Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin

Until I Found You

What’s not to love about that cover?! Love it!

Let’s begin with the summary:

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. . . .

And now, my review:

I had to Google condors while reading this book. The endangered birds play a symbolic role in this story. Interesting creatures!

I hadn’t heard of this author before, but I must say I’ll be watching for her further books because I so enjoyed this novel.

The story begins with a knight-in-shining-armor moment where we get to see the hero in action. Great scene! Immediately hooks the reader.

The author explored themes of faith, trusting God, overcoming anxiety, following God’s path, and hearing God’s voice. I loved that she didn’t offer any easy answers while the characters tried to figure things out.

The hero has made a vow to not date for a year—that’ll put a crimp in any romance. (*wink*) But, the author kept this romance reader turning pages.

At times, I felt this author was very strong, which made me wonder why I hadn’t heard of her.  At other times, when I caught POV missteps, I wondered if this was a first-timer. Now, granted I read the ARC (advanced reader copy), so those POV issues were probably resolved. But the story arc progressed at a good pace. Her male POV was superb. I highlighted her prose on several occasions. When I visited her website, I discovered she has several previous titles.

The author also dealt with hero worship in a believable and compelling way. Our poor heroine struggles with insecurity. Unfortunately, she’s reaching for anything that might help her—including the hero, control, familiarity, etc. But it’s God she must learn to trust.

I appreciated the author’s wisdom in things of God, and I recommend this book! Her next title, Together With You releases April, 2015. I'll be watching for it.