4 Stars Genre: Contemporary Subgenre: Christian Heat Level: Clean
I received a pre-release review copy of this novel through NetGalley. This review is a slightly longer version of the one I posted on NetGalley and on Amazon.
I'd not read anything by Tammy Gray before, but I requested this one because the story sounded reminiscent of Faking Grace, one of my favorite contemporary Christian romances. Both are the story of the conversion of a non-believer into a believer. Sort of...
Before I dive deeper, here's a summary I posted on NetGalley:
January (Jan) Sanders’ life is pretty messed up, but then what should she expect? She doesn’t even remember her biological father, and her mother’s been divorced and remarried four times. Stepdad #5 isn’t looking too promising.
After her own breakup, she takes refuge with her aunt and manages to swing a temporary job at the local community church. Being her aunt’s niece, the church leaders assume she’s a believer. January is anything but. Faking it through one encounter after another and navigating two budding relationships, January starts to realize that maybe, just maybe God hasn’t given up on her yet.
Love and a Little White Lie is very sweet, and I enjoyed it immensely. The characters are both believable and likable. If you’re looking for a classical Christian romance you won’t go wrong with this one. Perfect for the beach or a cozy weekend by the fireplace.
I only gave it four stars, not because of anything I disliked, but because it was such a light read. Jan’s upbringing and life circumstances were pretty gritty, but that was glossed over. Her path to conversion (and love) was a relatively smooth one, with less angst than I would expect from a typical romance. Though there might be a lot of inner doubt, everything just seemed to work out. I suspect Ms. Gray’s readers and publisher aren’t looking for “gritty” or “angsty,” so consider this a personal preference.
*****
OK, now to an explanation as to why I say this is "sort of" a conversion story.
If you're looking for a story about a non-believer coming to Christ, this isn't it. Jan isn't an atheist. She's just been led away from the church by a mother who has rejected God for reasons that seem pretty flimsy. Once she gets past the Christianese (who hasn't been in one of those conversations) she falls into the faith pretty smoothly. It's not the rocky road you find in non-fiction conversions, but again, that may not be what Inspy romance readers are looking for.
There were a couple of interesting aspects to the novel that make it different than other romances. The story is told in first person. That seems to be more common these days, but it was also told completely from Jan's perspective. She has two "love interests" in the novel, and we never really know what either one of them is thinking.
The two love interests is the other aspect that's a bit different from the typical romance. Initially, we see more of the relationship that doesn't work out than the one that does. Not many publishers would allow that, and it took some getting used to, but I can see how it was essential for the story. Still, I had to be careful not to invest too much emotional energy in the first guy, and I would have liked more of the main love interest up front.
Love and a Little White Lie didn't have the humor of Faking Grace, but I found the hero and the secondary characters more likable, so there were some definite pluses.
