Review: I'm Really Torn
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2013
Chef Charming is the story of Aurora "Rori" Sinclair and Marcus MacRae.  Rori is actually an art student who takes a cooking class with her friend, Jessica; the class is taught by the handsome Marcus MacRae.First, what I liked:  I loved the Christian theme which runs throughout the story.  Faith was important to both Rori and Marcus, and was an integral part of their lives, both individually and as a couple, later.  And in today's atmosphere where erotica seems to be the best-sellers on an on-going basis, it's SO nice to read a romance where the couple remains true to God's will for purity before marriage; it was especially nice that the author chose to portray a man struggling to remain chaste, because Christians experience sexual desire just like everyone else (they just don't give in to it until the time is right).What I didn't care for:  SPOILER ALERT!  Okay, so Rori was stood up for a date in high school.  THAT'S this huge trauma that has colored her entire life?  Come on.  It just didn't ring true for this gorgeous young woman to still be stuck in that mind-set.  I also didn't care for the way Marcus fought his attraction to Rori; his behavior and words were, at times, decidedly un-Christian, IMHO.  Sometimes, he came across as downright nasty and hateful.  Additionally, he was assured there was no policy at the college that prevented him from dating Rori; rather than verify this, he simply continued to be rude and arrogant?NEXT SPOILER ALERT:  I also had a problem with the fact that they supposedly fell in love with each other, in spite of all the misunderstandings and went from "she hates me" and "he knows I love him and it made him angry" to "will you marry me" and "yes" in record time.  I'm saying when Marcus should have been doing some sucking up to Rori, explaining his snotty behavior, he was asking her to marry him.Finally, this book could have been a cute little novella, but it felt like the author tried to stretch it to novel-length; as a writer of Christian romance myself, I feel if I'm having to stretch a story, I need to end it.  I'd recommend this to readers when it's free, but I don't think I'd recommend people buy it.  I WILL look for more work by this author and see if she takes constructive criticism; there's definite potential here.