Sealed with a Kiss

Holly's Heart #3

by Beverly Lewis

Book 3 of Holly's Heart. Too many little white lies can create one big jam. Holly and her best friend, Andie, are having a race to see who can collect the most pen pals by Labor Day. The contest was exciting and fun at first, but Holly eventually finds herself in a bit of a mess when she starts writing to a male pen pal. College-aged Lucas Leigh, Holly's newest and top-secret pen pal and the nephew of her favorite author, thinks Holly is a much older, published writer. Holly is thrilled when Lucas suggests they read each other's manuscripts, but her seemingly innocent deception backfires when Lucas asks to meet Holly in Now Holly must give up the opportunity to meet her favorite author…or face the consequences of telling lies.

Genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Christian, Teen, Christian Fiction

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."

Reviews

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

About this book:

“Too many little white lies can create one big jam. Holly and her best friend, Andie, are having a race to see who can collect the most pen pals by Labor Day. The contest was exciting and fun at first, but Holly eventually finds herself in a bit of a mess when she starts writing to a male pen pal. College-aged Lucas Leigh, Holly's newest and top-secret pen pal and the nephew of her favorite author, thinks Holly is a much older, published writer. Holly is thrilled when Lucas suggests they read each other's manuscripts, but her seemingly innocent deception backfires when Lucas asks to meet Holly in person: Now Holly must give up the opportunity to meet her favorite author or face the consequences of telling lies.”


Series: “Holly’s Heart” book #3 (review of Book #1 here and #2 here!)


Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Prayers; Talks about God; Mentions of God, Jesus, & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of witnessing; Mentions of churches, church going, Sunday school, youth group, a church choir, hymns, services, & pastors; Mentions of devotions; A few mentions of being/becoming a Christian; A few mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of a Christian rap group; A couple mentions of missionaries; A couple mentions of someone being religious.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: three ‘stupid’s and four ‘dumb’s; Eye rolling & sass; Holly talks back to her mom & can have an attitude; Seeing someone almost drown and then get hypothermia (they are okay); Holly is not happy about the man her mom is dating & wants to come up with a plan to keep them apart; Mentions of lies & keeping secrets; Mentions of Holly’s parents’ divorce; A few mentions of someone who died from cancer; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of blackmail;
*Note: A few mentions of famous people (George Washington, John Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Billy Graham); Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of brand names (Jell-O & Sears).


Sexual Content- Blushes; Noticing cute boys; Holly is a bit boy crazy; Many mentions of boys, cute boys, & crushes; Mentions of dates, dating, & girlfriends/boyfriends; Mentions of a two-timer (Book #1); Mentions of flirting; Mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of seeing couples kiss;
*Note: Holly lies to her (older, male) pen pal about her age (when he requests a picture, Holly goes on a mission to make herself look older, *Spoiler* she later regrets not being honest and telling him her age, and before meeting him at a public event, she stuffs tissues “in all the right places” to appear older, but decides to tell the truth *End of Spoiler*); Holly talks about her figure & how it’s developing with her best friend & mom; Holly gets her period (Andie calls it the “monthly miracle”, no details except Holly being excited that she’s now a woman and gets to use the supplies she’s been waiting to use); A couple mentions of other girls’ curves.

-Holly Meredith, age 13
1st person P.O.V. of Holly
160 pages

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Pre Teens- Three Stars
New Teens- Four Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Two Stars (and a half)
{Add a full star for girls in Public or Private school.}
I personally found this “Holly’s Heart” book to be the most enjoyable thus far, though it did have it’s moments of bad decisions and harsh words from Holly. Thankfully, she’s learning and growing, which is nice to see. There’s still quite a bit of friendship and boy troubles, but it’s less than the prior two books.


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.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, It turned out okay, but I had several problems with the story.
For one, Holly, who is thirteen, has a pen-pal that is in college, and she misleads him to think she's older than she is. Big red flag! She feels sorry at the end and asks forgiveness, but still, that fact made me really uncomfortable, and she's lucky things worked out the way they did.
Second of all, Holly's mother is dating a man named Mr. Tate. Indeed, Mr. Tate is not at all a likable character and it obviously wasn't the best relationship, but as a thirteen year old meddling with her mother's relationship, it just felt wrong.
And thirdly, the fact that Holly's uncle is now dating her mom. He's not blood related, he's Holly's dad's brother, but still, his wife died like six months ago. Isn't that a little... fast to move on?
The writing was okay. Parts of it were okay. But I wouldn't recommend it, and won't be reading again.

[Alaya Monaé · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still think it’s weird six months after her aunt Marla died, her husband (uncle Jack) starts to try to be with her mother who used to married to aunt Marla’s brothers…Talk about a blended family….

[Cadee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I think that it's cool that Holly gets published by one of her favorite authors!" -Cadee, age 13

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis: Holly Meredith's life is a huge mess. Her mother wants to marry Mr. Tate, and uproot Holly and her younger sister Carrie in the process. Holly's pen pal Lucas believes that she is an adult and a published author; how will he react if he finds out she is actually a twelve-year-old girl? To complicate matters even further, Holly's mother is getting letters from some admirer, and neither she nor Mr. Tate are too happy about it. There's some very big surprises on the way for Holly-Heart...

Review: Usually, when I get into a series like this, my reviews say something to the effect of, "If you liked the previous books, you'll like ________...but, if you didn't, then you won't." That's also true with this novel...but it's slightly inferior to the others because of one part. One of the big surprises--hey, I'm not giving it away!--is talked about in a beat-around-the-bush way that sounds silly, even though pretty much anyone reading it would understand the meaning. That, in my opinion, is the lowest point of the series so far...but it's definitely not a "jump the shark" moment. I plan on continuing the series, as it makes for great reading material for a twenty-four-year-old kid like me.

Score: 3.75/5

[Donna Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

romance issues, becoming a woman, and getting a chance to be published are all packed into this story. Holly must learn honesty is the best policy even though it may be hard sometimes. other people have wants and needs and hers can't always be the most important, and most of all, God IS in control even when things seem so out of whack. just wait it thru.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F LEW hh bk.3

[Rachel]

I am 12. I read this maybe a little bit less than a month ago.

[M]

The series is pretty good... There is a touch of romance, which was the downside fir me, but it wasn't so much that I couldn't ignore it.

[McKayla Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! it showed that you should stay true to yourself no matter what.

[Sheila Samuelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in 2004

[Mariah]

This was a super good book :)
I learned that little white lies can turn into something bigger.