It’s hard to be a teenager.  It’s even harder when you are an orphaned teenager raised by devout grandparents trying to keep you on the straight and narrow. 

Tammi Lynn Elco’s father died when she was six months old.  Her mother remarried Junior Elco and life was fine until the car accident claimed their lives.  Now Tammi is being raised by Junior’s parents, and Granny is bound and determined to keep her from the hands of the devil.  But as teenager’s will, Tammi is turning 15 and bent on broadening her horizons, whatever the cost.  Defying her Granny, she takes her feeble minded uncle trick or treating one Halloween and comes back with a sack full of books rather than candy – romance novels.  The books open a whole new world to Tammi, showing her even more of what she’s being denied by her repressive step-grandmother. 

The Romance Readers’ Book Club is a coming of age novel and I felt it was geared more toward that teenage audience that is both curious and afraid to defy authority although we can all associate with Tammi’s conflicting emotions and the frustrations of being a teenager.  It was well written and the characters well drawn.  I will admit that I wasn’t completely taken with the story – it’s been done before.  It’s a nice story but I’m not sure it belongs on my “romance” shelf. 

 Every now and then when I take a book to review from the site that doesn't specifically fit the genre, I'm pleasantly surprised.  In this instance, I would recommend The Romance Readers' Book Club to a 15-year-old girl, but for the adult romance readers I expect to frequent this site, you might want something with a little more teeth.

February 10, 2008