I'd Like to Know What you Think About Love Inspired Books!

Ivana -- I'm a Love Inspired author and I get many reader responses on my website.  Would you want me to forward some of those to you?  

I love the love inspired books because they have such sweet stories. I end shedding a few tears whenever I'm reading one. They tug at my heart strings. Some of them like Debra Clopton's Mule Hollow series have humor to the stories.

I started reading the Love Inspired a few years ago. What helped draw me to them was the sweet tender storylines that deal with so many of the struggles facing Christians today. It's so easy to be sucked in by different things that make us start to doubt our faith and draw away from God.

What really got me started though, was that I am so SICK AND TIRED of erotica erotica erotica and sex sex and more sex! it's popping up everywhere. Even traditonal single title lines and publishers I used to be able to count on for a good read that doesn't overdo the sex are jumping on the bandwagon and making traditional romances hotter and hotter. A lot of people love that, i know. but me? it just makes me cringe when i start reading some of the relaly explicit stuff and i start to wonder "if some complete stranger came up behind me and caught a glimpse of the page i was reading, what would they think when they saw it?"

After putting one too many books down in frustration over the entire chapter sex scenes, I started looking elsewhere for good reads. I happened across some LIs somewhere and the back cover copy caught my attention and made me start reading. I enjoyed the stories that were more true to the heart of why I started reading romance in the first place. The first few i read were a too preachy for my tastes and i almost quit reading them. but I kept coming back to them. While they aren't my primary genre of choice, they aren't even a large percentage of what i read still (I love my paranormal and you don't find that in inspirational romance), I do find myself reading more and more of them with each passing year. And I find myself buying more an more to go on the huge TBR for "someday" reads. I still come across some of them that are far too preachy for me, but most of them handle the faith and Christianity aspects without beating me over the head with it.

I enjoy reading the Love Inspired books as well as the Suspense line because the stories are sweet, tender, family oriented books without all the sex.  Some books just had too much sex and no basic storyline.  The Love Inspired line shows and helps the reader deal with the various struggles of life today.  It makes me proud to be a Christian to read how these heroes solve their dilemmas through the readings of bible and their faith in God.

There's romance without the sex, family values and morals are shown without preaching.

You should add Love Inspired or Steeple Hill to your title so that people know what you are asking about.  Just a suggestion.

Hello  i.sim :

I try to read all the Love Inspired books each month. I like them best and then I like the Medical Romances second best.

Below are some of my observations.

As a veteran I enjoy Love Inspired stories because the military is always treated realistically and with respect. I especially liked the “Homecoming Heroes” series.

As a philosopher, I enjoy Love Inspired because the characters are always trying to live examined lives. The hero and heroine are always searching for meaning and you know they are going to be different people at the end of the book than they were at the start.

It’s just such a relief to read Love Inspired books where going to church, being honest, and perhaps, even saying grace before meals, is treated as perfectly normal and commonplace. These things happen everyday in millions of American homes but you very rarely see them portrayed in the entertainment media. Love Inspired is life affirming.

I like Love Inspired because the happy endings are the result of people changing their lives in positive ways. Love Inspired happy endings stay with you for a long time. The happy ending I experienced after reading the four-book “Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches” series will probably never leave me.

I particularly like the Love Inspired stories where the characters are struggling to lead decent Christian lives in the face of many challenges.  I want to read how they overcome these obstacles and I like it done without any preaching.   In “Their Small-Town Love” by Arlene James, the heroine becomes a Christian before the story opens. She lived a sinful life in the past but now returns to her hometown to make amends. Her problems are not with non-believes but rather with established Christians who cannot forgive. There is no preaching in this story; there’s just a demonstration of an everyday person trying to live a Christian life.

When a Love Inspired hero and heroine fall in love and seek God’s blessing for their union, it goes beyond a ‘happily ever after’  -- it provides the potential for a ‘happy even in the hereafter’.  

Love Inspired heroes and heroine treat sex with respect and not as entertainment. I think of Love Inspired romances as the literary equivalent of health food.  Reading Love Inspired is good for you.

This is how I feel and why I try to read every LI romance.

Vince

Hi   I.sim:

        Have someone write a book with a title like this:

         Palo Duro Widow Rides the Goodnight Trail

         (On the cover show a picture of the Canyon and cattle being driven on the trail.)

