this book has nice moments and good characters though i wish the author would have not written the older characters as immature as she did, it was still overall an enjoyable read.

I've reviewed this book for the All About Romance website. Please see the review there.

This sweet novel combines deep faith in God, second chances, and family ties. Mia Robinson, an independent woman with a mission to work with an International aid organization receives a disconcerting phone call from her pregnant niece who is planning on eloping. Mia's life direction changes and she moves to a small town to give support and hopefully wisdom to her cherished relative, Lucy. Lucy is madly in love with Sam, a son of a fallen officer being mentored by Jake Tanner, a former policeman. Mia has been burned by love too many times to consider romance in any shape and Jake figures life will be good if he can make a difference in young men's lives. Lucy and Sam, at times seem more mature than Mia and Jake but they all have life lessons to learn. God opens doors they do not see and closes ones they think are right, just like so many of us!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and was under no obligation to post anything but my honest review which I have done.

I liked the element of the hero who has trouble hearing. Generally, main characters aren’t at a disadvantage, and this element made me root for him from the beginning.

Early on, I found some elements that weren’t in keeping with male POV, regarding a secondary character, so those jarred me out of the story. And there was some “telling” and some redundancy in the narrative, which weakened the writing. And the dialog seemed too “on the nose” at times. This author writes strong sensual tension.

I liked the thread with the mother and son while she suffers from Alzheimer’s. Theirs was a beautiful dynamic. The author also tackled PTSD and triggers, which are deep topics.

The story lost my interest around one-third of the way in, but I look forward to checking out this author's books in the future, because I've enjoyed her writing in the past. I wish her all the best.

I thought it was a slow book. I had a hard time getting into it, and the skimmed the rest.

Have you ever read a book you really liked but somehow just didn’t bond to? I mean the book is so well written with amazingly complex characters and a plot that keeps you engaged. A book that you couldn’t put down it was just that good. But you don’t bond with it. Perhaps I’m just romanced out. Time to switch up the genres again or something. This book was amazingly well written. Even the secondary characters had depth and complexity. There were multiple lines of plot and love stories and couples and it all worked and danced together so brilliantly. But I just didn’t bond with it all.

This story is about so much more than just Mia and Jake. It really starts with Lucy and Sam. Lucy is Mia’s baby sister that she raised through the hard years, who is happiness and light and spontaneity with directly juxtaposes Mia’s careful planning and calculating. Lucy who finds herself pregnant at not quite 19 and marrying the love of her life. It starts with Sam, the son of Jake’s former partner on the police force who died on duty in the same debacle that cost Jake his hearing. Sam, with a full ROTC scholarship to college, at 21 finds himself facing impending fatherhood as he marries the love of his life. This story is about Jake’s parents Frank and Claire who have been married for decades, who have faced the hardships of a lifetime together and came out the other side. And now they face the biggest test of all. Alzheimer’s. Who with a little help from Lucy find the strength and patience to carry on.

I really really liked this story. It’s a new to me author and I am glad I chose this book and I’m ready to pick up another book. If you like depth to your romance. If you love stories of faith, and mistakes, and redemption this is the book for you. Yes, Lucy gets pregnant before they get married. If that bothers you then perhaps this isn’t the book for you. If you are a human being who has made mistakes but are forgiven by God then read on. It might be a simple romance where boy meets girl and they go through all the hoops to find each other but there’s so much more than that to this book. Read it!

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.

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.

This book gives you a glimpse of living with or caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease. So I have to admit it wasn't an easy read. But you could tell that Bylin truly knew what she was writing about because it was very realistic. I personally have very little history with Alzhiemer's except for the time I spent around a friend's grandmother that had it. I do remember her asking me some pretty crazy questions. The craziest one was about how many children I had! I was probably in 4th or 5th grade but she thought I should have kids! But my favorite memory of her was how at church she would have moments of clarity and sing every word from a hymn remembering her days as a missionary.

But enough about my life...

This book wasn't easy to read. It was actually hard to read about what happens to a person with Alzheimer's but I think it is excellent when an author writes about the hard things and opens people's eyes to things they may not have any knowledge of.

I really liked the way the family took care of the mom through the disease. I liked that Bylin showed the easy and the hard. The love and the frustration.

