Romance:
new Love
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Bobby and Aleah
At the start of the book, it is evident that Bobby and Aleah both have feelings for each other. Bobby has identified his feelings as love, and while Aleah isn’t ready to admit it yet, she feels the same.
But although Bobby wants nothing more than to date and eventually marry Aleah, Aleah is holding back, trying to convince herself and him that a relationship between them would be unfair to Bobby. When he brings it up, she tells him that she doesn’t want to burden him with her past and with the things she still struggles with now.
Bobby doesn’t care that Aleah’s past is more broken than his own, and he wants to be by her side through all her present struggles. But Aleah insists that a relationship between them can’t work, and starts dating someone else. This breaks Bobby’s heart, but he is determined to remain friends with her, because he can’t imagine not having her in his life.
Eventually, Aleah comes to realize how much she loves Bobby, because he’s always there for her, he loves her children, and they consistently have great conversations and make good memories together. She also realizes that her real reason for not wanting to date him is fear--the last time she fell in love, her heart ended up broken.
Although Aleah still has some uncertainties by the time she’s able to recognize this, she eventually decides to take the chance and date Bobby. This decision is made with prayer, and after a heart-to-heart conversation in which she expresses her insecurities to Bobby. Bobby’s character throughout the time Aleah has known him has demonstrated that he is not the type of person to walk away when things get hard, the way her last boyfriend was. His actions have demonstrated that he loves her and wants the best for her. She is willing to trust him because he has proven to be a trustworthy person.
But although Bobby wants nothing more than to date and eventually marry Aleah, Aleah is holding back, trying to convince herself and him that a relationship between them would be unfair to Bobby. When he brings it up, she tells him that she doesn’t want to burden him with her past and with the things she still struggles with now.
Bobby doesn’t care that Aleah’s past is more broken than his own, and he wants to be by her side through all her present struggles. But Aleah insists that a relationship between them can’t work, and starts dating someone else. This breaks Bobby’s heart, but he is determined to remain friends with her, because he can’t imagine not having her in his life.
Eventually, Aleah comes to realize how much she loves Bobby, because he’s always there for her, he loves her children, and they consistently have great conversations and make good memories together. She also realizes that her real reason for not wanting to date him is fear--the last time she fell in love, her heart ended up broken.
Although Aleah still has some uncertainties by the time she’s able to recognize this, she eventually decides to take the chance and date Bobby. This decision is made with prayer, and after a heart-to-heart conversation in which she expresses her insecurities to Bobby. Bobby’s character throughout the time Aleah has known him has demonstrated that he is not the type of person to walk away when things get hard, the way her last boyfriend was. His actions have demonstrated that he loves her and wants the best for her. She is willing to trust him because he has proven to be a trustworthy person.
Aleah and David
Years ago, David was drawn to Aleah’s story, which was similar to his own--a broken past, followed by a powerful transformation in Christ. He never acted on his feelings back then, but now that they’ve reconnected, he decides to ask Aleah out.
Aleah never had any romantic feelings toward David, but she recognizes that he has many of the traits she’s looking for in a future husband. Although she has her misgivings about her own reasons for agreeing to go out with him, she decides to give it a try.
David and Aleah go on several dates together and have a good time on each one. Aleah discovers that she enjoys spending time with David, and agrees to be his girlfriend.
The problem is, as time goes on, Aleah finds herself comparing David to Bobby. One of the biggest differences is the way they interact with her children. Bobby genuinely loves spending time with Austin and Anna, and makes it a point to prioritize them. David tolerates them, but doesn’t show a lot of interest in them and often seems to prefer interacting with Aleah alone.
Aleah reminds herself that David doesn’t know her kids as well as Bobby does, and that he doesn’t have a lot of experience with children. She is determined to give him a chance. Eventually, though, she is forced to admit that her feelings for Bobby are much stronger than her feelings for David, and that even if she isn’t going to start dating Bobby, it’s not fair to keep dating David while she feels so strongly about someone else.
