Book Review: The Dating Charade

So, a couple times a year a bunch of Christian fiction authors get together and do a Scavenger Hunt.

It's great! You get to jump from blog to blog, read a bit about the author and his/her (usually her) latest book, write down the CLUE WORDS, and enter raffles by "liking" the author's FB page or signing up for her newsletter.

It's how I discovered Carrie Stuart Parks, my latest favorite author. It's why I read Carry Me Home by an Australian author. It's why I was curious about Irene Hannon's suspense novels and No Ocean Too Wide by Carrie Turansky before friends recommended them, even though I haven't read them yet.

And it's why I followed Australian author Hannah Currie and saw The Dating Charade in a stack of her books and also saw it in another author's TBR pile.

Long way of getting to the point.

The point is, the cover was super cute. The title was fun. The idea of it being about online dating appealed to me.

Basically, it sounded like a really shallow chick-flick novel that I should not check out.

But the cover was soooooo cute.

And I finally caved. As to a guilty pleasure.

And the first several chapters WERE fun. Cassie has been there done that with the online dating thing and she has the first date down to a science.

But, this book is no guilty pleasure.

Because after several chapters (each chapter trades off between Cassie's perspective and Jett's perspective), I was drawn heart and soul into a story about foster care.

I really don't want to ruin the book for you, but the depth here is what pulled at my emotions. It's what made me enjoy this book so much. The "dating charade" took a back seat to the side-story of kids needing stability, and single people with hearts to help but no idea what they're doing. (That last line was a generalization because, again, I don't want to give too much away.)

I have had a heart for foster care for a long time. Caring for other's kids. Taking in those kids who have had to build up walls or have created unacceptable behavior patterns and give them love and stability until they begin to relax and relearn how to live well. I don't have any experience, but it's been a one-day dream.

So that's why I liked this book. And besides, the cover really is so cute!