Almost too good to be good
Before I get to the story, there's a problem early on in the book that needs to be mentioned:
Cole says of his ex, "She refused to become a Christian". Huh? No, you become a Christian because you believe that it's true, not because someone says you have to be Christian or I'm leaving you. So, if the ex refused to listen or talk about it - that would have made sense & seemed to fit the general context of that discussion. I'm hoping that was just a really unfortunate word choice rather than the author's actual thinking, but unfortunately, whatever it is, it's still there begging to confuse &/or outrage someone.
As to the story itself, it was good, but more like a fantasy than believable. The problem is that
Cole & Sophia are too mary sue perfect - they're practically saints.
I did like how they started out talking about a marriage of convenience for business, but then decided to let things develop naturally instead. And there were several other romance stereotypes that developed, but the protagonists responded to them like real people instead of being stupid.
It was just hard to connect with the characters as they felt too artificial. For example, Sophia's dad telling her how he recognized that she was just wanting to spend time with him was an echo of what she had told Cole earlier. In real life, even if the dad had come to realize that on his own, he wouldn't have suddenly become a feelings kind of guy that talked like that.
Then there was the repetition of things, like Cole calling Sophia "Miss Hansen" because he enjoyed reminding her it was temporary - we got it the first few times, yet it was still explained. Every. Single. Time. that Cole said it. 🙄
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the story has that implicit message of "Good Christians will prosper over evil sinners" that's false advertising. We know that good wins in the end, but we are not greater than the Master - so we should expect to suffer unjustly, too.
Like most, I read for a temporary escape from the difficulties & challenges of real life, so I don't mind a little romantic fantasy. But authors have to be really careful when they incorporate Christianity into fiction. And the story needs to be believable enough to keep my inner critic from being louder than the narrative.
Mandi Blake's "Beautiful Storm" was a creditable example; this one, though a sweet story, was not so much.
*Clean romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic
*Religion: overtly Christian, mostly generic, a bit stilted