A lot of this genre is simply a Christianization of a form that’s intended not to examine intimacy but to escape to an artificial illusion of it. Granted, there’s no graphic sexuality here. The hero and the heroine don’t sleep together; they pray together. But that’s just the point. How many dissappointed middle-aged women in our congregations are reading these novels as a mean of comparing the strong spiritual leaders depicted there with what by comparison must seem to be underachieving lumps lying next to them on the couch? This is not to equate “romance novels” with the grave soul destruction of pornography, but it is worth asking, “Is what I’m consuming leading me toward contentment with my husband (or future husband) or away from it?” (85-86)
From Tempted and Tried
The Sin of Christian Romance Novels
Excellent points!