Review: When I Fall in Love by Susan May Warren

Yum!

When I Fall in Love is the third book in Susan May Warren’s Christiansen series, following Take a Chance on Me (2014 Christy Award winner) and It Had to Be You. When I Fall in Love is about daughter Grace, who wants to be a chef. It’s set partially in Deep Haven, so there are some mentions of characters from the Deep Haven series. But it’s also partly set in beautiful Hawaii, where Grace participates in a cooking contest with hunky hockey player Max Sharpe. Hawaii and food. What’s not to love?

Despite the title, When I Fall in Love wasn’t the standard lightweight romance (Susan May Warren novels never are). There are family complications in the relationship between Max and Grace, one of whom is Owen, Grace’s younger brother, who used to play on the same pro hockey team as Max. The other complication is Max, who has decided never to marry because of his family history. There’s also a subplot featuring Raina Beaumont (Liza’s niece, from Happily Ever After), and this looks as though it’s setting up the next novel in the series.

I’ve read a few foodie novels over the last few months, including A Table by the Window, While Love Stirs, and Stones for Bread. They’ve all been excellent, as is When I Fall in Love. Is there some kind of subliminal message there? I even highlighted her sauce recipe: brown sugar, molasses, honey (that’s three kinds of sugar. It sounds good already), Worcestershire sauce, mustard, liquid smoke, salt and pepper. Yum. It’s not exactly barbecue season here in New Zealand, but I’ll have to try this sometime.

However, it’s not the food that most impresses me about Susan May Warren’s writing. It’s the way she manages to seamlessly integrate solid Christian principles into her novels without ever sounding preachy. In When I Fall in Love, it’s Grace who has the spiritual lesson to learn, a lesson about abiding in Jesus and not just following Him. It’s a lesson we can all benefit from. Recommended.

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Susan May Warren at her website. Susan May Warren has a giveaway to celebrate the release of When I Fall in Love. To enter, either click on the giveaway button to the right, or visit yesterday's giveaway post.