Let It Be Me – Becky Wade – A Misty River Romance #2 – Bethany House Publishers – Published 4 May 2021

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Synopsis

Having graduated college at 18, Sebastian Grant has continued to leverage his intelligence and determination to become a pediatric heart surgeon. The more accolades he receives, the more he’s driven to pursue. Then he meets high school math teacher Leah Montgomery, and his fast-spinning world comes to a sudden stop.

Solving advanced math equations by the age of five, Leah has always wanted to pursue a PhD in mathematics. She willingly put that dream on hold to raise her brother. Now that he is of age, she’s set on avoiding any obstacles to her goal–including romance.

When Leah receives surprising news in the process of taking a test for tracking her ancestry, she asks Sebastian to help her comb through aged hospital records to learn more. Soon his presence isn’t so easily ignored. But when Sebastian learns his best friend also has feelings for Leah, he begins to question his resolve to win her. Attaining their deepest desires may require more sacrifices than they ever imagined.

My thoughts

Let It Be Me is another heartwarming contemporary, Christian romance from Becky Wade. Like her previous book, Let It Be Me features one of the Miracle Five, five teens who had been miraculously saved after a building collapsed on them during an earthquake. Now adults, we follow them as they sort through their past hurts and journey on the road to love. This time it’s Sebastian’s turn.

Sebastian is a gifted surgeon. After the events of the earthquake, he turned his life around. Drawn into the Coleman family, he didn’t let being a foster kid define him. They saved him and offered what he most wanted – to belong. That’s way he would do anything for his best friend and closest person he has to family, Ben Coleman. When Sebastian meets and is instantly drawn to Leah Montgomery, he knows he has to get to know her better. The one problem is that it’s the same Leah Ben has been crushing on for two years. Sebastian does the right thing and withdraws but when Leah asks for his help to untangle a mystery involving DNA and hospital logistics, they spend more time together and Sebastian finds it increasingly difficult to stay honourable to his best friend.

I think this book has one of the few love triangles I’ve truly enjoyed. Maybe that’s because all along Leah has no feelings but those of friendship for Ben and it’s so clear that she and Sebastian are perfect for each other. Everyone is respectful of the other and mindful not to hurt anyone’s feelings. There is an intense connection between Sebastian and Leah but there are many obstacle in the path, firstly Ben and Sebastian’s duty of friendship but also Leah’s desire to remain single and Sebastian’s own habit of not getting to close to people.


Leah and Sebastian have such a formal, educated way of speaking. I’m not entirely sure most people use that many four syllable words in everyday sentences but it does give the characters a sense of being different and reinforces their rightness for each other. While Sebastian is instantly drawn to Leah (he has just been in a car crash and bumped his head, so his exuberance is allowable), Leah’s attraction is much slower to build. She a math genius, has sacrificed her dreams to care for her younger brother and has her sights set firmly on one day completing her PhD. Romance and dating are not on her radar at all. Sebastian has to work really hard to first ignore the attraction between them and later woo her and get her to agree to spend time with him. For Leah, being attracted and interested in a guy is new, but Sebastian is hard to resist.

Alongside this story of romance is the mystery surrounding Leah’s unexpected DNA results. This is how the book starts – with Leah discovering that she is not related to her family. While it explains how she is different in every way from her absentee father and adventure seeking mother, it’s hard to believe the brother she loves and has cared for since he was little is not her blood relation. She begins to uncover what happened. Her mother claims she was never adopted so she starts to dig into hospital records and that’s when she has time to get to know Sebastian better.

This book really is delightful. And, side note, there are finally some black characters in Christian fiction!! About time. I’m thinking the next book in this series might feature Luke, but I’m hoping Ben gets his own book soon and we get to experience more of his amazing family.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Adult fiction

Genre:  Christian Contemporary.

Themes: Romance, DNA, family, pediatric surgeons, teachers, best friends, miracles, siblings.

Representation: White main characters. Black and white side characters. Heterosexual relationships.

Published: 4 May 2021 by Bethany House Publishers

Format: Hardcover, paperback, ebook, largeprint. 368 pages.

ISBN: 9780764239175

Find it on Goodreads