The Romance Reviews

The Romance Reviews

Carmen DeSousa Guest Blog

A series of Guest Blogs by Indie Authors and our collaborators!





My beloved is mine and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.

Song of Solomon 2:16


I love reading all genres of books. I know, I’ve said that before, but I really do. I’ve read everything from “Beauty and The Beast” (the original) to “The Godfather”. I’ve said that before, too, but bear with me, as I will try not to repeat myself too much. The reason I mention those two books is because they are so opposite of each other, and I believe reveal to my readers that what I mentioned above is true. I love to read!

Well, I guess I don’t read everything…I’m not into sci-fi—though I would probably read if something caught my attention—and, I stay away from anything extremely graphic as in rape, hurting children, or anything that glorifies any type of violent act.

That said, on to my point of this blog about me being a Christian and writing romantic-suspense. I read tons of Christian books as well as secular books; I don’t limit myself to any specific genres or markets. If it catches my attention, I read it. If it’s bad, I put it down, but I usually find something good in everything.

What I have found in Christian books, however, is that publishers of ‘Christian’ books tend to allow violence—to the point of breaking every bone in a child’s body—but absolutely refuse to allow any romance that even alludes to sex, even between a married couple. One of my favorite authors, Ted Dekker, ran into this with his novel Immanuel’s Veins. I found absolutely nothing offensive about this book and truly wonder if these publishers have even read the bible.

"Song of Solomon" is completely sensual as it is about the King and his love. Research seems to confirm that the Song belongs to Biblical wisdom literature and that it is wisdom’s description of an amorous relationship. The bible speaks of both wisdom and love as gifts of God, to be received with gratitude and celebration.

"…it views the Song as a linked chain of lyrics depicting love in all its spontaneity, beauty, power and exclusiveness—experienced in its varied moments of separation and intimacy, anguish and ecstasy, tension and contentment. The Song shares with the love poetry of many cultures its extensive use of highly sensuous and suggestive imagery drawn from nature."

Isn't that beautiful? And so contradictory to what we see on TV and in the movie theatre. We instantly censor anything to do with making love, but are okay with graphic scenes.

Well, as you expected, I write romantic scenes in my novels. Are they graphic? No. Sensual? Yes. I leave a lot to the imagination, as I believe every writer should do to some extent in all scenes. As an avid reader, I love when a writer describes a scene, but I also love how my imagination goes wild…even playing out scenes in my head while I sleep, as to what will happen next.

So, if you enjoy a good PG13 movie filled with mystery, suspense, and of course, romance, I believe you will love my current release “She Belongs to Me”, available at AmazonBarnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

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6 comments:

  1. Un magnifique blog ! je reviendrai souvent m'y ressourcée. Merci à mon amie Lahongrais.
    Avec mes amitiés et congratulations for your blog

    Maiya Kate

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    1. Thank you, Maiya Kate. My French is rusty, but I think I can decipher "magnificent blog".

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  2. Maiya Kate!

    Merci beaucoup! Je serais honoré de vous avoir comme un disciple

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  3. Ah Christians and their propriety. Watching movies with my mom is like that. Gushing blood? Sure. Sex before marriage? For shame.

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    1. Lol! Sex and drugs! The gateways to hell to the exclusion of murder and mayhem! Your mom and my mom must be the same person! Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts Kelly!

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    2. I'll never forget a quote I heard... Young child in the room, and as a good child, he covered his eyes when he saw something that was too rough for his innocent eyes...on regular TV I might add. The father looks at son and says, "He's just killing her..."

      WHAT??? He realized what he'd said the instant after he said it, but that's exactly the point. We are okay depicting violence, but darned if my child will witness sex. Ugh! Maybe if they saw it as an act of love, and we took the time to discuss it, more of them wouldn't end up pregnant. Just a thought. Thanks for commenting, Kelly.

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