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Running Into You
Can a car accident possibly change your life for the better?
On the last day of school, Julie is looking forward to a break from her work as a second-grade teacher.
But when she and her brother get into a car accident, her world turns upside down in an instant. Julie is caught up in trying to forgive the other driver for what happened. And when sparks fly between Julie and Noah, who was also involved in the crash, she also has to figure out how to forgive herself for her role in the accident.
On the last day of school, Julie is looking forward to a break from her work as a second-grade teacher.
But when she and her brother get into a car accident, her world turns upside down in an instant. Julie is caught up in trying to forgive the other driver for what happened. And when sparks fly between Julie and Noah, who was also involved in the crash, she also has to figure out how to forgive herself for her role in the accident.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 9, 2024
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 9, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up**
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I really really enjoyed this story. I think God sent it my way at just the right time. Julie deals with a lot of anger in this story, something I have really been struggling with myself. The questions "How can I forgive?" and "After forgiveness, how do you move on with life?" All very important things to tackle.
I really enjoy the romance between Julie and Noah. I am so excited for the second book!
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I really really enjoyed this story. I think God sent it my way at just the right time. Julie deals with a lot of anger in this story, something I have really been struggling with myself. The questions "How can I forgive?" and "After forgiveness, how do you move on with life?" All very important things to tackle.
I really enjoy the romance between Julie and Noah. I am so excited for the second book!
July 10, 2024
Running Into You, the first book in the Devine Family Series, is a lovely summer book that explores the question of what it means to truly forgive and though unreferenced, how God can turn things around into good things for us as believers. I really enjoyed how the author was able to get into the mind of Julie and demonstrate how she felt at different times during her journey of forgiveness. I also liked how Noah provided support without overstepping his boundaries, making their relationship tender and edifying as they learn to trust in God for what's next for them.
The Devine family is such a delight that I'm grateful we will get to see more of them in subsequent books. Courtney Westerhof writes truly vibrant family scenes that make you feel like you're at the dinner table with them. Additionally, the other supporting characters shine as they help Julie and Noah through the aftermath of the car accident. For those wondering what love springing from a less than auspicious start could look like and how God can bring redemption from such a beginning, this is the book for you.
Review link: https://christianshelves.blogspot.com...
The Devine family is such a delight that I'm grateful we will get to see more of them in subsequent books. Courtney Westerhof writes truly vibrant family scenes that make you feel like you're at the dinner table with them. Additionally, the other supporting characters shine as they help Julie and Noah through the aftermath of the car accident. For those wondering what love springing from a less than auspicious start could look like and how God can bring redemption from such a beginning, this is the book for you.
Review link: https://christianshelves.blogspot.com...
July 9, 2024
I absolutely loved Noah & Julie's angry, hurt, loving, caring , sweet, forgiving story!!
September 18, 2024
While giving her brother Cole a ride home, Julie is involved in an accident with two other cars. All of them have injuries, but none are life threatening. While Cole and Noah, who were also injured in the accident, forgive the driver that caused the accident, Julie struggles with doing the same. She continues to blame them for the pain it caused her brother and refuses to accept their apology.
I could feel Julie's grief and frustration about the accident and how hard it was for her to come to terms with the need to forgive the person who caused the accident. Julie also had to learn to forgive herself for the way she responded causing Noah to also be injured. Her journey to forgive others and herself felt authentic.
This is a heartfelt, emotionally rich story that explores how life’s unexpected moments can lead to personal growth, healing, and new beginnings. I feel that forgiveness is the main theme of this book. Forgiveness—not only of others but also of oneself. It’s a reminder that we all make mistakes, but it’s how we respond to them that shapes who we become.
I received a complimentary copy from the author. All opinions in this review are my own.
I could feel Julie's grief and frustration about the accident and how hard it was for her to come to terms with the need to forgive the person who caused the accident. Julie also had to learn to forgive herself for the way she responded causing Noah to also be injured. Her journey to forgive others and herself felt authentic.
