Do you remember the first time you fell in love… with a fictional hero?
Back in the 1970s, when I was about fourteen and growing up in the Missouri Ozarks, a family friend named Bessie gave me a stack of Grace Livingston Hill books that she said she thought I’d enjoy.
An avid reader, I read and reread the stories, swept away by the sweet tales of romance that always included the story of salvation.
The author, Mrs. Hill, was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and wrote more than 100 novels between 1887 and 1948. I haven’t read them all, but my favorite was The Enchanted Barn, written in 1918. It told the story of a desperate young woman named Shirley Hollister, who was willing to move with her mother and siblings to a barn, and the rich, handsome barn owner, Sidney Graham, who renovated the structure to help her.
What a great guy. Sigh…
When I first read these books in the 1970s, they seemed like historical fiction, but they were written as contemporary stories, dealing with issues of the day. Today we’d call them inspirational romance or contemporary Christian romance.
My hometown didn’t have a huge bookstore, and I guess there weren’t any of Mrs. Hill’s books in the local library, because I don’t remember seeing stories by her again until I’d finished college and was working far from home in North Carolina. I was a copy editor, working nights, with Tuesday and Wednesday as my days off. It was exciting, being out there on my own, but also a little lonely. I’d often visit the local bookstore, where I found more of Mrs. Hill’s books. I’m pretty sure that I eventually bought every single one they stocked.
And then, perhaps because of all those Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew books I read as a kid, I began reading mysteries. Years and years of nothing but mysteries while I moved from North Carolina to Missouri to Illinois to Ohio, leaving copy editing to work in public relations and then, in 1996, to be a stay-at-home mom.
That year, one night a week, my husband and I had a college girl named Melissa watch our son so we could go out to dinner. One week, Melissa offered to loan me a book she thought I might enjoy, Montana Sky by Nora Roberts.
I’d never heard of Nora Roberts.
I guess that’s what happens when you only read mysteries and you live (once again) in a town without a major bookstore.
Soon I began wandering through the library shelves, looking for romance books.
Nora Roberts was a good storyteller. And so were several other romance authors I found. But then I discovered Lori Wick.
She wrote stories that reminded me of the books by Grace Livingston Hill, stories that combined faith and falling in love, stories that resonated with my heart so much that I eventually decided to write one. Or two. Or… well, now I’m working on number six.
And it all started with Grace Livingston Hill. And that handsome young barn owner, Sidney Graham.
What about you? What’s the first Christian romance you remember reading?
I’d love to hear about!
I’m giving away a free copy of the first book I published, Christmas in Abundance (one Kindle copy, available worldwide) to someone who comments.
If you’d like to be included in the drawing, please comment by Monday evening, Sept. 30, 2019. One person who comments on this post will be chosen at random, notified by email, and announced in a Sunday edition.
*Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.*
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About Christmas in Abundance
An art teacher avoiding Christmas. A single dad planning a holiday light show extravaganza. A yuletide clash between neighbors that might spark a dazzling romance.
Lanie Phillips has a quiet holiday planned. So quiet, in fact, that the only sounds in the house where she’s staying should be the clicks of her computer keyboard and the occasional bark from a chocolate Labrador retriever. No joyous choirs of angels, no jolly laughs from Santa, and no jingle bells—nothing to distract her from her master’s thesis or bring up painful Christmas memories.
But for the single dad who’s her closest neighbor, simple holiday decorations just won’t do. Kyle Mattox is determined to give his five-year-old daughter the best Christmas ever—one that includes an outdoor display lit with fifty thousand lights, activated in time to music shared through four giant loudspeakers.
When Lanie comes to complain that she can’t write with the lights flashing and carols blasting, Kyle realizes that—unknown to her—their circuits have crossed in the past. If he wants his daughter happy, he needs to keep that information to himself, keep the show running, and keep his distance from Lanie.
Christmas in Abundance is a contemporary Christian romance novella and is a companion story to the Abundance Series. It is a stand-alone book and is written to fit well at any point in the series.
