What is Christian Romance?

Romance novels are the hottest thing out there in the world of books right now. Some are hotter than others, if you know what I mean. Some of it is nothing more than glorified porn. Ouch. Yeah, I said what I said.

So where does Christian romance line up?

First, let’s look at the word romance. Is romance the equivalent of sex? Not necessarily. One of the definitions is woo. Woo is an old-fashioned word for what some consider an old-fashioned idea. According to Webster woo means to seek affection with the intent to marry.

Let’s explore that further. If you ask someone out on a date, is that romance? What about hand-holding, hugging, or kissing? How about a romantic dinner for two or slow dancing? I’m pretty sure we would consider all of those things as romance.  

These are the kinds of things that make your heart flutter, whether you’re experiencing them for yourself or reading about them in a book. A good Christian romance may include some or all of these elements. They will also have some degree of the Christian faith.

So what about sex? Does it have a place in Christian fiction? It might. But if it does, it won’t be descriptive. The reader will know what is going on without it being on display. Like when a couple goes on their honeymoon, and we don’t expect them to come back and give a full description of everything they did behind closed doors. Marital sex is a private thing between man and wife. That’s the way it should be with Christian romance also.