But my favorite part about this book was how many of the characters learned to trust God on a whole new level in their lives. And since it was more than one character you are almost guaranteed a person you can relate to. I felt like I related to parts of multiple people's lives in the story.

I love books that don't just tell a story but also make you think so this was a winner in that aspect.

However, even though I liked being able to relate to multiple characters I almost wish this had been two books. I would have liked to delve deeper into the two couple's lives. But perhaps this book was meant to only give me a glimpse into their lives and I was supposed to focus on the parents?

I received an advanced copy of this book through Bethany House. This is my honest review.

Gleich auf den ersten Seiten bindet die Autorin Victoria Bylin geschickte die ganzen Hintergrundgeschichten von Mia Robinson und Jake Tanner ein. Man ist schnell im Bilde. Beide treffen sich zufällig in Las Vegas, vor der Hochzeit von Sam und Lucy. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt wissen sie aber noch nicht, dass sie beide auf dieses Ereignis warten. Lucy ist Mias jüngere Schwester, die nun jung schwanger, den Vater ihres Kindes, trotz aller Einwände heiraten will. Sam ist der angenommene Sohn von Jake. Dieser hat bei einer Bombenexplosion das Gehör verloren und seine Partnerin Connie ist bei der Explosion ums Leben gekommen. Ihrem letzten Wunsch folgend, kümmert er sich seitdem um den jungen Mann. Er ist Sam Freund, Kumpel und Vater. Jake möchte ein Camp für verwaiste Kinder der Polizeikräfte gründen, trifft aber auf einigen örtlichen Widerstand. Treu zur Seite steht ihm sein Service-Hund. Mia ist Hebamme und wollte sich nun nach ihrer zweiten zerbrochenen Verlobung der Auslandshilfe einer wohltätigen Organisation anschließen. Aber ihre Schwester wird sie nun sicher auch brauchen…

Zunächst trennen sich Mias und Jakes Wege kurz wieder, aber nicht ohne eine Einladung zum Frühstück am nächsten Morgen. Kurz vor der Hochzeit stehen sie sich dann überraschend gegenüber. Da aber Lucy gesundheitliche Probleme bekommt, fällt die Trauung aus und alle begeben sich in die Notaufnahme um einer Fehlgeburt vorzubeugen. Jake will das junge Paar in ihrer Verbindung unterstützen, aber Mia ist fast erleichtert, da sie nichts von der Idee hält.

Und da sich Mia und Jake nun in dieser verwandtschaftlichen Position mit Lucy und Sam befinden, kommen sie überein, es trotz der gegenseitigen Anziehung bei einer freundschaftlichen Beziehung zu belassen.

Aber wie der Zufall so spielt und das Schicksal es will, finden sich alle vier im Ort Echo Falls wieder, wo Jakes Eltern eine Farm haben. Mit der Zeit entdeckt Jake überrascht Gefühle wieder, die er seit der Explosion nicht mehr empfunden hat.

Doch für Mia und Jake nimmt die Geschichte noch manchen schwierigen Umweg. Sie sind beide Personen mit enormem emotionalen Ballast, die glaubten ihre abschließenden Zukunftspläne schon gemacht zu haben. Die Autorin beschreibt mit den beiden sehr schön eine langsam wachsende Beziehung. Als sich die Geschichte am Ende dramatisch zuspitzt, halten alle zusammen. Jeder übernimmt mutig seine Verantwortung und trägt seinen Teil bei. Am Beispiel von Jakes Eltern kann man erkennen, was eine ernste, innige Liebe, die den Jahrzehnten stand hält, ausmacht. Zum Schluss gibt es ein romantisches Happy End, mit einem Epilog, der einen zufriedenen Blick in die weitere Zukunft der Familien zulässt.

Die ganzen Familienangehörigen aus „Two of Us“ von Victoria Bylin, sind sehr sympathisch und ihre menschlichen Zweifel und Ängste sind gut nachvollziehbar geschildert. Anschaulich wird das Zusammenleben in einem kleinen Städtchen beschrieben. In diesem Buch dreht sich viel um das Thema Vertrauen, auch Vertrauen in Gott und seine Pläne. Immer wieder geht es auch um die Schwierigkeiten, Klarheit zu den Entscheidungen für die Zukunft zu finden. Der Glauben findet bei den Beteiligten in täglichen Zwiesprachen mit Gott seinen Platz. Das Buch konnte mich hierzu und im Bezug auf die eine, dauerhafte Liebe zum Nachdenken anregen.