Sally Bayless writes contemporary Christian romance that features compelling characters, real-world problems, and uplifting endings filled with the power of love. She lives in the beautiful hills of Appalachian Ohio and has two grown children. When not working on her next book, she enjoys reading, watching BBC television with her husband, doing Bible studies, kayaking, and shopping for cute shoes. For updates on her writing and a free insider’s guide to her books, subscribe to her newsletter by clicking the newsletter icon below or visiting http://bit.ly/NewsfromSally.
While I read all though school and lots of teen novels a year or so after I left school I stopped reading much. Then an older lady from church gave me “When Calls the Heart” by Janette Oke it not only made me fall in love with Mounties, Canada and reading. I had to get the next book in the series and then couldn’t stop. I still love Canada and Mounties.
Jullian Heart The Granger Family Ranch. A little lady that was in the nursing home where I worked gave it to me to read and I fell in love with the family. I’ve also read the the McPhee series and the McKaslin series’s.
As far as I can remember, Jeanette Oke’s “Love Comes Softly” was my first introduction to Christian fiction. I bought the entire series, then continued to save my allowance for her Seasons of the Heart series, When Calls the Heart series, and several of the Women of the West series. I re-read at least one of these series every year.
Montana Sky! Love that book. Every few years I find myself searching for my copy and reading it. Along with Two From Galilee. I used to read Jane Eyre every year too. I think that’s due for another re-read. Mr. Rochester. And then Gone with the Wind. Rhett Butler. My first Christian romance was Grace Livingston Hill.
Wow! I’m thinking the first Christian fiction book I read would have been a Grace Livingston Hill book, too. Mom had read them, and mentioned them. Probably about the time I discovered Jeanette Oke’s books and Al Lacy’s. I was hooked from then!! I went to the Zondervan store in our local mall, and I’d buy a lot of the small paperbacks, precursors to the Love Inspired books. I bought those like 10 for $5 or something. I had a TON of those!! They were the size of the old Harlequins. One of the authors was Janet Peart , I think. Something like that, anyway!!
Isn’t it wonderful when someone recommends a book? Such an amazing gift!
It’s such a treat to find a series you love! That little lady in the nursing home had good taste!
Okay, you’ve convinced me. I think I must be the only Christian romance author who hasn’t read Oke’s books. For a long time, I didn’t read historicals. I do now, but I’ve missed these classics. Time to add them to my to-be-read pile! (Which is actually on my Kindle, lol!)
Shhh…….don’t tell anyone, but I named my son after my first love of a fictional hero…Nicholas.
Funny story – when he was about three months old my uncle started carrying on about how at least I gave my child a family name (his daughter chose odd ball names for her daughters) and I was like, huh?? Turns out my great grand father, whom I never met or even heard his real name until this moment, was Nicholas!
My silly crush made me a rock star among my aunts and uncles, lol! Who would of thunk it, lol!!
Ahh, Rhett Butler. What a great character Margaret Mitchell created there. And hooray for Grace!!
OH my goodness! Grace Livingston Hill is one of my favorite authors. A friend of my Mother’s shared Beauty for Ashes with me when I was a teenager. From then on, I have been collecting GLH books. I read them over and over. :-) Beauty for Ashes was my first romance story and I’ve been hooked on Christian romance since I was a teenager.
I had a stack of those small paperbacks too! Once about ten years ago I found a bunch at a library sale for 25 cents apiece. Treasure!!
And I have to admit I’m feeling a little jealous that you had a Zondervan store…wow!
Paula Marie, I love this story! Reading benefits us in so many ways, lol!
How cool! GLH books really are special, aren’t they? I loved how they not only emphasized faith, but also stressed the value of hard work and the fact that money doesn’t guarantee happiness. My parents were older and grew up during the Depression. They stressed those same points to me again and again. Add in those sweet romances and, well, it’s no wonder we love her books!
I discovered Janette Oke books while working as a library aid in the 7th or 8th grade. Love Comes Softly hooked me. I read her books as well as Grace Livingston Hill books. :)
For me, it’s Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables! I was going to marry him when I grew up!! Too bad Anne beat me to it!
