When I Fall in Love (Christiansen Family)

Praise for the Christiansen Family Series

It Had to Be You

“
It Had to Be You
is a sigh-worthy, coming-into-her-own romance highlighting the importance of family, the necessity of faith, and how losing yourself for the right reasons can open your heart to something beautiful.”

SERENA CHASE,
USA Today

“This character-driven tale with a beautiful love story . . . gives excellent spiritual insight and a gorgeously written look at what it means to surrender and let go.”

ROMANTIC TIMES

“Susan May Warren delivers another beautiful, hope-filled story of faith that makes the reader fall further in love with this captivating and intriguing family. . . . Powerful storytelling gripped me from beginning to end . . . [and] lovable characters ensure that the reader becomes invested in their lives.”

RADIANT LIT

“This is one author who is only getting better with each book, and I cannot wait to find out which character we are next invited to meet in this Christiansen family.”

FICTION ADDICT

“A gem of a story, threaded with truth and hope, laughter and romance. Susan May Warren brings the Christiansen family to life, as if they might be my family or yours, with her smooth writing and engaging storytelling.”

RACHEL HAUCK
, bestselling author of
The Wedding Dress

Take a Chance on Me

“Warren’s new series launch has it all: romance, suspense, and intrigue. It is sure to please her many fans and win her new readers, especially those who enjoy Terri Blackstock.”

LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Warren . . . has crafted an engaging tale of romance, rivalry, and the power of forgiveness.”

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Warren once again creates a compelling community full of vivid individuals whose anguish and dreams are so real and relatable, readers will long for every character to attain the freedom their hearts desire.”

BOOKLIST

“
Take a Chance on Me
is the first of six books in this new series from prolific author Susan May Warren
 
—and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve already fallen in love with the Christiansen family . . . and I can’t wait to see how Warren brings true and lasting love into the lives of Darek’s two brothers and three sisters.”

SERENA CHASE,
USA Today

“A compelling story of forgiveness and redemption,
Take a Chance on Me
will have readers taking a chance on each beloved character!”

CBA RETAILERS
+
RESOURCES

“Warren’s latest is a touching tale of love discovered and the meaning of family.”

ROMANTIC TIMES

Visit Tyndale online at
www.tyndale.com
.

Visit Susan May Warren’s website at
www.susanmaywarren.com
.

TYNDALE
and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

When I Fall in Love

Copyright © 2014 by Susan May Warren. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph copyright © by Laura Doss/Corbis. All rights reserved.

Designed by Jennifer Phelps

Edited by Sarah Mason

Published in association with the literary agency of The Steve Laube Agency, 5025 N. Central Ave., #635, Phoenix, AZ 85012.

Scripture taken or paraphrased from the Holy Bible,
New International Version
,
®
NIV
.
®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
®
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
www.zondervan.com
.

When I Fall in Love
is a work of fiction. Where real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales appear, they are used fictitiously. All other elements of the novel are drawn from the author’s imagination.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Warren, Susan May, date.

  When I fall in love / Susan May Warren.

  pages cm.
 
— (Christiansen Family)

  ISBN 978-1-4143-7843-5 (sc)

1. Women cooks
 
—Fiction. 2. Hockey players
 
—Fiction. 3. Brothers and sisters
 
—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3623.A865W44 2014

  813'.6
 
—dc23 2014004547

ISBN 978-1-4143-9617-0 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4143-8463-4 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4143-9618-7 (Apple)

For Your glory, Lord. Every day.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

E
VERY STORY HAS A NUMBER OF “CHEFS,”
and while I might be head chef, I have a crew of talented sous-chefs and assistants in the kitchen, dedicated to the creation of a great story.

My deepest gratitude goes out to the following people:

Aliya Rose Marxen
 
—amazing chef and the brains behind all of Max’s and Grace’s culinary creations for the Honolulu Chop competition. Her ability to take ingredients and make them into something tasty will win her awards someday. Thank you for making me hungry and for showing me what it looks like to love food and create culinary masterpieces. You are the inspiration behind Grace Christiansen.

Sarah Warren
 
—our family wedding enthusiast and inspiration for Eden’s wedding colors and venue. I’m so looking forward to watching you walk down the aisle for your own Memorial Day wedding!

David Warren
 
—my in-house book doctor. Thank you for asking me the hard questions that help me put a plot together.

Noah and Peter Warren
 
—my athletes and inspiration for Max the fun guy in Hawaii. “No, Peter
 
—don’t touch that turtle. No,
Pete, stop, stop!” Thank you for giving me the most terrifying moment of my life. At least I could use it in a book.

Andrew Warren
 
—for cooking. You are Max, the master chef. I’m terribly spoiled.

Rachel Hauck
 
—my brilliant writing partner. Oh, thank you for walking through every scene with me and making me think through every motivation, every action. Our daily conversations inspire me!

The My Book Therapy core team
 
—Beth Vogt, Lisa Jordan, Reba J. Hoffman, Edie Melson, Melissa Tagg, Alena Tauriainen, Michelle Lim. Your daily prayers fueled me and kept me moving all the way to the end. I’m so blessed to have you in my life!

Steve Laube
 
—my awesome agent, who always knows just what to say. I’m so thankful you’re on my team.

Karen Watson
 
—for knowing just how to help me craft an amazing story. I’m so thankful for your partnership!

Sarah Mason
 
—for the polish and craft you bring to the editing process. Your talent is fabulous.

All parents, if they look closely at their children, see pieces of themselves. Their eyes, their smile, the shape of their nose. As a child grows older, parents see personality quirks, traces of the same humor, even evidence of similar decision making.

But you, Grace, are my clone. Not just seasoned with my personality traits or even saddled with my nose
 
—you are as if God reached out of heaven and made a copy of myself to put in my arms.

Because of this, I know you probably better than my other children. I understand your fierce loyalty to your family, your so-called “simple” desire to settle in our small town, be a wife, a mother, a homemaker. You were the child who made a party out of everything
 
—from the cookouts you would have with your Barbies and Kens, to our Sunday afternoon football parties, to serving us cookies and hot cocoa in cold arenas as we watched your brothers play hockey. For you, every moment is cause for celebration of the ones you love.

But often I see you eating alone in the kitchen after you have served the event. As if afraid to step into the party.

Afraid to reach for all life has for you.

It is not that you are not courageous. Rather, it is the fear of reaching out to the unknown, unsure if, in doing
so, you will fail. You are paralyzed by the knowledge that your regrets would overwhelm you. This, too, I understand, because it also comes from me. I dreamed of a life in Deep Haven, and I feared letting go of it, believing that if I didn’t hold tight, I would never have what I’d longed for. But God knows our hearts better than this. He knows our longings, as they are from Him, and He desires to satisfy us with more than we can ask for or imagine.

Oh, Grace, there is so much more waiting for you. Yes, it may be in Deep Haven, but you will never find it by holding on. The amazing, whole, overwhelming, abundant life is found, oddly, by letting go. By living a dangerous faith
 
—the kind of faith that believes in a God who knows our hearts and loves us enough to take our breath away.

The urge, Daughter, to hold on to what you have, to allow fears to hold you captive and keep you from reaching for something else, is not easily overcome. In fact, the nudge to let go may feel like a rending, a tearing from yourself. But it must be done if you are to fall into the arms of your heavenly Father. And this is my prayer for you
 
—that you will leap and fall in this safe place. That you will discover how much more awaits you, just beyond the boundaries of your life.

Reach out, Grace, and discover what you’ve been longing for.

Your mother