Contemporary Romance

SIN

Crystal Rhodes

1-58571-017-2

Genesis Press

July 2000

(4+) Wayne Jordan

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

REVIEW: 

Nedra Davis, the heroine of Crystal Rhodes's SIN is a reverend.  On the other hand, her hero, Sinclair Reasoner, is a man with a shady past, and definitely not a church going man.

The attraction between Nedra and Sin is immediate, and it is this attraction that provides the central conflict in the book.  When they eventually fall in love, the relationship gives rise to a story that is both though-provoking and moving, and challenges some of my own beliefs about love and marriage.

Both Nedra and Sinclair are wonderfully appealing characters, but there is also a complexity in their characterization that makes their story more than just interesting.

Sinclair is a complex hero whose early years have affected his ability to trust.  This, however, does not affect his instinct to care for the two little boys who come unexpectedly into his life.  His capacity to protect and love is one of his most endearing qualities.  One of the most moving scenes in the book takes place towards the end of the book when Nedra walks out on him.   

Sin was a zombie.  He became one the moment Nedra walked out the door.  The tears that had followed her departure, the tears that had streamed down his face soaked his skin, and seeped into his heart, went unheeded.  Tears were foreign to him.  So was pain.  He ignored it.  It didn't matter that it invaded his every pore of his body. Or settled in each bone, or that it rushed through his bloodstream like a raging river.  He had mastered the skill of not feeling anything, long ago.  That was,  until...

At the rarest of moments, Ms. Rhodes takes the reader into the very soul of her characters, and helps us to see them as the vulnerable individuals they are.  

Nedra is a refreshing unorthodox heroine who never compromised her own convictions.  When Reverend and Sinclair become lovers before marriage, my old fashioned church upbringing raised it condemning head.  Was Ms. Rhodes asking us to accept fortification?  What I failed to realize was that Ms. Rhodes was making a simple statement about human nature, and that fact that we often need to recognize our own limitations, and see how best we can deal with them.  Nedra knows that she is not perfect and sees herself, not as a judge of people, but a counselor:

As a minister she had never condemned couples for the way in which they showed their love.  Instead, she had counseled them on how to love wise, to love responsibly, to understand that love was a gift not to be treated lightly.  God's gifts were to be treasured, and the gift of love was the greatest gift.

Her views were not shared by everyone at the church... She had respected those opinions but held to her convictions.  She was not put on earth to judge others.  That was God's job...It was Him who she would have to face.

With an appealing hero and heroine, a story line that's wonderfully original and a ending that's totally satisfying, SIN is definitely a sinful delight.  It's a novel that challenges traditional spiritual beliefs, but more important, it is a story of the greatest gift - Love.

wayne@romanceincolor.net (19th November 2000)