Hannah Alexander
Hideaway (2003)
Author: Hannah Alexander (pseudonym for Cheryl and Mel Hodde)
Genre: Christian/Gentle
Plot Summary:
Dr. Cheyenne Allison’s world is turned upside-down when her beloved little sister is wheeled into the ER, near death from injuries sustained in a car accident. Despite her best efforts, Cheyenne cannot save her sister and begins to suffer from the guilt. To make matters worse, her widowed brother-in-law, a person of dubious moral character, files a suit against her for malpractice. Cheyenne’s grief begins to effect her job performance and she is forced to take a leave of absence. She decides to take a friend up on an offer to recuperate at a vacant summer home in the rural (fictional) town of Hideaway. Once there, Cheyenne quickly realizes that her stay will not be one of quiet solitude. The people of Hideaway immediately draw Cheyenne (a non-Christian) into the fabric of the community. She meets Dane Gideon, a handsome Christian man who helps troubled teenage boys by housing them at his ranch and giving them guidance. One of his new boys, a sweet and misunderstood African American kid named Blaze, is suspected by the mayor of committing various acts of vandalism. SPOILER: Blaze is finally proven innocent when the mayor’s son is exposed as the vandal. Cheyenne eventually becomes a Christian and falls in love with Dane. She wins her malpractice suit and her brother-in-law is indicted for tax evasion. Cheyenne decides to quit her job in Columbia and opens her own practice in Hideaway to be with Dane and her new friends.
Geographical Setting: Columbia and Hideaway, Missouri
Time Period: Modern Day (2003)
Series: Hideaway (This is the first of five)
Appeal Characteristics:
This 2004 winner of the Christy award for romantic Christian fiction is a nice gentle read. It's squeaky clean. There is some suspense (what's going to happen with the malpractice claim, who is the vandal) but it's understated and in the background. The book is fast-paced, with lots of dialog and action and brief descriptions. Most of the action takes place physically, rather than internally. The overall tone is upbeat and positive. Cheyenne spends most of the book grieving over her sister's death, but is being pulled/led (very reluctantly) to a loving God. There is some "preaching," but there's still a storyline if you take out the religious parts. The characters of Cheyenne and Blaze develop during the story - Cheyenne as she explores the possibility of a relationship with a loving God (in spite of her experience with the hypocracy of so many so-called "Christians"), and Blaze as he finds acceptance at the ranch and is helped by Cheyenne to overcome his dyslexia. There is a definite romantic element, but it is approached through a deep friendship rather than a physical relationship. Finishes like the first book in a series -
it quits rather than ends.
Read-alikes: If you liked Hideaway, try the rest of the series, starting with
Safe Haven, about a doctor who moves to Hideaway and takes in a 16-year-old
runaway, thereby endangering her own life. Fortunately there's a man to help both
women. Kristen Heitzmann's Secrets, winner of the 2005 Christy award for
romantic Christian fiction, is the story of a woman general contractor who is
renovating an old house in Sonoma, CA and of a young man who is searching the house
for clues to an old family mystery. Secrets combines mystery, suspense and
romance, with a light Christian theme. There is some sex and sexuality in Secrets
and some off-stage violence, including the childhood sexual abuse of a secondary
character. Those looking for a light Christian mystery/romance might enjoy Gayle
Roper's Caught in the Act: An Amhearst Mystery, about a female reporter who
investigates the death of a friend's husband. Those who liked the small town
mystery aspect of Hideaway might like Colleen Coble's Rock Harbor Series,
which begins with Without a Trace, in which a woman investigates the
plane crash which killed her husband and son. Without a Trace and Caught in
the Act are both Christian fiction. Those who have "read everything" in the field of Christian Romance might want to try Emilie Loring or Grace Livingston Hill, who both wrote in the 1930s and 1940s. Loring's books feature a strong, usually wealthy New England woman
thrown into some mildly suspenseful situation over which she and the male
protaganist triumph. They end up falling in love. While there is nothing overtly
christian in her books (other than the fact that the main characters generally go to
church on Sunday), the main characters do have a strong moral compass that
helps them through their problems and there is some reliance on a Higher
Power. Her Beckoning Trails involves espionage in the Science Center of
a small but prestigious New England College. Hill's books are also romances,
featuring strong women who are usually not as wealthy as in Loring's books. Hill's
books have a more overtly (and sometimes preachy) Christian tone. Her The City
of Fire is about a minister's daughter who returns home to find that her
friend has lost his faith. Both authors' books are squeaky clean. Summer's End, by Lyn Cote, also involves a female physician who is working in a small town in her obligations to her medical school and struggles to decide where she belongs. Lisa Wingate's Tending Roses also takes place in Missouri and involves a young mother dealing with loss through a renewed relationship with her grandmother. Those who identify with the troubled orphaned teen storyline may enjoy Bad Ground, by W. Dale Cramer which tells the story of a young man who forms a relationship while working as a miner with his uncle. Colleen Coble's Beyond a Doubt involves a woman who's lost her husband, moves to a small town, tries to solve a mystery and discovers she has feelings for the local forest ranger. Some of the early Harlequin Romances may appeal to those who like gentle
medical romances without the Christian emphasis. While the other Harlequin series
(Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Intrigue, etc.) can get pretty graphic, the early
Harlequin Romances were usually squeaky clean. Betty Neels books usually involve an
English nurse and a Dutch doctor. A typical story is Cassandra by Choice, in
which English Cassandra is asked to go to Holland as the nurse of the brilliant but
surly surgeon Benedict van Manfeld. Some of Neels' books have been reprinted
recently. Mary Burchell also wrote old Harlequins with a medical slant, but her
books do not seem to have been reprinted.
Red Flags: There are a couple of instances of arson. There is a bloody scene in the emergency room, but it is not described graphically. There is mention of a murdered cat, but it happens off stage and is told in
retrospect.
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