I don’t always feel it is necessary to mention in a review, but my view of physical intimacy differs significantly from the common culture. In many of the books I read, sex is seen as a recreational activity, something akin to reading a book or going for a boat ride. Some stories have characters who only have sex within a serious relationship, and, while most romances end up with the characters in a monogamous, lifetime relationship, rarely do you find a character, outside the inspirational genre, who believes marriage is the only time such intimacy is truly appropriate.

         According to the creator of sex, though, we have it wrong. We as a culture have abandoned the original design. Sex is not a toy, not a sport, not a different way of communicating. It is the unique exclusive interaction between a man and a woman committed to a lifetime relationship. Anyone with eyes can see that our culture has rejected and replaced that original design. (This is why there are so many broken relationships and problems that have to be navigated as part of life in our contemporary world, but that is not the topic of this blog.)

         This current way of thinking is reflected in our entertainment. It permeates the books published, the movies produced and our choices of recreation. If it were my way, I could find something objectionable in each and every book I review. As I said, except for specific genres, this recreational-sex mindset is the norm.

         But my way is not to tear down. My purpose is not to find fault. I want to find the good, the lovely, the noble in the books I read. And, even with that erroneous belief that sex outside of marriage is good and fun and without problems, many stories are worthy of approbation. So there may be times when I don’t mention my objection when this pervasive mindset appears in a story. You can be assured that I WILL mention it if it is an integral part of the story, as you’ll see in Friday’s review of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Unleash the Darkness. If, however, it is the occasional passing thought, such as Katie Chandler’s in Enchanted, Inc., I probably won’t mention it. In Enchanted Inc, there is talk of characters desiring that intimacy, but nothing is explicitly shown during the story. And the overall tenor of Katie’s life is one of goodness, of doing what is right because it is right. And we need more stories like that, where right is right and good fights evil.

         So I hope I don’t disappoint you, but I will probably never get nit-picky about sex or alcohol or anything else in the stories I review. I look at the overall message and the pivotal actions of the characters to determine the value of time spent reading the book. Just as each of us is a conflicting mass of good and bad, right and wrong-thinking, I will allow the characters of the fiction I read to live in that same tension. I will do them, and their authors, the honor of viewing the entire story, the overall picture and to remark on the remarkable. I hope as I do so, you will be enriched and encouraged to do the same.