September | 2011 | Blogs of Books

I’m not usually drawn to romance novels and the current crop of dark romance really hasn’t appealed to me. I was drawn to Juliet Immortal, not because it falls into either of these categories, but because of the unique story premise.

Stacy Jay’s most recent addition to dark romance for young adults (read teens) brings the immortal story of Romeo and Juliet to the 21^st century.

Opening with a brief look back to Verona, Italy, we are then plunged into modern day Solvang, California and Juliet’s soul returning again. Romeo has also returned. Instead of returning as lovers, the couple is now adversaries caught in the eternal struggle of good and evil.

We learn along throughout the story that Juliet didn’t kill herself as Shakespeare had told us. But rather was killed by her new husband Romeo to ensure his own immortality. He wasn’t aware that Juliet would be offered eternal life to become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light.

Juliet spent the seven hundred years since her death in a struggle to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Romeo, on the other hand, fought for the dark side to destroy the human heart.

The quick jump from Juliet’s 14^th century bedroom to her appearance in the body of a modern day teenaged girl threw me off balance. It took me awhile to figure out exactly what the plot was, beyond the usual high school social games. I couldn’t quite figure out why Juliet and Romeo were in the new bodies. Once I got my bearings in the story, it flowed along.

I found myself wanting to not like Romeo. But somehow it just didn’t set right. I just didn’t want Romeo to be anti-romance, anti-love. But so often I found myself saying “How could he?’ Was Romeo always so mean?”

As Juliet lived in the body of teenaged Ariel, I sometimes couldn’t tell who was the person behind the actions. Ariel is drawn to the bad boy while Juliet maintains her romantic visions of Romeo.

While written for teenaged girls, Juliet Immortal is a compelling enough story for adult women who like to read romances. It is not the usual formula romance. The reader really does not know whether the modern-day love will prevail nor whether Juliet will be able to save her loving Romeo from the evil masters he serves.

It does help to know more about Shakespeare story of the two lovers; otherwise the reader is lost in some of the characters. A quick Cliff Notes review is all that is needed. As a Shakespeare fan though, I hope it Juliet Immortal will prompt teens to want to read at least a modern translation of the immortal tale.

Unlike some romance stories targeted for young adults, Ms. Jay does not resort to soft porn to draw readers. Although some parents will not appreciate the paranormal aspects of the book, it can be read by older teens without concern for unnecessary graphic sex scenes.

Juliet Immortal is one of the few romances I can recommend to teens and adults. Moms, read this book with your daughter and enjoy it together.

Juliet Immortal
Stacy Jay
$17.99
ISBN:978-0-385-74016-6

Also available on Kindle

It’s been about ten years. One place that I felt was a safe place to share intimate truths turned out to be a minefield of pain. I had attended this church for nearly three decades before the knife stabbed my heart.

I’m not the only person who has been hurt by the Christian organization called the church. Sadly many of those who are on the receiving end are people who are exploring Christianity. Even sadder, these folks may not return.

In his book When Bad Christians Happen to Good PeopleDave Burchett acknowledges that Christians can damage others. More importantly he offers some remedies to reverse the damage.

Don’t by-pass this book just because you’ve not had such an experience. There are lessons for all Christians to learn. Like me, you may found out that you’ve committed an act or two that drives people away.

Burchett begins with his own story of pain without blame or rants. He states the facts and moves onto actions that all of us have committed at one time or another. Not all of them are so devastating as to cause someone to throw off their faith. But they do cause pain and can cause someone to look elsewhere for spiritual comfort.

Bad Christians-Good People also isn’t a touchy-feely cleansing of all the bad things that have ever happened to someone at the hands of Christians. Burchett is straightforward in presenting the case that sometimes people in the Christian church do bad things. He’s also straightforward about how we can change or overcome hurtful actions by beginning with ourselves.

Like Burchett, I chose to leave the hurtful church for different congregation. That move helped me to realize that not all Christian church organizations are unfeeling. Compassion does exist.

While I choose also not to talk about the incident, I had never really overcome the hurt.

Read the first chapter

When Bad Christians Happen to Good People: Where We Have Failed Each Other and How to Reverse the Damage
Dave Burchett
$14.99
ISBN:978-0-307-72992-7
Available on Kindle