By Iola Goulton
An intriguing combination of Romance, New Adult, and Women's Fiction
Mia isn’t in Las Vegas to check out the men—she’s here because Lucy, her baby sister, is pregnant at eighteen, and is about to marry.Despite her Christian faith, Mia isn’t convinced that marrying Sam is the best solution. It might just add another whole layer of problems to her life, especially her plans to put her nursing skills to use as a full-time foreign medical missionary.
Jake Tanner is in Las Vegas to act as best man to Sam Waters, the son of his police partner, the boy Jake has mentored into manhood following the death of his mother. Now Jake is determined to support Sam and Lucy in any way necessary.
Mia and Jake are thrown together again after Mia moves to Jake’s hometown of Echo Falls, both to support Lucy and to prove to the missions board that she has what it takes to be a foreign missionary. She’s a great character—a strong and intelligent woman with a real desire to follow God, even when following Him means making the hard choices, and losing people she loves. Like her fiances. Both of them. So she’s through with love.
Until she meets Jake.
Jake is the one possible fault with The Two of Us. Sure, he’s got issues in his past he’s had to work through. But the present-day Jake is practically perfect. He’s the perfect gentleman, always looking out for other people, always selfless even when it means getting hurt. It’s possible that he’s perfect …The other central character is Lucy, the pregnant teen bride.
I wasn’t as interested in her storyline at first—hey, I wanted to see Jake and Mia. But Lucy’s story was essential, as her ongoing pregnancy and relationship with Sam provided a lot of the background to the bigger story. It also introduced us to Jake’s parents, Frank and Claire. Claire suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s disease, and needed constant supervision.
It was good to see a Christian novel dealing with Alzheimer’s, and showing such a positive way of dealing with the disease. This was a real—if heartbreaking—strength of the novel. It was also refreshing to read a Christian novel where the character’s faith in God came through loud and clear, where seeking His will and serving Him were central plot points—even if the characters did get the details wrong on occasion. But that provided them with room to grow, and was one of the biggest strengths of the novel.
Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance, or those wanting a picture of Christ’s love in action in dealing with Alzheimer’s.
Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Victoria Bylin at her website.About Iola Goulton
I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction.
I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more at www.iolagoulton.com.
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Excellent review as always, Iola. Looks like you've find another good example for your "study" on "what makes good Christian fiction from you Monday post.
ReplyDeleteTrue, although the debate shows there is even more debate around what makes "Christian" fiction than over what makes "good" fiction!
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