Description: Becoming a Christian is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to Sarah Hollenbeck. Best because, well, that's obvious. Worst because, up to this point, she's made her very comfortable living as a well-known, bestselling author of steamy romance novels that would leave the members of her new church blushing. Now Sarah is trying to reconcile her past with the future she's chosen. She's still under contract with her publisher and on the hook with her enormous fan base for the kind of book she's not sure she can write anymore. She's beginning to think that the church might frown on her tithing on royalties from a "scandalous" book. And the fact that she's falling in love with her pastor doesn't make things any easier.
With a powerful voice, penetrating insight, and plenty of wit, Bethany Turner explodes onto the scene with a debut that isn't afraid to deal with the thorny realities of living the Christian life.
My Thoughts: As with the last book of Bethany's which I read, this book tackles the issue of sexual tension between a couple before marriage. However, this one starts with a woman who wrote adult romance (with sex) before becoming a Christian as a means of fulfillment and attention. And afterward, she had to find a way to live out her Christian principles when most everyone judged her for either her past or her present.
That first part, before her conversion, plays out rather rapidly with most of it being a direct address from Sarah to the audience. She starts with her divorce, runs down how she got into writing romances, the life she had doing that, and then quickly ties the backstory up with her conversion. The narrative slows down quickly after this point, letting the reader in on her relationship with Ben, her friendship with Piper, and the tumult of convincing her agent (and her audience) to let her write clean romance.
However, it was that first portion of that book which made it difficult for me to dive in. I didn't like the summary of years of her life or the suddenness in which she decided become a Christian after getting in a fight with her Christian friend about the kind of books she wrote.
I like that Bethany portrays real life situations that Christians can find themselves in. She doesn't shy away from topics that we wouldn't have seen years ago, and I know that there are many authors who have gone through just the kind of experience which she described. I just wish the story had been told a little differently.
I have provided an honest review after receiving a copy of the book through JustRead's Blind Book Tour.
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