When I was young, I would devour romance novels. Nothing too lurid or inappropriate—just the sweet teeny bopper books that every thirteen-year-old girl loves. The story where girl meets boy, they fall in love, then there is a misunderstanding and they break up. But by the end of the novel, everything is resolved and the sixteen-year-old sweethearts end up living happily ever after.
This was the plot of most Sweet Valley High books, and I am pretty sure I read just about every single one out there.
Now that I am older, and my taste in books has changed, I am pretty much over romance novels unless there is some kind of supernatural twist or mystery involved. I don’t have time to waste on just plain old romance anymore. I have my own love story that is happily ever after.
After twenty years together and fifteen years of marriage, my relationship with my husband is not exactly the stuff romance novels are made of, but it is perfect. It is comfortable. I am happy with our romance and find most romance novels trivial and quite ridiculous.
That is why, when I started reading this week’s book, I groaned a little inside.
“Pic Jump,” by local author Michelle Erickson, started out as your typical romance. Girl meets boy. They fall in love. They get married. I was thinking that the story was a little weak and that the love story was awfully short. Then the excitement started!
Minutes after the wedding there is a car crash which leaves the heroine, Pic, in a coma and unable to communicate to anyone through her own body. But she is able to communicate through the head of a Barbie doll to a little girl. Pic finds that there is a reason that she is in her situation. She has to help solve a mystery and save people that are in danger.
Yes, the premise is a little far fetched. But, I tell you what, I was hooked! Michelle’s writing style was fast-paced. Once I started, I could not put it down. I read the entire book in one afternoon!
I satisfied my need for a romance novel for this week’s Valentine’s column, and my own need for adventure and mystery.
This is the second book that I have read of Erickson’s. You may recall my review of “Klaus” in December. I suggest you take a look at her clean, fun books and support a local author. Her books are available on Amazon.com in e-book form or paperback. Or you can get “Pic Jump” at the BYU-I bookstore.
If you have not read a romance in a while because you are tired of the inappropriate content, this is the book for you. Or, if you have not tried a romance because you think they are all sappy and silly, take a look at “Pic Jump.” It was definitely my kind of romance!
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