It’s a blustery day on the coast of New Zealand when 14-year-old Samara Danes meets Adam Russell - a man twice her age. She agrees to be in Adam’s pictures if he teaches her how to take pictures, and the two form a tight bond that day as they share in their love of photography. Soon, their time is up and they part ways - Adam going back to his life as a traveling photographer and Samara going back to her family in Australia. Years later, Samara turns around in church to find Adam there, and his sudden appearance throws Samara (and her family) into a whirlwind of emotions.

The great thing about Pamela Carrington Reid is that because she is a native of New Zealand, her books take place in either New Zealand or Australia - a big change from the Mormon standard. It’s nice to be able to experience a new culture with a few changes in language and get a good read at the same time. Shades of Grey starts out with a lot of potential: a mysterious photographer and a curious 14-year-old. Things get even better when Adam shows up in Samara’s life years later - a convert to the Church, no less. And then we get the love intrigue: will Samara stay with her trusty Rick, or will her feelings for Adam deepen? But from there, the book takes an uninteresting turn: bad family relations that Adam magically fixes. For me, it’s hard to take a book seriously when every single person has an issue that needs to be fixed, and one person is able to help them all. A bit unrealistic. Thankfully, the end of the book is redeeming: Samara finds out what’s really important to her, and life moves on.

If you’re looking for a little bit of a change from the Mormon fiction norm, I recommend Shades of Gray. You can find it at a Deseret Book store near you, or on the web at www.DeseretBook.com.