This is a heartfelt, emotionally rich story that explores how life’s unexpected moments can lead to personal growth, healing, and new beginnings. I feel that forgiveness is the main theme of this book. Forgiveness—not only of others but also of oneself. It’s a reminder that we all make mistakes, but it’s how we respond to them that shapes who we become.
I received a complimentary copy from the author. All opinions in this review are my own.
July 8, 2024
I really enjoyed this sweet Christian romance! Main characters Julie and Noah meet in the most unexpected way, when they are both involved in a car accident one night. Julie is driving home from a family dinner with her brother Cole and while going through the intersection is suddenly t-boned by a car and then rear ended by another car at the same time. Her brother is seriously injured and to top it off the driver who rear ended her, Noah, is angry with her for breaking instead of accelerating through the intersection causing him to hit her car. Julie becomes anxious about driving, and becomes angry with the female driver who hit her car while texting. Julie and Noah meet again when Noah and Cole have physiotherapy together, and Julie finds that even though her brother Cole and Noah have each forgiven the driver of the car who hit Julie, she struggles to be able to forgive her and move past her anger. Julie, with the help of Noah, works to forgive the other driver and learns that she may need to forgive herself as well.
This clean Christian romance is about family, forgiveness, grace, and friendship. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series!
I want to thank Courtney Westerhof for the complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
This clean Christian romance is about family, forgiveness, grace, and friendship. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series!
I want to thank Courtney Westerhof for the complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
August 16, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book and being a part of Julie’s journey. I could imagine sitting down with the Devine family for dinner. Unexpectedly, this book even made me cry in a few places. I loved the way it was written and I can’t wait to read the next one in the story.
June 26, 2024
Three different drivers are involved in a car accident with there being very different reactions to what happened. It is not easy to deal with the aftermath of such an accident. But, Julie has the hardest time coming to terms with her involvement in it. I loved how Noah and Julie’s brother who were injured were able to forgive the drivers and see it as an accident. Who knew that something so bad could turn into something very good for all of the people involved.
This story of forgiveness and love can be read by young and mature readers alike. I voluntarily reviewed this complimentary copy of the book. All views are my opinion in which I was not required to write a review.
This story of forgiveness and love can be read by young and mature readers alike. I voluntarily reviewed this complimentary copy of the book. All views are my opinion in which I was not required to write a review.
July 12, 2024
This was my first book by the author but I’m definitely intrigued to see more of her work. This was a love story with a simple plot reminding us of God’s forgiveness and showcasing the reality of how hard it can be to forgive those who have wronged us. I enjoyed the faith aspect but the romance felt slightly flat to me. However, it was a well written story! Thank you to the author for my arc; all opinions are mine.
July 8, 2024
Running Into You is a Christian Romance with forgiveness being the main theme throughout the book.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I liked Julie as a character and could relate to her (not only because I did work as an elementary teacher once) and loved the family dynamics, especially between Julie and her brother Cole, who is I would say the most important side character of this book. I appreciated how faith was important to her and her family and thought the book was well written and I felt invested in Julie’s story.
This kind of changed after the first half and I think this has two reasons. The first is - I really couldn’t empathize with Julie anymore at a certain point. While I recognize that - even though physically the damage wasn’t lasting - the accident was traumatic for Julie, I think her ongoing grudge mostly towards the other driver was kind of immature. I just couldn't get behind this intense resentment and even though she talks about God and faith, we never read a prayer where she asks God to help her forgive. So when she finally does, I really don’t know what made her forgive that hindered her before and this self centeredness and anger towards the other driver and later towards Cole and Noah reminded me more of a teenager than of a mature woman.
The other reason is the romance. It just came way too sudden for my taste. They might not have been enemies, but Noah and Julie were at least wary, then cautious about/around each other. We are told that they start being something like friends, but we don’t see these interactions. So the first kiss really came out of the blue for me and since the important situations between them aren’t on page, I couldn’t really understand why they were that interested in each other. The other thing about the romance is that they - at least to the reader's knowledge - never talked about their faith or intentions before kissing and I really would have appreciated that for a Christian couple. Only because Julie’s father speaks one prayer over dinner, Julie doesn’t have to be a Christian the same as Noah could have been an unbeliever and just kissing each other without talking about dating/courting, romantic intentions in general and their faith, how they would approach a meaningful God honoring relationship just wasn’t what I expected and hoped for in a Christian romance.