Irgendwie erinnert mich das Buch sehr schön an die ersten Teile der Virgin River Serie von Robyn Carr.

Fazit: Ein ernster christlicher Liebesroman mit sehr sympathischen Charakteren.

5 von 5 Punkten

I enjoy a good Christian romance novel, and read several of them, I realise often a tragic story is a good starting point but I found this one a bit much and a tad unbelievable for me:
Leading lady - father died in military service, mother of cancer shortly after and had to raise her sister herself
Leading man - former policeman, injured on duty, partially deaf as a result, police partner died in the incident leaving a bereft son whom he feels he has to raise, mother suffers Alzheimer's and needs to be put into care
Said leading lady's sister is pregnant, an accident, father is said bereft son and they have headed to Las Vegas to elope. Leading lady and man have their meetcute as the sister fears she's miscarrying minutes before the wedding can take place...

We are only four short chapters in and I'm exhausted.

Victoria has written a book that can appeal to all ages. Mia is a nurse who has taken care of her younger sister Lucy for most of her life. She doesn't agree with Lucy's life choices and finds it difficult to let go.

Mia meets Jake, a retired police officer, at Lucy's wedding.and works to overcome past disappointments so she can move forward.

Jake's parents, Claire and Frank, are a great example of how love is a choice through sickness and health. Claire suffers from dementia and needs someone to look after her. It makes you think of how you would handle difficult situations.

The book made me laugh but also made me sad as I saw Claire deteriorate and how her disease impacted her family.

Oh, what a beautiful story—so much depth. It contains characters that are easy to sympathize with, intricate workings of faith, and that unspeakable kind of love that makes a story extra-special.

I can easily relate to the main character, Mia. I experienced many of the same things in my youth—losing my mother of cancer and raising my sister who’s 10 years younger than me. Because of this, I sunk deep into her shoes and understood her doubts, fears, and responsibilities.

But there is an entire cast of fabulous characters in this story and I grew to love each and every one (even one who was difficult to love.) The story expresses love of family, that special love between lovers, and the love of God. It’s even more than a love story though. It deals with disabilities, Alzheimer’s, therapy dogs, community, and following the plan that God has for us.

The Two of Us is soul piercing, heart stirring, and deeply satisfying. I didn’t want this story to end.

I. Love. This. Book. One of my favorite reads this year! Ms. Bylin is a great storyteller and now on my must-read list.

5 Stars


Cover: Love
Title: Love
Publisher: Bethany House
Pages: 352
Pace: Steady/Fast
First Line: Mia Robinson couldn’t take her eyes off the man in a cowboy hat working a claw-machine game, the kind where a child—or a boyfriend or father—put in a dollar and tried to grab a toy in thirty seconds or less.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and NetGalley.

I liked the first couple of chapters, where I got to know the main characters. Actually, I found them pretty interesting and I wanted to keep reading. However, something happened along the way.

The dialogues or maybe the development of certain situations seemed too shallow to me. I couldn’t connect with the story or feel for the characters as I had done at first.

The relationship between Mia and Jake didn’t fully reach my heart. It might sound weird, but I believe there wasn’t enough tension between them to keep me interested. I didn’t have the urgency to know what was going to happen next, because everything got kind of predictable.

Nevertheless, I could identify with some of their personal struggles. I guess I have a tendency to overthink stuff, so it was good for me to see all the damage it can cause.

Also, I liked the fact that this book somehow included the pain some families go through when dealing with Alzheimer, but I believe it wasn’t given the depth it deserved.

I’m really sorry I couldn’t love it more, but maybe I was just expecting something different.

**I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own**

The Two of Us is a lovely story of family, humanness and frailty, love, dreams and the pursuit of those dreams. You have Mia who has been burnt real bad in love so she has closed herself off to all men or did she? Then you have Jake who is a former detective who has poured himself into helping other people, which also aligns up with what Mia wants to do with her life but in the Mission field - he wants to help kids of fallen police officers. Will her dream be ruined by her sister? or even better by Jake? will his dream dome true? Will she listen to what GOD is speaking to her heart?

