TOMSTONE TREASURES by Michelle Sutton

First Impressions by Michelle Sutton

If you are looking for straight up romance from a Christianworldview, Michelle Sutton is the author for you. First Impressions is thefirst in the Tombstone Treasures Trilogy, a series of romance novels whosemain characters work in the historic town of Tombstone, many as part time actors that helpbring a sense of authenticity to this tourist attraction. This lends asprinkling of old west flavor to the modern sensibility of the book. FirstImpression is a romance – there is no doubt about that. The centralconflict is the emotional struggle the two main characters have as theirpassion for one another is ignited. Jimmy is a Christian, and wants to do‘what’s right’, meaning staying sexually pure until marriage. But hisattraction for Sammie is so strong, he often finds himself in compromisingsituations. Sammie, on the other hand, is not a believer and struggles withself esteem, compounded by the fact that they knew one another as children – afact that Jimmy seems to have forgotten. There are lots of fairly steamy scenesin the book, which makes it rather unusual in the context of a ‘Christian’romance. However, this is probably the thing that makes the novel stand out.Sutton does not try to pretend that Christian couples don’t struggle when itcomes to pre-marital sex. She is honest about the emotional turmoil, feelingsof guilt and physical desire that can easily come into play. The hero in herbook is not portrayed as a saint – nor should he be. He is a normal red bloodedmale who is struggling with an issue that is probably becoming more and moredifficult for people to contend with in today’s culture. Although the treatmentof the topic is frank and honest, Sutton is also able to maintain a tastefulbalance. The book is in no way pornographic. It is simply a story of two peoplein love and the struggles they face as they come to terms with their owndesires and obeying God’s word. I would recommend this book to those that arelooking for an unapologetic romance. There is enough ‘steam’ to satisfy withoutbecoming erotic, while maintaining a solid redemptive story.

First Love by Michelle Sutton

If you are looking for a dose of romance, plain and simple, FirstLove by author Michelle Sutton is just what the doctor ordered.  This is the second in a trilogy called TombstoneTreasures, set in the modern day historic town of Tombstone, Arizona. Here, many of the locals do doubleduty as part time actors to help make the tourist attraction come to life.Aside from the acting, however, there is plenty of drama in their real lives tomake things interesting. In First Love, former high schoolsweethearts, Josiah and Tara, are reunited after several years apart. Beforetheir break up, they had been each others’ ‘first’ lover, but now things havechanged. Both have come to a saving knowledge of Christ.  Their physical attraction hasn’t altered,however, and they struggle to keep their passion at bay as memories from thepast threaten to overwhelm their good intentions. I appreciated the way Suttonwas able to treat the subject of sexual desire with such honesty and candor.These are real people with real struggles, and no, they are not perfect. Thereis definitely a healthy dose of ‘heat’ woven throughout to make this book ‘edgy’from a Christian context, but nothing that would push it over the edge into therealm of ‘distasteful’. In the end it is a feel good romance with a strongChristian element. No matter what, make God your first love.