Month: October 2013

My least favorite type of romance is instant-love or insta-love. This type of romance is when the hero and heroine meet and fall in love instantly. There is little to no development between them. If you had to trace their relationship, there would be very little to discuss. These are the types of romance novels I rarely finish because they are already in love and anything keeping them a part is usually silly and contrived. 

The real problem with this kind of romance, if I had to narrow it down, is that most times that I’ve seen this kind of romance used, the hero and heroine are willing to lay everything on the line for each other, while I’m sitting there scratching my head wondering why. Or I find myself simply not caring at if the hero dies or the heroine has to marry someone else. It’s really hard to care about a relationship that appears to have no substance. This is really bad done if they try to say that the hero never thought he would fall in love, or if he’s something of a player when it comes to women, but then he meets the heroine and she changes him in an instant. Fail. There must be development!

Can this kind of romance ever work? Yes, I think. The best example of this working as a novel is if the couple gets married right away and then has to deal with issues they ignored in the beginning. Or, if somehow whatever keeps the couple separated really makes sense, like war. I think WWII novels can really do this trope well (I have read a secular novel like this, but nothing in the Christian arena to recommend; Sarah Sundin, my resident WWII novelist hasn’t used this trope yet.)

It is very rare that I like novels that have this. In fact it is so rare, that as I studied all the books that I own, I could only think of one that came close to insta-love that I liked. And yet, this novel is sci-fi, and really the insta-love is only one sided.  This would be Firebird by Kathy Tyers. It’s a wonderful novel if you love sci-fi and I really liked the romance. Also, if you like renditions of Romeo and Juliet, I would recommend Leslie Gould’s Adoring Addie. This novel is beautifully written, but I myself am not a fan of Romeo and Juliet. 

So, agree or disagree? Are there any insta-love novels that defy my reasonings that you would recommend for me to read?

Deeanne Gist is something of a revolutionary author. Aside from Francine Rivers, I would say, she ought to be credited with starting Edgy Christian Fiction. If you read her works, I promise, you will fall in love with her writing. Here are some of my favorites by this fantastic author:

Original, unique, romantic

I’ll be honest, I didn’t love this book for the resolution. I loved it for the romance.

SO different from what’s out there!

The heroine is hilarious!

Such a clever premise to often a familiar backdrop!

Read any of these and you won’t be disappointed. She has several others that are good, but these are the ones that stayed with me the longest!

Does anyone else have a particular favorite by Ms. Gist?

About

Just a few days after she gives birth alone in the Northwoods, a recently widowed young Chippewa woman stumbles into a nearby lumber camp in search of refuge and sustenance. Come summer, the camp owner sends Skypilot, his most trusted friend, to accompany Moon Song and her baby on the long and treacherous journey back to her people. But when tragedy strikes off the shore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula wilderness, Moon Song and Skypilot must depend on each other for survival. With every step they take into the forbidding woods, they are drawn closer together, until the tough questions must be asked. Will she leave her culture to enter his? Will he leave his world to enter hers? Or will they walk away from a love that seems too complicated to last?

Review

Under a Blackberry Moon is the story of Moon Song and Skypilot, two characters from The Measure of Katie Calloway. I found this historical romance novel to be rich with history and love and a delightful read!

First, Moon Song is quite the tough cookie. This girl has a lot thrown at her in life and she throws it right back. Moon Song is a joy to read and Ms. Miller does a fabulous job of making her come to life. Skypilot was a hero who only made me want to know more. He was complex and fascinating and you could see why he captured Moon Song’s heart. I will say that the foundation of the romance happened off screen. There are quite a few references to Moon Song and Skypilot’s time together in the first novel. I found this to be a bit frustrating at first as I didn’t remember them together as much in the first novel. However, the way Skypilot loved Moon Song and the things he was willing to do for her really cemented the relationship and made it a joy to read. 

Historically, I felt like I learned so much about the Chippewa and Michigan. It was a hard life and Ms. Miller was able to teach me about this time and tell a story effortlessly. 

