I have a confession: I read as many secular novels as I do Christian fiction. Gasp! They need to be clean, free of smut and sex, and encouraging—but I want the storyline to be real, too. Some would prefer getting lost in a pretend, stress-free world, and I completely understand. Reading is an escape for them. The characters are near-to-perfect, and the stories are as formulaic as a Hallmark movie.
There is a reason that network is so popular.
Here’s another confession: Being a writer takes some of the joy out of reading. I find it nearly impossible to escape editor-mode. I have wonderful critique partners who make me change out every repetitive word, the extraneous use of “that” and point out if I’m telling when I should be showing. They’ve made me a better writer—and a more critical reader. So, I need the book to be at least a four-star (in my estimation) to be worth my time.
Lately, I’ve been swept into Liz Eele’s Heaven’s Cove Series. I purchased Book 1—Secrets of the Last House Before the Sea—for free (I’ll give you more on that later). The beautiful cover, too-good-to-pass-up discount, and 4.4 Amazon rating (with over 14,000 reviews) had me downloading it on my Kindle app. All those reviews give me a little author-envy!
Liz Eele is from England, which I didn’t know before launching into this series. It makes perfect sense since the stories are set in Devon, a small English seaside village. It took me a few pages to get used to the dialogue being set between single quotes (‘) rather than the American English style of double quotes (“). Of course, the slang is quite different than what I’m used to, but that makes it more fun to read.
The subtitle says it’s “a gripping and emotional page-turner.” I would say it was somewhat emotional, but gripping? Not so much. It was good, although I didn’t feel like it was impossible to put down, which is my definition of a page-turner.
My only pet peeve (which is something most of you won’t even notice) is the author tags the character’s thoughts with she or he thought. We already know it’s their thoughts, because we’re in their heads. I give these books four stars, which is pretty good for me.
After purchasing (if you can even call it that) this book, I discovered the other six in the series are available on Kindle Unlimited, of which I am a member. This is both good and bad. Good, because I’m thoroughly enjoying the series, and bad because I have a slew of other bargain books waiting for me to read, and my time is limited.
I’ve just completed book 2—A Letter to the Last House Before the Sea (and my book cover designer thinks Surrendered is a long title!) So far, the books build upon each other by the setting and revisiting previous main characters. Let me just say that other than the very occasional weak cuss word, there is nothing that would make a fan of Christian fiction wince. God is mentioned, although the theme is not Biblically based.
So, how did I receive this novel (and several more over the last two weeks) for free? Have you heard of BookBub? If so, and you’re already a member, you might want to zone out over this next bit.
Of course, as an author, I am a member of BookBub. I explained in my newsletter last month that my (former) publisher strongly encouraged me to submit one of my books to BookBub for a possible feature ad twice a month. Up until last March, it was Illusions, book 2 in my Apple Hill Series. After Mayhem and Moonlight released, I switched over to submitting Night Songs—Book 1 in my Bedford County Series. I won’t bore you with the tedious process, but after three years, Night Songs was accepted. The ebook version went on sale last month for .99 for seven days, and BookBub advertised it.
Now this is where you’re going to wonder if I’m missing a marble or two. Until my book was featured on BookBub, I didn’t even consider I could be purchasing discounted books every day. If you’re an avid reader, and you didn’t know this, it’s huge.
Go to BookBub and sign up to receive the daily deals. You choose which genres you’re interested in (obviously, Night Songs was listed under Christian fiction), and you’ll start getting those deals in your email. When you click on the book, it’ll take you to Amazon where you can see more about the book, including how many reviews and what the rating is before purchasing it for the bargain price (usually free to $1.99).
I listed my preferred genres as Christian Fiction, Rom-com, Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, and Mystery/Thriller. Sadly, Southern Fiction was not an option, although I’ve been told by reputable sources this is the next big genre. Good thing I’m ahead of the curve!
So, I’d love to know if you delve into genres other than Christian Fiction or Non-Fiction. What authors do you tend to follow? I happen to be a fan of Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, and Kristin Hannah, as well as Christian Fiction authors, Rachel Hauk, Francine Rivers, and Lisa Wingate.
So many books, so little time!
Comments 1
I tend to critique every messed up sentence. Maybe it’s because I’m related to you. 😂😂. Love you sis.