Renee Somers has just lost her volunteer role at the Trinity Lakes Ski Resort ski patrol, so she and her two friends leave the ski lodge in the middle of a snow storm and find themselves in a bank of snow halfway down the mountain.
Jesse Hernandez hears Renee is stuck not far from him, and ventures out to rescue Renee and her two friends and bring them back to his mountain cabin. He sets out to rescue her, and not just because they’ve been friends for years and he has a huge crush on her. But he’s not expecting to also rescue Blaire, the woman behind his estrangement from his one-time best friend, who also happens to be Renee’s older brother.
Renee was an interesting character.
She’s tiny (five foot nothing) and looks considerably younger than her twenty-four years due to a growth hormone deficiency (something that works against her now, when people look at her and see a teenager, but something she may come to appreciate once she hits forty). Looking sixteen means people treat her like a child–which wouldn’t be so bad if that didn’t include her own family.
She’s therefore understandably irritated when her own father appears to favour hiring Jesse over promoting his own daughter, despite her being more than adequately qualified for the role. Renee is being gaslit by the school board and by her own father, which she finds frustrating (and I have to agree).
I initially didn’t like Jesse because he came across as having a hero complex, illustrated by his impulsive actions in the fire then in rescuing Renee and her companions. However, the more I read, the more I understood and empathized with him, and decided he was a worthy hero.
What I did like was the way Renee and especially Jesse drew closer to God as the story progressed. This felt natural, not forced, which is always important in Christian fiction.
Friendship to more is one of my favourite tropes.
Especially when it’s combined with sibling’s best friend/best friend’s sibling. It’s Always Been You did both tropes well, showing what pulled Renee and Jesse together as well as what was keeping them apart.
I’m also a fan of low-angst romances.
(Stories where the main characters possibly don’t have much to lose but do have everything to gain.)
What I liked about It’s Always Been You is it brought out the tension in a friends-to-more trope: if the relationship goes wrong in any way (including one person not wanting to move from friends to more), then the friendship is over. Because Renee and Jesse have been estranged for months, this is less of an issue. The question is more about how they’re going to rebuild their relationship.
Recommended for contemporary Christian romance readers who enjoy friends-to-more plots.
About Sara Beth Williams
Sara Beth Williams is a published author of Contemporary Christian romance, an ACFW and CIPA member and freelance writer. She has a background in freelance publicity, blog managing, newspaper journalism and nine years in the field of education. Two of her three novels have been nominated for a Selah Award. A Worthy Heart (2020) and Anchor My Heart (2022). She lives in Northern California with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys playing guitar, reading, gardening and spending time with her family.
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About It’s Always Been You
She’d always been the still mountain beneath his changing skies. He was a fool for thinking he could stay away.
After suffering severe burns, avid outdoorsman Jesse Hernandez faces a long recovery, and the longer it takes, the more he questions his purpose in life. Seeking solace, he returns to the hills above Trinity Lakes to settle his late grandfather’s property, but soon finds himself torn between family pressure to sell and his longing to hold on to the only place that felt like home.
Renee Somers has spent her life fighting to be seen. As a master’s student and after-school program director living with a growth hormone deficiency, she’s used to being underestimated. But she finds rejection stings most when it comes from those she highly respected.
When a sudden blizzard traps Renee and her friends on a lonely mountain road. She never expects her rescuer to be the childhood friend who once promised he’d always look out for her. As they reconnect and unexpected attraction surfaces, both must confront past wounds and buried secrets that threaten to pull them apart.
With family tensions rising and harbored secrets revealed, Jesse must decide whether to cling to the past, or embrace the future God has been preparing all along.
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I write inspirational romance with an international twist, with stories that uplift and encourage. Heroes with honor and integrity and strong, can-do heroines are my thing. And the good guys always get their happy ending. My fiction reflects my Christian faith.
Emily Dana Botrous lives in San Diego, California with her husband and their four children. She lived in 10 states before she settled on the West Coast where she plans to stay for awhile. She started writing short stories at age 10 and studied English in college. The only thing she enjoys more than writing is motherhood.
