College student Addison Morgan is still reeling from losing her sister in a drunk-driving accident when she catches her unfaithful and violent boyfriend, Philip, with another girl. Struggling with dizziness and heartbreaking reminders that it’s her late sister’s birthday, Addison gets behind the wheel and blacks out, running into another vehicle and injuring its driver. Wracked with guilt, she tracks down the driver to apologize and inadvertently makes a new friend, Ami Tant, a girl with whom she finds an unlikely connection: Ami’s attractive older brother Logan, a police officer and student himself, helped Addison overcome a bout of dizziness earlier that day in the school library.

Patterson (author of the Paradise series) delivers a moving, Christian-focused romance with admirable depth and a fine cast of supporting characters—particularly Ami, Logan’s twin brother Nathan, and their parents—who provide much-needed support for Addison as she works to escape her abusive boyfriend. Logan mistakenly believes Addison was drunk when the accident took place, but after getting to know her, he realizes that she was desperately trying to cope with the trauma of her sister’s death. He falls hard and fast for her, though Philip keeps cropping up in the worst ways. As Patterson ratchets up the tension, including a horrific act on Philip’s part that alters Addison for life, readers will ache alongside Addison and Logan as both deal with their complicated realities.

Readers who have experienced intimate partner violence may be triggered by Addison’s trials, but Patterson handles difficult topics with uncommon grace. Both Addison and Logan are forced to make hard decisions, individually and as a couple, as they fight to overcome their tragic past experiences and forge a new path together. Faith-based readers will especially appreciate Patterson’s subtle advocacy of the power of prayer, hope, and conviction in one’s beliefs.

Takeaway: Christian-focused romance that takes on powerful topics with grace.

Comparable Titles: Gina Holmes’s Wings of Glass, Valerie M. Bodden’s Whispers of Truth.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-