If you go to Amazon or any other book retailer, you’ll see thousands, if not millions, of “contemporary romance” covers with scantily clad men and women in the throes of passion. I get it – sex sells. Passion is a good thing in a marriage. But it’s not something everyone wants in the first five pages of a romance novel. It’s easy to make a book relationship mean more by having the characters have sex. Sex is one of the ultimate escalators for a relationship. It’s also an easy way out. It’s easy to say they love one another, because they’ve made love.
It’s easy to bypass true emotion by having characters fall into bed together. The only problem is–what does that do to the relationship? It often sets it up for disaster, as too much emphasis is put on the physical side while the emotional and spiritual aspects fall by the wayside. Sex accelerates a relationship, rather than allowing it to progress naturally. If you want erotica, go for it. But if you want romance, something that stands a better chance of holding up against the passage of time and troubles, you’re better off starting with the heart.
I wanted to write clean romance, although I must admit, Breathless doesn’t exactly fit in to the Lifeway Christian Stores ideal. After all, it includes *gasp* premarital sex, lying, sleeping around, and a multitude of other sins, I’m sure. But the characters are real. Carly’s struggle with her desire to be with Ryan and her promise to God are real. Most Christians, unless they met their sweethearts in high school or college, face a similar struggle. I know many of my friends who are approaching or just past thirty and are unmarried have wondered, “Do I still have to wait?” I wanted to show that just because a Christian makes a decision she thinks she probably shouldn’t have, it doesn’t mean she has a lack of faith. I broke so many of the relationship first, sex second rules. Ryan and Carly are on a collision course for disaster, and it’s all compounded by the fact that they have sex.
How could he sleep with her after lying? How could he not immediately tell her the truth when they decide to become intimate? Does she have to marry him, despite his lies, because she broke her promise to God to wait? These are the questions many Christians have, and they’re not easy to answer. In my books (and opinion), sex doesn’t have to sell. I’ll take romance over a sex scene any day. I might not skyrocket to the top of the bestseller lists now that “mommy porn” is so prevalent, but I’m putting books out there with heart.
As The Beatles say, “Love is all you need.”
To connect with author Becki Brannen you can find her at the following spots.
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