About the Book

Book: Shut the Front Door

Author: L.M. Karen

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction

Release date: July 15, 2021

The zany story of an alpha male pursuing a headstrong woman and the hilarious entanglements that follow.

Maddy’s dating profile couldn’t be more together. Maddy, however, feels utterly not together when Derek is in the room. She thought living next to her best friend Brittany, (who happens to be married to her brother, Matt) would be the best move of her life; not realizing it came with the complication of Brittany’s older brother Derek. Their undeniable chemistry and passionate personalities make it hard for Maddy to continue ignoring his determined pursuit. This is a feel good romantic comedy with a hint of excitement.

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About the Author

LM Karen writes contemporary Christian fiction romance. As a longtime lover of words, she can generally be found behind her laptop or with a book in her hand. A graduate of Toccoa Falls College, her heart is in the mountains. She eventually made use of the voices in her head by putting them on the page.

More from LM Karen

I like writing characters who are flawed but are loved anyway. Who have maybe made a mess of things, or are consumed by fear, or have some growing to do, because isn’t that all of us? All of my characters get happy endings because as Christians we all get the happy ending. We are flawed, we are human, we are sinful, but we are loved. We are forgiven.

One of my favorite things about Maddy in Shut the Front Door is that she is fearless. She is bold and unapologetic about who she is. But even Maddy with all her confidence still has insecurities about being accepted, and just wants to be loved at the end of the day. She just wants to know that she will be received for all she is by the one person she loves the most. I think that’s a very relatable desire and what we all really want. One of my favorite things about Christian fiction is that we are reminded within the fun and sweeping nature of romance that we are always and eternally loved by God.

My Thoughts:

My review of LM Karen’s contemporary romance, Shut the Front Door, is the most challenging one I’ve ever written thus far. It’s a fun story with imperfect characters (which I loved) and close familial ties that made me miss my own siblings.

What I liked:

The characters are unique in that they’re flawed. I didn’t read Book 1, so I was not introduced to either of them beforehand. I think it might be helpful to know before reading Book 2 that Derek wasn’t really a scary stalker, because that’s how he came across. I’m almost certain having the background information on him from the previous book would have alleviated this misconception. Maddy also seemed a little prideful and argumentative, but then again, she is a lawyer, and her tendency toward that attitude is part of the package. As I stated before, they’re flawed and more believable for it. Both were delightful, however, and I enjoyed watching them grow throughout the story.

I also enjoyed the familial ties with Maddy’s brother, Matt, and Derek’s sister, Brittany, who are married to each other. Throw in a spunky child, and there is enough byplay to keep the story interesting.

What I struggled with:

Here is where I am having a hard time with the review. As a former middle school teacher and author, I have taken a multitude of writing classes (and taught for years) in how to hone the craft of writing. There are definite dos and don’ts. I know most writers believe the rules are there to be broken—and I’ve done a little breaking of my own. However, there is one thing that was very clear from the first time I walked into a writing workshop—show, not tell, is the epitome of good writing. In other words, don’t tell the reader what happened, show them through well-placed descriptors and deep point of view.

If you were to Google “Why it’s not recommended to use adverbs in fiction,” you would hit the goldmine of advice—each one concluding that the use of adverbs is a clear indication of telling. For those of you who may not remember elementary school English, adverbs are those most often ending in ly. This book is inundated with them, many times double adverbs back-to-back. Most of these pesky descriptors of verbs could have been eliminated and it wouldn’t have changed the story one bit. If the dialogue a character speaks makes it clear he/she is angry, there is no need to tell the reader he/she says it “angrily.”

Speaking of says (since this novel is written in first person point of view)… Ms. Karen rarely used this word to tag dialogue. I was impressed with the number of other words she substituted it with instead, but it was jarring and broke the flow of the story. They were often superfluous words where fewer would have been cleaner. It’s true that sometimes less is more.

Many of you may not even notice these pesky pet peeves of mine, and that’s great. I’m sure you will thoroughly enjoy this book. But I got so bogged down in the overuse of the author telling the reader how the characters felt or spoke or looked (rather than showing with strong verbs) that I had a difficult time finishing it. I found myself in editing mode when I just wanted to enjoy the story.

For this reason, I’m giving Shut the Front Door 3/5 stars.