And when I say “we”–I really mean mostly my daughter Katie!
I know this is Memorial Day in the U.S. We had our holiday last week, but I thought since it was a long weekend I’d post something that’s just fun that I’m enjoying, rather than a big thoughtful post.
And we had a TON of fun with this!
As some of you may know, Katie used to have quite an active YouTube channel.
She hasn’t done much with it lately since she was married, but last week she thought of a video she really wanted to make, and she went all out.
She decided to photoshop herself onto a fake cover of a Christian romance novel, because she’s always been obsessed with how good the hair always is.
Except we couldn’t leave it at 1.
She ended up FaceTiming Rebecca and me, and we came up with 5, plus plots and covers and titles.
It really was pretty incredible.
And if you want a look at how our family operates behind the scenes (Keith’s the only one who isn’t in this), take a look! (Rebecca and I join about the 15 minute mark).
She put the final front and back covers on her Instagram stories (but don’t look at them all until you’ve watched the video, because the lead up is great), but I’ll share one with you here:
But you won’t want to miss A Heart Forever Promised, The Debutante’s Dilemma….or some that are so funny I can’t even tell you the titles.
As one commenter already said on YouTube, she was happy to see me having some fun after the stress I’ve been under. Another commenter said that the two women that Katie was talking to on FaceTime were really funny, and we should have our own podcast (yep. We do).
So here’s me in the background of this video, just being a mom, helping my daughter reach her dreams.
And if anyone knows anyone on the Bethany House Publishers Marketing division, help Katie reach even higher! #BethanyHouseUseKatie
Sheila Wray Gregoire
Founder of Bare Marriage
This is so funny! I highly recommend checking Katie’s Insta to see the covers!
Love seeing David and Katie together doing this fun thing! And Conors cameo was great too! 🤣😂🤣
So glad you guys were able to have some fun and blow off some steam at this difficult time!
Katie’s description of Christian romance novels is so spot-on, I had to keep pausing the video while I laughed. 😂
OMG! One of the names is Adelaide! I never see that name out in the wild! I kind of want to read that book now just because it’s my daughter’s name.
I loved it and sent a link to my mom! She loves the Amish romance stories especially! But we all watched “when calls the heart” as a family….🤭 So I really appreciated it.
I snorted so much with laughter it was embarrassing. Thanks, Katie, for the much-needed comic relief!
I enjoyed this video! The Almost Amish book cover and plot sound very interesting! I hope to see more stuff like this in the future.
That was hilarious. I showed it to my wife, who is a casual reader of “Christian historical fiction”, and she was laughing it up with me. She reads the novels for similar reasons as Katie described, to relax and de-stress.
As a guy who only has the covers to go on I have to ask the question. What is it with all the “Amish” Christian romance novels? Not to diss the Amish in any way but what is the appeal that drives book after book after book in the genre?
Probably the fact that it can be both
1. set in present day and
2. have a heap ton of old fashioned restrictions that the couple has to deal with
This way you have perfectly good, acceptable reasons for both their viewpoints, without making one of them an outlaw or lowlife or something
Just my thoughts
Can you guys recommend your favorite authors of this genre? So many are cheesy, have weird theology, etc.
I really like Tessa Afshar. Her books are deeper and better written than your average Christian romance novel.
I think it would be interesting to do a podcast about some of the negative and unhealthy messages that Christian romance novels have. I’m not talking about bad theology, though that is present. I mean how men and women relate. Francine Rivers is probably the most problematic that I’ve read. All her men are overly aggressive, and they have double standards for sexuality.
Oh trust me, we’ve thought about that one for sure!! Especially “redeeming love”
Oh, yes! And the Shofar Blew is one of my least favourite books. I absolutely hate it. We’re thinking of doing a whole series on it at some point! We need to raise awareness about that too.
Ermaigrsh!!!! I heard of “Redeeming Love” in this context…
Public post: God will bless your marriage if…
Me: You will still be affected by your spouse’s sin.
Stranger: That’s a lie from the devil!!!! God wants to heal you like He did for the woman in this book…
My thoughts: it’s not “a lie from the devil” to admit what already happened, and reviews of the book say that the main character was a creepy stalker.
Other strangers completely agreed with my comment.
I really should write about this!
This is amazing. I tried explaining the concept of chick lit to my husband and he was confused.
Its funny. Men have been laughing at those covers for years. I remember being in line at a supermarket once and there was a display full of these kinds of books and there was a dad with two teenage boys in front of me reading the titles and laughing. It got the whole line laughing.
I can’t understand the idea of reading to relax. Reading wipes me out. Maybe this reading to relax contributes to women’s mental load?
Katie and David are so cute together. And her mannerisms and speaking style are so mini-sheila! 🤣. I really enjoyed this!