witnessing a murder might be the crisis she can’t overcome.

   The killer has every advantage. Though Whitney saw him, she has no idea what he looks like. He knows where she lives and works. He anticipates her every move. Worst of all, he’s hiding in plain sight and believes she has information he needs. Information worth killing for. Again.

   As the hunter drives his prey into a net of terror and international intrigue, Whitney’s only ally, Detective Leo Baroni, is taken off the case. Stripped of all semblance of safety, Whitney must suspect everyone and trust no one—and fight to come out alive.”

Series: As of now, no. A stand-alone novel.

Spiritual Content- A few mentions of Jesus and His words in the author’s note (‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to Jesus); A mention of churches; A mention of praying; A mention of most of Whitney’s students not having a prayer at getting into an Ivy League school;

             *Note: Mentions of luck & some people being lucky; A couple mentions of the devil’s advocate & a man being the devil; A mention of Whitney making a Faustian bargain when she took out her student loans; A mention of damning evidence; A mention of information not being damning.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a “it was a bunch of BS”, a ‘doggone’, a ‘heck’, a ‘kicking a little you-know-what’ (referring to someone’s bottom), a ‘shut up’, two ‘dang’s, three forms of ‘screwed up’, eighteen ‘stupid’s; Sarcasm; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Seeing a dead body, blood, & the murderer (up to semi-detailed); Gunshots; Being held at gunpoint, being slapped and kicked, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Whitney lies a few times (for reasons such as not to worry her dad); All about many mentions of a dead body, blood, murder, murderer/shooter, a gun, & a gunshot (up to semi-detailed); Many, many mentions of Whitney’s abusive ex-boyfriend (emotionally, physically, verbally, manipulative, controlling, belittling, and gaslighting her) & her injuries from him (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of wars, PTSD, & someone losing their leg overseas (we see a man struggle during a fire alarm because of the noise triggering his PTSD); Mentions of homicides & domestic violence (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a planned murder-suicide; Mentions of gunshots, shooters, & possible bombs; Mentions of crimes, crime scenes, criminals, & thieves; Mentions of break-ins, burglars, one casing a home, & vandalism; Mentions of stalkers, restraining orders, pressing charges, & jail time; Mentions of a fire; Mentions of treason & traitors; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of scams & gambling; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of cigarettes & smoking; A few mentions of tattoos; A couple mentions of wondering if someone had been drinking; A couple mentions of vomiting; A couple mentions of buying someone a beer & hearing beer bottles clinking; A mention of money laundering; A mention of a former drug addict; A mention of a wet bar in a house; A mention of drinking wine at a chalet;

             *Note: Mentions of car brands; Mentions of social media sites & websites (Instagram, Skype, FaceTime, Craigslist, Google Maps, Google, & Amazon); A few mentions of brand names & stores (Vans, Rolex, Microsoft, & Home Depot); A few mentions of classic books & movies; A mention of Ted Bundy. 

 

 

Sexual Content- A cheek kiss, two forehead kisses, and four barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, & Nearness (towards the end of the book) (including sitting on a guy’s lap, barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling; *Spoiler* Whitney stays at Leo’s house, they share kisses, and for one night, a bed (they were using separate bedrooms but after a trying day, she asks him to sleep (he says that she’s “not in any condition to make a decision like that”, but she means to “just sleep. That’s all.”) with her (he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but gets into the bed) and she cuddles against him) *End of Spoiler* (To avoid the spoiler, Whitney shares a bed with a man and while nothing sexual happens, she does cuddle against him); Many, many mentions of Whitney’s ex-boyfriend & their breakup (he decided that they should going to move-in together and they were looking for an apartment, but never did move-in together); Mentions of cheaters & cheating (Whitney’s ex-boyfriend cheated on her); Mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, dating, & dates; A few mentions of a kiss; A few mentions of flirting & pick-up lines; A couple mentions of being seduced; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of seeing a couple kissing; Very light love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A mention of Whitney’s ex encouraging her to show off more of her body and less of her brain; A mention of a woman that spends her days at the library and her nights on the streets;

 

-Whitney Garrison, age 28

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

                                                        339 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Please note the two concerns I listen below and take them into account for the teen. }

This was an interesting and different book.

I don’t know much about cryptocurrency, so while some of those parts could be a bit confusing, it was interesting to hear about the pros and cons of it. Along with cyberterrorism from China in regards to cryptocurrency and the economy here in the States. Now, if you’re not American and/or do not have an interest in the US economy, you would probably find those parts to be uninteresting, and it makes up a major part of the book. But I personally found it all to be fascinating, especially with how the world currently is. (And the funny thing is, while I say that, something just came to your mind and it’s not necessarily what I’m referring to, it all depends on when you read this post. There’s always something that’s happening, particularly in recent years. This book being written in 2020 gave it a unique view.)

Because Whitney’s point of view was in first person, it was super easy to get into her head and view the world how she does. At the beginning, because of her anxiousness of everything going on, I felt anxious as well which pulled me into the plot.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. I do, however, have a couple things I wasn’t thrilled with seeing.

1. ) The lack of faith content. I really wish this book would have had some mention to Whitney’s faith or sincerely praying during the craziness that is her life. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really anything, but I honestly didn’t notice the lack of Spiritual Content until well over a hundred pages into the story. I suppose I was just going with the flow and enjoying the plot, but I do feel like there were a few parts that prayers or discussions could have happened. It felt more like a clean read than a Christian fiction one in this regard.

2. ) Whitney shares a bed with a man when there’s not much of a relationship between them. She didn’t mean is sexually (it was after another trying event) and while he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, she cuddles up against him. She had been through the ringer—once again—and while I can’t blame her for wanting to feel safe, I was a bit uncomfortable with this part. I really liked that this book was on the way lighter side for the romance elements—it didn’t even start until way towards the end.

I was going to give this book four stars, but I think I’ll be putting my personal rating at 3.5 because of those two elements.

 

 

 

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.