Seeking Persephone

Picked up this little gem when I went to Melanie Jacobson's book signing. Sarah Eden is another LDS author who was signing copies of her book as well. Read it. Loved it. Go out and read it yourself, people!

Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hope Mrs. Eden won't take this the wrong way. I met her the other night at a book signing. She's lovely. However, I am a little upset at these new LDS authors. I feel a certain level of indignation because what do they think they are they doing with their sweet, chaste romances, anyway? I thought I was too sophisticated for such nonsense. I mean, of course I have no problem with the chaste romance part. It's just that these authors are changing my perception of the LDS literature I knew as a teen.

Which is, in two words, Jack Weyland. Not that I have anything against Mr. Weyland, mind you. I just think his literature is...manipulative and cheesy? Sorry. To be fair, I suppose a teenager could have been reading worse and I did enjoy the books. Still, I came to accept a certain product from LDS authors, and I thought I was sort of over it and not going to read them any more.

But the thing is, the more I think about this book, the more I sort of LOVE it! The book is a Regency style romance, complete with a marriage of convenience, a hero from "the ton" (which, by the way, I had to look up), and all the chasteness of an Austen novel. I've never read a Regency romance before, and I thought Regency referred to a publisher. Yep. Had no idea that it was a subgenre of romance. But you could fill the Empire State Building all the way full to the top with the things I don't know. Especially about the romance genre in literature.

I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, I loved it. And that was entirely unexpected. However, I think this kind of book by this kind of author is just what I've been looking for. The hero, one Duke of Kiedler, was such a reluctant groom. He married for his own selfish reasons, and his wife, Persephone, for her own selfless reasons. But as it turns out, they fall in love anyway. I hope that wasn't a spoiler, but I highly doubt anyone reading this book wouldn't know where the story was going. Why was I looking for a story like this? Because it was good, clean fun. The hero was flawed...VERY flawed and imperfect. But she falls for him anyway. I'm sort of tired of the overly perfect, super human male lead. The Duke is most certainly NOT in danger of being labeled perfect.

But the really really fun part was watching it unfold and waiting for them to figure out how they would communicate their increasing interest in each other. And of course, there is that anticipation. Now here is my philosophy about kissing. It is the anticipation that makes a kiss great...whether in literature or in life.

Think about it for a moment. You meet someone that you really connect with. He finally asks you on a date. You go on the date and realize you really like this guy and that, it seems, he likes you. So you go on a few more dates. The tension starts to build. You might brush up against his hand or his arm and a thrill goes through you. And when he hugs you at the door, you think maybe he'll kiss me. But he doesn't. So you sort of have that anxiety lingering inside as you wait. Is he into me? Does he want to kiss me? And then finally, FINALLY, he does it. And it is gooooood. Like knees going weak sort of good. You do, as it turns out, really like each other.

Oh how many times in the course of this story did I want to yell out "Just kiss her already!!!" And that is a good sign. I like that anticipation of the developing relationship. I like watching the affection unfold with a look here and a touch there. I like waiting and waiting and waiting for him to finally just hold her hand, or taker her in his arms or something! If an author can keep me holding on like that...and if I am not annoyed and just want it to be over...well, let's just say, I like. I like it a lot.

So I say thank you Mrs. Eden. Thank you for changing my perception of LDS authors. The story, much like you, is lovely.


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