Official Description:
Jasper Hale, 21, is the son of a popular televangelist in Phoenix, and he couldn’t be any further from a church-going goody two shoes. His attitude toward work, attending class, or contributing positively to society is lackadaisical at best. He drinks, smokes, and has a penchant for deflowering teenage girls. Bella attends private school with Edward Cullen, a senior who she’s been in love with since ninth grade, when he moved to Phoenix. Too bad Edward is dating the most beautiful girl at St. Mary’s, and doesn’t even know Bella exists. But when Jasper sets his sights on Bella, Edward can’t help but take notice. Will he protect her from girlfriend Rosalie’s impious older brother? AH/AU/OOC and all that good stuff.
Word Count: 197,923
Happy Anniversary to The Fictionators!
When Kassiah asked me to write this “flashback” recommendation in honor of this occasion, I was happy to oblige. After all, Son of a Preacher Man is one of my all-time favorite fics, and The Fictionators is one of my all-time favorite fandom sites. The unexpected benefit of writing this has been a lovely trip down fandom memory lane.
LaViePastiche posted the first chapter of Son of a Preacher Man right around the same time The Fictionators launched. I read the first chapter and immediately fell in love with the irreverent reverend’s son, Jasper Hale, and his penchant for seducing young, virginal school girls. LaViePastiche happened to be looking for a beta for the story, I volunteered, and thus began one of my most treasured fandom relationships.
When I started betaing SoaPM, I also started a discussion thread for it on Twilighted. I didn’t know Kassiah well at that time, but for some reason, she trusted my taste in stories and started reading SoaPM, too. While I’d fallen in love with Jasper, Kassiah’s love was for Edward and his penchant for drinking orange juice out of the carton. Thus began Kassiah’s obsession with OJward, oranges, and orange juice in general, and another of my most treasured fandom relationships, as she and I became fast friends through a shared enjoyment of this story and others.
Basically, Son of a Preacher Man is the glue that holds the fandom together! Okay, that might be exaggerating it just a bit. But the fact is, this story appeals to canon and non-canon shippers alike, to people who only read Edward or only read Jasper, who hate Alice or love her, who like to take their angst with a dose of humor or their humor with a dose of angst.
In SoaPM, Jasper is the son of a famous televangelist. Bella attends parochial school with Jasper’s younger sister, Rosalie, whose boyfriend is Edward, on whom Bella just happens to have a crush. Bella catches Jasper’s eye one evening, and he makes it his mission to seduce her:
I shifted my gaze back to Pretty Brown Eyes and found her looking in my direction with a mildly curious expression on her face. Our eyes locked for a moment and I flashed her the dimples and a half grin. Chicks loved that shit. She quickly looked down at her drink, and then over at Tits, whose gums were still flapping in the breeze.
No giggle? No coy smile? Not even a little blush? Oh shit, Brown Eyes—Game On.
What Jasper doesn’t expect is that he’ll actually like Bella. Without trying to, Bella ends up playing the game as well as—maybe even better than—Jasper. What Bella doesn’t expect is that spending time with Jasper will be the thing that finally gets Edward to notice her. The attentions of both Jasper and Edward? What’s a girl to do?
I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read. Suffice it to say, the ultimate outcome really isn’t the point here. It’s the journey. The journey each of the characters takes, and who they become by the end, is what makes this story truly memorable and one of my all-time favorites.
God. Reading Legna’s rec makes me feel all the things. This is one of my favorite fics, ever, and she’s one of my favorite people, ever. I still mean everything that I said back in the day (at the bottom of this post), but I feel like I have to add the little quote that inspired my orange-juice-drinking-Edward obsession. OJward:
Edward walked into the room with a carton of orange juice….
“No, I was merely trying to save you from getting into shit with Daddy,” [Rosalie] said, before turning to Edward. “You are NOT drinking that from the carton.”
Edward smirked and winked at us and then put the carton to his lips. Rose’s mouth gaped open and with the carton still against his lips he said, “Relax, there’s only a bit left. I’m gonna finish it.”
I mean…he smirked and then he put the carton to his lips! You know you want it.
I would also agree with Legna that this fic is the glue that holds the fandom together. If you haven’t read, you have to do it. If you have, take a walk down memory lane with us ♥
Here’s what we had to say back in the day:
MF’er says: So my girl Kassiah sent this to me and my first reaction was “Bella and Jasper?!” … “Rosalie and Edward?!” ZOMG. NO! Kass doesn’t do B/J or R/E. She’s a hardcore E/B advocate! She patted my head and told me to shutup and read. So I dug in… The first chapter introduces us to Jasper, the fuckhot badboy son of a preacher who drives a Mustang and has a penchant for high school girls who haven’t yet had their petals plucked. Next up… Bella, one of the aforementioned high school girls who has a crazy crush on guess who? Followed by Edward, the beautiful boy who doesn’t seem to fit in with the popular crowd he surrounds himself with. I really enjoyed the character development that we were able to get with the three separate POV’s and it was a great way to set up the future of the story. I can’t wait to see how everything plays out with Jasper’s pursuit of Bella’s virginity… and Edward’s caveman tendencies coming out to play in what will inevitably be his need to protect her from Jasper. This fic definitely promises to be funny and full of the drama that I love oh so very much.
Kassiah says: What can I say? Like Madame said, I DO NOT read fics that are not E/B. Just don’t. I don’t want to think about it. It gives me the heebee-jeebees. But I saw the thread that Legna started on t’d, and since that girl reads some awesome fics and she was going on and on about it, I decided to give it a little look-see. O.M.G. Bowls full of cherries? The description Madame gave us is dead on. This line grabbed me and I just can’t stop: “No giggle? No coy smile? Not even a little blush? Oh shit, Brown Eyes – Game On.” I immediately told everyone who would listen to me to please read this so I could dish. Plus it doesn’t hurt that LaVie is one sweet author 
Ffic is like an addiction to me and SoaPM is like my drug. I can’t wait to get another hit. Oh, and if I have to endure a little smidgen of J/B action, I guess that is the price I’ll have to pay. Just don’t tell anyone about my plaid skirt and headband.
I totally love Son Of A Preacher Man! I first hate how Edward doesn’t even know Bella and then starts becoming more protective and looking forward to their study-date type of meetings. It was really funny to see how Edward battles with his feelings and pretty hot. This fic’s got the best mix of Drama, Romance, Humiliation, Fun, Smut and most likely the upcoming Angst! LOVE IT! REC IT!
Well dog my cat. I’M SO TOUCHED. Legna sent this to me. I can’t believe ya’ll are still talking about this old thing, and it makes me feel nice, especially now that all of America is holed up in their rooms fapping to Fifty Shades of Grey. This post and the one on the main page brought back some fond memories. Nice to be included amongst such an amazing list of fics.
Happy Anniversary, Fictionators! I hope everyone is doing well.
Thank you for the stroll down memory lane, thank you, Legna, for your especially kind words, and thank you all for reminding me that it’s been three years and GOD I AM SO OLD NOW.