Could David and Aleah have worked out, if they’d chosen to stick with it? Maybe. Feelings aren’t a choice, but love--the action--is. If David and Aleah had truly been committed to staying together, they probably could have overcome many of the obstacles their relationship faced. But with Aleah’s heart belonging to someone else, it was a respectful decision to step out and make room for someone who could love David wholeheartedly.
Aleah never had any romantic feelings toward David, but she recognizes that he has many of the traits she’s looking for in a future husband. Although she has her misgivings about her own reasons for agreeing to go out with him, she decides to give it a try.
David and Aleah go on several dates together and have a good time on each one. Aleah discovers that she enjoys spending time with David, and agrees to be his girlfriend.
The problem is, as time goes on, Aleah finds herself comparing David to Bobby. One of the biggest differences is the way they interact with her children. Bobby genuinely loves spending time with Austin and Anna, and makes it a point to prioritize them. David tolerates them, but doesn’t show a lot of interest in them and often seems to prefer interacting with Aleah alone.
Aleah reminds herself that David doesn’t know her kids as well as Bobby does, and that he doesn’t have a lot of experience with children. She is determined to give him a chance. Eventually, though, she is forced to admit that her feelings for Bobby are much stronger than her feelings for David, and that even if she isn’t going to start dating Bobby, it’s not fair to keep dating David while she feels so strongly about someone else.
Could David and Aleah have worked out, if they’d chosen to stick with it? Maybe. Feelings aren’t a choice, but love--the action--is. If David and Aleah had truly been committed to staying together, they probably could have overcome many of the obstacles their relationship faced. But with Aleah’s heart belonging to someone else, it was a respectful decision to step out and make room for someone who could love David wholeheartedly.
Bobby's Dilemma
When Aleah makes it clear that she does not want to date him, Bobby is determined to remain friends with her. However, this becomes more difficult than he expected when she starts dating David.
When David isn’t around, things can feel normal between Bobby and Aleah, but he wonders how long this will be able to last. What if Aleah and David get more serious about each other? At what point will it become inappropriate for Bobby and Aleah to spend so much time together? If Aleah marries David, will Bobby be able to stand it?
This is part of the reason he decides to take the Dominican Republic internship opportunity, as well as why he considers staying in the DR for longer. His rationale is that if he and Aleah can’t be together as a couple, it might be easier on his heart to be away from her. At the same time, though, he hates the thought of being out of her life completely.
In Bobby’s situation, going away for a short while was just what he and Aleah both needed--Bobby to have a productive way to get his mind on something else, and Aleah to realize that she actually did want to date him. But it doesn’t always work that way. What would you do if you were in Bobby’s situation? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but the best thing to do is to pray about it and see where the Lord leads you.
When David isn’t around, things can feel normal between Bobby and Aleah, but he wonders how long this will be able to last. What if Aleah and David get more serious about each other? At what point will it become inappropriate for Bobby and Aleah to spend so much time together? If Aleah marries David, will Bobby be able to stand it?
This is part of the reason he decides to take the Dominican Republic internship opportunity, as well as why he considers staying in the DR for longer. His rationale is that if he and Aleah can’t be together as a couple, it might be easier on his heart to be away from her. At the same time, though, he hates the thought of being out of her life completely.
In Bobby’s situation, going away for a short while was just what he and Aleah both needed--Bobby to have a productive way to get his mind on something else, and Aleah to realize that she actually did want to date him. But it doesn’t always work that way. What would you do if you were in Bobby’s situation? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but the best thing to do is to pray about it and see where the Lord leads you.
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The cover on the left is the Kindle cover, and the one on the right is the print cover. Note the slight differences - the coloring, the title size, and the positioning of the characters. The characters are positioned to the side on the print cover so that the image can wrap around the spine, but we decided to bring the more toward the center for the Kindle cover. The text size and color vibrancy were also decisions made to make the Kindle cover "pop" more while keeping the print cover consistent with the other books in the series.
Go to the New Love summary page
Her eyes met his, and a huge grin broke over her flushed face. Aleah clambered past the row of seats in front of her and onto the step to get out of the van. Then, she melted into his arms.
-p. 362