Greg Sterling from ‘The Christmas Bride’ by GLH is pretty amazing too!
Libraries are the best places! So glad you enjoyed GLH too!
I missed ‘The Christmas Bride.’ I’ll have to look for it.
I loved Anne of Green Gables! What a fabulous story!
When I was a teen, I was an avid mystery reader (Agatha Cristie, Hardy Boys..) but then one day I’ve stumbled across Robin Jones Gunn’s Christy Miller’s books and I fell in love with Todd and everyone else. I have pretty much everything she’s ever written. At that time, I had to wait for Portuguese translations to be released and it took time. Today they don’t translate those anymore but I long ago started buying and importing books from Amazon. I also tried to look for other options around here but they were few. I did enjoy Stephanie Grace Whiston‘s books but there were only a few that were translates and available. Fortunately today there’s internet and I can literally just get anything, mostly because the publishing companies have decided it’s not a good idea to translate and sell Christian books. Other romance yes but nothing Christian came in Portuguese out since my teens.
Oh my goodness. I too grew up on Grace Livingston Hill. My favorite book of hers is called The Unwilling Guest. It is just such a beautiful story of redemption. Thanks for the giveaway.
The shunning by Beverly lewis was my intro.
I remember reading Mary Webb at 17. Precious Bane and Gone to earth. Precious Bane could be quite a christian romance while Gone to earth is a drama with the sad end of the minister loosing faith, not quite the christian tale. Anyway, as a french reader, these books led me to go to England for my studies, come to faith in a Baptist church within five days… and be an authoress in France today… I’ve never read Grace Livington Hill… yet !
Hm…can’t remember exactly…I think it all started with Karen Kingsbury books :) I just need a constant reminder that they are FICTIONAL heroes lol
I have my own hero in my life – REAL one <3
When I was little, my mom gave me the gift of loving to read. Every night before bed she would read to me. Every time we went into town, she would buy me a book to add to my collection. I remember reading and loving The Little Engine That Could, that I kept and read to my son! Growing up, every week on Saturday, we would go to the library to choose books together. I’m an avid reader, thanks to her. And she loved hearing me read to her when she was sick in bed. Sadly my mom passed away when I was nineteen! I will always be eternally grateful for her passing on the love of reading to me. Her passing is incredibly sad but her memory lives on with every book that I pick up to read! Some of my favorite authors are Grace Livingston Hill, Terri Blackstock, Janette Oke, Karen Kingsbury, Phyliss A Whitney!
I missed ‘The Christmas Bride.’ I’ll have to look for it.
I loved Anne of Green Gables! What a fabulous story!
I’m so sorry that Christian romance isn’t translated in to Portuguese more often. I know as an author, I would love to have my books available in lots of languages. I have read that it’s possible that in the future artificial intelligence can do the bulk of translations and a human would just need to tweak the mistakes, making it cheaper and easier to get translations done. Hopefully that will come in our lifetimes!
That title sure sounds familiar. I wonder if I read it but don’t own it.
She really had a gift for writing, didn’t she?
Another book I’ve heard of again and again but never read! Adding it to my list!
What an amazing story! Five days!
Best of luck with your writing, Louisa. May the words flow!
Oh, Karen Kingsbury is such a great writer! I love her stories!
So glad you are blessed with not just fictional heroes, but with a real, live hero!
Dear Rebecca,
I am so sorry you lost your mother so early. How wonderful, though, that you have her with you when you read. It really was a fabulous gift she gave you with the love of reading.
You’ve named some great authors there! Such stories!!
For everyone else who can’t read English or don’t have access to buying in the original language, I would welcome more translation options. I now prefer reading in the original language books were written.
That would be such a delight! I bet you see nuances with the language that translation can’t replicate. :)
I love what you had to say about Grace Livingston Hill, I have some of her books and have read so many of them. I grew up in the 60’s and reading was my past time. My parents owned a religious bookstore and the local library was within walking distance of the store. I spent a lot of time in the library and reading at the bookstore. Thank you for background on Mrs. Hill.