The Two of Us by Victoria Bylin ~ Review

Lucie's Review:

When Mia Robinson and Jake Turner meet at a diner in Vegas little do they know how much they have in common and the things they will share, until they see other again at a wedding chapel.

Mia is at the wedding to support her little sister, Lucy, who is pregnant and marrying Sam. Sam is the son of Jake’s partner who died in a bomb blast that took part of Jake’s hearing and cost him his career. Jake has tried to help Sam by teaching him how to fix up cars, and also lessons of faith. Jake is proud of Sam for wanting to do the right thing and marry Lucy. Jakes also finds work for Lucy taking care of his mother Claire who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Mia is a nurse practitioner with a passion for international medical missions, during the interviews the agency is quick to point that her experience is largely in big city hospital settings.  She knows that the doctor in Echo Falls wants to retire soon, so she takes the job so that she can also be close to Lucy. I liked her determination to reach her goals. And I related to her struggle with giving up control.

Jake is supportive of Mia’s dreams to pursue a career with Mission Medical, and he accepts that maybe friends is all that Mia is ready for right now. Jake is an observant and patient man, and a good friend to Sam. He lives his faith and has passion for helping other young people like Sam. Jake hasn’t let his hearing loss get him down and he has a great dog Pirate that helps to alert him of things that he can’t hear. I really admired him and his patient friendship with Mia and mentorship of Sam.

Jake’s dad, Frank, is a really great guy, he  love his wife and wants to keep her at home as long as they can until they can go to a special home together.

I also really liked how the book follows Sam and Lucy too. Sam is a great guy he wants to do the best he can by Lucy and their child, and he is going to school and is in the ROTC. Lucy really learns to trust God with her worries, and she grows a lot in her faith over the course of the book.

I really liked the way that this book brings together multiple generations within a family, with great dialog and well-rounded characters. There are many surprises along the way as well. I liked the realness of the characters all in their different walks of life, and how they all came together for each other. I would definitely recommend this well done read.

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