The Two of Us by Victoria Bylin tells the story of nurse practitioner Mia Robinson. Mia has been hurt by two engagements and is not looking for romance. She is looking to take her job overseas to provide medical mission assistance. The story begins as she arrives in Las Vegas for her sister’s sudden wedding. Mia is against the marriage because she does not think that her sister is ready for such a commitment. She meets Jake Tanner, an injured former police officer, and her life is changed forever. This is a sweet romance and I highly recommend this book as a fun weekend read. I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Very heart warming story! The characters were so real that it was easy to fall in love with them. The book deals with love, heartbreak and Alzheimer's disease in a very real manner. God's will and love was very much emphasized.

This book was super sweet and absolutely amazing. I didn’t want to put this book down, so for an entire day, I didn’t. I read this book in one wonderful day and was completely sad when it was over. The story completely captivated me and the ending came way too soon.

The characters were amazing and I loved every one of them. I loved they way they fought with indecision, how they tried so hard to do what was right by God and still struggled, how they overcame their shortcomings, and the way they loved each other so fiercely. Each person had tough circumstances, as we all do, and they all had to find their own way with the help from God. I was able to relate so well to Mia and her struggle with what to do with her future. Sometimes finding God’s guidance isn’t as easy as we would like and I love the way that was portrayed in this book.

The writing was amazing and so vivid. For the day I read this I truly felt as though I was a part of Echo Falls. I could hear the chatter and chanting, I could see the waterfall, and I could almost feel the crisp cool mountain air. This community, and family in particular, called to me and I was glad to be a part of it, even if it was only for a short time. I feel as though I lost some dear friends when I turned that last page.


*I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. A positive review was not required. All opinions are my own.*

Mia Robinson has decided, after two broken engagements, she is not going to get married. However, she didn’t count on Jake Tanner, the mentor for her little sister Lucy’s fiancé.

I can relate so well to both Mia and Lucy. I am usually a fairly reserved, cautious person and I’m the oldest sibling/sister. However, like Lucy, when it comes to my family (immediate and extended), I am super impulsive. I love surprises (but my immediate family doesn’t), and I like to plan and execute surprises for them, which usually ends up with them frustrated with me (sometimes it ends well, sometimes not!).

The characters of The Two of Us are very real and relatable. The story is gripping, absorbing and thought-provoking. I enjoyed the interwoven messages of faith and how each character faces similar circumstances differently.

Victoria Bylin’s contemporary novel addresses many of today’s issues, including the difficulties associated with caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, a police officer dealing with PTSD and an unmarried woman’s unplanned pregnancy.

Having read and enjoyed several of Victoria Bylin’s books, I think The Two of Us is my favorite. I found the interactions and intricacies of the story and characters to be engrossing and spell-binding. Also, you begin to feel as if the people are your friends, each one seemingly real enough to be someone you know or have known.

I received this book from NetGalley, Bethany House Publishers a division Baker Publishing Group and the author. However, I was under no obligation to post a review.

Sometimes life can turn out so much better than our dreams. Especially if we let God lead and guide us. Mia has dreamed of helping those less fortunate in other countries. Being a nurse practitioner she knows that her skills are badly needed. When she hears some news from the sister she raised, she races to Vegas to talk some sense into her. Mia didn't plan on meeting Jake or liking her sisters fiancé Sam. These two men turn Mia's world upside down. Can she take a leap of faith into the unknown? Or are the walls around her heart too hard to break?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Contemporary Romance. I easily liked the characters and couldn't wait to see what happened. Love involves taking risks and being able to forgive. I loved Jakes story and how much he cared for others. It was interesting having a main character that had a family with health issues. I can't say too much in fear of spoiling, but it made the story all the more intriguing. I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers and was in no way forced to post a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

So, it all starts with the premise, no? Victoria Bylin created a world for Mia Robinson that would never, ever have a man included. Mia has gone so far as to commit herself to overseas missionary work to ensure she remains single. Except, when she doesn't get the job right away she realizes she must show adaptability. To do this she moves to a small town where there is a job opening and viola she meets wounded and stubborn Jake Tanner. Ahh, this was a good read, a really good one. The author has a way with words, with creating believable conflict, and with ending each scene making the reader wanting more. I highly recommend The Two of Us, grab your copy today!