At a Glance
- Author: Karen Thornell
- Publisher: Covenant Communications
- On-Sale Date: Sept. 1, 2021
- Synopsis: After several years of successfully avoiding marriage, Kate is horrified to learn that her father is auctioning her off to the highest-bidding suitor. She soon finds herself betrothed to an earl, who she believes to be a total stranger.
- Recommendation: Reader Discretion; See Content Advisory
Christian Themes
- Sacrificial Love
- “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)
- “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25)
Note: This is the second title I have read from Covenant Communications and I recently learned that this is an LDS publisher. I’m honestly not sure to what extent that has shaped the content of the books I reviewed— NetGalley groups them with Christian titles and both books have read like other titles I’ve encountered— but I am not a member of the LDS church, nor do I uphold their doctrines.
Spiritual Elements
As far as I can recall, there are no references to faith/ relationship with God. At most, the characters attended church. With that said, there were some Christian themes (addressed below), though they weren’t specifically “packaged” as Christian.
What I Liked
- Something I did like is that the main character, Kate, is not wasting away, longing to get married. In fact, Kate actively avoids getting married, and would prefer to be single.
- As an unmarried woman, Kate strives for purity and appropriateness in her interactions with her male friend.
- I like that Kate undergoes clear character development along the way, and I also feel that the overarching message had more to do with love being a choice (vs. “marriage is what fulfills you.”).
- The plot line was engaging, with some intriguing twists.
- I certainly enjoyed the mystery component.
- Overall, I feel that the book portrays a mostly healthy romantic relationship— except that it’s missing the spiritual component.
Content Concerns
- This isn’t so much a “concern,” but I would have really liked to see more spiritual themes. I liked the progression of the romance and the character development that occurred alongside it, but would have liked to have read about the ultimate source of love, God.
- For a regency novel, there were more kissing scenes than I expected, which was a bit disappointing, to me.
Overall Impression
This was certainly and interesting and enjoyable read, but I would categorize it as “clean,” rather than as Christian. As mentioned in previous posts, I am now looking for books that are strongly Christian, as well as being clean.
Stephanie's Ninth Suitcase 