My New Favorite Author

Anyone who really knows me, knows that for as long as I have had a favorite author, it has been Lori Wick. Her books have always amazed me, and after reading every single one of them (at least a dozen times), instead of picking up new authors, I would simply re-read them all over again. The first book I ever read by her I picked up at Wal-mart at random one day. The cover drew me in, and while up until that point in my life I had hated reading, I couldn't help but make the purchase. Part of it was the price, part the cover, and part the back cover description, but it all worked together and I brought it home and loved it. After finishing it I immediately started building my collection of her books. The ones that I couldn't find at Wal-mart I borrowed from the library and stopped at Borders to purchase one each time I was in the city (this was back when I lived in the boonies). In my college writing class I even did my author presentation on her. Her writing greatly influenced my own desire to be a writer (my favorite book is Pretense), and I learned a lot from her. But last year I decided admitted that it was turning into an obsession and that the best thing to do was to set myself free. I donated my entire collection of her books to our church garage sale and have both regretted it and been thankful ever since. Her stories are forever etched in my heart and I have been debating re-building that collection as I genuinely miss her books.

The best part of her books isn't the way she tactfully writes about romance - in fact, that was part of the reason I decided to give them away. Her stories are so well written that it's like you're falling in love instead of the characters in the books, and at the time I gave them away I felt that I needed to concentrate on loving my own husband, not fictional characters... But anyway! The best part of her books was that in each and every one of them, she led someone to Christ. She placed people in their lives that showed what true (but not perfect) faith looked like, and a genuine conversion took place. I loved it! She will forever be one of my favorite authors, but last month another author joined her on that list for the first time.

Jody Hedlund also write's historical Christian romance novels, but hers have an added bonus - they are based on real life people. While reading about Christians living out their faith, you get a history lesson at the same time. I've donned them "True Historical Fiction" novels and am so excited to have found them. I won "The Doctor's Lady" off of a blog and immersed myself in it for 24 hours (and somehow my family survived and I didn't lose my job), needless to say it was love at first book and ordered another one right away from Amazon, "The Preacher's Bride". Which arrived on Tuesday and when my internet went down on Wednesday I read through it. It was just as wonderful as "The Doctor's Lady" and I finished it in 10 hours (you can read my full review here). I kind of felt bad though... The author poured herself into this book for probably an entire year, and I finished it in less than half of a day. To her credit I couldn't put it down, but I still feel like I cheated her in someway.

It's like re-living the beginning days of reading Lori Wick's work all over again. Thankfully my Jody Hedlund obsession book collection won't cost me near as much as Lori Wick's books did as Mrs. Hedlund currently only has a few titles in print, but since I'm reading fiction again, I might start building back up my Wick collection as well - because let's face it, I do miss her books!





What about you? Do you have a favorite author? What makes their books your favorites?