It isn’t often that my jaded, old, viewpoint is poked. But an Edgy Christian romance surprised me last night. Cries from a Crusty Heart looks like it would be horrible. It starts with a hunky angel guide offering to kill all the people whom Evelyn wanted dead—even though she denied it.

I initially refused to read it, as did all the Reality Calling reviewers. But as I was trying to let Timothy down easy, I got a check in my spirit. I actually heard the Lord saying that he wanted me to read this one.

So I did.

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This Edgy Christian romance surprised me

Actually, this is speculative fiction well done. Timothy takes a strange speculation and turns it into a solid Christian religious story. In other words, there’s no doubt that it’s Christian but there’s no rebirth experience or spirit-filled power. The idea that this type of angel actually exists is extremely remote. But the spiritual truths shared are well done.

There’s quite a bit of humor. It’s edgy in that it asks pointed questions about how we relate to God. What does God hold us accountable for in what we say and think?

romanceThe Reality Calling Religious Fiction award

This award is given to books which are clearly Christian without a radical rebirth transformation. These are storytelling awards. It’s the story that matters here.

This is a badge used by the reviewers associated with the blog, Reality Calling, and the publishing house, Radiqx Press. It is awarded by the reviewer, at his or her discretion, to indicate that the book or books so awarded meet the criteria we have established for Religious Fiction.

The religious level: This level of Christian book is already uncommon. In it, the Christian walk is carried out by human effort covered by religious blessing.

At this level, a huge area of problems is un-Biblical depictions of angels and demons. Pale, in this book, certainly falls into this category. However, Timothy has deftly avoided most of the problems with false depictions of angels.

The spiritual reality shown in this story is obvious and true. Though it’s only a novella, the characters are depicted well, the world is believable, and the suspension of disbelief comes easily.

So, cut it some slack!

If you read the book, you needn’t feel guilty that you enjoy it. There’s no real heresy here. It’s merely wild speculation with a satisfying resolution. That’s pretty good in this day and age.

Timothy gave me an ebook with no restrictions on my review.