Stay tuned for the first chapter of my daring pilgrimage into the genre that I love to hate and sometimes, love to read when no one is watching. I got a huge stack of Christian Romance novels from the library by scanning for the little white "Inspirational," "Christian Romance," or "Christian Historical Fiction" labels placed on the spine of these books. I like to think of it as research. I have also ordered Right Behind, a parody of the Left Behind books, for further inspiration. One of the books I saw at the bookstore had a main character named Mavice Thoroughgood, so I don't know if my main character's name, Agatha Tabitha Freegrace, is extreme enough. I am having fun exploring the stock aspects of this genre--this is going to be fun. I am thinking of superimposing my head on a picture of a girl on the prairie, because it seems like it is customary to have a picture of a girl on the cover who does not match any of the physical descriptions of the main character of the book. I also love how most of the novels are set in the nebulous "1800's," which happens to be a very diverse CENTURY! I am excited. Here is the summary on the back of one of the books I am reading as "research:"

Bluebonnet Belle by: Lori Copeland

"Trouble in Texas--A battle of wills was raging in the Lone Star State in 1876. April Truitt didn't trust doctors, least of all handsome newcomer Gray Fuller, who opposed her efforts to offer the women of Dignity, Texas, an herbal alternative to surgery. He treated her like some quack, but April was determined to save other women from dying on the operating table, like her mother did.

Gray couldn't help admiring April's spirit and good intentions. Yet he couldn’t let this bluebonnet belle steal all his patients . . . even if she was on her way to stealing his heart."