Together with you

I read [b:Until I Found You 18652808 Until I Found You Victoria Bylin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383231096l/18652808.SY75.jpg 26465053] by this author a few years back and enjoyed it so much that I promptly bought a stack of her books. I've had a hard time finding contemporary fiction I like and I was so impressed by the other one I made a wrong assumption about this one also being just as great, so I went in with too many expectations.First off, it's a romance between a Christian and a non-Christian and I wasn't expecting that. Furthermore, after a serial killer suddenly kills a neighbor of hers, she moves in? Much page time goes into telling that “nothing happened” but they continue to play with fire as their attraction grows. This is something that is contrary to my beliefs and a situation I will never be okay with in a fictional novel, that a fictional guy and gal would live together before marriage, especially when they are both attracted to each other. (Back cover copy compares it to Sound of Music...no. There were other servants present in that situation.)Second, the other major driver of the story is a love-child who has FASD. While I fully agree that this condition deserves attention, it cheapens the impact when the cause is completely misrepresented. Did the author not research or did she choose to ignore the facts? A one-night drunk is not going to hurt any baby in a woman who does not habitually drink or often drink to excess. A woman who gets drunk and sleeps with a guy “accidentally” is not going to wake up with an FASD baby. It takes drunkenness and habitual drinking for the cellular structure to damage a growing child. Approaching the issue with scare tactics is only going to scare women into thinking they are going to have a crippled child as the result of one night's intoxication and that has never been the case. Scare stories of this sort are more likely to result in worried mothers aborting children for fear of disability (as some uninformed doctors have been known to advise).I really wanted Carly to make better choices and forgive herself for a small event from her past, and I wanted Ryan to repent and get his life right, so I continued reading even with these major issues. It's a feel-good ending and everything is hunky-dory in the end, so at least the ending was good.One other comparatively minor gripe: Ryan is attempting to stop smoking. Carly's father is referred to as “he might be a preacher, but he'll be the first to sit down and give you a cigar and smoke along with you” and I felt that sent a really weird message. Sure enough, when Carly's father shows up, Ryan stops trying to quit smoking and subsequently smokes “hundreds” of cigars with him while getting his life right. I don't like it when books portray influential characters encouraging another character to make unhealthy choices and to continue addictions.