When Hearts Collide is the debut novel and first book of the Second Chance series by Sara Beth Williams. Jay is beginning a new life and things seem to be going great when he gets the leading male role in the college play by default and sparks happen between him and the girl who gets the female lead.

Although Lacey changed her college major from theater to a business major, she still decided to try out for the college play. She lands the leading female role and feels a definite attraction to new guy in town, Jay, who plays the male lead.

But both Jay and Lacey have sorrow in their past that they don’t openly share and eventually their secret keeping becomes a big problem not just in their lives, but in the lives of people they care about.

Sara Beth Williams seems to have a great understanding of human struggles and the human need for forgiveness and second chances. She also shows that those things are very difficult to come by without knowing God. In When Hearts Collide, Ms. Williams shows how forgiveness can give someone hope, strength, and the ability to move forward even in the face of a very tragic and difficult situation. She also shows how hard it is to move forward when a person cannot forgive and cannot let go of the past.

She appropriately shows the emotions involved in such circumstances and how choices made because of those emotions can either make things worse or bring healing.

When Hearts Collide is definitely told from a Christian perspective. The novel includes quite a bit of prayer, talk about God, and church attendance and activities.

This book is written for young adults through adults, as it deals with some more mature issues that face people in these age groups in real life. These issues are all dealt with in a very sensitive way and are not intense nor explicit in any way.

I give When Hearts Collide by Sara Beth Williams 5 stars.