Book Review: Searching for Spice

Searching for Spice by Megan DiMaria; published by Tyndale, April 2008

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Linda has come to the unwelcome realization that her marriage is boring. With the demands of job and teenage children, the relationship has become stale and routine. Even in the early days of dating and newly wedded-ness, her husband barely had a notion of what romance was. He’s a practical man and seems content with the way things are.

Instead of resigning herself to this fact, Linda comes up with a plan of action to infuse romance into her marriage. Her first attempts win her nothing more than a puzzled husband, but after a while, her plan starts to succeed. And that’s when life conspires to test the strength of their bond.

The story is told in first-person present tense, chick-lit style. Actually, those who like their genres fine-tuned call this type of book Mom-lit. Which means humor is liberally—and in this case, skillfully—applied. Even though I always have a harder time adapting to books told in first-person present, the story pulled me in. I laughed and I cried.

The events in this book are so delightfully everyday—until suddenly they’re not. Linda’s goal is simple, but life, work and kids interfere with that goal. This could be any woman’s story. Linda’s desire for romance in her marriage is universal. Every woman married for any length of time should have no trouble relating to this book.

I’m going to make a broad generalization here, but I think a lot of men have trouble with the concept of romance. When they hear the word, it sounds like a chore. A secret formula that they have to get just right in order to make their wives happy. Can’t blame men—sometimes we women don’t know what we want when we think of romance. This book does a good job of showing that romance is simply thoughtfulness—and it’s not only the man’s responsibility.

Linda makes plenty of mistakes along the way, and so does Jerry. A refreshing dose of realism wrapped up in a well-crafted story. Entertaining, plus it made me ask myself, what can I do for my husband today?