Secret Admirer

Girls of 622 Harbor View #7-8

by Melody Carlson

Meet Morgan, Amy, Carlie, and Emily. They all live in the trailer park at 622 Harbor View in tiny Boscoe Bay, Oregon. Proximity made them friends, but a desire to make the world a better place---and a willingness to work at it---keeps them together. Carlie's mad! Can she forgive her friends---and will they forgive her? In book seven, Project: Ski Trip, friendships are put to the test as the girls go on their long-awaited ski trip with the church youth group. But there are boys on this trip, and some of the girls would rather flirt than ski---and tomboy Carlie would rather snowboard than shower! Then an accident on the slopes forces her to slow down---and shows her who her real friends are. What happens when the boy you like doesn't like you back? In book eight, Project: Secret Admirer, the Valentine's Day dance is on the horizon, and Amy daydreams about the cutest boy in school---after all, someone's leaving secret admirer notes in her locker. But when news of her crush gets out, she is so embarrassed. What do you do when you're going to be single on the biggest couples' night of the year? Amy just might have an answer...helping others who are lonely on the most romantic day of the year!

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2012

About the author

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus.

She also writes many teen books, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series.

Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon.

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this book:

“Love Is So Much More Than They Ever Knew
Love is in the air, on the slopes and on the dance floor. And the Girls of Harbor View must uncover the secrets of guys, friendship, and what really matters.
Ski Trip - The long-awaited ski trip finally arrives, but events take a downturn when some of the girls go completely boy crazy. Carlie, however, won’t have anything to do with the boys—or her flirtatious friends. Instead, she gets crazy-dangerous snowboarding. What will it take to bring the girls to their senses?
Secret Admirer - As Valentine’s Day approaches, Amy finds herself pursued by a secret admirer, and she mistakenly sets her heart on the wrong guy. When news gets out, Amy is devastated and humiliated, until she concocts a plan to transform the day.”


Series: A collection novel of the books seven & eight in the “Girls of 622 Harbor View” series. Review of the first collection Here!, second Here!, and third Here!


Spiritual Content- 2 Corinthians 4:18 at the beginning; A couple Prayers; A few messages/sermons; Talks about God, forgiveness, & prayers; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, youth group, pastors, & sermons/messages; Mentions of Christians; Mentions of dancing at church (including those who believe it is a sin to dance); A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of a baby Jesus figure; A mention of the Bible; A mention of a Christian dating website.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’, three ‘duh’s, five ‘idiot’s, eight ‘dumb’s, and thirty-nine forms of ‘stupid’; Eye rolling; A broken bone & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of broken bones, accidents, fainting, & pain; Mentions of hatred (Carlie struggles with this towards Chelsea); Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of the prior book’s trouble with Emily’s biological father (he is currently in jail after breaking and entering); A few mentions of a bully who was released from juvenile detention; A mention of shoplifting; A mention of calling someone a liar;
*Note: A few mentions of celebrities & a band; Mentions of designer names; A mention of a car brand; A mention of a movie.


Sexual Content- a ‘baby’, a ‘hottie’, and a mention of the ‘hottest’ guy at school; All about many mentions of boys, boy crazy girls, who-likes-who/crushes, flirting, girls wanting (or not wanting) boyfriends, & break-ups; Mentions of a dance & Amy’s plan to get a boy to notice her; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of dates & dating; A couple mentions of girlfriends; A couple mentions of kissing.

-Carlie, 12
-Amy, 12
P.O.V. switches between them
270 pages

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Pre Teens- Two Stars
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars
{Add ½ to a full star for girls in public school.}
While this series might have seemed a bit dated with mentions of celebrities & MySpace, it did have good messages for girls ages 11-13 who are in public schools and face different challenges. It’s been ten years such this series first came out and I would totally love a little catch-up novella or even a blog post about where these girls are now in their early twenties.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*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.

[Miki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected so much more out of this book. It's not that it was "bad", it was just ok. There are two stories. The first story, the Girls of Harbor View go on a ski trip and the second story revolves around Valentine's Day, a secret admirer, and going to a dance. I was expecting these to be Christian middle grade books. God is put in as an afterthought. Nothing was "wrong" with this book and as long as you are ok w/ girls going "boy crazy" it's a safe read for 12 and up.

[QuillQueen ~ Hiatus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just want to say that I knew it was the first chair from the first chapter!!

Anywho, I highly recommend this book but first go read the first one in the series.

My fave character is Emily!!



-QuillQueen💖

[Justine Snyder]

Intended for middle school girls. But I found it a quick and sweet read, as the girls learn about forgiveness, compassion and loyalty.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contained the last two books in the Harbor View series - books 7 and 8. This series as a whole was very sweet, cute, and fun to read.