Shelter from the Storm

Yesterday I read Cheryl Wolverton's Shelter from the Storm. After reading my last inspirational romance, I wanted to find one about someone regaining rather than finding faith. This book certainly meets that criterion--in this case, it's the hero's journey. Unfortunately the characters are rather flat. The result is that Shelter from the Storm rates 2.5 out of 5.

Lilly has been working at Joshua's security firm for several months when he discovers that she has a secret. She's on the run from a violent ex-boyfriend. Though Joshua was burned in the past when a woman he loved didn't trust him, he vows to ensure Lilly's safety.

Although I read 248 pages about Lilly, Joshua, and others at the security firm, I can't tell you much about them. They are characteristics--devout, noble, etc.--rather than real people. The partners were essentially interchangeable.

In addition, some of the dialogue is very unrealistic, such as this section from one of the partners at the firm:

"Hurricanes always pose a threat to wherever they hit when they come inland. The worst threat will be the storm surge, which is the water that is pushed inland before the storm actually makes landfall--or the eye crosses onto land. Therefore, New Orleans, right now, with the incoming tide, is looking at a twenty-foot storm surge at least. They've been evacuating since 6:00 a.m. They weren't expecting any more than ten to twelve inches of rain for the next two or three days. Instead, it looks like they're going to catch the brunt of it. However, because the storm is so huge and moving so fast, it's not going to lose power very quickly. That means we'll still get 140 mile per hour winds up here in Baton Rouge--something we're not used to at all."

This is hurricane 101, not realistic conversation. There's got to be a better way to give readers this information than through a long chunk of dialogue. Plus, when it's recited in this manner, it doesn't evoke much feeling in me as a reader. There are stronger ways to make a reader see how dangerous the situation is.

As for the villain, he's appropriately evil and all that, but he's not very multidimensional either. That makes it rather difficult to understand why Lilly was with him in the first place when he was so obviously a crazy cult leader.

In any case, I'll keep trying inspirational romances when I go to the used bookstore, but I'm not sure my select-a-book-based-on-the-back-cover approach is working for me.

Alyssa