So while I was totally immersed in the story in the first half and really enjoyed it, I found myself skimming parts in the second half because I wasn’t as invested as before.
I still recommend this book as a clean Christian romance about forgiveness, even though I personally struggled with relating to the main character.
This is a series starter and since I really liked Julie’s family I would definitely give the next book of the series a try.
* Thank you to the author for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and the expressed opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I liked Julie as a character and could relate to her (not only because I did work as an elementary teacher once) and loved the family dynamics, especially between Julie and her brother Cole, who is I would say the most important side character of this book. I appreciated how faith was important to her and her family and thought the book was well written and I felt invested in Julie’s story.
This kind of changed after the first half and I think this has two reasons. The first is - I really couldn’t empathize with Julie anymore at a certain point. While I recognize that - even though physically the damage wasn’t lasting - the accident was traumatic for Julie, I think her ongoing grudge mostly towards the other driver was kind of immature. I just couldn't get behind this intense resentment and even though she talks about God and faith, we never read a prayer where she asks God to help her forgive. So when she finally does, I really don’t know what made her forgive that hindered her before and this self centeredness and anger towards the other driver and later towards Cole and Noah reminded me more of a teenager than of a mature woman.
The other reason is the romance. It just came way too sudden for my taste. They might not have been enemies, but Noah and Julie were at least wary, then cautious about/around each other. We are told that they start being something like friends, but we don’t see these interactions. So the first kiss really came out of the blue for me and since the important situations between them aren’t on page, I couldn’t really understand why they were that interested in each other. The other thing about the romance is that they - at least to the reader's knowledge - never talked about their faith or intentions before kissing and I really would have appreciated that for a Christian couple. Only because Julie’s father speaks one prayer over dinner, Julie doesn’t have to be a Christian the same as Noah could have been an unbeliever and just kissing each other without talking about dating/courting, romantic intentions in general and their faith, how they would approach a meaningful God honoring relationship just wasn’t what I expected and hoped for in a Christian romance.
So while I was totally immersed in the story in the first half and really enjoyed it, I found myself skimming parts in the second half because I wasn’t as invested as before.
I still recommend this book as a clean Christian romance about forgiveness, even though I personally struggled with relating to the main character.
This is a series starter and since I really liked Julie’s family I would definitely give the next book of the series a try.
* Thank you to the author for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and the expressed opinions are my own.
July 7, 2024
This faith filled novel kept me eagerly turning the pages. The sweet romance that developed between Noah and Julie was a joy to read about. After the emotional trauma that Julie went through with the accident, along with the physical trauma that her brother and another driver, Noah, experienced, the fact that Noah and Julie connected was extra special. I loved seeing the way they grew to care about each other.
Yet Julie harbored a lot of anger toward the woman ultimately responsible for the crash. While her brother and Noah were able to forgive, Julie struggled. It impacted her emotionally and even physically as she retained the bitterness and could not seem to let it go. It was hard to see her struggle so much. It was quite the journey that she went on and she had to learn how to rely on God to help her give it all to Him and move on.
I really enjoyed this story and it is fun to see that it is the beginning of a new series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
You can read this review on my blog:
https://brittreadsfiction.wordpress.c...
Yet Julie harbored a lot of anger toward the woman ultimately responsible for the crash. While her brother and Noah were able to forgive, Julie struggled. It impacted her emotionally and even physically as she retained the bitterness and could not seem to let it go. It was hard to see her struggle so much. It was quite the journey that she went on and she had to learn how to rely on God to help her give it all to Him and move on.
I really enjoyed this story and it is fun to see that it is the beginning of a new series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
You can read this review on my blog:
https://brittreadsfiction.wordpress.c...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews