The prospect of 100 romantic novelists being thrown together for a weekend of social activity might evoke images of breathless flirtation and frenzied bed-hopping. But the atmosphere was far from steamy when members of the American Christian Romance Writers (ACRW) group convened for their inaugural conference this weekend.

In the works of these writers, bodices remain resolutely un-ripped and couples politely shake hands on the ladies' doorsteps after a night out on the town. Even if men do come in for a coffee, they slip off home as soon as their cups are empty, and they wouldn't dream of calling the brew "damn fine": that would be a profanity.

When it comes to expressing their feelings, members of the ACRW are more concerned with prayers than affairs. After the predictable round of speakers and workshops, the two-day conference will close with a brief religious service.

That the organization is in a position to draw together so many writers of a like mind is significant. This year, sales of books of a religious nature across the United States are expected to exceed £2.3m in value by Christmas – up 50 per cent on a decade ago. Retailers put the surge down in no small part to the growing demand for sanitized, Christian-influenced romantic fiction.

Lynn Coleman, the founding president of the ACRW, explained: "In traditional romance fiction you have growing body parts. We don't do that."

With titles such as Angels Watching Over Me, which has an old home by the seaside gracing its cover, these books are a far cry from the bare-chested kind. Instead of heavy petting and panting, the usual stuff of romantic novels, the plots of these stories are rather more virtuous. At a time when even Mills and Boon are spicing up their scenarios, Christian romance writers feel it is their duty to offer readers a less titillating, more wholesome alternative.

Fans of the genre overflow with praise. Dorothy Featherling, an ACRW member and author who used to be an avid reader of supermarket variety novels, said: "I was a little up to here with the graphic sex and what-not. People used it to cover up a deficiency in plot." These books, Featherling said, "realize there are physical attractions, but they don't go into all the nitty- gritty details".

The novels focus more on personal relationships and trials of faith than sordid sexual details, said Paul Muckley, the associate publisher at Barbour Publishing, which produces these romances under the name Heartsong Presents.

"Our readers are happy to find a good wholesome story and that is what we are trying to do," he explained

While physical attraction is suggested and urges hinted at, the majority is left to a reader's imagination.

"If a cover illustration even suggests anything too physical, we often get complaints," Mr Muckley admitted, adding with a laugh: "We have a pretty conservative audience here – from teens to 80-year-old women. But not too many men."

The tragic tale of a woman who seeks God's help to choose between her new love and the husband she believed to be dead is told in Deborah Raney's Christian romance, 'Beneath a Southern Sky'. Published by Waterbrook Press, it was chosen by the ACRW as one of the top Christian romances of 2001:

"I love you, Dr Camfield," she whispered huskily. They had been married for three blissful years when they arrived in Timone, but during their two years as missionaries here, she and Nathan had found new meaning to a scripture they'd only thought they understood: And the two shall become one."

Other books might stir up a bit of eager passion, but they also demonstrate a certain Christian restraint -- such as Lynn Coleman's 'Cords of Love', a new Heartsong Presents title:

"He slowly rubbed the ends of her hair with his thumb and forefinger. "Hannah's was soft, but in a different way," he mumbled. "I miss her, Renee. I really, really miss her. Why did God allow her to die?" His thumb touched her cheek. Renee closed her eyes and swallowed hard. He pulled her toward him then, his soft lips blazed against her own. She pulled back and reached up to slap his face, but caught the shock in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. It will never happen again." Aaron jumped up and rushed out of the room.

© 2002 lndependent Digital (UK) Ltd

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