Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin - REVIEWED

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Until I Found You Bethany House Publishers (May 6, 2014) by Victoria Bylin

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A word from the Author:

This may sound crazy, but I was driven to write romance by giant bugs and killer rabbits. I just couldn't take it anymore. My husband and two sons would be camped in front of the television watching a movie about spiders the size of bowling balls, and I'd be wondering when the handsome scientist would get around to kissing the spunky woman with the bug spray. When it didn't happen, I decided to write my own happy endings--without the giant bugs...

Known for her realistic, likable characters and vivid writing, Victoria Bylin writes both western and contemporary inspirational romance. Her books have finaled in the ACFW Carol Awards, the Rita Awards and RT Magazine’s Reviewers’ Choice Awards. She and her husband currently live in Lexington, Kentucky and have two grown sons.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Finding each other was only the beginning . . .

When Kate Darby swerves off a mountain road to avoid hitting a California condor, she ends up trapped in her car, teetering on the edge of a cliff. Terrified, she breathes a prayer that changes her life.

It's Nick Sheridan who comes to Kate's rescue. Nick is handsome and confident, and he seems to develop a habit of rescuing her, but Kate is in town only until her grandmother recuperates from a stroke. She's not planning to get involved with one of the locals.

Nick is a reformed veteran of life in the fast lane, a new Christian, and a travel writer. When he sees a car dangling on the edge of a cliff, the daredevil in him jumps into action. He doesn't expect to be swept off his feet by the car's occupant. He's made a vow--no dating for a year--but keeping that vow is going to be a lot more difficult now that he's met Kate Darby. . . .


My Thoughts:

 “…she couldn’t reconcile emotional pain with a loving God, or fear with faith.  It just didn’t make sense, and no one could explain it to her.”  (p. 252)’

 “Faith. It all came down to believing that God was who He said He was, and that He could be trusted even when the earthly circumstances seemed grim.”  (p. 323)

Two very different perspectives.  Two lives on an intersecting path.  A God who loves them both and is calling them to Himself. 

Until I Found You is a spiritual journey to understanding a relationship with God wrapped in a contemporary romance.  Kate and Nick are at very different places on that journey when their lives intersect.  It all begins with a prayer that Leona Darby prays for her niece.  Unaware of God’s  sovereign hand at work, Kate’s life takes several unexpected u-turns.  As a matter of fact, Nick’s life is also experiencing  a series of hair-pin turns much like the one that introduces these two characters.

The title carries many layers of meaning, and all of it comes into full clarity by the time you reach the final pages.  Victoria Bylin is a new author to me, and I was pleased with the well-developed characters, the richness of their lives and the way they are all intertwined  over the course of the story.  You will come to care deeply about all of the people in this story.  You will cry. You will get frustrated. You will get angry and a little scared at times.  It is worth the journey!  Enjoy!!

If you'd like to read the first chapter of Until I Found You, go HERE.