Spiritually, I love the importance Skypilot places on not be unequally yoked. He was willing to wait on God in spite of his love for Moon Song. I also liked how the novel showed that hatred is a disease that can kill you and only love and forgiveness can really heal you. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading about Moon Song and Skypilot. To be honest, towards the middle it slowed a bit, but keep reading, it picks back up and you won’t want to put it down!

Romantic Scale: 8.5

**I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. My opinion was not affected in any way.**

Thank you for being willing to be interviewed!

1.       When writing mystery novels, what comes first? The bad guy or how the mystery is solved?

Definitely the bad guy—I usually don’t know the exact resolution until I write it! But I don’t really write mysteries; I write suspense. Big difference. In a mystery, the reader typically doesn’t know the identity of the villain until the end. That’s why they’re called whodunits! J In my books, I reveal the villain early on. That allows me to take readers into the bad guy’s head. So the tension in my books comes not from wondering who did it, but from wondering whether the villain will succeed with his or her nefarious plan. As a result, it’s always a race-against-the-clock finish in my stories, with readers on the edge of their seats wondering if the good guys will stop the villain in time.

 2.       What would you say inspired you to write mystery novels?

Nancy Drew. Seriously. I devoured those books as a child. And Nancy was a great role model—strong, independent, smart, loyal, clever, kind. Hmm…kind of like my own heroines, come to think of it!

 3.       Your novels have a lot of law enforcement people in them, how much research do you have to do for them?

Tons! I always have 75-100 single-spaced typed pages of research notes and citations when I finish a suspense novel. I also work closely with the various expert sources I’ve cultivated in the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, police departments, medical field, forensic anthropology…the list is long and grows with every book. Accuracy is essential to credibility, and I try very, very hard to get the facts right. One of my most gratifying moments was when I got an email from a former commander of the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team (featured in Against All Odds and An Eye for an Eye), who said I got it right, down to the actual radio call signals the HRT uses on missions.

 4.       You have written a number of books and several series, is there any one character(s) that has  stayed with you longer than the rest?

In a way, that’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child! The truth is, all of my characters are unique and special in their own way. I do have to say, though, that the villain in my newest novel, Trapped, may be my creepiest one yet! I won’t forget him for a while!

 5.       Can you tell us about your next project?

My next book will be a contemporary romance/women’s fiction novel called One Perfect Spring. It’s a heartwarming, uplifting book that readers of Karen Kingsbury and Debbie Macomber will enjoy. (In fact, Debbie has endorsed this book!) That comes out in May. I’ll finish the Private Justice series late next summer with Book 3, Deceived (Trapped was Book 2). And just to make it clear—the books in all my series are standalone stories. Each book is a complete novel, with all loose ends tied up at the end and no continuing plot threads from book to book. With the Private Justice series, each of the three P.I.s in the agency has his own book; the link is the agency. I hope readers will give both One Perfect Spring and Deceived a try next year!

If you haven’t, check out Trapped!

Another type of romance is the “unlikely pairing.”

The “unlikely pairing” can happen in two ways: sworn enemies and mismatched personalities. Sworn enemies is not Romeo and Juliet, because that couple did not appear to take part in their family feud. They just had one. Sworn enemies in a romantic novel is when the couple just starts off on the wrong foot and it seems like they don’t like each other at all and the reader is scratching their head wondering how it will all turn out. As a romance novel, if this is done well, this can be good, because usually there is a lot of humor involved. However, the problem usually arises when the couple goes from disliking each other to liking each other and how well the author can really portray this.

Mismatched personalities, which is actually my second favorite kind of romance, is when if you saw their personalities on paper (which we do!) you would quite simply, not pick them out for each other. They are just too different. The problem that arises here, is often, how different are they really?

When I think of authors who do “unlikely pairings” well, I think of:

   Karen Witemeyer

Kristen Heitzmann

Mary Connealy

Linda Windsor

Siri Mitchell

Elizabeth Camden

Are there any you would like to add? Is this your favorite kind of romance?