        Hundreds of thousands of people have seen the play ‘Texas’ at the outdoor Palo Duro Canyon theater over the years. (The park is on the old“Goodnight” ranch and the Goodnight trail is probably the most famous cattle drive trail.) The people who have seen this play  would have a natural interest in this story. Western readers, who like the cattle drive stories, would also have an interest in the book. Many of these prospects are outside the normal target audience. I think such a book would quickly become your biggest selling Historical. It would be a perfect book for bookstore display and POP.

            If I was in marketing, I could go right over to the book acquisition department and tell them, “Get me a book like this. I’ll sell tons of them.”   You can't be shy and be in marketing. 

Vince 

Ellen M. - Corpus Christi, Texas

It points people to the Lord and inspires Christians to walk closer to Him, and hopefully nonchristians to get to know Him.  Some of the problems which are worked out in these books might also point to help for those of us reading them.  It has for me, several times.  God bless all the authors and their books! 

Barbara L., Hackett, AR

I do have my own reasons to read Love Inspired and I plan to post them, but first I want to say that there have been some wonderful posts here and I agree with all of you.  Vince, I particularly like the way you summed things up.  I'm also a big fan of the Dropped Stitches books.  I think they are also great books for young adults, especially older teens who are just moving into the world of adult books.  The sisterhood members all dealt with cancer as teenagers and now in their early twenties they are "catching up" to where their contemporaries may be.

The other two comments that seem to be popular are "not too much preaching" and "not too much sex."  I think we all have an image in our mind of a type of stereotypical Christian that we either don't want to be associated with or on the other extreme, feel like we can't live up to or indentify with.  Love Inspired characters are, for the most part, true to life.

While I have nothing against sex, I don't want to be "hit over the  head" with that either.  When I visit one of the review sites that are plastered with suggestive or downright graphic covers, I feel turned off.  This is one area when a little bit goes a long way!  And it is very rarely that sex is given an appropriate place in the relationships those books chronicle.  As the mother of three teen girls, this is very significant for me!

incidentally, those who are looking for a "clean" read might be interested in a new review site called Novel Editions.  (I'm a reviewer there.)  Only inspirational or clean books are reviewed.  

Kara Lynn Russell, WI

Hi Kara Lynn:

              You are right. It didn’t occur to me but the Sisterhood books could be classified as YA.  Also, I consider the first three to also be mainstream fiction. I could not even tell who the hero was in the first Sisterhood book until about 75% through the book. These are love and friendship books. The last book is a wonderful romance with what I consider the most HEA I’ve ever read in a romance; but that is because the HEA was four books in the making. I’d love to see what would happen if these books were released as mainstream fiction.

          Thanks,

           Vince, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Thank you i.sim.  I live in the tiny village of Withee, WI.  I am the library director here and I am fortunate in that Christian fiction is one of the most popular sections in our library.  That way I get to keep buying lots of books that I want to read. 

Kara

I personally love them! It doesn't matter which Line it is. I wish I could afford them all monthly but unfortunately I can't. I can honestly say that what I love most about them are the values they carry. It is the values I was raised by. I have reccommended them to a few friends. One never really cared for reading but once she read one she loved them. Then I had a lady come to my house that was doing a jewelry party for premiere designs. As were waitng on the guest to arrive she and I were talking about her trying to find something that her teenage daughter could read that she didn't have to screen. I didn't think about it that night. Then it was on my mind few nights later and called her about them. She came and picked them and thanked me repeatedly. Her daughter loved them and it helped that she didn't have to screen them. Now she knows that her daughter can get them and read any of the Love Inspired Lines doesn't have to worry that she will run across things she shouldnt be reading just yet. She is a very strong faith christianed women so this meant alot to her.

Jessica  P.  Lake City, TN

Thanks, Megan -- There are several Love Inspired places to post.  Come over and join us if you can.

Megan, welcome to the Steeple Hill boards.

Margaret 

This line does live up to the name. 

These stories feature true to life, not so perfect characters living in a not so perfect world, and the reader follows behind them finding a bit of themselves in the process and becoming inspired.

p.r.

They're like the bumper sticker: "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."

The ones where the Hero &/or heroine are on a journey to faith are good, too. I even love the ones where they both love the Lord already but can't seem to get their act together as far as understanding His plan for their lives. The variety is wonderful. That, in itself, is a blessing!

