Sunday Salon: It's a Wash

In January, I wrote a post about reading only from my TBR list until the end of March. I also tried to resist the urge to add any new books during that time. Well, we are almost at the end of March and I'd say that I broke even. I read eight books that have been on my radar for a while, but they came from the free books on my iPad and my wish list at the library. This means my Goodreads TBR list didn't decrease at all. In fact, it increased because I added six books. So, like I said, the challenge was a wash. I'm still going to make an effort to get through the books on my lists, either by reading or purging.

One thing this personal challenge caused me to do is to think more carefully before I add a title to my TBR list. I added six titles in the past three months but there were about 15 titles that I didn't add. My routine has been to add any book whose title I want to remember, and then every few months I delete titles that no longer interest me. There are worse ways to kill time on a lazy afternoon than clearing out my TBR list, but I'd rather spend that time reading.

I also came to the realization that I don't finish books as quickly as I thought. I've read 14 books total since the beginning of the year, but I expected to read twice that many in the space of three months. The reading itself goes quickly, but when I put a book down it takes longer for me to pick it back up. I don't seem to need reading as an escape as much right now as I have during other times of my life. For instance, this time last year I was working a stressful job and I picked up a book every chance I got. I finished 24 books by the end of March 2016 and 11 of those books were novella collections with at least five stories each so they were LONG books. I know that reading isn't a race, but I'm sure I would get more enjoyment out of a book than with whatever else I'm wasting time on.

The last thing that slowed down the clearing-out of my TBR list was that I signed up for NetGalley. In the past, I only requested advanced reader copies (ARCs) occasionally and rarely received them; before this year, I think I only read and reviewed two. However, it occurred to me that I could provide a better reader experience by reviewing some upcoming releases along with the backlist titles. With my past experience, I requested several ARCs at once because I expected that I would have to wait a while to get any. Boy, was I wrong! I got every title I asked for almost immediately. I know that there are bloggers who stack up ARCs and keep requesting more as if it is no big deal, but the pressure of the looming publication date weighs me down. If I don't write a review for each ARC before its publication date I know that I will feel guilty. Currently, I've reviewed two ARCs and have four to read, so I won't be requesting any more for a while. After I read these, I want to get back to knocking titles off my TBR list.

"31 Kisses" by Chautona Havig

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Part of a series?: No
Genre: Christian contemporary romance; Christmas romance
Format read: Free e-book from Amazon
Sweet or hot?: Despite the premise of daily kisses, this heat level of this book is pretty low

Disclosure: “Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.”

The last book I read had been on my iPad for a few months, but this one has been sitting in the Kindle app since 2012! As I suspected, this book fit in with my usual diet of light comfort reading, so I don't know why I let it sit for so long . . .

31 Kisses is a contemporary Christian romance. Our hero and heroine, Carson and Chessie, have a rather comical meeting in the supermarket and then part ways. Carson is new to town but has heard from the neighbors that there is a house in the neighborhood that he has to see because they decorate lavishly for every holiday. He walks his dog down to the house and discovers it is the home of Chessie and her widowed grandfather Gumpy. The grandfather thought Carson was perfect for Chessie when they all met at the store, so when he sees Carson again he gets excited and falls off the ladder he was using to take down the Halloween decorations. This sets off a chain of events that leads Carson and Chessie into a "kiss-a-day" pact for the month of December.

I thought this book was cute and it held my interest, but parts of it were awkward to me. Most of the awkwardness was surrounding how much Chessie fretted over the daily kiss with Carson, even after she agreed to it. In Christian historicals, it is a bit more understandable, but it is difficult to believe that a modern girl would get so upset by such a thing. There is also a scene where Carson asks Gumpy an extremely uncomfortable question (no spoilers!) that just seemed wrong. I know it was in service of getting Carson to a place where he is doing something nice and thoughtful for Chessie, but if any of my daughters' boyfriends had asked my husband that question on such short acquaintance, they would have been shown the door.

As far as the level of Christian content in the book, it is pretty low. My benchmark is Lori Wick, whose work I enjoy but some of her books read like Bible devotionals disguised as novels. In this book, we know that Chessie and Carson both go to church and that they, along with Carson's family, place a lot of importance on remaining physically "pure". There aren't big chunks of Scripture quoted in this book, however. With a little editing, this book could pass for a conservative secular romance rather than a Christian one.

This book has a Christmas theme, but I don't think you need to save it for December. Holiday decorating is used as a device to show how the hero and heroine approach life. The few awkward parts didn't stop me from enjoying the book as a whole. I think 31 Kisses is a good choice for anyone looking for a clean romance that isn't preachy.

"Love by the Letter" by Melissa Jagears

"Love by the Letter" by Melissa Jagears

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Part of a series?: Yes, Book #0.5 of Unexpected Brides

Genre: Christian historical romance

Format read: Free e-book from Amazon

Sweet or hot?: Definitely sweet; only two kisses in the entire story

Disclosure: “Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.”

I've had this book on my iPad for almost four months because I kept waiting to carve out time for it. When I finally opened it, I realized that it was a novella with an estimated reading time of only 90 minutes. Note to self: remember that if the book number has a decimal, it is probably a novella and not a full-sized novel. Anyway . . .

Love by the Letter is a novella introducing the Unexpected Brides series. I read the first book, A Bride for Keeps before I realized there was a prior story and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm glad that I backed up to read this one because it was a nice little break in my day and gave me the sweet historical fix that I had been missing.

In this story, we meet Dex and Rachel. It is 1858 in Missouri and Dex is finishing up preparations to make the trek west with a wagon train. He doesn't want to do this alone but there aren't any compatible women in town so he writes for a mail-order bride. Well, there is one woman, Rachel, but she is one of the smartest women in town and Dex feels that he isn't worthy of her because he has trouble reading and writing. When he finally gets a response from a woman who makes fun of his spelling, Dex decides to swallow his pride and ask Rachel for some help so he can write a new letter. Little does he know that Rachel has spent three years trying to get Dex to notice her.

This novella is well written and doesn't suffer from the issue of feeling rushed, which happens often with stories of this length. The author managed to drop the reader into a situation -- Dex's departure date is only a week away at the start of the story -- without making it feel like the book was missing pages. The description of Dex and Rachel's first kiss was stirring yet I don't think it would raise the hackles of the devout Christians who think all romance is trash. As a Christian who no longer attends church, I didn't find the Christian elements of the story to be as overwhelming as in, say, a Lori Wick book. However, they do take up a good bit of the second half of the story and are indicative of the level of Bible quoting a reader would find in the next book.

As of this writing, Love by the Letter is still available for free on Amazon. The e-book includes a healthy three-chapter sneak peek at the next book, which takes place 18 years after the events of the novella. I say give it a try if you would like a sweet story to go with your evening tea.