Tag: Edgy Christian Fiction

Was she ready to turn her world upside down for Christ? She knew that's what believing would require.

Book Review | What Makes a Home by Jaycee Weaver

This is an older title that I picked up as a free download in the Valentine’s Day Stuff Your Kindle promotion. I’m glad I did!

What Makes a Home is a romance featuring party-girl artist Jobie (short for Jobanna) and beige computer programmer Caleb. Caleb decides it’s time to adult up so he buys a do-up house, which happens to be just down the street from his old friend Jenna and Jobie, her hot roommate.

There were three things I loved about What Makes a Home.

First, Jenna’s natural faith.

Jenna and Jobie have been roomates for at least three years by the time the story starts. Although it’s clear from Chapter One that Jobie is not a Christian, it’s equally clear that Jenna has overtly judged her for her lack of faith. That opened th door for my second point:

Second, I loved Jobie’s conversion to Christianity.

Okay, so this could be considered a spoiler except that What Makes a Home is categorised as Christian romance, and good Christian romances do not have couples who are unequally yoked. I loved the natural way Jenna shared her faith with Jobie. And I loved the way Jobie took that on board and reflected it back to Jenna in her time of need.

And third, Caleb was a wonderful hero.

Sure, he has been  accusing of being vanilla (and his taste in decor does tend to beige). but he has a good heart an is a perfect gentleman … even if he is a little slow to pick up on the fact Jobie is interested in him.

The other thing I liked about What Makes a Home was the realistic portrayal of physical attraction. No, there was nothing inappropriate (although it is clear Jobie has a history), but it was good to see both Caleb and Jobie acknowledging the temptation of physical attraction.

Overall, What Makes a Home is a wonderful example of a realistic Christian romance that focuses on friendship first. Recommended.

About Jaycee Weaver

When New Mexico resident and USA Today bestselling author Jaycee Weaver isn’t reading or writing, she enjoys dates with her brainiac hubby, crafting, pretending she’s a nature photographer, and making her daughters cringe.

She considers herself a recovering perfectionist and regularly battles the ADHD squirrels. Jaycee appreciates humorous books with banter, characters facing adversity, and guaranteed happy endings, so that’s what she writes. She does her best to live her faith in action, being open, honest, and authentic; letting God be Lord over the good, the bad, and the ugly even when it’s hard.

Find Jaycee Weaver online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | X (Twitter)

About What Makes a Home

An artist looking for love in the wrong places. A bored engineer searching for purpose. Can a fixer upper teach these opposites What Makes a Home?

Jobie Everett has built her life around teaching art to senior citizens, living green(ish), social media trends, and wild pursuits that inspire her muse. When her roommate introduces her to a God who personifies a love she’s never known, she discovers how full life truly can be.

Surely there’s more for Caleb March’s lackluster life than work and computer games. Desperate for change, he buys a run-down house near an old friend and her pretty roommate. Ready for more than “just friends,” Caleb will first have to reconnect with a God he’s been ignoring for far too long.

As Caleb and Jobie bond over renovations, a new development forever changes her and pulls the rug out from under him. Jobie needs a godly man who will support and pursue her. Can Caleb become the man she needs in order to finally give her heart a home?

The Everyday Love Series is a clean, inspirational contemporary romance series set in Albuquerque, featuring ordinary people in lifelike stories that inspire, uplift, and share hope. Stories in which a very real God shows Himself in everyday ways to carry His people through any circumstance.

Find What Makes a Home online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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What's one thing you'd like to see more of in Christian fiction? Why?

Bookish Question #116 | What’s one thing you’d like to see more of in Christian fiction?

Jesus.

You’d think that Jesus Christ would be a central feature of a genre called “Christian fiction”.

Yet he’s not. An increasing number of Christian fiction publishers are owned by multinational media corporations, so they have no moral or religious compunction to ensure that “Christian fiction” actually shares Jesus Christ. As a result, I’ve seen an increasing number of “Christ-lite” titles from the larger traditional Christian publishers.

Don’t get me wrong: there is a need for “Christ-lite” titles.

A non-Christian isn’t going to pick up Redeeming Love or This Present Darkness. They’re reading The Da Vinci Code and Fifty Shades. There is a need for Christian authors to write books that appeal to the unsaved, but which thread Christian messages into their stories. There are many Christian authors writing in the general market, sharing messages of love and hope that reference Christianity lightly and will hopefully plant a seed or two.

But I expect more from Christian publishers.

I expect Christian fiction—novels with characters who are definitely (and sometimes defiantly) Christian. Characters who make mistakes and sin, but who experience God’s grace and change. Characters who look to God first, who show what it means to be a Christ follower in an increasingly secular world. Characters who teach us how to better live as Christians—either by what they do, or by what they don’t do.

Once upon a time, Christian fiction that included Jesus was normal. But at some point, it became abnormal, to the point where Christian fiction with an active spiritual thread is practically edgy.

What's one thing you'd like to see more of in Christian fiction? Why? #ChristianFiction #BookishQuestion Share on X

That’s why I’d like to see more Jesus in Christian fiction.

What about you? What’s one thing you’d like to see more of in Christian fiction? Why?

Do you read edgy Christian fiction?

Bookish Question #115 | Do you read edgy Christian fiction?

Do you read edgy Christian fiction?

If so, how do you define edgy? Who are your favourite edgy authors?

Yes, I read edgy Christian fiction, and I’d like to read more.

How do I define edgy? It’s Christian fiction that isn’t the safe, samey feel-good Christian fiction that dominates the bestseller lists.

Traditional Christian fiction has been safe. Christian fiction is written from a Christian world view, and it’s something you could happily share with your daughter and your mother (and even your grandmother). It reinforced biblical values and even challenged them sometimes—in a biblical way. Christian fiction has traditionally portrayed a solidly white middle class American version of Christianity.

But traditional Christian fiction hasn’t done a good job of portraying the edges.

I want to see different cultures and different races. I want to see people like me. People who don’t live in North America. People who live in multicultural towns and cities and societies. People who don’t speak English as a first language. People who are struggling financially or emotionally or spiritually. People who are held hostage by the mistakes of their past, who can’t see a way to their future. 

Christ died for all of us. I’d like to see Christian fiction better reflect the “all of us”.

What about you? Do you read edgy Christian fiction? How do you define “edgy”?