I have only very recently started reading "Love Inspired" books. Before that, I personally struggled with reading "romance" novels. I had a hard time with my struggle because I had a romance author who was my favorite and I wouldn't read any other romance books other than hers. Her novels weren't full of sex and erotica ... but I did skip over the pages that did have sex in it, even if the characters were married already. When my friends started reading "love inspired" books, I was wary at first. Then I started with the McKaslin clan series and I got hooked. Now I have over 100 "Love Inspired" books. And I have been collecting and reading them for less than a year. I was very excited when I discovered the "Love Inspired Historial" series. I love historical romances. Those are my favorite. My favorite romance author (secular) wrote several historical romances, most of them set in the Highlands and they are absolutely my favorite. I was very glad to have something else to read where I didn't have to skip pages. I drive 20 miles to buy my Love Inspired books, especially the historical ones. My friends and I scour the Dollar Bookstore for any books we don't have in our collection. We trade and lend each other books all the time. We pretty much have a "love inspired" reading club between the three of us, plus our pastor's wife. I look forward to the new historical books that come out, and books from my favorite authors, as well as other ones as well.

Hey there!  With the awesome help of Dream and the other amazing folks here at eHarlequin, I’m hosting a 24 hour, drop in party on my message board thread here. Guest authors! Door prizes galore! Bring along your favorite romance hero or heroine to hang out! (Links to your fav hot hero are more than welcome!) As you can see below, the schedule is flexible to folks in all time zones.  Stop by the party as often as you like… there will be numerous guest authors popping in frequently.  Tons of prizes posted throughout the event.  Love Inspired authors Stephanie Newton, Brenda Minton, Winnie Griggs and Renee Ryan have all generously donated autographed books for doorprizes!  Hope to see you there!

When: Friday, Sept. 25- Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 8 p.m. ET Friday – 8 p.m. ET Saturday
Where: Here at eHarlequin - follow the link: http://community.eharlequin.com/forums/simply-series/special-author-discussions/catherine-manns-bunker-bash-ending-new-beginning

Link is also posted on my website: http://catherinemann.com or e-mail me with any questions at: catherine@catherinemann.com

Cheers!
Cathy Mann :-)

I love the Steeple Hill line- whether it be Love Inspired Romance, Historical, Supsense... it matters not.  I have favorite authors and I collect their books but I try to read whatever comes out.

Part of it is because they are clean books.  When did sex and the detailed description of it (often lasting pages) become so vitally important to readers?  Don't get me wrong- they have their place... but it's difficult to find anything that a teenager can read.  And not everything marked 'Teen' is appropriate.

As a retired military spouse, daughter to a police officer, sister to a firefighter- authors like Cheryl Wyatt, Patricia Davids, Jillian Hart and Marta Perry provide wonderful stories that sound familiar in lingo with reminders of what's important when life brings another challenge. Debra Clopton and Allie Plieter have provided much needed laughter during the most insane moments the past few years.  Janet Tronstad, Valerie Hansen and so many others have written such wonderful stories that they've captivated me...

I believe in God.  Moving often means being the 'new gal' on the block.  Deployments mean moments of fear. Retirement meant a complete change in my lifestyle.  And throughout it all, the highs and lows, in the most obscure places you could think to live- I've packed up Love Inspired Books and moved them with me.  I've even learned not to trade most of them because I just go hunting for them again months or years later.   At various points in my life each book has a meaning for me... with my husband being a retiree at last, it's providing much needed sanity!!!

I love the variety of religious fiction that is available now.  The market has grown tremendously and I am overjoyed to have so many options!!  I cannot list all the authors who've touched my heart, brought light to really fearsome and dark moments... so thank you Steeple Hill and all of the wonderful authors you bring us, for providing not just 'clean' books to read- but wonderful stories that bring perspective (sometimes a mirror!), laughter and even moments of peace. 

Kimberly, Washington

PS: And pardon what doesn't make sense, chalk it up to the cold medicine! 

LI's are my favorite because of the concentrated romance and faith journey in them. I love focused books, ones that don't run out on so many tangeants that you wonder why they didn't separate it into several books instead of what seems like just adding word count in many cases. You can enjoy a wonderful story rich in romance and growth in a short few sittings with LI's, and the series books always thrill me. I love to hear just a little more about the previous hero's and heroine's in the sequel books. Makes the towns seem so much more real and the characters too. 

St. Agatha, Ontario, Canada

I know I'm going to get a happy ending and not a whole lot of graphic violence. I like writing the books for those same reasons.

I live in Lacey, WA.  Sorry I forgot that part!  :)