Book Review ~ The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner

 

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Title:  The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck

Series:  N/A

Pages:  294

Date Published:  October 3, 2017

Publisher:  Revell

 

 Blurb:

 

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:

 

 I really wanted to like this book.  In fact, I kept reading with the hope that just a few more pages and it would evolve for me.

 

But...it just didn't!

 

I liked the premise.  As a former addict of main stream romance, I had to come to terms with what a Christian should OR shouldn't be reading.  I made the decision that I would no longer read main stream romance due to the immorality and graphicness of the plots and scenes.  So, I really liked the idea of a writer making an about-face with her writing genre.

 

However, I found this book to be too much about sex.  Yes, it was about not having sex but still about sex at the same time.  Does that make sense?

 

The romance moved extremely fast as in love-at-first-sight kind of romance.  Then there was a lot of back-tracking to the "courting" part of romance.  Complete with rules.  I think there were #7.

 

I've read edgy Christian romance and loved it.  Please don't think I'm just too prudish to have an open mind to what the author was trying to achieve.  I think the intention was there, just not the delivery.

 

I hate writing bad reviews but I have be honest.  I just didn't like this book.

 

 



Colletta

 

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