Let It Be Me (2021)

About the Book

Book: Let It Be Me

Series: Misty River Romance #2

Author: Becky Wade

Release Date: May 4, 2021

The one woman he wants is the one he cannot have.

Former foster kid Sebastian Grant has leveraged his intelligence and hard work to become a pediatric heart surgeon. But not even his career success can erase the void he’s tried so hard to fill. Then he meets high school math teacher Leah Montgomery, and his fast-spinning world comes to a sudden stop. He falls hard, only to make a devastating discovery—Leah is the woman his best friend set his heart on months before.

Leah’s a math prodigy who’s only ever had one big dream—to earn her PhD. Raising her little brother put that dream on hold. Now that her brother will soon be college bound, she’s not going to let anything stand in her way. Especially romance . . . which is far less dependable than algebra.

When Leah receives surprising results from the DNA test she submitted to a genealogy site, she solicits Sebastian’s help. Together, they comb through hospital records to uncover the secrets of her history. The more powerfully they’re drawn to each other, the more strongly Sebastian must resist, and the more Leah must admit that some things in life—like love—can’t be explained with numbers.

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My Thoughts

Let It Be Me by Becky Wade is not a story that can be adequately reviewed. This stellar novel must be experienced. There is no way to fully explain how deeply this book can affect a reader in a single review. Yes, this book contains all that readers expect from a Wade novel: a plot that’s deeply engaging, a pacing that keeps readers turning pages well into the night, characters who worm their way into the readers’ hearts, who feel so real and relatable they virtually jump off the page, and timely themes that speak to readers’ hearts and experiences. But I have to include that for me Let It Be Me was the cathartic read I didn’t even know I needed. Let It Be Me is a story I will remember and reflect on well after the final page has been read.

In my humble opinion, NICU babies are some of the strongest fighters on earth. There is a will and determination in a NICU baby that is unfound in healthy-born babies and most every adult. My husband and I spent 3 1/2 months in the NICU when our daughter, Isabella, was born. Through no fault on her part, my body gave out at the 29th week of pregnancy. Via a seriously scary emergency C-section, my daughter came into this world three months early at 2 lbs., 12 oz. As my husband and I would learn, preemie babies instill in their grossly unprepared parents a sense of awe and amazement, and also a heaping dose of fearful uncertainty and terror. I’ve never seen anything more miraculous than when I watched Bella maneuver through her third trimester outside of my body. The things God did for her, for my husband and I, and for many of the families we met during the three months we called the NICU home were truly miraculous.

Let It Be Me is a story about many things. One thing it is is a tiny glimpse into what it is to be a parent to a precious NICU baby. I’m biased, but these moments in the novel are my favorite, and they are also the most difficult. You want to know what it feels like to be the mom of a preemie baby in a NICU? I can’t speak for all moms, but from my own experience I can say it was a mix of utter shame and guilt, a sense of failure so strong and deep it infiltrated into my soul, a pervasive sense of fear I couldn’t escape, and a mustard-seed-size amount of hope. Mostly, I just felt utterly useless. I had to desperately claw my way to Jesus’s side on a daily basis, and most days I failed. Let It Be Me forced me to revisit my family’s time in the NICU via baby Isabella (one of Sebastian’s tiny patients) and her grossly unprepared, devastated parents. Isabella and her family are a pretty excellent glimpse into what a family can go through in a NICU. I applaud Wade for capturing this glimpse so authentically. I also loved seeing things from Sebastian’s point of view because we didn’t get a lot of close interaction with any of our daughter’s NICU doctors. They were always so overwhelmingly busy. The truth is, like most hospitals everywhere, the NICU is led by outstanding nurses and specialists. So, to see how deeply Sebastian cares about his very special patients really touched my heart.

What also touched my heart is how much hope is discovered by the end of this story. Hope in miracles. Hope in life. Hope in love covering a multitude of mistakes and misjudgments. Hope in God still seeing us and hearing us and guiding us every day. I am walking away from this excellent story a little more humbled and a little more healed. What a beautiful gift Becky Wade has given me!

Let It Be Me is so much more than my walk down memory lane. It’s a unique Romance that illustrates what it means to be a true family. It shows that romantic love is at times awkward and frustrating and satisfying and unique and worth fighting for every day. It’s a picture of what it means to be a friend, a parent, a sibling, a lover, and a child of God. I absolutely adore this story and cannot recommend it enough. If you’ve not yet read this book, I implore you to do so ASAP. Let It Be Me is a story not to be missed.

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on May 3, 2021, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.