Let It Be Me

 

This is the second book in a series by Becky Wade, but it reads well as a stand-alone.  This is not the first novel I've read by this author and I love her writings.  Whenever she comes up in a list on NetGalley.com, you will be sure that I will be requesting her books. 

Leah has been given a DNA test by her mother to help her find more of her roots.  Her mother thinks nothing is amiss when Leah gets the results that prove she's not related to her family at all.  Her mother is aghast and believes the DNA company messed up, but when the second results come back the same as the first, Leah begins to dig. From the very beginning, the plot goes sideways and gets rather convoluted, but the way Becky has tied all the elements together in this book make it a very satisfying read. 

Through Leah's friend, Ben, she meets a man whom she had helped in a car accident about six months previously.  Leah fights her attraction to Sebastian because she feels that romance is not for her, and Sebastian fights his attraction to Leah because Ben has had a huge crush on her for the longest time.  When Sebastian is given the green light by Ben to pursue Leah, she is not really accepting of his advances.  It takes a lot of work for Sebastian to get through her defenses and to touch Leah in a way that is lasting. 

The premise of Leah's story in this book is that she was switched at birth in the hospital where she was born.  As she investigates all the information she can find about the circumstances of her birth, she finds the one key to the whole conundrum--her friend, Tess Coventry.  This is the one part of the book that does not make sense to me.  Tess has switched two healthy babies for no other reason that revenge, but neither set of parents ever suspect a thing.  There was no good basis for Tess's actions--the revenge she wanted never came about. 

There are plots and subplots that are left hanging in the book that would lend themselves to another book or two in the series.  To be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing a novel come out about some of the other characters--Ben is one I'd like to see find his one true love.  There is a subplot about the "Miracle Five," who were caught in an earthquake in El Salvador during  youth missions trip, and Luke, one of the five, has just come out of prison.  I'd like to see how his story plays out.  I'm never really happy until all the loose ends have been tied up satisfactorily.  

Four Strong Stars, it would have been five except for Tess's reasons for switching Leah at birth. 

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.