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Review: The Pepper in the Gumbo

6/10/2015

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    Nearly every day I skim through emails which have e-book deals listed. One day a few weeks ago, The Pepper in the Gumbo was listed for free. The blurb attached to it said how fans of You’ve Got Mail would like this story. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it sounded a lot like the plot of the movie. I didn’t really like the movie, but part of me wondered just how alike the movie and this book would be, so I downloaded it.
    As I read, I was quite astonished - the book seemed like an updated version of the movie. Alice was a local bookstore owner who hated technology, and Paul owned a large electronic/gaming company that was about to open a store near Alice’s. Of course, they met each other, didn’t exactly hit it off, and of course Alice was none too happy with Paul’s new store being opened. The two also talk online - and you guessed it - Alice doesn’t know she’s talking to Paul, but Paul knows he’s talking to Alice. They set up a meeting, and Paul plans on telling Alice he’s the guy from online, but Alice doesn’t get it. So, on with the drama.
    What made me chuckle was that at some point, Tom Hanks is referred to, and at another point the characters even joke about how much this situation is like You’ve Got Mail.
    Near plagiarism aside, this book wasn’t the most enjoyable read. I found myself having to force myself to read it in its entirety. It was filled with extraneous details that made it seem more like reading diary entries than meaningful plot points. While it makes sense that the characters bonded over works they’ve read, they were referenced and quoted too much - it made reading the book tedious.
    Then of course, there were tropes present. For instance, Alice had a boyfriend at the beginning of the book, who was of course, one of the most unpleasant characters and really served no purpose other than to create tension with the main characters’ relationship. Also, later in the book, when Alice finally realizes Paul is the man she’s been talking to online, and has also done many wonderfully kind acts for her, Alice assumes he has terrible motives.. It’s the typical scenario you see in romance movies - someone is hiding something and twenty minutes before the end of the movie the other finds out and their relationship is threatened. Like in too many of those movies, the fact that the one who discovers the secret is hurt and offended is just ridiculous.  Don’t worry though, they get back together.
    Anyway, point is, you might as well just watch You’ve Got Mail. It’s a slightly less tedious telling of the same story.
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My Problems with Christian Romance

3/24/2015

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    Earlier today, I picked up a book I own. It was a Christian Romance book. I started flipping through the pages, trying to remind myself which book it was. See, I have a difficult time differentiating between Christian romance novels in my head. Why? Because they are all so similar. I think I’ve only read a couple which break the mold. (One of them I basically commissioned someone to write.) I find these novels enjoyable enough, and when the hopeless romantic in me wants to read a story, this is usually the genre I turn to. Lately, though, I’ve become increasingly bothered by this genre.
    It seems nearly every Christian romance novel I've read has one main character who is a Christian from the beginning, and one who is not. Yet, they still date. What strikes me even more is how often the Christian is the one pursuing the relationship. It just seems funny to me given that I’ve never met one person who thinks “missionary dating” is wise. Sad thing is, many of the books like this address some valid issues. It’s common for the non-Christian to have some doubts about God’s existence and such.  I frequently find myself thinking if the author separated that story line from the romance story,  they would be two decent books. Reading these, I also find myself thinking, “You know, Christian couples do have other situations in their lives that would make the story worth telling.”
    Another issue I have is how many of these novels have rather racy scenes in them. They are what I have dubbed “pre-erotica”. It’s almost as if some of these books were written for those women who are curious about erotica, or want to read it, but feel they shouldn’t. These stories get as close to the line of erotica as they can without kicking themselves out of the Christian category. Pushing boundaries isn’t the best idea in real life - I don’t know why putting it in a book would make it any better.
    Then there is the fact that it seems half of the romance books in the Christian section of the bookstore have an Amish setting. I personally have not read any of these. I tried one once and couldn't get into it, and I've just never picked up another one. I'm not saying they are all bad - perhaps I just tried one of the lesser quality ones.. I'm sure part of the reason this setting is so popular is that purity is expected within that culture. Thinking of that, though, makes me shake my head - purity isn't supposed to be an Amish thing, it's supposed to be a Christian thing.
    Finally, you have those “Christian” novels which barely mention God. More often than not, it seems to me that the authors just wanted their stories to fall into this category, so they toss in a few uses of the word “God” here and there, and call it a day. This doesn’t make or break the romance story, but it doesn’t add anything of substance to it, either.
    Of course, some have more than one of these tropes. Maybe they should get credit for at least mixing and matching.

    I currently have a story idea in my head that would be Christian romance, but wouldn’t contain any of the above tropes. Perhaps I’ll write it someday. (Probably not, though.)

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