First Impressions, by Michelle Sutton

Setting

Modern Day

Tombstone, Arizona

Synopsis

From her time in the military, Sammie knows the importance of uniforms.  Having so little experience with men, she is not comfortable with flirting.  She decides to volunteer to act as a saloon girl in old Tombstone, hoping that the disguise will give her the nerve she needs to learn and practice the art.  Sammie meets a handsome cowboy actor who seems disturbingly familiar.  Though her predicament is awkward, they fall head over heals for each other.  However, his strong convictions hold him back from fully acting on his feelings.  Will they ever come to some common ground that they both can live with?

Review

One complaint I have about this book is that it was too preachy for my liking.  This is only my personal preference, and not everyone would call it a flaw in the story.  Jimmy seemed a bit too self-righteous part of the time, although I do respect his determination to stick to what he feels is right.  I loved how fiercely he struggled with his attraction to Sammie, and how they slipped up a few times. It was true to life in that respect.  This book is refreshingly well written and has plenty of embarrassing and humorous scenes which were enjoyable.  The romantic connection between Sammie and Jimmy is believable and riveting.  The ending seemed a bit rushed, but there was so much good in the main part of the book that I can forgive that pretty easily.  All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a story that will get their pulse racing at a surprising speed, while still maintaining a strong Christian thread interwoven throughout.

Edgy Content

1) References to private body parts, normally largely avoided in tradition Christian romance novels 
2) Physical attraction is not tip-toed around at all, but sometimes with humorous, less blatant ways of portraying it. 
3) Sexual content and struggles with temptation, more similar to mainstream romance books than most Christian fiction. The main characters do some things that some readers might frown upon, but the author stops the scenes short of making them explicit. It was very realistic because, Christian or not, many people do struggle with how much intimacy to allow in their relationships.