Forever Obsession: Together WIth You

ISBN: 0764211536
Pages: 336
Source: BethanyHouse

Publication Date: April 7, 2015

Appearance:

Summary:

A Tender Contemporary Romance about Finding Unexpected Love
When a Lost Child warning blasts over the mall's PA system, toy store manager Carly Mason finds the little girl playing with a stuffed rabbit. Something about five-year-old Penny Tremaine is different. An ex-social worker, Carly recognizes that Penny suffers fetal alcohol effects, and a piece of Carly's own past suddenly confronts her. Never again will Carly become involved with a client. The risks are far too great. But something about Penny--and Penny's handsome father--tugs at Carly's heart. Before she has time to think it through, she agrees to a much-needed job as a nanny.
Dr. Ryan Tremaine knows he messed up his life. But this summer he will redeem himself. With his ex-wife remarried and on a trip far away, his two teenage sons and Penny are living under his roof full time. Ryan is dedicated to his sink-or-swim list, a plan to reconnect with his children. The first step: recruiting Carly Mason to be Penny's nanny.
Ryan never anticipated being so drawn to Carly, an attraction Carly seems to fight as much as he does. Could Carly be the missing piece that helps his family stay afloat, or will their blossoming romance only complicate things further?

Hello everyone! So I just got home from class and since school just started again after break, I'm not really feeling the homework (that's not new). But I thought I'd do a double review for you guys so here's my review on Together With You by Victoria Bylin. I was sent a copy from Bethany House for review and this did not in any way influence my thoughts in any way shape or form :) Oh this book also comes out tomorrow so if you're interested, be sure to check it out on Amazon and your local bookstore!

Together With You follows Carly Mason who is working on her grad degree in California focusing on fetal alcohol syndrome in children. Having worked with people diagnosed with this syndrome before, she takes one look at Penny Tremaine and instantly feels her heart reach out to her. Penny's father is Dr. Ryan Tremaine whose affair that brought him Penny broke his marriage and he's now trying to juggle work and being a single parent to three kids. When he meets Carly, he knows that she'd be the perfect nanny for Penny and her loving nature might also help in reaching out to his two older sons, particularly his middle child Eric. However Carly refuses, haunted by something that happened in the past when she became too close to a child. Ryan insists and Carly eventually accepts, but the more time he spends around her, the more he finds himself falling for his child's caretaker.

Okay, so it's pretty obvious that this is employer/employee romance to some extent but in this case, I don't even care because it's too damn cute. The relationship between Carly and Ryan is really fragile and they both fight the attraction so hard for different reasons, but on top of their romantic relationship, they're just great friends. Ryan's kind of uptight and stressed and you get to see Carly work her magic and really nurture both him and his family. Speaking of family, I adore the Tremaines. The eldest son is your typical strong and faithful child who is always someone you can count on. Eric, the middle one, on the otherhand is a handful, but he just wants to be heard. Seeing him unfold from being a silent moody kid to someone who has a passion of things, who basically comes alive.

Moving on from how adorable and warm/fuzzy this book makes me, it also addresses a syndrome that I've never read in a book before. I knew FASD existed because you learn it in health class, but I never got to "experience" it firsthand, even if that experience came through the pages of a book. It was really enlightening and just mind opening to how to deal with children, how to be strict with them, but still show that you love them. Penny is really an amazing girl and just seeing her throughout this book, understanding new things and growing is just a really amazing experience.

A bit more on Penny, she's such a simple child and I mean that in the best way possible. She likes this simple, muted colors, soft sounds, but she has an imagination that rivals any artist. Every time she laughs, I swear the whole book laughs with her and everyone's faces instantly brightens. She doesn't understand how much impact she has on the people around her, but she really does and she's the center focus of the whole story.

Our main character is obviously Ms. Carly Mason. She's this woman who is full of faith, love, fire, and literally has a heart bigger than the sun. Reading about her interacting with the Tremaines and how she struggles to hold back because of past experience even though she wants to just give all she can offer to the broken family really says something about her as a person. She also has some crazy incredible patience and heart because if I were to be completely honest with you, I don't think I could keep calm for the whole book.

Then there's Dr. Ryan Tremaine. He's your broken soul who likes his life organized and is kind of in shock that everything is slowly falling apart. Throughout the process of the story, you get to see him heal and really become a father rather than being an outside spectator. He becomes part of the family, learns to loosen up around his kids, and let God take control for a bit.

This review is getting a bit lengthy and I apologize that my thoughts are kind of all over the place but I'm almost done! Like I just mentioned, God plays a pretty big part in this story especially in regards to Ryan's life. There's this emphasis on healing through His grace and forgiveness even when you can't forgive yourself, in Ryan's case for cheating on his wife. There's also an emphasis on the relationship between a father and his daughter. First and foremost there's Ryan and Penny whose relationship makes you literally want to grab your dad and hug him. Penny starts by calling Ryan Dr Tremaine and as their relationship grows the names go from Dr. Tremaine to Dr. Daddy to just Daddy. There's also Carly's relationship with her father and it's one built on trust and guidance. Finally, there's the relationship between the characters and God or as Penny likes to call Him: Dr. God. All these relationships just bring the unique and abounding aspect of love that a father has for his child.

Alright, I'm finished with my jumbled thoughts. To summarize that long mess up there, this book is so heartwarming and fun to read. I can almost guarantee it'll make you smile at some point in the novel, so pick it up and see what you think!